Battle of Kircholm

Part of the Polish-Swedish War (1600–1611)

A 1630 painting by Pieter Snayers

Date	September 17, 1605 (O.S.) September 27, 1605 (N.S.)
Location	Kircholm, present-day Salaspils, Latvia
Result	Decisive Polish-Lithuanian victory

Belligerents

Poland-Lithuania

Duchy of Courland

Sweden

Supported by
German, Scottish and Dutch mercenaries

Commanders and leaders

Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, Grand Hetman of Lithuania

Charles IX of Sweden, King of Sweden

Strength

3,600:

1,000 infantry
2,600 cavalry
5 cannon

10,868:

2,500 cavalry
8,368 infantry
11 cannon

Casualties and losses

100 killed,
200 wounded

7,600–8,000 killed, captured and dispersed

Coordinates: 56°50′55″N 24°20′53″E / 56.84861°N 24.34806°E / 56.84861; 24.34806

3,600:

10,868:

The Battle of Kircholm (27 September 1605, or 17 September in the Old Style calendar then in use in Protestant countries) was one of the major battles in the Polish–Swedish War. The battle was decided in 20 minutes by the devastating charge of Polish cavalry, the Winged Hussars. The battle ended in the decisive victory of the Polish-Lithuanian forces, and is remembered as one of the greatest triumphs of Commonwealth cavalry.

On 27 September 1605, the Commonwealth and Swedish forces met near the small town of Kirchholm (now Salaspils in Latvia, some 18 km. South East of Riga). The forces of Charles IX of Sweden were numerically superior and were composed of 10,868 men and 11 cannons. The Swedish army included two western commanders, Frederick of Luneburg and Count Joachim Frederick of Mansfield, with a few thousand German and Dutch mercenaries and even a few hundred Scots.

The Polish Crown declined to raise funds for defence, although Great Hetman of Lithuania Chodkiewicz promised to pay out army wages from his own fortune, thereby gathering at least some army. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth army under Jan Karol Chodkiewicz was composed of roughly 1,000 infantry and 2,600 cavalry and only five cannons. However, the Polish-Lithuanian forces were well-rested and their cavalry consisted mostly of superbly trained Winged Hussars or heavy cavalry armed with lances, while the Swedish cavalry were less-well trained, armed with pistols and carbines, on poorer horses, and tired after a long night's march over 10 km in torrential rain. The Polish-Lithuanian forces had a small number of Polish cossack light cavalry and Lithuanian tatars light cavalry (cossack and tatar cavalry is a class of light cavalry in Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth at this date not to be confused with the Ukrainian/Russian Cossacks or Tatars), used mostly for reconnaissance.

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Wikipedia