Siege Of Smolensk (1609–1611)
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The siege of Smolensk (), also known as the Smolensk Defense in Russia (), lasted 20 months between 29 September 1609 to 13 June 1611, when the
Polish army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...
besieged the Russian city of
Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...
during the Polish–Russian War of 1609–1618.


Background

In July 1608, the
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...
concluded a truce with Vasily Shuisky, which was to last three years and 11 months.
Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Re ...
, who had discreetly supported the Dmitry from the beginning, had no intention of abiding by the concluded treaty, which was evidenced by the arrival in August 1608 in the camp of the second Dmitry of a faithful supporter of the king, the starost
Jan Piotr Sapieha Jan Piotr Sapieha (English: ''John Peter Sapieha'', 1569–1611) was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman, general, politician, diplomat, governor of Uświat county, member of the Parliament and a skilled commander of the Polish troops stationing in th ...
, who was the cousin of the Grand Chancellor of Lithuania Lev Sapieha. Russia, too, as early as the end of 1608 began to negotiate to ally with Sweden, which was at war with Poland at the time. Eventually, Vasily Shuisky concluded an alliance treaty with Sweden in February 1609, soon after the treaty with the Swedes, he began to make territorial claims against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and assumed the provocative title of Duke of Polotsk, although
Polotsk Polotsk () or Polatsk () is a town in Vitebsk Region, Belarus. It is situated on the Dvina River and serves as the administrative center of Polotsk District. Polotsk is served by Polotsk Airport and Borovitsy air base. As of 2025, it has a pop ...
belonged to Lithuania again after the Batory wars. For Sigismund III, this became an excellent pretext to start an official war. As a result of the treaty, the Swedish army joined the Russian army. Sigismund III Vasa, who had already decided to go to war with Russia in August 1608 and for this reason sought the support of Field Hetman
Stanisław Żółkiewski Stanisław Żółkiewski (; 1547 – 7 October 1620) was a Polish people, Polish szlachta, nobleman of the Lubicz coat of arms, a magnate, military commander, and Chancellor (Poland), Chancellor of the Polish Crown in the Polish–Lithuanian C ...
, who, in view of the vacancy in the position of Grand Hetman, was the supreme military commander in the Crown after the King. The king's intention was to win the tsarist crown for himself or his son Władysław, and then, after the combined forces of Russia and the Commonwealth, to regain control of his inheritance, Sweden, and to neutralise the Tartar-Turkish threat. Also important for the support of the war among the nobility, was the slogan of regaining the lands lost by Lithuania, to which the king had pledged himself in the pacta conventa. Another, propagandistic aim of the war was also to spread the Catholic religion in both conquered countries, especially important to gain support from the Pope and the Catholic monarchs of Europe. As a result,
Pope Paul V Pope Paul V (; ) (17 September 1552 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death, in January 1621. In 1611, he honored Galileo Galilei as a mem ...
declared an indulgence and jubilee for the royal victory. Zolkiewski opposed the war, as he believed that as long as the war with Sweden lasted, the state could not be involved in another conflict. Sigismund III did not raise the issue of a future war at the Sejm of January and February 1609; however, plans for it were widely known, the nobility passed new military regulations and also legally recognised the Orthodox Church in the Commonwealth. For this reason, the outbreak of war at the beginning of 1609 was decided only by the king with the senate, with the parliamentary chamber completely ignored. A side effect of such a state of affairs was the paucity of war preparations, as, lacking the support of the Sejm, the king could only organise an army based on his own financial resources. Żółkiewski, who had hitherto been opposed to the war, did not oppose it after the decision on the war was taken at a senate council; he was only in favour of hitting
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
, the capital of Russia, but was persuaded by the king's plans to capture
Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...
. The King went to war from Krakow on 28 May, and met Żółkiewski on 6 June in
Bełżyce Bełżyce is a town in eastern Poland, in the Lublin Voivodeship, in Lublin County, and about to the west of the city of Lublin. Bełżyce belongs to the historical region of Lesser Poland. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 6,290. ...
near
Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...
. King Sigismund III, who finally succeeded in winning Żółkiewski over to his plans, arrived in Minsk on 25 August. At that time Żółkiewski was marching through Brest Litewski and
Slonim Slonim is a town in Grodno Region, in western Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Slonim District. It is located at the junction of the Shchara and Isa (river), Isa rivers, southeast of Grodno. As of 2025, it has a population of ...
. Sigismund III set off from
Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...
and travelled through Borisov to Orsha, where Lew Sapieha was waiting for him with Lithuanian troops. Everyone in the camp was gushing with optimism, supposing that, in view of the prevailing chaos in Russia, Smolensk would not put up a stiff resistance. The Polish-Lithuanian army marched out of Orsha on 17 September. The Polish army crossed the official border with Russia after crossing the Ivara River on 21 September 1609. The Polish army, initially numbering 8500 horsemen (including 4342 hussars), grew steadily, reaching 17,000 at Smolensk. Later, the Polish-Lithuanian army was joined by a
Cossack The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Rus ...
army of about 20,000 Zaporozhians.


Siege


Polish assaults

In September 1609, the Polish army under the command of King
Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Re ...
(22,500 men: 4,000 infantry soldiers and 8,500 cavalry with 4,342 being the
Winged Hussars The Polish hussars (; ), alternatively known as the winged hussars, were an elite heavy cavalry formation active in Poland and in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1503 to 1702. Their epithet is derived from large rear wings, which were ...
and later to be joined by 10,000
Zaporozhian Cossacks The Zaporozhian Cossacks (in Latin ''Cossacorum Zaporoviensis''), also known as the Zaporozhian Cossack Army or the Zaporozhian Host (), were Cossacks who lived beyond (that is, downstream from) the Dnieper Rapids. Along with Registered Cossa ...
) approached Smolensk. The city was defended by the Russian
garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...
under the command of voyevoda Mikhail Borisovich Shein (over 5,400 men with 170 guns, 500 Swedes, and 14,600 inhabitants who volunteered). On 25–27 September, the invaders assaulted Smolensk for the first time with no result. Between 28 September and 4 October, the
Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...
were shelling the city and then decided to lay siege to it. On 19–20 July, 11 August, and 21 September, the Polish army attacked Smolensk for the second, third, and fourth time, but to no avail. The siege, the shelling, and the assaults alternated with fruitless attempts of the Polish army to persuade the citizens of Smolensk to capitulate. Negotiations in September 1610 and March 1611 did not lead anywhere. The largest
mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...
project at Smolensk came in December 1610; however, the Poles only managed to destroy a large portion of the outer wall, the inner walls remaining intact. The siege continued. At one point, the Polish guns breached the outer wall and the
voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...
of
Bracław Bratslav (, ; ) is a rural settlement in Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east a ...
ordered his soldiers to rush in; however, the Russians could see where the breach would come and had fortified that part of the wall with more people. Both sides were slaughtered, and the Poles were eventually beaten back.


Russian demise

The citizens of Smolensk had been coping with starvation and epidemic since the summer of 1610. The weakened Russian garrison (with only about 200 remaining soldiers) was not able to repel the fifth attack of the Polish army on 3 June 1611, when after the 20 months of siege the Polish army advised by the runaway traitor Andrei Dedishin, discovered a weakness in the fortress defence and on 13 June 1611 a Cavalier of Malta, , inserted a mine into a sewer canal and the succeeding explosion created a large breach in the fortress walls. was the first on the walls. The fortress fell on the same day, with the last stage taking place after violent street fighting when some 3,000 Russians citizens blew themselves up in the Assumption Cathedral. The wounded Mikhail Shein was taken prisoner and would remain a prisoner of Poland for the next 9 years.


Gallery

File:Sigismund III at Smolensk by Tommaso Dolabella.JPG, ''Sigismund III at Smolensk''. Tommaso Dolabella. File:Juliusz Kossak Odsiecz Smolenska.jpeg, ''The Relief of
Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...
'' by Polish forces during the Polish–Russian War (1609–1618). File:Medal of Sigismund III commemorating capture of Smolensk in 1611.PNG, Polish minted coin commemorating takeover of Smolensk in 1611. File:Smolensk defense 1609-1611 table.jpg, Plaque commemorating Anniversary of 300 years since ''"Smolensk Defense"'' on the wall of
Dormition Cathedral in Smolensk The Cathedral Church of the Dormition (), dominating the city of Smolensk, Russia, from Cathedral Hill, has been the principal church of the Smolensk bishopric for 800 years. Monomakh Cathedral The first brick church on the spot was started ...
. It mentions
Mikhail Shein Mikhail Borisovich Shein (, ) (late 1570s–1634) was a leading Russian general during the reign of Tsar Mikhail Romanov. Despite his tactical skills and successful military career, he ended up losing his army in a failed attempt to besiege Smol ...
, a Russian
voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...
.


Aftermath

Although it was a blow to lose Smolensk, it freed up Russian troops to fight the Commonwealth in Moscow, whereas Shein came to be considered a hero for holding out as long as he had. Smolensk would later become the place of a siege in 1612 and again in 1617.


See also

*
Time of Troubles The Time of Troubles (), also known as Smuta (), was a period of political crisis in Tsardom of Russia, Russia which began in 1598 with the death of Feodor I of Russia, Feodor I, the last of the Rurikids, House of Rurik, and ended in 1613 wit ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smolensk 1609-1611 Battles of the Polish–Russian War (1609–1618) Conflicts in 1609 Conflicts in 1610 Conflicts in 1611 Sieges involving the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Sieges involving the Tsardom of Russia Sieges involving Sweden Sieges of Smolensk 1609 in Russia 1610 in Russia 1611 in Russia