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Battle of Berestechko
Part of the Khmelnytsky Uprising
Ivan Bogun fighting the Poles in the Battle of Berestechko.
Date June 28 - June 30, 1651 Location Berestechko, Ukraine Result Polish-Lithuanian victory, Treaty of Bila Tserkva
Combatants
Zaporozhian Cossack Army Crimean Khanate	Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Commanders
Bohdan Khmelnytsky Khan İslâm III Giray Toğay bey  † Ivan Bohun	King John II Casimir Jeremi Wiśniowiecki Stefan Czarniecki Marcin Kalinowski Stanisław Lanckoroński
Strength
100,000 Ukrainians 40,000 Crimean Tatars (est.) few thousand turks, and vlachs	63,000-80,000 (est.)
Casualties
40,000-60,000 (est.)	7,000 (est.)

The Battle of Berestechko (Beresteczko) in Volhynia, today Ukraine,the largest battle of the 17th century, part of the Chmielnicki Uprising, lasted from June 28 to June 30, 1651, between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth army under King Jan II Casimir and Cossack and Ukrainian peasant forces, led by Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, and their Crimean Tatar allies. The number of Polish troops is uncertain. Duke Bogusław Radziwiłł (one of Polish commanders) wrote that the Polish army had had 80,000 soldiers^[1]. Modern historians[Zbigniew Wójcik, Józef Gierowski,Władysław Czapliński] estimate that the Polish army had 60,000-63,000 soldiers^[2]. The Cossacks had around 100,000 plus 40,000 Crimean Tatar cavalry and few thousand Turks and Vlachs. Both sides had about 40,000 cavalry each. Fighting was close; with the core of excellent Cossack infantry making up for the weakness of their cavalry, much of the decisive fighting was by the infantry and dismounted dragoons of each side. The battle was won by the Poles after the Crimean Tatars, dispirited by the death of their leader Toğay bey, deserted the battlefield, and kidnapped Khmelnytzky. The battle turned in to a slaughter, as the Polish cavalry Winged Hussars charged the panicked ranks of the Cossacks. As a result, Khmelnytsky was forced to sign the Treaty of Bila Tserkva with the Poles.

Battle of Berestechko by Vermier.

Jeremi Wiśniowiecki during battle of Beresteczko. Painting by Juliusz Kossak

Members of noble families had the personal obligation to defend the country with men from their towns and villages. The officers and their supplied men for this battle were:^{[citation needed]}

• Czarniecki, Stefan
• Dołęga-Ossowski, Piotr
• Grzymała-Kazanowski, Adam
• Janina-Rzeczycki, Mikołaj
• Kalinowa-Kalinowski, Marcin Hetman
• Leliwa-Czapski, Franciszek
• Rawicz-Przyjemski, Zygmunt

• http://www.kismeta.com/diGrasse/Berest.htm

• [1] - Alphabetical List Of Polish Battles

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1. ^ Jan Widacki, Kniaź Jarema p. 255.
2. ^ Zbigniew Wójcik, Jan Kazimierz Waza, p. 75; Władysław Czapliński, Glosa do Trylogii, p.45; Józef Gierowski, Historia Polski, p.223.

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