Battle of Vilkmergė | |||||||
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Part of the Lithuanian Civil War (1432–38) | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Eastern Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Polotsk, Vitebsk, Smolensk, Kiev, Volhynia) |
Western Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Samogitia, Podlaskie, Hrodna, Minsk) |
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Švitrigaila Franco Kerskorff † Sigismund Korybut † |
Sigismund Kęstutaitis Michael Žygimantaitis Jakub Kobylański |
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Strength | |||||||
11,000 (contemporary exaggeration: 30,000) | 9,500 (contemporary exaggeration: 30,000) |
Eastern Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Polotsk, Vitebsk, Smolensk, Kiev, Volhynia)
Livonian Order
Western Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Samogitia, Podlaskie, Hrodna, Minsk)
The Battle of Vilkmergė (see other names) took place on September 1, 1435 near Ukmergė (which was named Vilkmergė at the time) in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. With the help of military units from the Kingdom of Poland, the forces of Grand Duke Sigismund Kęstutaitis soundly defeated Švitrigaila and his Livonian allies. The battle was a decisive engagement of the Lithuanian Civil War (1432–38). Švitrigaila lost most of his supporters and withdrew to southern Grand Duchy; he was slowly pushed out and eventually made peace. The damage inflicted upon the Livonian Order has been compared to the damage of Battle of Grunwald upon the Teutonic Order. It was fundamentally weakened and ceased to play a major role in Lithuanian affairs. The battle can be seen as the final engagement of the Lithuanian Crusade.