Battle of Guzów

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Guzów
partof=The Zebrzydowski Rebellion


caption=
date=6 July 1607
place=Guzów, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
result=Royalist Victory
combatant1=Forces of the Zebrzydowski Rebellion
combatant2=Polish Royalists
commander1=Mikołaj Zebrzydowski and Janusz Radziwiłł
commander2=Polish Grand Crown Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski and Lithuanian Hetman Jan Karol Chodkiewicz
strength1=10,000 infantry and 600 cavalry
strength2=9,100 infantry, 3,200 cavalry, and 24 cannon
casualties1=200 total between the two armies
casualties2=200 total between the two armiesThe Battle of GuzówSometimes referred to as the "Battle at Oransk", which was probably a misspelling into English of the village Orońsko ( _pl. Orońsko) that is near Guzów. Orońsko is also the name of the "gmina" (the lowest level of territorial division in Poland) within which Guzów is located.] ( _pl. Bitwa pod Guzowem) took place on July 6 1607, at the village of Guzów in Szydłowiec County, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The confrontation was between the forces of the Zebrzydowski Rebellion (10,000 infantry and 600 cavalry under Mikołaj Zebrzydowski and Janusz Radziwiłł) against the Royalists supporting King Sigismund III Vasa (9,100 infantry, 3,200 cavalry, and 24 cannon), under the command of Polish Grand Crown Hetman (commander-in-chief) Stanisław Żółkiewski and the Lithuanian Hetman Jan Karol Chodkiewicz.

The "Zebrzydowski rebellion" was waged by a large number of Polish-Lithuanian nobles (szlachta) who had many grievances against the King; who, as a Swede, concerned himself regaining his Swedish throne. The Royal Army was originally sent to pacify the rebels. However, a full-scale battle ensued in the village, with 200 casualties, and it ended with the Royalists routing the rebellious factions.

During the next twelve months new "insurrections" burst forth all over the country; and peace was only last resorted by the proclamation (1609) of a general amnesty, which punished nobody and decided nothing. The growing unwillingness of the Grand Hetman Żółkiewski "to shed the blood of our brethren" was the cause of this unsatisfactory solution. The helpless King was obliged to concur, and henceforth abandoned all his projects of constitutional reform. [Bain, Robert N. (1908) Slavonic Europe: A Political History of Poland and Russia from 1447 to 1796, Cambridge University Press.]

2007 mention

A Polish politician resurrected this battle after 400 years in an interview on March 16, 2007, in "Rzeczpospolita", the opposition leader Jan Rokita, who was expected to win the September 25, 2005 elections [ [http://www.axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=392, Accessed on June 4, 2007.] ] in Poland, said:

In other words, the Battle of Guzów has to be repeated with the current government of President Lech Kaczyński defeating the opposition. The government will not accept that their position is wrong. However, in the long run, some of them will wise up and concede when none of their conservative plans are implemented.

Notes

As with many historical battles, the exact details of force composition, tactics, and the actual course of the battle are lacking and sometimes contradictory.

The area around the village of Guzów also saw action during World War I. See:
* [http://www.greatwardifferent.com/Great_War/Russian_Soldier/Night_Attack_01.htm Field Notes from the Russian Front by Stanley Washburn, "A Night Attack in a Snow-Storm", January 6, 1915] Accessed on May 28, 2007.
* [http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/warsaw1914_fortescue.htm Primary Documents: British Military Observer's Account of the German Attack on Warsaw, 1914] Accessed on May 28, 2007.
* [http://www.greatwardifferent.com/Great_War/Ivan_Ivanovitch/Ivan_Ivanovitch_01.htm "Ivan Ivanovitch the Truth about the Russian Soldier", May 1, 1915] Accessed on May 28, 2007.

References

* Grabowski, Radomir F. (2005) Guzów 5 VII 1607, Inforteditions:Zabrze, Poland