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The Battle of Orsha took place on September 8, 1514, between the forces of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Kingdom of Poland (less than 30,000 troops) under the joint command of hetman Konstanty Ostrogski and the army of Muscovy under Ivan Chelyadnin (Иван Челядин) and Mikhail Golitsa. It was part of a long chain of wars of Russian tsars striving to gather Ruthenian lands under their rule.6

The much smaller army of the Grand Duchy defeated the Muscovites and seized their camp, taking the enemy commander into captivity.

Eve of the battle

At the end of 1512 Muscovy started a new war for the Ruthenian lands of present-day Belarus and Ukraine that were a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The fortress of Smolensk was then the easternmost outpost of the Grand Duchy and one of the most important strongholds guarding it from the east. It successfuly managed to repel several Muscovite attacks, but in July 1514 Muscovy's army of 80,000 men and 300 guns besieged it and finally seized it. Some historians claim that the size of Muscovy's army was overstated, see Sect. "Disputed data" below.

Inspired by the initial success, the Grand Prince of Moscow Vasili III directed his troops further into Belarus, occupying the towns of Krychau, Mscislau, and Dubrouna. Meanwhile, the king Sigismund the Old managed to gather about 35,000 soldiers for the war with the eastern neighbour. It was inferior in numbers, yet composed mostly of the well-trained cavalrymen. Among the forces of Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Kingdom of Poland put under the command of Konstanty Ostrogski were:

• 16,000 horsemen of the Grand Duchy
• 14,000 Polish cavalry (both light and heavy)
• 3,000 mercenary infantry
• 2,500 volunteers, mostly from Bohemia.

After marching into Belarus the king with his 4,000-strong unit secured the town of Barysau, while the main forces moved to face the enemy. At the end of August several skirmishes took place at the river crossings over Berezina, Bobr and Druts, but the Muscovite army avoided confrontation.

After suffering negligible losses, the Muscovite army moved to the area between Orsha and Dubrouna on the river Krapiuna, where it set a camp. Ivan Chelyadnin, confident that the Lithuanian-Polish forces would have to cross one of the two bridges on the Dnepr, split his forces to guard the river crossings. However, the army of Ostrogski crossed the river further northwards via two pontoon bridges. At night of September 7 the army started preparations for the final battle with the Muscovites. Hetman Ostrogski put most of the 16,000 of Lithuanian (Litvin) horsemen in the center while most of the Poles and the auxiliary troops were placed on both sides. The Bohemian and Silesian infantry were dislocated in the centre of the line, in front of the reserves composed of Lithuanian and Polish cavalry.

Battle

On September 8, 1514, shortly after dawn, Chelyadnin ordered the attack. The Muscovian forces tried to outflank the PLC forces by attacking both flanks manned by the Polish soldiers. One of the pincers of the attack was led by Chelyadnin himself, while the other was commanded by prince Bulgakov-Golitsa. The initial attack failed and the Russians withdrew towards their starting positions, however Chelyadnin was still confident that the almost 3:1 odds will give him the victory. However, being involved on one of the wings of his forces, the Russia commander lost control over the other areas and failed to coordinate the defense against the counterattack of the Lithuanian cavalry, until then kept as a reserve.

The Lithuanian light horsemen attacked the overstretched centre of the Moscovian lines in order to break them in two. At the most crucial moment the horsemen of the Grand Duchy seemed to waver, stopped the assault and started a retreat. Muscovites started a pursuit with all cavalry reserves. After retreating back for several minutes, being chased by the Muscovian army, suddenly the horsemen turned to the sides. And there the Muscovian horsemen ended up in front of the artillery hidden in the forest. On both sides the Polish forces appeared and started to surround the Muscovites. Chelyadnin sounded the retreat that soon became somewhat panicky. The army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania chased them for five kilometers.

Among the reasons of defeat, repeated failures of Chelyadnin and Golitsa to coordinate their actions are mentioned.

According to later Polish chronicles, 30,000 Muscovites were killed in the Battle of Orsha. Additional 3,000 were taken captive, including Chelyadnin himself and 8 other commanders. In addition, the forces of Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Kingdom of Poland seized the Muscovian camp, as well as all 300 cannons.

Aftermath

Upset by the news of such a defeat, Muscovian Grand Prince Vasili III said that "prisoners are as good as the dead" and did not negotiate their return. The Battle of Orsha was one of the biggest battles in Europe in the 16th century. The forces of Ostrogski continued the pursuit of the routed Muscovite army and managed to retake most of the previously-taken castles. However, the forces of PLC were too depleted to successfuly besiege Smolensk before the winter. Also, Ostrogski did not reach the gates of Smolensk until late September, which gave Vasili III enough time to prepare the defence.

In December 1514 Konstanty Ostrogski triumphantly entered Vilnia. To commemorate the victory two Orthodox churches were erected: Church of the Holy Trinity and church of the Saint Nicholas, which are preserved to the modern day and are one of the most impressive pieces of Orthodox architecture.

The war between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Muscovy lasted until 1520. In 1522 a cease-fire was signed, in which the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was forced to surrender about one fourth of its Ruthenian possessions together with the city of Smolensk to Muscovy. Smolensk was not retaken until almost a century later, in 1611.

Disputed data

Because of the spectacular defeat, the data about the battle of Orsha was suppressed in Russian chronicles. Even reputabe historians of Russian Empire, such as Sergei Solovyev rely on foreign sources. On the other hand, King Sigismund tried to gain as much political advatage as possible from his victory. Therefore the actual data about the numbers of participants, prisoners and dead are questioned by some modern historians.

In particular, the size of Russian army of 80,000 is thought to be serously exaggerrated. Even Ivan the Terrible, who commanded a larger territory than his father, could never muster more than 40,000 troops, of whom 20% were newly-conquered Tatars and Finns. As a consequene, the number 30,000 of killed is also questioned.

As an indirect proof of exaggerration may be the fact that King Sigismund sent a letter Pope Leo X and other European courts claiming that his army killed 30,000 Muscovites and took prisoner 46 commanders with 1,500 nobles. At the same time, there exist Polish and Lithuanian lists that enumerate all captured nobles by name, 611 persons in all.

References

• The battle was described by Sigismund von Herberstein in his Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii (1549) (Notes on Muscovite Affairs).

• Battles
• Polish battles
• Russian wars
• Belarusian history
• Lithuanian history
• Polish history