Battle of Lipnic

Date	August 20, 1470
Location	Lipnic, Moldova
Result	Moldavian pyrrhic victory.

Belligerents

Moldavia

Golden Horde

Commanders and leaders

Stephen III

Ahmed Khan

Strength

unknown

Casualties and losses

medium

large

The Battle of Lipnic (or Lipnica, or Lipniţi) was a battle between the Moldavian forces under Stephen the Great, and the Volga Tatars of the Golden Horde led by Ahmed Khan, and which took place on the August 20, 1470.

In the summer of 1470 (other sources give 1469), Mamak (Ahmed Khan), the Great Khan of the Great Horde, the central principality of the Mongol-Tatar Golden Horde, organized an attack against Moldavia, the Kingdom of Poland, and Lithuania.

Stephen and the Polish king Casimir IV Jagiellon were previously informed of the future attack by the Khan of the Crimean Khanate, Meñli I Giray (1466-1515, with intermittence), who was an occasional ally of Stephen the Great, and had a clear stance against the Golden Horde.

The hordes unleashed a three-directional attack via Podolia, being conducted by the brother and son of the Khan. They first raided and pillaged the eastern territories of Poland, and as Casimir failed to gather enough forces to attack them, the Tatars then headed southwards against Moldavia. Chronicles speak of several clashes and two other battles both of which being won by the Moldavians. Nevertheless, the final and most violent was to take place at Lipinţi, a village near the Dniester, in the Soroca County, modern Republic of Moldova.

By this time, the Tatars had started to retreat carrying into slavery several thousand women and children, hundreds of herds of cattle, horses, and flocks of sheep. By August 20, Stephen managed to swerve this Tatar convoy, and to divert them to a trap set at the edge of the lime tree forest near Lipnic, and to force the Tatars to face the Moldavians in an open battle.

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