Battle of Konotop: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Battle during the Russo-Polish War}}

{{Otherfor|the usesbattle in 2022|Battle of Konotop (2022)}}

| coordinates = {{Coord|51.2224|N|33.1585|E|source:ruwiki_region:UA|format=dms|display=ti}}

| map_type = Ukraine#European Russia

| map_relief = 1

| combatant1 = [[File:Giray tamga grayscale.svg|20px]] [[Crimean Khanate]]<br/>[[File:Herb Viyska Zaporozkoho.svg|20px]] [[Cossack Hetmanate|Cossacks of Ivan Vyhovsky]]

| combatant2 = [[File:Flag of Russia.svg|25px]] [[Russian Tsardom]]<br/>[[File:Herb Viyska Zaporozkoho.svg|20px]] [[Cossack Hetmanate|Cossacks of Ivan Bezpaly]]

| commander2 = [[Alexey Trubetskoy]]<br/>[[:ru:Пожарский, Семён Романович|Semyon Pozharsky]]{{executed}}<br/>[[Semyon Lvov]]<br/>[[Ivan Bezpaly]]

| strength1 = 30,000–35,000 Crimean Tatars<ref name=Davies130/><ref>Бабулин И. Б. Битва под Конотопом. 28 июня 1659 года. – М.: Цейхгауз, 2009. – {{ISBN|978-5-9771-0099-1}}. С. 15</ref><br/>16,000 Cossacks<ref>Бульвінський А. Г. Конотопська битва 1659 р. // Український історичний журнал. – К., 1998, № 3. C. 77</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">Бабулин И. Б. Битва под Конотопом. 28 июня 1659 года. – М.: Цейхгауз, 2009. – {{ISBN|978-5-9771-0099-1}}. C. 13</ref><br/>1500–3000 mercenaries<ref>Бабулин И. Б. Битва под Конотопом. 28 июня 1659 года. – М.: Цейхгауз, 2009. – {{ISBN|978-5-9771-0099-1}}. C. 14</ref><br/>4,000 garrison troops in Konotop<ref name="{{sfn|Davies B. L 1700. P. 128">Davies B. L. Warfare, state and society on the Black Sea steppe, 1500–1700. – Routledge, UK: Taylor & Francis, |2007. – P. |pp=128–131. – {{ISBN|978-0-415-23986-8}}</ref><ref>Бабулин И. Б. Битва под Конотопом. 28 июня 1659 года. – М.: Цейхгауз, 2009. – С. 13–16. – {{ISBNsfn|Babulin|978-5-9771-0099-1}}</ref><ref>Бабулин И. Б. Битва под Конотопом. 28 июня 1659 года. – М.: Цейхгауз, 2009. – {{ISBN|978pp=13-5-9771-0099-114}}. C. 13–14</ref>

| strength2 = 28,600 Russians<ref name=Davies130>Davies B. L. Warfare, state and society on the Black Sea steppe, 1500–1700. – Routledge, UK: Taylor & Francis, 2007. – {{ISBNsfn|978-0-415-23986-8Davies|2007|p=130}}. P. 130</ref><ref>Бабулин И. Б. Битва под Конотопом. 28 июня 1659 года. – М.: Цейхгауз, 2009. – {{ISBNsfn|Babulin|978-5-9771-0099-1}}. С. 13</ref><ref>Бабулин И. Б. Князь Семён Пожарский и Конотопская битва. – Институт Российской истории РАН. – СПб.: Русская симфония, 2009. – {{ISBN|978-5-91041-047-7p=13}}. C. 69</ref><ref name="Piotr Kroll 2010">Piotr Kroll. Iwan Wyhowski // Hetmani zaporoscy w służbie króla i Rzeczypospolitej / P. Kroll, M. Nagielski, M. Wagner. – Zabrze: Infort Editions, 2010. S. 271–273</ref><br/>6,660 Cossacks<ref name="ReferenceA">Бабулин И. Б. Битва под Конотопом. 28 июня 1659 года. – М.: Цейхгауз, 2009. – {{ISBNsfn|Babulin|2009|978-5-9771-0099-1p=13}}. C. 13</ref><ref name="Davies B. L 1700. P. 128">Davies B. L. Warfare, state and society on the Black Sea steppe, 1500–1700. – Routledge, UK: Taylor & Francis, 2007. – P. 128–131. – {{ISBNsfn|978Davies|2007|pp=130-0-415-23986-8131}}</ref><ref>Новосельский А. А. Борьба Московского государства с татарами во второй половине XVII века // Исследования по истории эпохи феодализма (Научное наследие). – М.: Наука, 1994. – С. 25. – 221 с. – {{ISBN|5-02-008645-2}}.</ref><ref name="ReferenceB">Смирнов Н. В. Как под Конотопом упадок учинился… (мифы и реальность) // Труды по русской истории. Сборник статей в память о 60-летии И. В. Дубова. – М.: Парад, 2007. – С. 334–353</ref>

| casualties1 = 3,000–6,000 Crimean Tatars<ref>Бабулин И. Б. Битва под Конотопом. 28 июня 1659 года. – М.: Цейхгауз, 2009. – {{ISBNsfn|978-5-9771-0099-1Babulin|2009|p=36}}. C. 36</ref><br/>4,000 Cossacks<ref>Бульвінський А. Г. Конотопська битва 1659 р. // Український історичний журнал. – К., 1998, № 4. – С. 35</ref>

| casualties2 = '''Official Russian data:'''<br/> 4,769 Russian troops<ref name="Piotr Kroll 2010">Piotr Kroll. Iwan Wyhowski // Hetmani zaporoscy w służbie króla i Rzeczypospolitej / P. Kroll, M. Nagielski, M. Wagner. – Zabrze: Infort Editions, 2010. S. 271–273</ref><ref name="Davies B. L 1700. P. 131">Davies B. L. Warfare, state and society on the Black Sea steppe, 1500–1700. Routledge, UK: Taylor & Francis, 2007. P. 131</ref>{{sfn|Babulin|2009|p=37}}<br>2,000 Cossacks<ref name="ReferenceCReferenceB">{{inСмирнов lang|ru}}Н. В. Как под Конотопом упадок учинился… (мифы и реальность) // Труды по русской истории. Сборник статей в память о 60-летии И. В. Дубова. – М.: Парад, 2007. – С. 334–353</ref><ref>Бабулин И. Б. Битва под Конотопом. 28 июня 1659 года. – М.: Цейхгауз, 2009. – {{ISBN|978-5-9771-0099-1}}. С. 3723–24</ref>

The situation having escalated that far, open hostilities followed. Skirmishes and attacks occurred in different towns and regions throughout the country, the most prominent of which was the capture of [[Konotop]] by Cossacks of the [[Nizhyn]] and [[Chernihiv]] Regiments headed by [[Hryhoriy Hulyanytsky]], a [[Polkovnyk|colonel]] of Nizhyn. In the spring of 1659 a Russian army of 28,600 men according to documents of [[Razryadny prikaz]]<ref name="babulin">Бабулин И.Б. Битва под Конотопом. 28 июня 1659 года – М.: Цейхгауз, 2009</ref><ref name="Skepsis">[http://scepsis.ru/library/id_2155.html Собрание списков разрядных полков. Николай Смирнов. «Как под Конотопом упадок учинился...» (мифы и реальность). Научно-просветительский журнал «Скепсис»]</ref> or 100,000–150,000 according to "The Сhronicle of the Witness" and [[Sergey Solovyov (historian)|Sergey Solovyov]]<ref name=Solovyov>[http://www.magister.msk.ru/library/history/solov/solv11p1.htm The Reign of Tsar Alexi Mikhailovich. (Solovyov S. М.)]</ref> was dispatched to Ukraine to assist Romodanovsky. The latter numbers are being criticized by modern historians as exaggerated.<ref name="davies">Brian L. Davies. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=XH4hghHo1qoC&pg=PA130&lpg=PA130&dq=Ivan+Bespalyi&source=bl&ots=HfYNOcz4jF&sig=eKmFim6GGfT4gkxK88HlPq_Xal4&hl=en&ei=cDzISuzXEonllQfF3JWSAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2#v=onepage&q=30%2C000%20Muscovites+Muscovites&fpg=falsePA130 Warfare, state and society on the Black Sea steppe, 1500–1700]''. Routledge, UK. {{ISBN|978-0-415-23986-8}}. P. 130</ref>

[[File:Konotop coin.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Commemorative coin of 10 [[Ukrainian hryvnia|UAH]]₴10 issued for the 350th anniversary of the Battle of Konotop]]

::''{{quote|The bloom of Moscow's cavalry, troops that happily accomplished campaigns of year 54 and 55 have perished in one day – the victors got only about 5000 captive. The unfortunate were led onto an open space and slaughtered like lambs – that was the agreement between the [[Crimean Khanate|Crimean Khan]] and the [[hetman]] of the [[Zaporozhian Host|Zaporozhian Cossacks]]! Never again was the [[tsar]] of Moscow able to master an army that strong. In mourning clothes showed himself [[Alexis I of Russia|Alexei Mikhailovich]] to the people and the terror seized Moscow. The blow was so hard because it was unexpected, and it followed such illustrious successes! It was only recently that Dolgoruki brought to Moscow a captured Lithuanian hetman, only recently was everyone talking about successes of [[Ivan Andreyevich Khovansky (Taratui)|Khovansky]] – and now Trubetskoy, for whom everyone had hopes higher than for others, and who was "a man devout and graceful, in military affairs skilled and a fright for a foe" – has ruined such a huge army! After capture of so many towns, after capture of the Lithuanian capital the royal city trembled for its own security: in August by tsar's decree people of all ranks hurried to build fortifications around Moscow. Often the tsar and the boyars were present themselves during the construction; people from outlying areas, their families with meagre belongings filled Moscow, and a rumour spread that the tsar was leaving to beyond the [[Volga]] and [[Yaroslavl]]''.<ref name=Solovyov/>}}

Solovyev’s emotional description, however, is challenged by modern historians, who point to the fact that his judgement is true only in the sense that at least 259 of those lost in the battle were officers or men of Moscow rank,<ref name="Davies B. L 1700. P. 131">Davies B. L. Warfare, state and society on the Black Sea steppe, 1500–1700. Routledge, UK: Taylor & Francis, 2007. P. 131</ref> and that the Russian army was much smaller than Solovyov and other historians who followed Polish declarations believed it to be.<ref>Davies B. L. Warfare, state and society on the Black Sea steppe, 1500–1700. Routledge, UK: Taylor & Francis, 2007. P. 130</ref> The overall Russian casualties revealed by 17th-century archive documents of the Ambassadors’ Chancellery were 4,769 men: 2,830 of L’vov’s and Pozharskii’s forces sent across the Sosnovka and 1,896 lost during the attacks on Trubetskoy’s [[Wagenburg (wagon fort)|wagenburg]].<ref name="Davies B. L 1700. P. 131">Davies B. L. Warfare, state and society on the Black Sea steppe, 1500–1700. Routledge, UK: Taylor & Francis, 2007. P. 131</ref><ref name="ReferenceC">{{in lang|ru}} Бабулин И. Б. Битва под Конотопом. 28 июня 1659 года. М.: Цейхгауз, 2009. С. 37</ref> In a number of Polish<ref>Археографический сборник документов, относящихся к истории Северо-Западной Руси. – Вильна, 1870. – Т. 7. № 87. – С. 114–115</ref> and Ukrainian<ref>[http://litopys.org.ua/samovyd/sam02.htm Літопис Самовидця. – К.: Наукова думка, 1971]</ref> narrative sources the overall strength of the Russian army is estimated at 100,000–150,000 men, while its casualties are claimed to be 30,000–50,000, and it is declared that such prominent Russian commanders as Grigory Romodanovsky,<ref>Бабулин И. Б. Битва под Конотопом. – С. 30</ref><ref>Мицик Ю. А. Додатки. № 1. 1659, липня 11. – Табір під Конотопом. – Лист гетьмана Івана Виговьского до коронного обозного Анджея Потоцького. // Гетьман Іван Виговський. – С. 68</ref> Andrey Buturlin,<ref>Бабулин И. Б. Битва под Конотопом. – С. 38</ref> Artamon Matveyev,<ref name="ReferenceD">Бабулин И. Б. Битва под Конотопом. – С. 38–39</ref> and Venedikt Zmeyev<ref name="ReferenceD"/> all perished in the battle. These claims were uncritically accepted by 19th-century scholars, such as the aforementioned Sergey Solovyov,<ref>[http://www.magister.msk.ru/library/history/solov/solv11p1.htm Соловьёв С. М. История России с древнейших времён. Глава 1. Продолжение царствования Алексея Михайловича]</ref> and are still popular among Ukrainian historians. For example, A. Bulvinsky concluded in his publication that both sides lost 40,000 men in the Battle of Konotop.<ref>Бульвінський А. Г. Конотопська битва 1659 р. // Український історичний журнал. – К., 1998, № 4. – С. 41</ref> These claims have been criticized in detail by Western<ref name="Davies B. L 1700. P. 128"/> and Russian<ref>Малов А. В. Сражение под Конотопом и участие выборных полков в ликвидации последствий Конотопского поражения 1659 г. // Московские выборные полки солдатского строя в начальный период своей истории 1656–1671 гг. – М.: Древлехранилище, 2006. – С. 440–453</ref><ref name="scepsis.net">[http://scepsis.net/library/id_2155.html Смирнов Н. В. Как под Конотопом упадок учинился… (мифы и реальность) // Труды по русской истории. Сборник статей в память о 60-летии И. В. Дубова. – М.: Парад, 2007. – С. 334–353]</ref><ref>Бабулин И. Б. Битва под Конотопом. – С. 36–45</ref> historians as heavily exaggerated, the criticism has been supported by the Polish expert Piotr Kroll.<ref name="Piotr Kroll 2010"/> It was noted that "judging by the marks on the sheets of the used documents from the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts, [Bulvinsky] knew many Russian documents on the Konotop battle. However, he decided to use only one of them, one that has nothing to do with the battle of 28 June 1659".<ref name="scepsis.net"/> In order to have a 150,000-men-strong army at Konotop, Russia would have had to send all of its military forces to one place, leaving no troops behind, since the overall strength of the Russian armed forces according to the annual estimate of 1651 was 133,210 men in total, including 39,408 noblemen and boyars' sons, 44,486 [[streltsy]] troops, 21,124 Cossacks, 8,107 [[dragoons]], 9113 Tatars, 2371 Ukrainians, 4245 artillerymen, 2707 foreigners, and Zasechnaya guard.<ref>Чернов А. В. Вооружённые силы Русского государства в XV–XVII вв. – М.: Воениздат, 1954. – С. 167–168.</ref> Furthermore, documentary evidence makes it clear that Romodanovsky, Buturlin,<ref>Половцов А. А. Русский биографический словарь: В 25 т. – М., 1896–1918. – Т. 3. – С. 538–539.</ref> Matveyev, and Zmeyev<ref>[http://rulex.ru/xPol/index.htm?pages/10/421.htm Половцов А. А. Русский биографический словарь: В 25 т. – М., 1896–1918. – Т. 10. – С. 421]</ref> survived the battle and continued to serve the Russian Crown for many years. Instead of using narrative works, which don't cite any evidence, include dubious details and were used for propaganda purposes,<ref>Бабулин И. Б. Битва под Конотопом. – С. 29</ref> Western and Russian scholars usually prefer 17th-century archive documents of the Russian Ambassadors’ Chancellery that provide detailed information on Russian regiments, their provision and losses. These documents are regarded as most reliable and accurate, as they were used in the interests of financial control and supply of the armed forces, carefully checked by a state commission and presented to the Tsar himself; attempts to distort the data were prohibited by law. When on one occasion Prince Ivan Lobanov-Rostovsky made an attempt to downplay his casualties in one of these documents, it was immediately noticed by the commission and perceived as an extraordinary offense by Tsar Alexis I.<ref>Бабулин И. Б. Битва под Конотопом. – С. 37</ref> In 2012, T. Tairova-Yakovleva urged historians not to regard the documentary evidence as the most reliable source on this matter, but her statement was criticized as completely ungrounded and absurd and her own interpretation of the battle as based on uncritical acceptance of non-Russian sources.<ref>Бабулин И. Б. Ответ рецензенту (Таирова-Яковлева Т.Г. Рецензия на книгу: Бабулин И.Б. Князь Семен Пожарский и Конотопская битва. СПб., 2009) // История военного дела: исследования и источники. – 2014. – Т. IV. – С. 483–498</ref>

* {{cite book |first1=Mackenzie |last1=D., |first2=Michael |last2=W. Curran. |title=A History of Russia, the Soviet Union, and Beyond. |others=Fourth Edition. |publisher=Belmont, |place=California. p.&nbsp;200, |date=1993. {{ISBN|isbn=0-534-17970-3}}.

* [http://history.franko.lviv.ua/yak_r5-2.htm Historical Encyclopedia (Ukr.)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717011452/http://history.franko.lviv.ua/yak_r5-2.htm |date=17 July 2011 }}

[[Category:Battles involving Ukrainethe Cossack Hetmanate]]

[[Category:Battles involving the Tsardom of Russia]]