Battle of Cecora (1620)

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Not to be confused with Battle of Cecora (1595).

Battle of Cecora
Part of the
Prut River, Moldavia
Result Ottoman victory[1]
Belligerents Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Moldavia
Transylvania
Commanders and leaders Stanisław Żółkiewski  †
Stanisław Koniecpolski
Gaspar Graziani
Gabor Bethlen
Strength 9,000 Commonwealth troops[2]
600–1,000 Moldavian troops 20,000 Ottoman troops[2] to 60,000[3]: 344 Casualties and losses Majority killed or captured. Unknown

The Battle of Cecora (also known as the Battle of Țuțora) took place during the

Prut River.[4]
: 568 

Prelude

Because of the failure of Commonwealth

Treaty of Busza by both sides (as Cossacks and Tatars continued their raids across the borders), relations between the Ottomans and the Commonwealth rapidly deteriorated in early 1620. Both sides began preparing for war, as neither was quite ready for it at the time. The Ottomans declared war against Poland in 1620 and planned to attack in the spring of 1621.[3]: 341  The Commonwealth Sejm denied most funds the hetmans had asked for. The Senate's secret council finally decided, convinced by the Habsburgs' representative, to contribute the Commonwealth forces in 1620—even though many members of the Sejm thought that Polish–Lithuanian forces were neither sufficient nor fully prepared. Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski, 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), foresaw the coming confrontation with the Ottoman Empire and decided to meet Ottoman troops on foreign soil, Moldavia being the obvious choice.[5] However, the sultan sent Iskender Pasha to Moldavia to remove Hospodar Gaspar Graziani, who had allied himself with Poland.[3]
: 341 

estates against pillaging by undisciplined Commonwealth magnates' troops, others decided to wait and see what the outcome appeared to be so they could join the winning side, and others joined the Turks.[3]
: 344  Consequently, only about 600–1000 rebel Moldavian troops appeared in the Commonwealth camp. Żółkiewski ordered the army to proceed to the fortified camp (standing from previous wars) at Cecora.

Battle

Tatar warriors of the Crimean Khanate
during the Battle of Cecora (1620)

On 10 September, near Țuțora (close to Iași, Romania), the Commonwealth army encountered the

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 also ran. This was a prelude of things to come. Consecutive attacks during the retreat (including a particularly violent one on 3 October) were repelled, but troop units started disintegrating as soon as soldiers caught sight of the Dniester
and the Polish–Lithuanian border.

During another heavy assault on 6 October, most of the magnates and nobles broke and fled north,

Society of Jesus, who stood by his side (7 October).[7] Żółkiewski's head was mounted on a pike and sent to the sultan; Duke Korecki, having often meddled in Moldavian territories, was executed in prison in Constantinople.[citation needed
]

In the face of such an important victory, advised by grand vizier Ali Pasha and Gabriel Bethlen, Osman II decided that he could reinforce his rule or even extend it. Alexandru Iliaș was appointed as the ruler of Moldavia, the rebel Graziani having been killed during his flight on 29 September.

Aftermath

Between 1,000 and 1,500 Commonwealth men survived the battles, while the Tatars moved into

Wołyń and eastern Lesser Poland.[3]
: 344 

In 1621 an army of 200,000–250,000 Ottoman veterans, led by Osman II, advanced from

Cossack supporters and entrenched himself at the Chocim (Khotyn) Fortress, blocking the path of the slow Ottoman march. During the Battle of Khotyn, for more than a month (2 September – 9 October 1621), the Commonwealth hetman held the sultan at bay until the first autumn snow. The lateness of the season and the loss of approximately 40,000 men in battle compelled Osman II to initiate negotiations. A few days before the siege was to be lifted, on 24 September, the aged grand hetman died of exhaustion in the fortress. The battle was a stalemate and the resulting Treaty of Khotyn
reflected it, providing some concessions to the Commonwealth but meeting some Ottoman demands.

Osman II blamed the stalemate of war on the lack of zeal and the "degeneracy" of the

Janissaries. His efforts at modernizing the Ottoman army were not well received by the Janissaries and the conservative "learned" class. A revolt led by Janissaries and the students of the madrases
erupted on 18 May 1622 and Osman II was deposed, and two days later he was killed by the rebels.

Commemoration

The Battle of Cecora is commemorated on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Warsaw, with the inscription "CECORA 18 – 29 IX 1620".

See also

  • Magnate wars in Moldavia

Notes and references

  1. Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia
    , Vol. I, ed. Alexander Mikaberidze, (ABC-CLIO, 2011), 237.
  2. ^ a b Battle of Cecora (1620), Alexander Mikaberidze, Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia, Vol. I, 237.
  3. ^
    ISBN 1895571286
  4. ISBN 9781851096671
  5. ^ There are several accounts that Żółkiewski was sent to relieve the Habsburgs from the very beginning. Iskender Pasha, during his talks with Żółkiewski at Ţuţora, confirmed that was sent to support Bethlen, not to fight the Commonwealth.
  6. ^ Czesław Miłosz (1983). The History of Polish Literature. University of California Press, p. 113.
  7. ^ "Histoire du roi Jean Sobieski et du royaume de Pologne" [History of King John Sobieski and of the Polish Kingdom]. Paris: Didier. 1855.

Further reading

  • Podhorodecki, Leszek (1978). Stanisław Koniecpolski ok. 1592–1646. Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej, pp. 65–100

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Battle of Cecora (1620).

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