The Battle of Jarosław took place during the

Deluge A deluge is a large downpour of rain, often a flood. The Deluge refers to the flood narrative in the biblical book of Genesis. Deluge or Le Déluge may also refer to: History *Deluge (history), the Swedish and Russian invasion of the Polish-L ...

(part of the

Second Northern War The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of ...

) on March 15, 1656. Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth forces under the command of

Stefan Czarniecki Stefan Czarniecki (Polish: of the Łodzia coat of arms, 1599 – 16 February 1665) was a Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Polish szlachta, nobleman, general and military commander. In his career, he rose from a petty nobleman to a magnate hol ...

defeated the Swedish forces commanded by

Charles X Gustav of Sweden Charles X Gustav, also Carl X Gustav (; 8 November 1622 – 13 February 1660), was King of Sweden from 1654 until his death. He was the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg and Catherine of Sweden. After his father's ...

. After the Battle of Golab, the Swedish army under King

Charles X Gustav Charles X Gustav, also Carl X Gustav (; 8 November 1622 – 13 February 1660), was King of Sweden from 1654 until his death. He was the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Kleeburg, John Casimir, Count Palatine of Palatinate-Kleeburg, Zweib ...

marched towards

Lwow Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, where Polish forces concentrated, and where King John Casimir stayed. In early March 1656, Charles X Gustav received news that up to 20,000 Polish-Lithuanian soldiers concentrated in

Red Ruthenia Red Ruthenia, also called Red Rus or Red Russia, is a term used since the Middle Ages for the south-western principalities of Kievan Rus', namely the Principality of Peremyshl and the Duchy of Belz, Principality of Belz. It is closely related to ...

. The Swedish King realized that his forces were not adequate to face the enemy, so he ordered a retreat towards the

San river The San (; ''Sian''; ) is a river in southeastern Poland and western Ukraine. It is a tributary of the river Vistula. With a length of , the San is the 6th-longest Polish river. It has a basin area of 16,877 km2, of which 14,426 k ...

. Furthermore, the Swedes were constantly attacked by Polish guerrilla forces. On March 11, first Swedish units reached the town of Jaroslaw, where they defeated a regiment of Hetman

Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski Prince Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski (20 January 1616 – 31 December 1667) was a Polish noble (szlachcic), magnate, politician and military commander, and Prince of the Holy Roman Empire. He was the initiator of the Lubomirski Rebellion of 166 ...

, which guarded the river crossings. Soon afterwards, the division of

arrived in the area, surprising the Swedes, as they thought it had been destroyed in the Battle of Golab. In a skirmish, which took place near

Wielkie Oczy Wielkie Oczy is a village (town until 1935) in Lubaczów County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland, close to the border with Ukraine. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Wielkie Oczy. It lies approx ...

, Czarniecki destroyed a 1,000 strong unit of the

reiter ''Reiter'' or ''Schwarze Reiter'' ("black riders", anglicized ''swart reiters'') were a type of cavalry in 16th to 17th century Central Europe including Holy Roman Empire, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Tsardom of Russia, and others. Cont ...

s, commanded by Colonel Peter Hammerskjold. Then he attacked Robert Douglas, Count of Skenninge, who came to rescue the reiters. The skirmish ended in a Swedish defeat, and Douglas with his soldiers fled to Jaroslaw. Soon afterwards, Czarniecki attacked the town itself, clashing with Swedish guards, who oversaw labourers working on improvements of the town fortifications. Since Charles Gustav was well aware of Czarniecki's presence, he called reinforcements from units stationed in local villages. Arrival of main Swedish forces resulted in Polish retreat into the local forests. The battle, or rather the series of skirmishes, had a significant impact on those Polish units, which still remained loyal to Charles Gustav. After the battle, several such regiments abandoned the Swedes, while Charles Gustav came to the conclusion that a further march towards southeast was fruitless. A tactical retreat towards

Sandomierz Sandomierz (pronounced: ; , ) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (), situated on the Vistula River near its confluence with the San, in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy ...

was ordered, and soon afterwards, the Swedish army was encircled in the confluence of the San and the

Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

References

*Leszek Podhorodecki: Rapier i koncerz. Warszawa: 1985. . *Tadeusz M. Nowak, Jan Wimmer: Historia oręża polskiego 963–1795. Warszawa: Wiedza Powszechna, 1981. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of Jaroslaw (1656) 1656 in Poland Jaroslaw Jaroslaw Jaroslaw