Battle of Ţuţora (1620)

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Ţuţora


caption="Death of Hetman Żółkiewski in the Battle of Cecora", by Walery Eljasz-Radzikowski
partof=the Moldavian Magnate Wars and Polish-Ottoman War (1620–1621)
date=17 September-7 October, 1620
place=near Ţuţora and Prut river, Moldavia
result=Ottoman Victory
combatant1=Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Moldavia
combatant2=Ottoman Empire
Crimean Khanate
Wallachia
commander1=Stanisław Żółkiewski †
Stanisław Koniecpolski Gaspar Graziani
commander2=Iskander Pasha
Khan Temir
strength1=~ 10,000
strength2=~ 13,000 - 22,000
casualties1=High
casualties2=Unknown

The Battle of Ţuţora (also known as "Battle of Cecora") was a battle between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (assisted by Moldavian troops) and Ottoman forces (backed by Nogais), fought from September 17 to October 7, 1620 in Moldavia, near the Prut river.

Prelude to battle

Because of the failure of Commonwealth diplomatic mission to Istanbul, and violations of the Treaty of Busza by both sides (as Cossacks and Tatars continued their raids across the borders), relations between the Ottomans and the Commonwealth plummeted in early 1620. Both sides began preparing for war, with neither being ready at the moment. The Ottomans planned for a war in 1621, while the Commonwealth Sejm denied most funds the hetmans had asked for. The Senate's secret council finally decided, convinced by the Habsburgs' representative, to send the Commonwealth forces in 1620 - even though many members of the Sejm thought that Polish forces were neither sufficient nor fully prepared. Hetman Stanisław Żólkiewski, who was by then over 70 years old (as Commonwealth policy didn't allow for a possibility of forced retirement from government offices such as that of hetman), foreseeing the coming confrontation with Ottoman Empire, decided to meet Turkish troops on foreign soil, Moldavia being the obvious choice¹.

Hetmans Zółkiewski and Koniecpolski led the army to Ţuţora ("Cecora" in Polish sources), a commune in Iaşi county, Romania) to fight the Horde of Khan Temir (Kantymir). The army numbered over 10,000 (2,000 infantry and almost no Cossaks cavalry) with many regiments being made up of the private forces of magnates Koreckis, Zasławskis, Kazanowskis, Kalinowskis and Potockis. The army entered Moldavia in September. The Moldavian ruler, hospodar Gaspar Graziani, nominally vassal of the Ottoman Empire, decided to support the Commonwealth against the Ottomans. Graziani killed janissaries in Iaşi, imprisoned envoys of Sultan Osman II (who had requested his deposal and escorting to Istanbul) and had wanted to flee, but, forced by Żółkiewski, joined his troops to the Polish camp. However, many of the Moldavian boyars dispersed in order to defend their own estates against pillaging by undisciplined Commonwealth magnates' troops, and others decided to wait for an outcome and join the winning side. In consequence, only a few hundred (600-1000) Moldavian supporters appeared in the Commonwealth camp. Żółkiewski ordered the army to proceed to the fortified camp (standing from previous wars) at Cecora.

The battle

On the 10 September, near Ţuţora, the Commonwealth army encountered the Tatar and Ottoman forces, with wallachian contingents (13,000-22,000), which had been sent by the Ottoman sultan to help Gabriel Bethlen in his struggle against the Habsburgs. The Tatar force took Commonwealth defenders by surprise, taking many prisoners. During the first day of fight (the 18th), most of the Moldavians decided to switch sides, and quickly attacked the Polish flank. Mercenaries, private troops and their magnate leaders, were lacking in discipline and morale. Stanisław Koniecpolski commanded the right flank of the Commonwealth forces during the ensuing battle. On 19 September, it had become clear that Polish forces were defeated, although still managing to hold their positions; Koniecpolski prevented the army from disintegrating on 20/21 September. On 29 September, Commonwealth forces had broken through Ottoman ranks with tabor wagon trains and started their retreat. However, after Graziani bribed some magnates, units of private troops begun to flee and some mercenary cavalry panicked and run away. This was a prelude on things to come. Consecutive attacks during the retreat (such as the violent one on 3 October) were repelled, only for troops to start disintegrating as soon as soldiers caught sight of the Dniester and the Polish border.

During another large assault on the 6 October, most of the magnates and nobles started to flee north, leaving infantry and camp. Thus, they sealed the fate of the whole expedition: most of the Polish troops got killed or were captured. In the ensuing battle, Żólkiewski was killed and Koniecpolski and many others (Samuel Korecki, Mikolaj Struś, Mikołaj Potocki, Jan Żółkiewski, Łukasz Żołkiewski), Stanisław "Rewera" Potocki and Bohdan Khmelnytsky were taken captive. Żółkiewski's head was mounted on a pike and sent to the sultan; duke Korecki, having often meddled in Moldavian territories, was soon murdered in the Istanbul prison.

In the face of such an important victory, advised by grand vizier Ali Pasha and Gabriel Bethlen, Osman II decided that he could crash "Gavurs" and extend his rule to the Baltic Sea (or at least conquer the whole of Ukraine from Poland). The Sultan soon nominated Alexandru Iliaş as ruler of Moldavia, Graziani having been killed during his flight on 29 September.

Aftermath

In 1621, an army of 200,000 to 250,000 Turkish veterans, led by Osman II, advanced from Adrianople towards the Polish frontier. The Turks, following their victory in the Battle of Cecora, had high hopes of conquering Ukraine - then part of Poland. The Polish commander Jan Karol Chodkiewicz crossed the Dniester in September 1621 with approximately 35,000 soldiers and Cossack supporters and entrenched the Khotyn Fortress, blocking the path of the Ottoman march. It was here that, for a whole month (2 September to 9 October), the Commonwealth hetman held the sultan at bay, up until the first autumn snow (Battle of Khotyn). The deaths of approximately 40,000 of his men compelled Osman to withdraw. A few days before the siege was raised, the aged grand hetman died of exhaustion in the fortress on September 24, 1621.Chodkiewicz wasn't the only one to die as a result. Sultan Osman himself paid the highest price for the failure of his plans. After the tides turned, the defeat and subsequent retreat of Ottoman armies, coupled with internal matters, triggered the rebellion of janissaries in 1622, during which Osman II was murdered.

Notes

# There are several accounts that Żółkiewski was sent to relieve the Habsburgs from the very beginning. Iskander Pasha, during his talks with Żółkiewski at Ţuţora, confirmed that was sent to support Bethlen, not to fight the Commonwealth.

See also

* Magnate wars in Moldavia

Further reading

* Podhorodecki, Leszek (1978). "Stanisław Koniecpolski ok. 1592–1646". Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej. ISBN B0000E946H, p. 65-100