The Battle of the Vedrosha River was a
battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
in the course of the
Russo-Lithuanian war of 1500–1503 which ended with a decisive Russian victory and proved to be of strategic significance. It was carried out on 14 July 1500,
some 50 km to the west of
Kaluga, between forces of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Lit ...
, under command of Prince
Konstantin Ostrozhsky and Russian (Muscovite) army under Prince
Daniil Shchenya.
[''The Muscovite Dynastic Crisis of 1497-1502'', John V. A. Fine Jr., Canadian Slavonic Papers, Vol. 8, (1966), 213.]
The skilled Russian commander employed similar tactics that proved successful for the Russian army in the
Battle of Kulikovo
The Battle of Kulikovo (russian: Мамаево побоище, Донское побоище, Куликовская битва, битва на Куликовом поле) was fought between the armies of the Golden Horde, under the command ...
. Vedrosha was a crushing victory for the Russians. Some 8,000 Lithuanians were killed, and many more were taken prisoner, including Prince Konstantin Ostrogski,
the first ever
Grand Hetman of Lithuania.
After the battle the Lithuanians lost the possibility for military initiative and restricted themselves to defensive actions.
Comments by contemporaries
The battle was described by
Sigismund von Herberstein in his ''
Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii
''Notes on Muscovite Affairs'' (''Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii'') (1549) was a Latin book by Baron Sigismund von Herberstein on the geography, history and customs of the Grand Duchy of Muscovy. The book was the main early source of knowledge ...
'' (1549). Herberstein acidly commented that "in one battle and in one year the Grand Duke of Moscow achieved what Grand Duke
Vytautas
Vytautas (c. 135027 October 1430), also known as Vytautas the Great ( Lithuanian: ', be, Вітаўт, ''Vitaŭt'', pl, Witold Kiejstutowicz, ''Witold Aleksander'' or ''Witold Wielki'' Ruthenian: ''Vitovt'', Latin: ''Alexander Vitoldus'', O ...
had spent all his life in achieving".
References
External links
Data on strength and losses (Russian)
1500 in Lithuania
Vedrosha
Vedrosha
Vedrosha
Vedrosha
1500s in Poland
Military history of Russia
{{Russia-battle-stub