четверг, 10 января 2013 г.

Siege of Lachowitze, 20 March - 17 June 1660 (O.S.)

"Demonstratio aerea et Fortatij Lachowitz..."
Siege of Lachowitze, 20 March - 17 June 1660
(CLICK TO ENLARGE, size 1,7 MB)

Lithuanian garrison of Lachowitze was of 2 choragwies of Hungarian infantry, 3 choragwies of dragoon (totaled 450 men in 5 choragwies) & about 1,000-1,500 armed schlachta & their servants. In 1658 the fortress’s armament was of 30 cannons, incl. 1 25-pdr, 3 24-pdr, 6 18-pdr, 4 12-pdr, 1 11-pdr, 4 10-pdr, 1 6-pdr, 2 5-pdr, 3 3-pdr, & 5 of lesser calibers (link to Inventory of Lachowitze fortress in 1658). But a captive told that there were 47 cannons in Lachowitze during the siege.
Chowanski had about 7,500 with 25 cannons (2-6 pdr). His army consisted of 3 Reitar (D. v. Fizin, T. Boyt, M. Read – ab. 2,000-2,500 men), 4 Foot (Vasiliy Cunningham, Indrik Gulitc, Iwan Fliwerck, Eremei Rosform – about 1,600 men) & Dragoon (A. Forret – 500 men) regiments & 4 Novgorod & Pskov Streltzy (A. Pustoboyarov, G. Lynev, M. Volkov, S. Ohlebaev – about 1,200 men). The rest were Novgorod gentry & Polotck Schlachta.
Chowanski came to Lachowitze on 20 March 1660 (O.S.). On 26 March he made attempt of a night assault but was repulsed. Then Russians opened siege works & built entrenchments & batteries. Russians had cannons of small calibers & couldn’t make breeches in the walls. On 11 May Chowanski received reinforcements of 3 Prikazes of Moscow Streltzy (Vasili Pushechnikov, Timofei Poltev, Mikhail Oznobishin – ab. 1,500-2,000). On May 15 he made second assault but again was repulsed. On 26 May 1660 a corps under Semen Zmeev (2,400 men) came to Lachowitze, but the next day it was sent to Neswiz. On June 17 Chowanski lifted the siege & marched to Polonka.
The engraving “Demonstratio aera Arcis et Fortatij Lachowitze…” presents Russians position around Lachowitze & all major events during the siege (incl. 2 unsuccessful Russian assaults). The author is unknown. North is at the top of the map, south - at the down.
A – Fortress of Lachowitze.
B – River Wiedzma
C – Iwan Chowanski’s main camp
D – camp of voevoda Semen Sherbatov (Chowanski’s second-in-command)
E – camp of Cunnigham Foot.
F – Russian mounted patrols
G – Eleven Russian entrenchments (schantz) & batteries numbered I -XI
H – Russian siege works around Lachowitze
I – Iwan Chowanski with his suite during the assault on 26 March 1660 (O.S.)
K – Unsuccessful Russian attack on the south side of Lachowitze (second assault on 15 May 1660)
L – Dismounted Novgorod gentry in the second assault on 15 May 1660 (O.S.)
M – Stairs & fascines used by Russians at the assaults
N – Special siege tower made by Russians
O – Two mine galleries. Chowanski didn’t explode them because of a lack of powder. The train with the powder left Pskov to Lachowitze, but couldn’t have time to arrive before the Polonka battle. After Chowanski’s defeat the train returned to Pskov.
P – Sherbatov’s troops attacking Lachowitze’s walls
Q – Sherbatov’s troops marching to Lachowitze from the south
R – Russian assault on 26 March 1660 (O.S.). Early in the morning Russians mounted on the walls but were beaten-off with  
S – Polotck Schlachta participated in the assault on 26 March 1660 (O.S.)
T – Prikaz (regiment) of Moscow Streltzy in red dress. Three Prikazes of Moscow Streltzy (Vasili Pushechnikov, Timofei Poltev, Mikhail Oznobishin) joined Chowanski on 11 May of 1660 (O.S.) & participated in the second assault on 15 May 1660 (O.S.). Individual coat colors of these three regiments are unknown.
V Prikaz (regiment) of Moscow Streltzy in green dress. See T.
XPrikaz (regiment) of Moscow Streltzy in grey dress. See T.
Y – Virgin Mary
Z – Camp of Semen Zmeev’s Corps. It came to Lachowitze on 26 May 1660 (O.S.) & next day was sent to Neswiz.
Осада Ляхович войсками Ивана Хованского 20 марта - 17 июня 1660 г. (с.с.)
На сайте «История Военного Дела: исследования и источники» размещен материал И. Бабулина, посвященный осаде Ляхович Хованским и гравюре неизвестного автора, отобразившей основные события осады (ссылка). К сожалению, Бабулин использовал копию плохого качества,  у себя в блоге я вывесил гравюру в высоком разрешении (см в начале поста), на которой вы можете увидеть все детали. Пересказывать особо события данной осады я не буду, см. англоязычную часть поста и материал Бабулина. 
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5 комментариев:

  1. Vlad, what is source of estimate of garrison forces?
    Alongside cannons there was also 51 hook-guns (PL. hakownice) and 2 light 'śmigownice' cannons.
    Did Russian sources mentioned attemp of using magic by Chowański? ;)

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    1. Michal, thank you for the add-on. Garrison estimation is based on captives reports. The same is for artillery (47 cannons).

      I know about the Chowanski's wizard -). He built the medieval siege tower, see later N on the map -). It was the only his miracle -).

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  2. According to Polish source, wizard (miller from Horodyszcze) promised Chowański to curse all defenders' cannons and muskets, so they won't shoot :)
    I'm still wondering which units could be part of garrison's force. Stanisław Michał Judycki, who was commander of defence, wasn't 'rotmistrz' of any unit on Lithuanian army (although I double check it to be sure), 3 companies of dragoons could be Sapieha's. According to Lithuanian sources they were captured by Muscovites in battle at Prużany (Malcz) but maybe some of them survived and fled to Lachowicze?

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    1. I don't know details about troops of Lachowitze garrison. Maybe Kossarzecki or Bobiatynski have any?

      I saw a topic about Chowanski's troops in 1659-1660 campaign on Ogniem i Mieczem forum. I have additional info about his troops in the raid in Lithuania, at Lachowitze & Polonka. I will put it in the blog in some days.

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  3. I couldn't find any info in works written by those two.
    Any info about Chowański's troops will be great, as soon as You will post it here I will add link to topic on forum.

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