400 ~40,000 Date 11 June 1694 | Fewer than 100 2000–6000 Result Polish victory | |
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Similar Battle of Klushino, Battle of Kirchholm, Battle of Khotyn, Battle of Lubieszów, Battle of Wizna | ||
The Battle of Hodów was a battle between the Kingdom of Poland and Crimean Khanate forces, fought in June 1694 in the Ruthenian Voivodeship of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, near the village of Hodów (now in Zboriv Raion, Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine). Often it is called Polish Thermopylae, like the Battle of Wizna.
Contents
Prelude
In June 1694 Tatar Muslims forces invaded Polish territory with the aim to pillage the countryside and capture prisoners for ransom. The Polish forces sent to stop them consisted of 7 chorągwie of hussars and pancerni from Okopy Świętej Trójcy and Szaniec Panny Marii strongholds, approximately four hundred men in total; historian Mirosław Nagielski estimates 100 hussars and 300 pancerni. Tatar numbers were estimated at twenty-five to seventy thousand, with forty thousand being the most commonly quoted figure. Also, John III Sobieski, the king of Poland at the time, mentioned the figure of forty thousand.
Battle
The first encounter took place on the fields near Hodów. The Polish cavalry charged the 700-strong Tatar vanguard and made them withdraw. Shortly afterwards Polish forces retreated to Hodów village due to overwhelming enemy numbers, and proceeded to fortify themselves using heavy wooden fences left there from earlier Tatar invasions. For the next 6 hours Polish troops resisted relentless Tatar attacks. Even after the Polish ran out of bullets, they continued to fire at the enemy, using Tatar arrows as improvised ammunition for their guns.
Aftermath
Unable to defeat the Poles, Tatars sent Polish-speaking Lipka Tatars to convince the Polish troops to surrender. When the Polish commander refused, the Tatars withdrew to Kamieniec Podolski and gave up on the entire invasion, having gained nearly nothing despite large troop numbers.