Battle of Siritsa River

The Battle of Siritsa River was a battle that took place between the forces of the Livonian Order under Grand Master Wolter von Plettenberg on the one side and the forces of Muscovy and Pskov on the other. The Russian forces were soundly defeated.

The battle took place on 27 August 1501 on the Siritsa River 10 km from Izborsk, on the western approaches to Pskov. In the battle, the Livonian army of some 4,000 mounted troops and 4,000 infantry defeated a Muscovite army of 40,000 troops (drawn from the cities of Moscow, Novgorod and Tver as well as from Pskov - which was not formally part of Muscovy until 1510) in large part due to the Orders formidable artillery park and the Russians' significant shortage of guns of any kind. [Richard Hellie, "Enserfment and Military Change in Muscovy" (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971), 156; Michael C. Paul, "The Military Revolution in Russia 1550-1682," "The Journal of Military History" 68. No. 1 (Jan. 2004), 20, 27.]

The Pskovian regiment attacked the Livonians first but was thrown back. The Livonian artillery then destroyed the remainder of the Muscovite army despite Russian attempt to reply with their own, insufficient, artillery force.

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