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