Battle of Chițcani (1683) was a battle of the united Cossack troops of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth under the command of the Right-bank Hetman

Stefan Kunicki Stefan Kunicki ( or Степан Куницький; 1640–1684) was a Ruthenian military commander and Cossack Hetman of Right-bank Ukraine. He was also a member of the Polish–Lithuanian Szlachta nobility. Biography Kunicki's origin is ...

and Moldavian army

Ștefan Petriceicu Ștefan Petriceicu (Romanian language, Romanian: ''Ștefan al XI-lea Petriceicu'', died 1690) was three times List of Moldavian rulers, Voivode of Moldavia (August 1672 – November 1673, December 1673 – February 1674, December 1683 – March 1 ...

with detachments of the

Budjak Horde The Budjak Horde, also known as the Belgorod or Bilhorod Horde, formed part of the Nogai Horde in the 17th and 18th centuries. It settled in the northern Black Sea coast area under protectorate of the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire's S ...

on 5 December 1683 during at the beginning of the Polish-Ottoman War (1683–1699).

History

On 23 July 1683, the council of the Right-bank Cossacks in the presence of 40 chiefs appealed to the Polish king

John III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( (); (); () 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobieski was educated at the Jagiellonian University and toured Eur ...

with a request to accept the Right Bank Cossacks under his authority and allow a campaign against the Turkish possessions. On 24 August of the same year, the Polish monarch appointed

as hetman of the Right-bank Zaporizhian Cossacks.Чухліб Тарас. Гетьман С. Куницький у боротьбі Правобережної України та Речі Посполитої проти Османської імперії (1683−1684 рр.) During the summer and autumn of 1683 Kunicki's army made several campaigns and occupied

Nemyriv Nemyriv ( ; ) is a historic city in Vinnytsia Oblast (province) in Ukraine, located in the historical region of Podolia. It was the administrative center of former Nemyriv Raion (district). Population: Nemyriv is one of the oldest cities in Vin ...

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ; formerly known as Kishinev) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Moldova, largest city of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the coun ...

, Bender. At the end of 1683, the 5,000-strong army of the hetman made a campaign through Moldavian lands to the

Budzhak Budjak, also known as Budzhak, is a historical region that was part of Bessarabia from 1812 to 1940. Situated along the Black Sea, between the Danube and Dniester rivers, this multi-ethnic region covers an area of and is home to approximatel ...

and Bilhorod steppes. On 5 December, a 15,000-strong Cossack-Moldavian detachment of Kunicki and

suddenly attacked a 25,000-strong detachment of Ali-Pasha near the village of

Chițcani Chițcani ( mo-Cyrl, Кицкань, ; ; ) is a commune in Căușeni District, in south-eastern Moldova. It consists of the village ''Chițcani'' and two small villages (hamlets), ''Merenești'' and ''Zahorna''. Chițcani is situated to the sout ...

, not far from the bank of the Danube. The Tatars were defeated, during the pursuit many Horde men were killed (Ali-Pasha, Aliger-Pasha, several murza) and Tatar commanders were taken prisoner. Later Kunicki noted that not a single man in his army was killed. Having won the victory, the hetman of the

Right-bank Ukraine The Right-bank Ukraine is a historical and territorial name for a part of modern Ukraine on the right (west) bank of the Dnieper River, corresponding to the modern-day oblasts of Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad, as well as the western parts o ...

moved deep into the Nogai possessions. Stefan Kunicki and his Cossacks destroyed the settlements around Bilhorod (Akkerman) and reached the shores of the Black Sea, taking by storm the cities of

Izmail Izmail (, ; ; , or ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality on the Danube river in Odesa Oblast in south-western Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Izmail Raion, one of seven distr ...

and

Kiliia Kiliia or Kilia (, ; ; ) is a city in Izmail Raion, Odesa Oblast Odesa Oblast (), also referred to as Odeshchyna (Одещина), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern ...

. After this success Hetman Kunicki tried to take Bilhorod, but because of the lack of artillery he failed. Part of the Cossacks, weighed down with booty, returned to Ukraine.

References

Literature

* ''Чухліб Тарас.'' Гетьман С. Куницький у боротьбі Правобережної України та Речі Посполитої проти Османської імперії (1683−1684 рр.) // Україна в Центрально-Східній Європі. Студії з історії ХІ−ХУІІІ ст. K, 2000. * ''Marek Wagner'' W cieniu szukamy jasności chwały. Studia z dziejów panowania Jana III Sobieskiego (1684−1696). – Wydawnictwo Akademii Podlaskiej, 2002. – ISBN 83-7051-201-1. * ''Jan Wimmer'' Odsiecz wiedenska 1683 roku. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chitcani 1683 in Europe Chitcani 1683 Chitcani 1683 Battles involving the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Chitcani 1683 Battles of the Polish–Ottoman War (1683–1699) Conflicts in 1683 Military history of Moldova Military history of Ukraine