Battle of Zhovti Vody
Part of Khmelnytsky Uprising
Death of Stefan Potocki at the Battle of Zhovti Vody.
Date April 29-May 16, 1648 Location Zhovti Vody, Ukraine Result Cossack-Tatar victory
Combatants
Zaporozhian Cossack Army Crimean Tatars	Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Commanders
Bohdan Khmelnytsky Tuhaj Bej	Stefan Potocki Stefan Czarniecki
Strength
3 000 - 1 500 (half forces changed sides) [1]	8 000 - 15 000 (growing throughout the battle)[1]
Casualties
heavy	unknown

Battle of Zhovti Vody (Ukrainian: Жовтi Води, Polish: Żółte Wody, Russian: Желтые Воды; literally "yellow waters"), (April 29 to May 16, 1648^[1]) was the first significant battle of the Khmelnytsky Uprising. Near the site of the present-day city of Zhovti Vody in present-day south-central Ukraine, advance forces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth army met a numerically superior (1:10) force of Cossack and Crimean Tatar forces under the command of Bohdan Khmelnytsky. After the Registered Cossacks allied with the Commonwealth arrived and unexpectedly sided with Khmelnytsky, the Commonwealth forces were vanquished while attempting to retreat following the 18-day battle, only days before reinforcements were to arrive. Chmielnicki Uprising or Chmielnicki Rebellion is the name of a civil war in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the years 1648–1654. ... April 29 is the 119th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (120th in leap years). ... May 16 is the 136th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (137th in leap years). ... // Events January 17 - Englands Long Parliament passes the Vote of No Address, breaking off negotiations with King Charles I and thereby setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War. ... The Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to Sultan Mehmed IV of Turkey. ... The Crimean Khanate or the Khanate of Crimea (Crimean Tatar: ; Russian: - Krymskoye khanstvo; Ukrainian: - Krymske khanstvo; Turkish: ) was a Crimean Tatar state from 1441 to 1783. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Bohdan Zynovii Mykhailovych Khmelnytskyi (Ukrainian: Богдан Зиновій Михайлович Хмельницький, commonly transliterated as Khmelnytsky; known in Polish as Bohdan Zenobi Chmielnicki; in Russian as Богда́н Хмельни́цкий (Bogdan Khmelnitsky)) ( 1595 — August 6, 1657) was a famous and a somewhat controversial leader of the Zaporozhian Cossack Hetmanate, hetman of Ukraine. ... Noble Family Czarniecki Coat of Arms Łodzia Parents  ? Consorts  ? Children  ? Date of Birth 1599 Place of Birth Czarnce, Poland Date of Death July 18, 1665 Place of Death  ? Stefan Czarniecki, Stephen Czarniecki (1599-July 18, 1665) Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth general and nobleman (szlachcic). ... Chmielnicki Uprising or Chmielnicki Rebellion is the name of a civil war in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the years 1648–1654. ... Battle of Zboriv, also known as Battle of Zborów (August 15-August 16, 1649) was fought in the vicinity of Zboriv, as part of the Khmelnytsky Uprising, between a combined Cossack-Crimean force and an army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. ... Ivan Bogun fighting the Poles in the Battle of Berestechko. ... The Battle of Batoh was a battle in 1652 in which Polish forces under Marcin Kalinowski were defeated by Cossacks commanded by Hetman Bohdan Chmielnicki. ... April 29 is the 119th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (120th in leap years). ... May 16 is the 136th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (137th in leap years). ... // Events January 17 - Englands Long Parliament passes the Vote of No Address, breaking off negotiations with King Charles I and thereby setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War. ... Generally, a battle is an instance of combat in warfare between two or more parties wherein each group will seek to defeat the others. ... Chmielnicki Uprising or Chmielnicki Rebellion is the name of a civil war in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the years 1648–1654. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to Sultan Mehmed IV of Ottoman Empire. ... For Crimean Tatar ethos see Crimean Tatars For Crimean Tatar language and alphabet see Crimean Tatar language ... Bohdan Zynovii Mykhailovych Khmelnytskyi (Ukrainian: Богдан Зиновій Михайлович Хмельницький, commonly transliterated as Khmelnytsky; known in Polish as Bohdan Zenobi Chmielnicki; in Russian as Богда́н Хмельни́цкий (Bogdan Khmelnitsky)) ( 1595 — August 6, 1657) was a famous and a somewhat controversial leader of the Zaporozhian Cossack Hetmanate, hetman of Ukraine. ... Registered Cossacks (Polish: Kozacy rejestrowi) is the term used for Cossacks (mostly from the Zaporizhian Sich) who were part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth armies. ... Look up retreaet in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Before the battle

Around the 21-22 of April, 1648, word of an uprising had spread through the Commonwealth. Either because they underestimated the size of the uprising^[2], or because they wanted to act quickly to prevent it from spreading^[3], the Commonwealth's Hetmans Mikołaj Potocki and Marcin Kalinowski sent 3,000 soldiers under the command of Potocki's son, Stefan, deep into Cossack territory, without waiting to gather additional forces from prince Jeremi Wiśniowiecki. Stefan's force consisted of 2 chorągiews of dragoons, 1 unit of infantry (foreign mercenaries), and 11 chorągiews of cavalry (about 1150 people), with 1 of the cavalry chorągiews composed of the elite Winged Hussars; the rest of his force was composed of registered Cossacks. While this group traveled by land, an additional group was sent down the Dniepr river in boats and was to regroup with Stefan Potocki's forces. This group, under the command of Mykhailo Krychevsky, was composed almost entirely of registered Cossacks (it also had a small number of German dragoon mercenaries) and numbered at around 4,000.^[1] Hetman`s coat of arms Hetman StanisÅ‚aw Koniecpolski of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Hetman was the title of the second highest military commander (after the monarch) used in 15th to 18th century Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, known from 1569 to 1795 as the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. ... Noble Family Potocki Coat of Arms PiÅ‚awa Parents Jakub Potocki Jadwiga Prusinowska Consorts Zofia Firlej Elżbieta Kazanowska Children with Zofia Firlej Piotr Potocki Stefan Potocki MikoÅ‚aj Potocki Marianna Potocka Wiktoria Potocka Henryk Potocki with Elżbieta Kazanowska Jakub Potocki Joanna Potocka Dominik Potocki Date of Birth 1595... Noble family Kalinowski Coat of arms Kalinowa Parents Elżbieta StruÅ› Consorts HelenÄ… KoreckÄ… Children with HelenÄ… KoreckÄ… Samuel Kalinowski Date of birth c. ... The term prince (the female form is princess), from the Latin root princeps, when used for a member of the highest aristocracy, has several fundamentally different meanings — one generic, and several types of titles. ... Noble Family WiÅ›niowiecki Coat of Arms Korybut Parents MichaÅ‚ WiÅ›niowiecki Regina MohyÅ‚a Consorts Gryzelda Konstancja Zamoyska Children with Gryzelda Konstancja Zamoyska MichaÅ‚ WiÅ›niowiecki Date of Birth 1612 Place of Birth  ? Date of Death July 20, 1651 Place of Death PawoÅ‚cz, Poland Jeremi MichaÅ‚ WiÅ›niowiecki... A light dragoon from the American Revolution French dragoon, 1745. ... Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme in World War I. Infantry are soldiers who fight primarily on foot with small arms in organized military units, though they may be transported to the battlefield by horses, ships, automobiles, skis, or other means. ... Mercenary (disambiguation). ... ChorÄ…giew pancerna of rotmistrz Józef Hulewicz painted by Wojciech Kossak. ... Polish Hussar Hussar (original Hungarian spelling: huszár, plural huszárok) refers to a number of types of cavalry used throughout Europe since the 15th century. ... Registered Cossacks (Polish: Kozacy rejestrowi) is the term used for Cossacks (mostly from the Zaporizhian Sich) who were part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth armies. ... The Dnieper River (Belarusian: Дняпро/Dnyapro; Russian: Днепр/Dnepr; Ukrainian: Днiпро/Dnipro; Polish: Dniepr; Latin: Borysthenes, Danaper) is a river (2290 km length) which flows from Russia through Belarus and then Ukraine. ...

5,000 troops remained with Hetman Mikołaj Potocki while he attempted to gather local reinforcements from the various private armies of the local magnates as well as the pospolite ruszenie of the militant szlachta (Polish nobility).^[1] For a wealthy or powerful business baron, executive, or tycoon, see business magnate Magnate is a title of nobility commonly used in Sweden, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and some other medieval empires. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with levée en masse. ... Polish szlachcic. ...

Stefan's force arrived first at the rendezvous point. It is likely that Krychevsky, en route, contacted Bohdan Khmelnytsky, his old friend (who he helped to escape into Zaporizhian Sich a year earlier^[1]) and the leader of the uprising. Zaporizhian Sich or Zaporozhian Sech (Ukrainian: ,Zaporozka Sich) original Slavonic name Zaporizhska Sich was the center of the Cossacks of Zaporizhzhia. ...

The battle

Example of the tabor formation.

Map of the Commonwealth during the turbulent 1640s and 1650s. Enlarge for detailed view - Zhovti Vody (Żółte Wody) is the south-easternmost battle marked.

On April 28, 1648, Stefan Potocki's forces came upon Khmelnytsky's army in an area near the present-day city Zhovti Vody. Numbering only 3,000, the Commonwealth forces were greatly outnumbered at this point in comparison to Khmelnytsky's army of 8,000, which consisted of Cossacks as well as 3,000-4,000 Crimean Tatars under the command of Tuhaj Bej. Stefan Potocki (advised by Jacek Szemberk and Stefan Czarniecki^[1]) ordered his force to retreat and take on the defensive tabor formation, which allowed for a messenger to be sent to contact Hetman Mikołaj Potocki. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... This is an article on the city of Tabor in the Czech Republic. ... Download high resolution version (2000x1568, 373 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (2000x1568, 373 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article needs cleanup. ... The Crimean Tatars (Qırımtatar (aka Qırım, Qırımlı and Qırım türkü), Pl. ... Noble Family Czarniecki Coat of Arms Łodzia Parents  ? Consorts  ? Children  ? Date of Birth 1599 Place of Birth Czarnce, Poland Date of Death July 18, 1665 Place of Death  ? Stefan Czarniecki, Stephen Czarniecki (1599-July 18, 1665) Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth general and nobleman (szlachcic). ...

On May 4, 1648, instead of doubling the Commonwealth's forces at Zhovti Vody, Mykhailo Krychevsky's 4,000 registered cossacks arrived and sided with Khmelnytsky; in the process of changing allegiances, Cossacks who elected to remain loyal to Potocki were cut down, as well as the German dragoons in their midst. The next day, Stefan Potocki saw his already undermanned force of 3,000 halved to 1,500, when the registered cossacks who arrived with Stefan also joined the uprising. Polkovnyk (colonel) Ivan Hanzha is recognized as having been instrumental in swaying his fellow registered cossacks over to Khmelnytsky's side. At this point, Khmelnytsky's army swelled to 15,000 (further reinforced by local cossacks joining the uprising).^[1] This article is actively undergoing a major edit. ... Colonel (IPA: or ) is a military rank of a commissioned officer, with the corresponding ranks existing in nearly every country in the world. ...

The Commonwealth army managed to hold off from being overrun. On May 13, 1648, Khmelnytsky met with representatives of Stefan Potocki, who debated turning over their artillery in exchange for safe passage. With negotiations breaking down, Potocki decided to leave the artillery and escape under the cover of darkness on the night of May 15. The Commonwealth forces were surprised by a hail of arrows from Tuhaj Bej's Tatar forces, which diverted their escape route towards the nearby fortified village of Kniazhi Bairaky (Ukrainian: Княжі Байраки, Polish: Kryłów). There the combined forces of Tatar horsemen and cossacks under the command of Khmelnytsky's First Polkovnyk Maksym Olshansky (nee "Crook-nose", Kryvonis, or Perebyinis) overwhelmed Potocki's tabor formation and thoroughly routed the fleeing force. Historically, artillery (from French artillerie) refers to any engine used for the discharge of projectiles during war. ...

Hetman Mikołaj Potocki, who had received word on May 3, 1648, of the his son's plight, could not move his forces in time to reinforce the Commonwealth's position, with his forces getting to within 100km from the site of the battle.^[1]

Aftermath

The majority of the Commonwealth forces either died in battle or were killed shortly thereafter. Stefan Potocki was wounded, taken prisoner of war and died from gangrene on May 19, 1648. His advisor, Stefan Czarniecki, was also taken prisoner, although he managed to escape soon thereafter (and went on to become one of Poland's greatest military commanders). Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... Gangrene is necrosis and subsequent decay of body tissues caused by infection or thrombosis or lack of blood flow. ...

Bolstered by their victory, the Cossack and Tatar forces engaged and defeated the forces of Hetman Mikołaj Potocki at the Battle of Korsuń.

In popular culture

The battle was very inaccurately portrayed in the 1999 film With Fire and Sword by Polish film director Jerzy Hoffman. Although the film paid much attention to historical details, the attempt to summarize the week-long battles in few minutes meant that the battle as shown in the movie - reduced to the failed hussar's charge - had little in common with what has really happened, especially as the hussar forces in reality proved to be the backbone of Polish resistance during this 18-day battle.^[1] Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ... Ogniem i mieczem (English: With Fire and Sword) is a historical movie created by the film director Jerzy Hoffman based on a novel by Henryk Sienkiewicz. ... The film director, on the right, gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, whilst filming a costume drama on location in London. ... Jerzy Hoffman (born on 1932 in Kraków, Poland) is a Polish film director and screenwriter. ...

References

External links

• (Polish) Żółte Wody 1648.
• (Ukrainian) Military strategy of Bohdan Khmelnytsky