Battle of Matwy

Battle of Mątwy
Part of the Lubomirski Rebellion
King John II Casimir (left) and Hetman Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski (right)
Date 13 July 1666 Location Mątwy, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Result Rebel victory
Belligerents
Royal Army	Rebels
Commanders and leaders
King John II Casimir John Sobieski Michał Kazimierz Pac	Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski Adam Ustrzycki Krzysztof Grzymultowski Stanisław Warszycki Achacy Pisarski
Units involved
Royal Army: 3000 dragoons Polish cavalry 7000–9000 infantry Lithuanian cavalry 30 pieces of artillery	Rebel Army: 1200 dragoons confederated comput units Pospolite ruszenie from Greater and Lesser Poland
Strength
20,000	15,000
Casualties and losses
approximately 4000	around 200

Royal Army:

Rebel Army:

The Battle of Mątwy (Polish: Bitwa pod Mątwami) was the biggest and bloodiest battle of the so-called Lubomirski Rokosz, a rebellion against Polish King John II Casimir, initiated by a magnate and hetman, Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski. It took place on 13 July 1666 in the village of Mątwy (now a district of Inowrocław), and ended in rebel victory. Royal army of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth lost almost 4000 of its best and most experiences soldiers, who were murdered by Lubomirski's men. Rebel losses are estimated at approximately 200.

On July 12, first royal divisions appeared in Mątwy. A skirmish with rebel forces, which guarded the Noteć river ford soon took place. On the next day, other royal forces, consisting mostly of Lithuanian units appeared. Taking advantage of a fog, several hundred cavalrymen managed to cross the river, and soon afterwards, remaining royal divisions began to cross the Noteć. Lithuanian hetman Michał Kazimierz Pac however missed a chance to shatter rebel army, and decided to wait for Crown divisions.

The defeat of royal forces was the result of several mistakes. Other from Pac's delay, royal leaders did not know exact positions of the rebels, thinking that their main units were located far from the ford. Furthermore, they did not get acquainted with the topography of the area.

King John II Casimir, unaware of the danger, ordered the crossing of the whole army, which consisted of some 20,000 men. First, Lithuanian dragoons and reiters got to the other bank of the Noteć, followed by cavalry and Polish dragoons (altogether, some 4000 men). Next were two cavalry divisions of Mikolaj Hieronim Sieniawski and John Sobieski. There was no cooperation between all these units, and after crossing of the Noteć, royal army created battle formation, with Lithuanian cavalry on the left, Crown dragoons in the middle and Crown cavalry on the right. Sobieski made a fatal mistake, placing the cavalry in front of the dragoons, as before the end of the battle, retreating cavalrymen trampled the foot soldiers.

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