Libmonster ID: UA-12939
Author(s) of the publication: V. A. GOLOBUTSKY

6. The Rise of Severin Nalyvaiko

Nalyvaiko, having driven the Tatars out of Podolia, sent envoys to Zaporozhye. Arriving in the Sich on July 1, 1594, they appealed to the Cossacks to take up arms against the gentry rule in Ukraine. The Cossacks were very sympathetic to the idea of a popular military uprising. Only the petty officer was against participating in it. However, when she learned that part of the Registrovtsy who were stationed in Zaporozhye had joined the Sicheviks, she changed her tactics and, in an effort to maintain her influence among the Cossacks, agreed to participate in the campaign. Its representative Grigory Loboda was placed at the head of the army going to Nalyvaiko.

Before the Cossacks reached Bratslav, an uprising broke out there: on the night of October 16, the Cossacks, led by Nalyvaiko, killed the gentry who had gathered in Bratslav. The Cossacks who came up increased the forces of the rebels. On the 20th of November, the rebels captured the town of Bar. Here the Cossack Rada was convened, which decided to appeal to the Ukrainian people with generalists-to call them to revolt against the magnates and gentry, and also to take measures to provide the troops with weapons and food. The population quickly responded to the call of the rebels. The wave of revolt soon reached Vinnytsia. Describing the mood of the gentry, terebovlyansky starosta Ya. Pretvich wrote to Ya. Zamoysky on November 25: "What a horror it is there (in Vinnytsia - V. G.), how people (nobles - V. G.) run away from their homes, I can't even describe it." 1 Pretwich asked the Chancellor's permission to leave Terebovlya. In the spring of 1595, the rebel army was divided: one part of it, led by Nalyvaiko, moved to Volhynia, captured Lutsk, turned north to Belarus, and took Mogilev. The fall of this strong fortress was a signal for a mass uprising of the Belarusian peasantry. Another part of the rebel army, led by Loboda and Shaula, marched on Belaya Tserkva. From here it was supposed to move to Kiev and then along the Dnieper to Belarus, where it was supposed to connect with Nalyvaiko. If this plan had succeeded, the gentry of Eastern Ukraine would have been surrounded on all sides. Everything seemed to favor this. Shaula took Kiev and moved to Belarus, where he soon reached Propoisk. The peasants everywhere declared themselves Cossacks, drove out the nobles, sent their detachments and food to the rebel army. Uprisings began in Poland itself.

Alarmed by the scale of the popular movement, the government of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth hastily announced the collection of the Polish-Lithuanian Rushenya (gentry militia). Less than a month later, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was ready to march. Troops led by the crown Hetman St. Zholkevsky and Magnate detachments returned from Moldavia, and a 15-thousandth mounted Lithuanian army led by Voivode Buyvidom moved to Mogilev. Although the rebels, despite the harsh winter conditions and lack of food and ammunition, repelled all Bouyvida attacks, Nalivayko decided to leave Belarus. He believed that it was better not to wait for Zholkevsky near Mogilev, but to meet him in the Bratslav region in order to block his way to Ukraine. Probably to this-

Ending. For the beginning, see Voprosy Istorii, 1970, No. 12.

1 "Listy St. Zolkiewskiego (1584 - 1620)". Krakow. 1868, str. 59 - 60.

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mu Nalivayko was motivated by the lack of news from Loboda and Shaula. In mid-December 1595, the rebels left Mogilev and went through Bykhov to Starokonstantinov. On the way, burdened with the wounded and sick, Nalyvaiko changed his plan. He decided to avoid meeting with Zholkevsky and move to the Dnieper region, hoping to connect there with Loboda's detachments. It was very difficult to perform this maneuver, as it was necessary to overcome the Wild field that was terrible in winter. At the same time, Nalyvayko hoped that Zholkevsky would not dare to pursue the Cossacks in this snowy desert. But as soon as the rebels crossed the Blue Waters, he launched an attack. Despite the difficult situation, the Cossacks threw the enemy back with a strong blow. Then Zholkevsky stopped the pursuit and began to pacify the rebels in the rear. Despite the cold, lack of food and fodder, the Cossacks in the spring of 1596 appeared under the White Church, where Loboda had been standing for more than a month and negotiating with Zholkevsky. Like some other elders associated with the top of the Cossacks, Loboda was an opponent of the uprising, which took on a pronounced anti-feudal character. That is why, as Nalyvaiko approached, he retreated from Bila Tserkva, moving northeast toward the Dnieper. Not far from Kiev, Loboda met with Shaula's army, which was rushing to join up with Nalyvaiko. Loboda's actions aroused suspicion among the rebels, and the Cossack Rada removed him from office. After that, both troops led by Shaula moved to Bila Tserkva, where they joined forces with Nalivaiko.

In the rebel army there were about 4 thousand people. Nalyvaiko began to prepare for the assault on the Belotserkovsky Castle. But then the news came that Zholkevsky was marching on Belaya Tserkva with a large force. This prompted Nalyvaiko to retreat to Kiev. Here, on the Dnieper River, in a more populated area, it was possible to hope for the involvement of new people in the rebel detachments, which would make up for the huge loss that the rebels suffered in the Wild Field. On the road to Kiev, at the Sharp Stone, Zholkevsky again overtook the rebels. In the fierce battle, both sides suffered heavy losses. The Cossacks courageously fought back, repeatedly throwing the enemy back. However, Nalyvaiko was wounded. Zholkevsky retreated, but sent for reinforcements. Under the current conditions, Nalyvaiko decided to cross to the left bank of the Dnieper and go to Pereyaslav. Here, on the southern left bank, the uprising had not yet been suppressed. The Cossacks were in a hurry, for an army led by Prince Oginsky was already coming to Zholkevsky's aid, and another, led by Potocki, was moving towards Pereyaslav, trying to get ahead of the Cossacks and cut off their way to Russia if they wanted to go there. In Pereyaslav Nalyvaiko found several thousand old people, women and children fleeing from the enemy's revenge. In such conditions, it was impossible to count on a victory over a numerically superior and better-armed enemy. The Cossack Rada, which gathered in the city square, decided to move to the territory of Russia. After passing Dubny, the rebels crossed the Sulu River and approached the Solonitsa tract. From here, only about 100 kilometers remained to the then Russian border. Nevertheless, the rebels, burdened with their families, could not quickly overcome this distance. Then Zholkevsky caught up with them.

The Cossacks set up a camp near Solonitsa. On the swampy bank of the Sula, they built ramparts, dragged carts onto them, and chained them together. At the three gates made in the ramparts, log cabins filled with earth were erected with cannons on top. It was summer heat. The Cossack camp was overflowing with people; there was a lack of water, because of the lack of feed, cattle began to die. Enemy cannonballs rained down on the camp. But the Cossacks courageously repelled all enemy attacks. Nothing could make them beg for mercy from him. During these difficult days, the supporters of Loboda, who was executed for treason, resumed their treacherous activities. On the night of June 7, they broke into the tent of the wounded Nalyvaiko, tied him up, and together with Shaula and other leaders of the uprising hastened to hand him over to Zholkevsky. The latter immediately launched a general assault on the Cossack camp. This time, having lost their leadership, the rebels could not stand the pressure. The enemy broke into the camp, a terrible massacre began - neither women nor children were spared. Nalyvaiko, along with other leaders of the uprising, was sent to Warsaw, where he was executed after excruciating tortures. For a long time it was said among the people that the nobles called their glorious leader Tsar Nalyvay and, mocking him, put a red-hot crown on his head, and then roasted him in a copper bull specially made for this purpose.

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The uprising of 1694-1596 was the first peasant-Cossack uprising that covered a huge part of Ukraine. Never before has the mass demonstration of the peasantry and the bourgeoisie reached such proportions.

7. Cossacks in the popular movements of the XVI-first half of the XVII century

After the suppression of the uprising of 1594-1596, the government of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the magnates did everything possible to exclude the possibility of new demonstrations by the masses. The number of crown troops stationed in Eastern Ukraine was increased, the court troops in the Magnate's possessions were strengthened, and the Cossack register was replenished with reliable elements from the government's point of view. At the same time, measures were taken to strengthen the spiritual enslavement of the Ukrainian people. The best way to do this, both many tycoons and the government considered the spread of Catholicism. Special attention was paid to breaking the link between the masses of Ukraine and the Zaporozhye Sich. After the uprising of Taras (Tryashilo) in 1630 - 1632, the Polish government decided to erect a barrier between Zaporozhye and the "volost" that, as it seemed to it, the lower Cossacks could not overcome in any way. In 1635, a strong fortress - Kodak-was built near the first Dnieper rapid. It not only blocked access to the rapids and the exit from there along the Dnieper, but also dominated the surrounding area. Roving teams sent out from the fortress were constantly scouring the steppe, detaining all suspicious people and throwing them into dungeons. If we take into account that the road through the steppe was very dangerous because of the constant risk of becoming a Tatar prisoner, then the construction of the Kodak made communication with the Sich thoroughly difficult. In the same year, the Kodak fortress, which was considered an impregnable fortification, was taken by Zaporozhye Cossacks under the leadership of Sulima. Although it then passed back into the hands of the Crown authorities, its importance plummeted.

The gentry was also annoyed by the constant participation of registered Cossacks in uprisings. Already after the Nalyvaiko uprising, voices began to be heard about the abolition of the register. In the 30s of the XVII century, such sentiments increased dramatically. This issue has been repeatedly raised in the Sejm. But the king and his entourage opposed this for many reasons. The registered Cossacks served in a certain sense as an instrument of royal power in the Ukraine and were supposed to moderate to some extent the self-will of the magnates. In addition, it protected the state from the eastern steppes, and during the Turkish-Tatar invasions, quickly replenished with peasants, grew into a powerful, irresistible force. Similar sentiments of the gentry caused unrest among the registrovtsy. So, in the spring of 1637, a large detachment of registrovtsy led by Pavlyuk (Pavlo Bout) went to Zaporozhye. Pavlyuk was an experienced and popular Cossack leader, well known in the Sich as well. He took part in the storming of Kodak and together with Sulima was sent to Warsaw for execution. It was only by a stroke of luck that he managed to avoid death. The unauthorized departure of part of the registrirovtsy foreshadowed a new uprising. Soon A. Kisel, a well-known Volyn magnate and senator of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, who served as Commissioner of the registry, and Crown Hetman of St. Konetspolsky received even more disturbing news: those registrirovtsy who remained in the "parish" were preparing to follow the example of Pavlyuk, and the peasants were selling oxen and other property and buying horses, saddles and weapons. Moreover, Pavlyuk with a detachment of Cossacks unexpectedly attacked Cherkassy, where the registered artillery was stationed, seized the cannons and took them to Zaporozhye.

Elected hetman by the Cossacks, Pavlyuk addressed the people with generalists. He called on everyone to go to Zaporozhye, join the Cossacks and fight for freedom. Turning to the magnates and nobles, Pavlyuk threatened them with severe punishments if they did not stop mocking the people. The people listened attentively to the calls coming from the Sich. Detachments of peasants, burghers and Cossacks along the Dnieper and overland, on horseback and on foot, went to Zaporozhye. In late summer, Pavlyuk led a Cossack army into Eastern Ukraine. Having reached Krylov, he sent a detachment with Karp Skidan and Semyon Bykhovets to the left bank of the Dnieper. They were to arrest a registered foreman who was at that time in Pereyaslav, unite local rebel detachments around them and arrive with them in Chigirin. This was done.

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The foremen brought to Chigirin were shot as traitors by the decree of the Cossack Rada.

The Crown Hetman immediately notified the Nobles and prefects of the uprising in the Ukraine and ordered the brutal extermination of not only the rebels, but also their families. The authorities had to send captured "rioters" to him for execution, kill their wives and children on the spot, and burn their houses. "It is better," wrote the enraged Konetspolsky, " that nettles grow in those places, than that traitors to his royal grace and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth multiply."2 . The crown army, drawn together in a Bar under the command of the Polish Hetman N. Potocki, moved to Belaya Tserkva. Along the way, it met nobles fleeing from the Left Bank. Looking at their confused, frightened faces, the chaplain of the crown army, Father Okolsky, ironically remarked: "They really honor the holy rule that it is better to live a silk life than a silk death." 3 The Dnieper region was already in the flames of an uprising. "Here," Potocki wrote, "every clap is a Cossack." 4 Meanwhile, the Cossack army with Pavlyuk and Skidan left Chigirin and moved to the town of Moshny, where the rebel detachments from the Left Bank and registrirovtsy from Korsun, Kanev, Steblov, in general, all who joined the uprising were supposed to converge. Potocki was in a hurry to meet the Cossacks, and the two troops clashed near Moshen, near Kumeyki. The Cossacks were the first to attack the enemy. "The onslaught of the peasants," Okolsky, who was in the Polish camp, wrote in his diary, " presented an expressive picture: they marched in six rows, with four cannons in front, two on the sides and two behind; in the middle, between the wagons, the army moved... properly divided into shelves and hundreds." Banners fluttered above the Cossack ranks, and near the Polish camp itself, the Cossacks came across a snow-covered swamp. The strong wind from the flaming Mounds blew thick smoke at them. The hot ash was blinding. Pavlyuk gave the order to retreat, and the Cossacks, firing back from cannons and self-propelled guns, began to retreat to Moshny. But Potocki's cavalry was right on their heels. The Cossacks were forced to stop, quickly surround themselves with wagons and give battle. They fought like lions, and thrice drove back the enemy's cavalry. "The Khlops," Potocki wrote, " showed courage and perseverance and as one refused peace. Those who did not have weapons beat the zholners with shafts and drawbars"5 . Soon, however, the main forces arrived at Potocki. The crucial moments have come. Zholners managed to set fire to waggons of hay and straw in the Cossack camp. The fire reached the barrels of gunpowder. An explosion followed. But even after that, the Cossacks continued to hold their positions. Often they dragged enemy horsemen off their horses with their bare hands. The losses of the Cossacks were great. The lack of gunpowder was particularly acute. All this forced the Cossacks to retreat to Moshny. But even Potocki did not dare to pursue them now. "The old soldiers confessed," wrote Okolsky, "that they had never been in such a prolonged and intense fire and had not seen so many corpses." 6
When Potocki reached Moshnam the next day, the Cossacks were no longer there. They moved to Cherkasy, and from there - to Borovitsa. On the way, the Cossack army was divided. Pavlyuk with several thousand Cossacks remained in Borovitsa, and Skidan with a detachment went to Zaporozhye for reinforcements. All Potocki's attempts to break Pavlyuk, who was besieged in Borovitsa, were unsuccessful. Then the Polish hetman offered the Cossacks to enter into negotiations. Exhausted by the fighting, the Cossacks accepted this offer and sent their representatives to the Polish camp - Pavlyuk with several foremen. As soon as they left the village, however, they were captured, chained up, and sent to Warsaw. A few days later, Potocki announced the terms of surrender. The Cossacks had to strictly follow all the orders of the crown hetmans and liquidate the Zaporozhye Sich. Immediately Potocki appointed a new registry foreman. The post of senior registry was given to Ilyash Karaimovich, military clerk-Bogdan Khmelnitsky, esaulov-Fyodor Lyutai and Lev Bubnovsky.

2 "Reunification of Ukraine with Russia". Documents and materials. T. I. M. 1953, p. 179.

3 "Memoirs related to the history of Southern Russia". Issue II. Kiev, 1896, p. 177.

4 State Public Library of the Ukrainian SSR. Handwritten collection. Polish Manuscripts, 94, 465 p. (in Russian).

5 Ibid., l. 479.

6 "Memoirs related to the history of Southern Russia". Issue II, pp. 199, 204.

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New colonels were also appointed. It must be said that, with the exception of Karaimovich, a well-known servant of the crown hetman, who at one time fled from Pereyaslav under threat of arrest by the rebels, and a number of others like him, some of the elders appointed by Potocki were participants in the uprising. This, as well as the relatively easy terms of surrender, the hetman wanted to influence the rest of the rebels-to encourage them to stop resisting.

From near Borovitsa, the crown army moved to suppress the rebellious villages and towns; one part of it burned, hung and impaled people on the Right Bank; the other, together with Potocki himself, went beyond the Dnieper. The young hetman, entering, for example, Nezhin, the center of his starostvo, ordered gallows to be erected on all the roads that led to the city with the executed, and on arrival in Kiev, he ordered first of all to put on a stake in front of the castle the glorious leaders of the rebel detachments Kizima and his son. Seized with a feeling of hatred for the enslavers, the peasants and burghers fled to Zaporozhye. Rebel detachments also retreated there. As before, the Sich remained the hotbed where the flames of popular protest were to flare up again.

Indeed, as early as March 1638, several thousand rebels marched from Zaporozhye to the "volost". At their head was Hetman Yatsko Ostryanin. The rebel army was divided into three parts. The main forces with Ostryanin went to the Left Bank and occupied Kremenchug, and then turned to Khorol and Omelnik. Zaporozhye flotilla under the command of Guni went up the Dnieper and occupied a number of crossings - from Kremenchug to Chigirin-Dubrava. Skidan and the rest of his army marched along the right bank and occupied Chigirin. The rebels set themselves a difficult task: to destroy parts of the crown army in Left-bank Ukraine under the command of St. Potocki, brother of the Polish hetman. To cut off an item. From the right bank of the Potocki River, they hurried to occupy the Dnieper crossings.

The first major battle on the Left Bank took place in May at Goltva, which was occupied and fortified by the rebels. St. Potocki was defeated, retreating to Lubni. The Ostrich followed the enemy. But as soon as the Cossacks reached Lubni, the nobles ' army, tired of the march, marched on them. On the Cossacks, who still managed to become a camp and surround themselves with wagons, on the one hand, infantry and cavalry rushed, on the other-registrovtsy, brought to Potocki by Karaimovich. A fierce battle began. "The field," wrote Okolsky, "was already overgrown with blood, the hand of the clock had long since passed noon, vespers had already passed, and the battle was still going on, remaining unresolved." 7 But before evening, the Cossacks threw back and drove the enemy. Although they won the battle, their losses were great. In addition, they lacked gunpowder and food. Therefore, Ostryanin immediately (on the night of May 17) marched to Mirgorod, where there were saltpeter mines. Here he learned that to help St. Two troops are going to Potocki: one of them - under the command of N. Potocki, the other-I. Vishnevetsky. Having decided to break up St. Before help could reach Potocki, Ostryanin went through Lukoml to Sleporod, and then to Zhovnin. This march was very difficult and unsuccessful. The Cossacks were forced to stop and lay a camp in a place unfavorable for defense, at the confluence of the Suda with the Dnieper. Potocki managed to break through their defensive line in several places. Considering further resistance impractical, Ostryanin and part of the army crossed the Sulu River and crossed the Russian border.

The Cossacks who remained in the camp elected Dmitry Gunya, a representative of the Zaporozhye seroma, a courageous leader, as hetman. Under his leadership, the Cossacks rebuilt the camp and several more times repelled the onslaught of the enemy. On June 20, it became known that N. Potocki's army had already left Pereyaslav. Gunya decided to choose the best place for defense and the same night led the army to the mouth of the Startsa River (near the village of Gradizhsk). The Cossacks stopped on the high bank of the Dnieper, on the other side they had an Old Man, on the third-a swamp. But they failed to strengthen the camp, as they were overtaken by N. Potocki's cavalry. Behind her came the forces of St. John the Baptist. Potocki and I. Vishnevetsky. Now the gentry army had an absolute advantage in numbers and artillery. However, it did not hope to break the enemy by force. Therefore, Potocki tried to divide the rebels, to split off the registry members from their total mass. His Messengers who have come

7 Ibid., p. 228.

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for negotiations in the rebel camp, they said on behalf of the Seimas that from now on the register will be increased to 6 thousand people and the Cossacks will retain their rights and liberties. The Cossack Rada indignantly rejected such proposals. The rebels said that they took up arms not for the sake of the privileges of a small group of registries, but to free the entire people. Meanwhile, the Cossacks had already run out of gunpowder and were running out of food supplies. Under these conditions, part of the registry foreman, who was in the rebel camp, began to persuade the Cossacks to come to an agreement with Potocki. Some Cossacks still hoped to reach an agreement with Potocki and sent a deputation to him. The Cossacks who opposed the agreement, led by Gunya, left the camp on Starets that night and went to Zaporozhye.

Deputies who came to Potocki agreed that the rebels could safely go home, and the nearest Sejm would consider their claims. But as soon as the rebels, divided into small groups, appeared on the roads, they were mercilessly exterminated by parts of the crown army and gentry detachments. In the same year, 1638, the Polish government issued the so-called Ordination, which provided for the expansion of the register to 6 thousand people. However, from now on, the head of the registered army was not considered a registered hetman, but a commissar appointed by the king from "noble" persons. The registered army was divided into six regiments - Pereyaslavsky, Kanevsky, Cherkassky, Chigirinsky, Belotserkovsky and Korsun. In order to isolate Zaporozhye, in 1639, work was carried out to strengthen the Kodak fortress and strengthen its garrison.

The popular uprisings of the 90s of the XVI-30s of the XVII centuries were a kind of prelude to the liberation war of 1648-1654, in which the Zaporozhye Cossacks played a prominent role. At the end of January 1648, an uprising broke out in the Zaporozhye Sich against the gentry rule in Ukraine. The rebels elected Bogdan Khmelnitsky, a centurion of Chyhyryn who had fled to the Sich, as hetman. The Polish contemporary M. Golinsky wrote:: "Everything accumulates around them (Kazakov - V. G.), leaving their masters" 8 . The main Cossack army, which came from the Sich, was approached from all sides by rebel detachments. The urban poor declared themselves Cossacks. But the well-to-do part of the townspeople, as well as part of the small Ukrainian gentry and Orthodox clergy, also joined the Cossacks. Thus, the movement became nationwide. Zaporozhye Cossacks warmly supported the idea of reuniting Ukraine with Russia.

8. In the fight against the Turkish and Tatar invaders

From the end of the 15th century, when the Crimean Khanate was subdued, the Ottoman Porte sought to use Crimea as an outpost for the conquest of Ukraine and other Slavic lands. Despite the terrible threat of Turkish and Tatar invasions, Polish and Lithuanian magnates did almost nothing to defend the south-eastern borders of the state. Taking advantage of this, the Tatars and Turks, separately and together, constantly invaded the Ukrainian lands, Rus, Poland and Lithuania. Approaching the Polish-Lithuanian border, the Tatar horde was usually divided into many small detachments. The latter, moving rapidly forward, captured large areas and reached the deep regions of Poland and Lithuania. So, during the raid of 1474, the Tatars reached Bar (Podolia), Zbarazh (Volhynia) and Galich (Carpathian region), laying waste to a huge territory (about 700 km long and about 200 km wide). In 1527, the Tatar army, numbering 25 thousand people, reached Pinsk in the north, Lublin and Belz-in the west. The savagery of the invaders knew no bounds. The paths through which the enemy hordes passed were lit up by the glow of fires and littered with the corpses of dead and tortured victims. Thousands and tens of thousands of people, tightly bound with crude belts, were driven to the Crimea. Here a new misfortune awaited the captives: children were taken from their parents, wives from their husbands, sisters from their brothers. A tenth of the prisoners went as a tax to the khan, a part - to the murzas and other feudal lords. The Khan, beks, and murzas usually sent slaves to work on their estates. To prevent escapes, the slaves were branded on the forehead and cheeks, cut off

8 M. Goliriski. Zapiski mieszczanina Kazimierzskiego (1640-1665), str. 55. (A photocopy of the manuscript is kept at the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR).

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ears were torn out, nostrils were torn out, legs were mutilated, shackled. Their usual food consisted, according to contemporaries, "of carrion meat, rotten, uncovered by worms and disgusting even to dogs." The Tatar nobility brought up cruelty and contempt for slaves among the younger generation. She often gave them to her children, especially teenagers, for fun. They shot arrows at the defenseless, threw stones at them, cut them down with sabers, or threw them off high rocks for fun.

The bulk of the prisoners were intended for sale. The largest slave markets, far known outside the Crimea, were Kafa (Feodosia) and Gazlevi (Yevpatoria). Contemporaries called Kafu an insatiable abyss, absorbing human blood. In the market, appraisers and buyers, slavers from Turkey, Turkey and other countries, examining live goods, forced the slaves to open their mouths and show their teeth, run, lift weights. Those bought were driven in batches from the market to the ships. Healthy and strong men were then resold to the estates of eastern feudal lords, to mines; women - to harems, various workshops. A significant part of the men ended up in Turkish penal servitude - large rowing vessels. In hard labor, the rowers were arranged in two rows along the sides, five or six people at each oar. Chained to the benches with iron chains, the rowers had to swing their oars in a measured manner to the sounds of tulumbas (a kind of tambourine). Whips and sticks rained down on their naked backs. Inhumane living and working conditions in captivity led captives to an early death. Therefore, the Tatar and Turkish feudal lords needed a constant influx of fresh labor. More often than others, the south-eastern regions of Kiev, Volhynia and Podolia were raided by Tatar hordes. These rich and picturesque areas could have been, in the words of a contemporary, a flourishing region ," if not for the raids and invasions of the Tatars. " 9
The main burden of defense against the Tatar and Turkish hordes fell on the shoulders of the local population, primarily the Cossacks. Noting the merits of the Ukrainian Cossacks in defending not only their homeland, but also Poland, the nobleman B. Paprotsky (XVI century) wrote: "Not having any help from you (the Polish lords - V. G.), they (the Cossacks - V. G.) give you such peace of mind as oxen put to fattening, and you, considering yourself superior to them, beg for estates in these (Ukrainian - V. G.) regions.". The Sultan's Turkey, continued Paprotsky, opened its mouth like a beast against Poland, but the Cossacks fearlessly put their hand in it. The Cossacks throw themselves into the abyss of war, ignoring all dangers, "and when they do something useful,"Paprotsky concludes," glory comes to all of you. " 10 The Cossacks were not limited to passive defense. They undertook brave land and sea campaigns against Turkey and the Crimea. During these campaigns, the Cossacks destroyed the enemy's coastal fortifications, devastated the estates of the Crimean and Turkish nobility, freed slaves, etc. From early spring, work was in full swing near the Sich, in the Military Skarbnitsa (here, according to Boplan, there was a kind of Cossack shipyard). Some Cossacks cut and planed logs, planks, masts, others built boat hulls, others smoked tar and caulked these boats, others prepared sails, guns, and supplies. This is how the famous Zaporozhye "chaika" was born. It was about 20 m long, about 4 m wide, and the same amount deep. The gulls had no stern. It was replaced by two rudders, one at each end, which provided the "seagull" with speed when cornering. Bundles of reeds were attached to the sides of the "seagull" with twine. They helped the ship to stay on the surface of the water in the event of a storm and accident.

The Chaika was armed with 4-6 Falconets (small-caliber guns). This vessel could accommodate from 50 to 70 people. Each of them was supposed to have a sabre, two guns, and five or seven pounds of powder. Before going to the "seagulls" they loaded cannonballs, gunpowder, barrels of millet, breadcrumbs, dried fish, and fresh water. Having finished their preparations, the Cossacks descended the Dnieper. Usually at the mouth of the river, the Cossacks were ambushed by Turkish galleys. Therefore, to avoid them, the Cossacks dragged their boats overland to a certain point, and then launched them again. When the Turks learned about the appearance of the Cossacks at sea, "the alarm," wrote Boplan, " spread

9 "Memoirs related to the history of Southern Russia". Issue I .. Kiev, 1890, pp. 19, 61.

10 Cit. by: I. Pervolf. Slavs, their mutual relations and connections. Vol. II. Warsaw. 1888, p. 170.

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all over the country as far as Constantinople,"11 messengers rode along the entire coast, warning the rulers of the regions of danger. In fine weather, the gulls sailed, and in a storm and when encountering the enemy - at the oars. The Black Sea is restless most of the year. But the Cossacks were not intimidated by this. Eyewitnesses who watched the struggle of the Cossacks with the raging sea were amazed by their skill as sailors. "It is a real miracle," wrote one of them, " how you can resist on such a small ship, covered with brushwood, the angry sea..., the wind raises high foaming waves, it seems that they are about to be blown away, but they are kept on the surface... Saw... with my own eyes, like a storm... picked them up and scattered them... But immediately they formed up again in rows and continued to move in the same Order."

Zaporozhye "seagulls" were much faster than heavy Turkish galleys. However, the latter had a powerful corps, strong artillery and a large crew. Therefore, the Cossacks avoided meeting with galleys during the day. But if a clash turns out to be inevitable, "the Cossacks," Boplan testified, " are unshakable." No one moves from their place: some load their guns, while others fire them at the enemy "so that the firing, which is very accurate, does not stop for a minute" 12. The galleys fired cannons at the Cossacks. Seeing the enemy, the Cossacks immediately lowered the sails, took up the oars and moved away from him so far as not to lose sight of him. At midnight, having approached the enemy unnoticed, one half of the Cossacks began to row with all their might, while the other half stood with loaded guns, ready to attack. Silently approaching the galley, the Cossacks boarded it, destroyed the crew, took away the guns and provisions, and sank the ship.

In the spring of 1538, the Cossacks attacked Ochakov, a Turkish stronghold on the northern coast of the Black Sea, and caused considerable damage. Exactly three years later, the Cossacks repeated their campaign, while destroying part of the castle and port, almost destroying the garrison, killing also its chief and two assistants. On September 19, 1545, Cossacks with 32 boats reappeared near Ochakov, destroyed and captured many Turks. In 1604, the Cossacks attacked three large fortresses, including Varna. Her fall made a strong impression on her contemporaries. The Sultan demanded that the Polish government severely punish the Cossacks. But it replied that the Cossacks were a mass of fugitives of various nationalities, including Turks and Tatars, who did not obey "either the king or the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth." "If you exterminate them," the Polish government said, "you will not meet with any objections from our side." 13 Very often, the Cossacks acted in alliance with the Don Cossacks. Then these campaigns acquired a special power.

The Turks sought to lock the Cossacks out to sea. To this end, the sultan ordered to block the Dnieper at Tavani with an iron chain. It was extended from the fortress of Kizi-Kermen to the island. Tavani, and from here to the fortress of Aslan-Kermen, leaving the"gate" in the middle of the Dnieper. Guns were trained on them from the towers of the fortress. The Turks were sure that no "seagull"would bypass this barrier. But the Cossacks found a way out. When they reached Tavani at night, they lowered trees with chains and other metal objects tied to them along the Dnieper. Trees thundered against the chain, and the Turks opened fire in the dark. When it subsided, the Cossacks quickly broke the chain that blocked their path and hurriedly went out to sea. Sometimes they bypassed this dangerous place: they went up to Kodak, and from there they reached the Sea of Azov by the Samara River, the Wolf Waters, and other waterways. In 1608, the Cossacks, according to a contemporary, "amazing cunning" took, destroyed and burned Perekop, and in 1609 they attacked Belgorod and the Danube Turkish fortresses of Izmail and Kilia. The Cossacks often made trips to the Crimea and Turkey together with the registry officers. Such joint actions of Zaporozhye and registered Cossacks have repeatedly caused great concern to the Polish government. However, it was powerless to prevent this. The Cossacks ' campaigns against the Tatar and Crimean invaders were particularly successful in the second decade of the 17th century, when they were led by the Hetman of the registered Cossack army, Pyotr Konashevich-Sagaidachny. In 1614, the Cossacks led by the Sa-

11 "Memoirs related to the history of Southern Russia". Issue II, p. 345.

12 Ibid., p. 348.

13 "Жерела до історії України - Руси". Т. VIII. Львів. 1912, стор. 60.

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The Gaidachs captured Sinop, destroyed its garrison, burned the arsenal and all the ships in the harbor. When the Sultan learned of this, he had the Grand Vizier Nasuh Pasha hanged in a fit of rage. The Cossacks were chased. The Turks overtook them at Ochakov and caused them considerable losses. Crown Hetman St. Zholkevsky hastened to bring the Sultan his congratulations on this occasion.

In the spring of the following year, 1615, Cossacks on 80 "seagulls" appeared within the Turkish capital. This was an unheard-of audacity, since in Istanbul, in addition to the sailors, there was always a large guard of the Sultan. The Cossacks set fire to the port facilities and turned back. The padishah himself, who was enjoying fishing in his country residence, saw huge columns of smoke and flames rising from the roadstead. A whole flotilla was sent in pursuit of the gulls. When she caught up with them at Ochakov, the Cossacks joined the battle. They boarded and sank several galleys, including that of the chief of the fleet. The other galleys fled. So remarkable was the occasion of 1616 for Kafu. The Cossacks captured the fortress, destroyed a large Turkish garrison and burned the fleet. During this campaign, many prisoners were released. The Turkish feudal lords were awed by the brave campaigns of the Zaporozhians. The Ukrainian chronicler puts the following remarkable words into the mouth of the Turkish sultan: "When the surrounding panstvos (states - V. G.) rise up against me, I sleep on the offended ears, and I hear about the Cossacks (forced-V. G.) with a single ear" 14.

9. Prologue of the War of 1621

The military skill and fearlessness of the Cossacks caused the amazement of contemporaries. Italian d'Ascoli, who lived in the Crimea for a long time, wrote: "The Cossacks are so brave that not only with equal forces, but also 20 gulls will not be afraid of 30 galleys of the padishah, as it is seen annually in practice" 15 . According to the Turks themselves, they are not so afraid of anyone as the Cossacks. This was also recognized by the well-known chronicler of Hiring. "It is safe to say," he wrote, " that there are no more courageous people in the whole world who think less about life or are less afraid of death. According to people who are well versed in military affairs, this horse surpasses all other peoples in its skill and bravery." The Cossacks conquered the Black Sea and Azov steppes that had previously belonged to the Slavs from the Tatars. Their campaigns in Turkey and Crimea made a huge impression in the West and East. The peoples conquered by Turkey looked with gratitude on the Cossacks as a force that contributed to their liberation aspirations. As for the European courts, first of all the Austrian, French, English, and Venetian ones, they began to consider the Cossacks as the most serious factor in the struggle against Turkish aggression starting from the XVI century. The Cossacks, who so confidently operated on the Black Sea and fearlessly attacked the capital of the Ottoman Port, dispelled the myth of its invincibility. This was clearly expressed by Thomas Roe, the British ambassador in Istanbul. Describing the attack of the Cossacks on the Turkish capital on June 9, 1624, Thomas Rowe: "This bold action revealed the amazing truth about a great power, that it is considered so formidable and powerful, but in fact weak and defenseless." 16 The Cossacks thoroughly undermined not only the military and political prestige of the still powerful Ottoman Empire, but also its military forces. At the same time, they demonstrated to the entire world at that time the power and liberation aspirations of the little-known Ukrainian people in Western Europe at that time, oppressed by feudal Poland.

The hatred of the Turkish feudal lords for the Ukrainian Cossacks, born of a sense of fear, knew no bounds. Sultan Murad III (1574-1595) angrily reprimanded the Polish ambassadors in Constantinople for the fact that their government could not keep the Cossacks from marching on the Turkish possessions: "Are you out of your mind? Who could ever oppose me-

14 "Chronicle Of Gr. Grabyanka". Київ. 1854, стор. 20.

15 P. Nadinsky. Essays on the history of the Crimea. Simferopol. 1951, p. 81.

16 D. S. Nalyvaiko. Західноєвропейські автори кінця XVI - поч. XVII ст. про роль українських козаків у боротьбі з турецькою агресією. "Український історичний журнал", 1968, N 6, стор. 144.

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xia?.. Persia is afraid of me, the Venetians are trembling, the Spaniards are begging for mercy, the Germans must give what I command them... the whole world trembles before me. " 17 For the promise to keep the Cossacks from marching, the Turkish government was ready to give up its claims to Poland. All the treaties concluded by the Ottoman Port with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth contained this most important condition for the Turkish rulers. The strongest blows to the Crimea and Turkey were also inflicted by the Don Cossacks. Especially formidable were the joint campaigns of the Ukrainian and Russian Cossacks. On May 18, 1618, a special meeting was held in Turkey on the issue of further measures to combat the Cossacks and Donets, which was attended by the ambassadors of the Netherlands, Venice and other European countries. The struggle of the Cossacks against the Tatar and Turkish invaders on land had an equally wide resonance in the West and East. In this sense, the role played by the Ukrainian Cossacks in the Khotyn War is extremely important. As is known, its prelude was the defeat of the Polish army and magnate detachments by the Turks in the autumn of 1620 at Tsetsora (near Iasi) and near Mogilev on the Dniester. In the battle with the Turks, the crown Hetman St. Zholkevsky was also killed. His severed head, stuck on a spear, was first displayed at the tent of the Turkish commander, and then sent to the Sultan. After Cezorah, Istanbul decided that the time had come to deliver a decisive blow to Poland. Major military preparations have begun in Turkey. A bunchuk was placed in front of the Padishah's palace in Istanbul. This meant that the army would be led by Sultan Osman II himself.

The news of the events in Moldavia and of Turkey's preparations for a campaign against Poland caused consternation in Warsaw. Already in early November 1620, the Sejm was convened to discuss the situation. The Sejm ambassadors reproached the deceased Zholkevsky for not calling them to march to Moldavia, blinded by hatred for the Cossacks. Not wanting to share the laurels of the future victory with the Cossacks, the crown hetman, according to them, said:: "Не хочу я з Грицями воювати, нехай ідуть до ріллі або свиней пасти". By his behavior towards the Cossacks, the ambassadors concluded, Zholkevsky condemned the Polish army to death. Despite the serious threat that hung over Poland, the gentry did not want to make any sacrifices. She insisted on increasing the Cossack registered army at the expense of the Okhotskys. This would free it from the heavy taxes required to hire a crown army, and from participating in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Cossacks, they said at the Sejm, could easily be recruited by twenty thousand, the main thing - " their name (among the Turks and Tatars. - VG .) enjoys fame and respect." The ambassadors offered to send representatives to the Cossacks, who, on behalf of the king, would promise the foreman of the starostvo and "power", and the ordinary Cossacks-an increase in salary. In addition, it was proposed to declare to the Ukrainian population the readiness of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to make concessions to the Orthodox in the religious issue.

The Sejm passed a resolution to increase the crown army, as well as to recruit 20 thousand Cossacks and assign them a salary of 100 thousand zlotys per year (this money would hardly be enough to recruit one thousand zholners). In connection with the death of Zholkevsky, the mace of the crown hetman was transferred to the Vilna voivode K. Khodkevich. The nobleman B. Obalkovsky was immediately sent to the registered Cossacks with the royal charter. In Ukraine, at this time, there was a struggle between the top of the registered Cossacks, headed by Hetman Sagaidachny, and the main mass of the Cossacks, supported by the Cossacks. This Cossacks put forward their leader - a Wart. Sahaidachny advocated the weakening of national and religious oppression in Ukraine. Wart fought for a sharp increase in the registered army by adding peasants to it, that is, for the weakening of not only national, but also serf oppression. In the summer and autumn of 1620, Sahaidachny took an active part in the restoration of the Orthodox hierarchy in Ukraine, which was liquidated after the Union of Brest in 1596. At the same time, he and all the registered Cossacks solemnly joined the Kiev Brotherhood, publicly declaring in such images that the Cossacks were ready to defend the national rights of the Ukrainian people. At the beginning of 1620, Sagaidachny sent envoys to Moscow. His representative Pyotr Odinets stated in the Embassy Order: "They were sent by all the Zaporozhye Army, Hetman Saadachnoy from Tov-

17 "Kronika Marcina Bielskiego". T. III. Sanok. 1856, str. 1630.

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prowl, beat your brow to the sovereign, declaring your service, that they all want to serve him, the great sovereign, with their heads " 18 .

The influence of the Wart in the people was due to the fact that he advocated the recognition of Cossack rights for the entire "showing off" population. The call of the Wart was answered by peasants and burghers who hoped to get rid of the pan's yoke by joining the Cossacks. At the same time, they took horses, weapons and various supplies necessary for the campaign from the royal and noble estates. The danger of a Turkish invasion, which threatened a terrible disaster to the population, as well as the decision of the Seimas to expand the register to 20 thousand, prompted the Wart to come to an agreement with Sagaidachny. On June 15, both troops - one led by Sagaidachny, the other with Wart - converged on the rada in the Sukhaya Dubrava tract. In addition to the royal envoys, Orthodox Metropolitan Job Boretsky arrived at the rada with a large number of clergy. The mass of armed Cossacks and the turbulent atmosphere in which the Rada was held made a strong impression.

The Rada decided to go on a campaign against the Turks and send representatives to the king to negotiate the expansion of the registered army and the security of Cossack rights. Hetman Sahaidachny, Bishop Kurtsevich and two other persons were elected as representatives. They went to Warsaw, and the Cossack army led by Wart went to Moldavia, towards the Turkish hordes moving to the Dniester led by Osman P. The Polish contemporary Yuri Vorotsky estimated the Turkish forces at 162 thousand people, not counting the Tatar detachments. According to other sources, there were more than 200 thousand Turks. To intimidate the "infidels", Osman II led four war elephants with him. Although the Turks were already at the borders of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Polish government did not yet have the strength to fight. His attempts to find allies abroad were unsuccessful. Pope Paul V confined himself to sympathizing with the" pious zeal " of King Sigismund III of Poland to defend Christianity. As for monetary assistance, the vicar of the Apostle Peter said that he could not give a single penny. The Austrian Emperor Ferdinand II, on whom the Polish magnates especially hoped, did not even allow the recruitment of soldiers in his country to the Polish army. In Poland itself, the army gathered very slowly. The Jolners didn't want to leave their winter quarters. The bosses complained: if some jolners "can't be driven out of the house not only with a royal station wagon, but even with a cue, [then] others... they run right out from under the banners." The crown Hetman Khodkevich, who was stationed in Lviv, did not have any real forces to resist the Turkish onslaught. "If this is how things go at first," he wrote anxiously to Lithuanian Chancellor L. Sapieha, " then what will happen next?" Only in August 1621, the army, numbering about 40 thousand people, was finally assembled and sent to the Dniester. Khodkevich placed it on the left bank of the river, opposite Khotyn, near the village of Braga.

The Turkish military leaders decided to rush to Khotin and give battle to Khodkevich before the Cossacks approached him. Meanwhile, the 40-thousandth Cossack army, led by Hetman Borodavka, with 20 copper and 3 iron cannons crossed the Dniester, destroyed the fortress of Soroka and headed towards the Turks. Soon the Cossacks joined the battle with the advanced detachments of the Turkish army. Despite the obvious disparity of forces, they, according to Y. Sobieski, "happily and gloriously fought with the Turks." According to another contemporary, the Armenian chronicler O. Kamenetsky, the Cossacks, having met with the Turks and Tatars in Moldavia, "fought major battles against them for 8 days until they killed a Silistrian pasha named Huseyn and many others." The Cossack army slowly, with continuous skirmishes with the enemy, approached Khotyn. The Zaporozhians were also fighting the Turks at sea. As early as June 1621, when the Sultan set out from Constantinople, they attacked and captured Turkish ships that were delivering siege cannons, gunpowder, balls and provisions to Belgorod-Dniester. Moving on, the Cossack flotilla appeared at the Turkish capital, destroyed one of its forts and entered Galata, after which it turned back. News of the actions of the Cossacks caused great alarm in the Turkish army. The sultan's entourage advised him to return to the capital. The Cossacks did not confine themselves to attacking Istanbul. When the Turkish army crossed the Danube, the Cossack army was divided into two parts. One attacked Trebizond, the other-the Belgorod Tatars. Fleeing from the Cossacks, Tatar families, taking with them-

18 "The Reunification of Ukraine with Russia", Vol. I, p. 3.

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the battle of the herd, fled to Ishmael, under the protection of the Turks. Turkish galleys under the command of Galil Pasha were sent against the Cossack "gulls" (they were stationed in the Danube girls and guarded the bridge). Cossacks on 18 "seagulls" attacked the galleys and sank them, having previously removed 15 large cannons from them. According to a Turkish eyewitness, few of Galil Pasha's sailors returned to their ships .

10. Khotyn campaign

While the Cossacks selflessly fought the Turks and Tatars on land and at sea, the Polish military leaders did not dare to cross the Dniester. They decided to wait for Wart's approach. However, he refused to join the Polish army until it entered Moldavia. The Cossacks were probably afraid that the Polish magnates might make peace with the Sultan and then attack them with a combined force. In this situation, the crown army finally crossed the Dniester River around mid-August and took up positions near Khotyn, guarded by a small Polish garrison. Chodkiewicz's camp, with Khotyn in the rear, faced southeast with its front and flanks facing the rocky banks of the Dniester. A few days later, Prince Vladislav arrived at Khotyn with a 16-thousandth army. The fact that the Cossacks had not yet joined up with the crown army greatly worried the Polish military leaders. They listened carefully to various news about the Cossacks. Once, Sobieski recounted, "a rumor spread that the Cossacks would not come at all; despair was expressed on the faces of the soldiers and commanders; heads were lowered; there was a low murmur when [this] sad news was transmitted through the tents"20 . Soon Sagaidachny arrived in the Polish camp from Warsaw, who was joyfully received by Chodkiewicz, and immediately went to the Cossack army in order to speed up its arrival at Khotyn. Sahaidachny had scarcely left, however, when Colonel Doroshenko came to Khodkevich from the Wart with the news that the Cossacks were approaching Mogilev. Then Sahaidachny, with the support of his supporters, seized the Wart, accused it of "many crimes" and executed it. On September 1, the Cossack army, now led by Sagaidachny, took up positions on the left wing of the Polish camp. In the same camp near Khotyn there were also Don Cossacks (according to some sources-200, according to others - 700 people).

On September 2, the Turkish army and Tatar detachments approached Khotyn. The Turks set up a camp on a mountain, one mile from the location of the Polish troops. Countless tents, wagons, horses, and camels were visible in the vast expanse along the Dniester River. In the center of the camp were the colorful, richly decorated tents of military leaders. Gilded balloons glittered above them, flags fluttered, and stuffed eagles with outstretched wings turned gray. Bunchooks were stuck in the ground near the tents guarded by guards. Above all this was Osman's headquarters. Cannons were placed around the camp, which had no field fortifications. They numbered, according to some sources, 200, according to others-500. Siege cannons, whose cores weighed up to 55 kg, made a deafening roar when fired. Crown Hetman Khodkevich was a supporter of defensive tactics. His motto, according to Y. Sobieski, was "at all costs to keep on the defensive and carefully wait for military happiness." Khodkevich placed great hopes on the ramparts, "because of which, according to Sobieski's conclusion, he hoped to safely bombard the enemy... [and] withstand their (Turk. - V. G.) attacks " 21 . The next day, after arriving at Khotyn, Osman, without giving his army a rest, led it to the Polish camp. At the same time, the Turks directed all the force of their blow at the Cossacks as the most combat-ready part of the Polish army, hoping first to defeat them, and then to finish off the rest. A fierce battle ensued. The Cossacks, as P. Pyasetsky testified, courageously repelled the attack of the Turks. The Sultan suffered heavy losses and was forced to withdraw. Cossacks pursued the enemy 22 .

19 См. "Жерела до історії України - Руси". Т. VIII, стор. 228.

20 "Memoirs related to the history of Southern Russia". Issue II, p. 63.

21 Ibid., pp. 74-75.

22 "Жерела до історії України - Руси". Т. VIII, стор. 249.

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On September 5, at dawn, after reorganizing his troops, the Sultan attacked the Polish camp from several sides simultaneously. The main blow, however, was now directed at the positions occupied by the gentry. The latter was already anxious from the very beginning and tried to avoid the fight. "Many nobles," wrote Sobieski, offended by the behavior of his brethren, " who belonged to the noblest families, were hiding on wagons among the provisions. they were dragged out of these shelters." The nobles could not stand the onslaught of the Turks and rushed to flee, but then the enemy's way was blocked by the baggage servants. Not only did they push back the Turks, but they joined up with the Cossacks, chased them and broke into the enemy camp. Cossacks and servants cut down enemies, captured prisoners, weapons, horses. "The Zaporozhye Cossacks," wrote an eyewitness, " repulsed several Turkish cannons, but, unable to take them away, since the cannons were chained, they chopped up the wheels under them." Sobieski with a sense of bitterness and resentment for the gentry wrote: "A mob of rabble... and not the weapons of powerful chivalry shook the formidable Turkish force." On the evening of September 9, quite unexpectedly for the enemy, the Cossacks, dragging the Polish baggage servants with them, broke into Osman's camp. The Turkish army was seized with panic. The Sultan and his two baggage trains ran for three miles. Others followed suit, and the Turkish camp was deserted. To consolidate the success of the Cossacks, they needed reinforcements. "Chodkiewicz," Sobieski noted, " was standing on horseback at the gate of his trench when a messenger arrived with the news that the Cossacks with several Polish detachments had already occupied Osman's camp and that only reinforcements were needed for a complete victory."23 However, Khodkevich, under the pretext of lateness of time, ordered to stop the fight. Thus, through the fault of the Polish military commander, the victory was lost. The Cossacks were forced to return to their positions.

The events of this evening shocked the Turks. "After the unexpected invasion of Osman's camp by the Cossacks," Sobieski wrote, " panic seized the Turks: people of all ranks and classes were in indescribable anxiety; Osman himself, who so recently thought that there was no one in the world more powerful than him, now saw with his own eyes the precariousness of his position." In an impotent rage, he cursed his captains and even himself. He said, "Those who swore to me to fight like lions themselves fled shamefully in fear." 24 For each Cossack head delivered to him, Osman promised a reward of 50 zlotys. The Turks soon became convinced that the Polish military leaders were avoiding offensive actions. The proof of this was the shameful behavior of Khodkevich on September 9. The Sultan decided to go to a long siege of the Polish army, depriving it of the opportunity to receive reinforcements. Meanwhile, the Tatar hordes ravaged Bratslav, Podolia, Bukovina, Volhynia, reaching as far as Galicia. Soon Yasyr appeared near Khotin, and " the groans of the captives resounded in the Turkish camp." The atrocities of the Tatars and the criminal inaction of the crown Hetman caused outrage in the Cossack camp. "Grumbling and discontent," according to Sobieski, " grew daily among the Cossacks." Discontent took on an open character. Representatives of Khodkevich were sent to the Cossacks, who begged them to continue fighting, promising, as before, to recognize all the Cossacks and pay them salaries.

Soon reinforcements came to Osman - the twenty-thousandth army of Karakash Pasha, and on September 28, the sultan ordered an assault. Enemy hordes were moving in a continuous stream towards the Cossack and Polish positions. Field and siege cannons thundered. But the Turks did not manage to get into the Polish camp. And this time, as the Polish report said, "especially many (enemies - V. G. ) were put out of action by the Zaporozhye Cossacks," 25 who, having bypassed the Turks, unexpectedly struck them in the rear. Although the Turkish attacks were successfully repulsed, the situation in the Polish camp worsened. There was a shortage of food, lead for bullets, and cannonballs. A considerable part of the powder was rendered useless by the quartermasters. The ranks of the army were rapidly melting away from the raging dysentery in the camp. And the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which the king collected in Poland, was not even heard of. All this made the Polish military leaders strive to make peace as soon as possible. On September 27, Chodkiewicz died. The command over the army was taken by the Polish Hetman St. Lubomirsky. On September 29, he sent representatives to the Turkish camp

23 "Memoirs related to the history of Southern Russia". Issue II, pp. 85, 74, 76.

24 "Kronika Pawla Piaseckiego". Warszawa. 1888, str. 299.

25 "Жерела до історії України - Руси". Т. VIII, стор. 241.

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with an offer to make peace. The proposal was quite consistent with the desire of the Turks, who had suffered huge losses in the course of military operations and did not see a way to break the enemy's resistance. On October 9, the warring parties concluded a truce. The first point on which the sultan particularly insisted was the obligation of Poland to prohibit the Cossacks from making campaigns against the Turkish possessions and punish them for this. The Polish king also pledged to pay the Crimean Khan "mentions". The treaty obliged the Sultan to place on the Moldavian throne persons who were friendly to Poland. Victory in the Khotyn War went to Poland. The main goal set by the Turks-the seizure of Ukrainian and Polish lands-was not implemented. Poland was saved from the Turkish invasion.

Thanks to whom was this victory achieved? Many Polish gentry and bourgeois historians attribute it entirely to the Polish gentry, who allegedly showed unprecedented heroism at Khotyn. However, the Polish participants in the Khotyn War had a different opinion on this matter. Ya. Sobieski, for example, wrote: "If the cowardice of a few can disgrace an entire nation, then the shadows of our ancestors should justly be ashamed of their descendants, for during this campaign there were many who left their banners, fled both day and night, preferring rather to perish in the rapid waves of the river (Dniester) than with glory reflect the danger that threatens the fatherland." In order to "put a stop to the shameful flight", the Polish military leaders forbade, according to Sobieski, to restore the bridge across the Dniester, although it was necessary for the army .26 An example of intrepidity, military initiative and perseverance was shown just by those to whom the Polish gentry treated with undisguised hostility and contempt, first of all the Cossacks, as well as the baggage servants and servants. The Khotyn War, moreover, cannot, contrary to many authors, be reduced to a battle directly at Khotyn, although decisive battles unfolded there. The war began in Moldova and on the Black Sea. In this first stage of the war, only the Cossacks fought the Turks and Tatars one-on-one. We should also not forget about the valuable service rendered by the local Ukrainian and Moldovan population in defeating the enemy.

The Khotyn War had important consequences for the Ottoman Empire. The defeat of the Turkish troops aggravated the socio-political contradictions in the country. Soon after the return of Osman II to the capital, unrest began. On May 19, 1622, the rebels broke into the palace and killed the Grand Vizier Delaware Pasha and many members of the court nobility. Osman himself, with a rope around his neck, was first led through the streets of Istanbul by a mob, and then killed. The unrest in the capital has resonated in different parts of the country. The liberation struggle of the peoples conquered by Turkey intensified.

Ukrainian Cossacks continued to fight the Turkish-Tatar invaders. Of course, the promise of the Polish government to prevent Cossack campaigns on the Turkish and Crimean possessions did not have any result. Already in 1622, the Cossacks, together with the Don Cossacks, appeared on the Anatolian coast and, as the document stated, "the king of Tours of the city of Trapizon did not take much, but burned and flogged the suburbs, and everyone's belly, and ships, and outfit (guns. - V. G. ), and guests (merchants. - V. G.) the king of Tours was caught"27. July 21. 1624 Cossacks and Donets appeared near Istanbul. They sailed, according to the story of a contemporary, " on 150 long, fast-moving boats on sails and oars, with 10 oars on each side, two rowers per oar." The Turkish authorities sent a fleet of 500 galleys and other vessels from the capital's harbor to meet the Cossacks. In addition, 10 thousand soldiers were sent to protect the Bosphorus. Despite this, the Cossacks landed in the harbor, burned the lighthouse and other port facilities, and then " returned to their shores with loot and the consciousness that they had disturbed the Ottoman Kingdom in its capital itself."

The campaigns of the Cossacks weakened the military power of the Ottoman Empire, contributed to the liberation struggle of the peoples oppressed by Turkey, and provided great assistance to European states that opposed the Sultan's aggression. In these campaigns, the Cossacks showed outstanding courage, amazing resilience and military talent.

26 "Memoirs related to the history of Southern Russia". Issue II, pp. 84, 85.

27 "The Reunification of Ukraine with Russia", Vol. I, p. 42.

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Olesja Savik
Киев, Ukraine
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12.01.2025 (29 days ago)
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