Battle of khotyn 1621. preconditions, battle, conclusions.

The most famous and important historical event that took place near Khotyn in the seventeenth century was the war of 1621, in which the Ukrainian Cossacks of Zaporizhzhia, led by Hetman Petro Sahaidachny, played a decisive role. The initial stage of the Khotyn War between Poland and Turkey was the Cetzor War of 1620.

In early August 1621, Turkish Sultan Osman II concentrated an army of nearly 160,000 near Khotyn. At that time, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was able to oppose the Turks with only a 35,000-strong army led by Jan Karol Chodkiewicz. The first battles between the two armies forced the Poles to ask for help from the Zaporozhian Cossacks. The Cossack council decided to provide assistance and sent an embassy headed by P. Sahaidachnyi to the king. A 40,000-strong Cossack army under the leadership of Hetman Y. Borodavka marched to Moldova to meet the enemy.

The central point of the fighting was the fortress of Khotyn, which was defended by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. P. Sahaidachnyi hurried here, to whom the king had promised to meet the demands of the Ukrainians. Not finding the Cossacks near Khotyn, he set out to meet them, was wounded on the way and almost fell into Turkish captivity, but nevertheless managed to break through to the Cossack camp, which was at that time near Mohyliv. Here, the Cossacks, unhappy with Borodavka's unsuccessful leadership in the Moldavian campaign, convened a Rada that deposed him from the hetmanate and sentenced him to death.

P. Sahaidachny was again elected the new hetman.

On September 1, 1621, the Cossack army arrived at Khotyn.

On September 2, Petro Sahaidachny, leading an army of more than 40,000, enters the battle with the Turks. The sultan directs the full force of his troops against the Ukrainians, realizing that by defeating Sahaidachnyi, he can win the war.

Fierce fighting continued throughout the day, from morning to evening.

The battle was so fierce that night could hardly stop it. Turkish artillery continuously shelled the Cossack positions. The Turks fiercely attacked the advanced units of the Cossacks, trying to cut them off from the rest of the troops. But the Cossack army steadfastly withstood the attacks of the huge Turkish army, inflicted significant losses on the enemies, and shook their confidence in their abilities.

On September 4, the sultan launched a new offensive. Now he directs his numerous hordes at the Cossacks and the Poles, but again receives a decisive rebuff. The Turks continuously fired at the Cossack regiments with large-caliber cannons. Jan Karol Hodkiewicz, an experienced soldier, admitted that he had "never heard such a roar of guns in his entire life." By skillfully maneuvering, Petro Sahaidachny gained a positional advantage over the enemy, appearing in a place that was not expected, thus demoralizing the enemy army and further directing the course of events toward the complete defeat of the enemy.

From morning to evening, and then with short breaks in the following days, bloody battles continued. The Cossacks survived, despite the fact that the enemy far outnumbered them. The Cossacks succeeded through courage and skillful military tactics. They used night raids into the enemy's rear, which yielded significant results. Petro Sahaidachnyi himself repeatedly led the Cossacks on such raids. The successful actions of the Cossacks and the skillful maneuvers of the Polish troops gradually eroded the Turkish forces. Osman II was completely at a loss. On September 28, he decided to give a general battle. Here is how a contemporary of the battle, the royal envoy Jakub Sobieski, describes this day:

"More than 60 cannons were thundering incessantly, the sky was burning and the air was clouded with smoke, the ground was trembling, the walls were groaning, the rocks were falling apart. It is impossible to describe what the eye saw during the day. It is impossible to express exactly with what zeal, courage, or rather despair both sides fought."

Undoubtedly, the main role in this battle, as in the previous ones, was played by Cossack regiments. Having exhausted the Turkish forces, Petro Sahaidachny led the Cossacks on a counteroffensive. Polish troops also attacked. Sultan Osman was forced to conclude the Treaty of Khotyn with Poland, which was equivalent to defeat.

The Khotyn War of 1621 was a turning point in the history of the Ottoman Empire. It amazed contemporaries both by the number of troops involved, the scale of the hostilities, and the consequences. It dispelled the legend of the power and invincibility of the Turks. The Turks ceased to be an object of unbearable horror for many peoples of Europe and Asia.

The victory at Khotyn saved Western Europe from the Janissaries' invasion, glorified the Cossacks and their hetman Petro Sahaidachny, whose authority as a commander increased significantly.

Petro Sahaidachny returned to Kyiv accompanied by the royal physician in a carriage presented by Sigismund III. The hetman settled in his own house in Kyiv, appointing Petro Zhytskyi as his commanding hetman. Despite his illness, the hetman continued to be active in politics. In January 1622, Sahaidachny refused to allow the royal commissioners to consider, without convening a general Cossack council, the demand to reduce the army to 3,000 people. At the end of winter 1622, a Cossack embassy was sent to Warsaw to demand that the king of the Commonwealth keep his earlier promises, but no particular results were achieved.

Five days before his death, Sahaidachny drew up a will in which he bequeathed his property for educational, charitable, and religious purposes.

On April 10 (April 20), 1622, Petro Sahaidachny died as a result of complications from a gunshot wound to his arm that he received during the Battle of Khotyn. The hetman's funeral took place on Leading (Tomyn) Sunday, April 28, 1622.

Streets in many cities of Ukraine, including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kropyvnytskyi, Kryvyi Rih, Lutsk, Chernivtsi, Vinnytsia, Rivne, Ternopil, and Nikopol, are named after Petro Sahaidachnyi.

On February 24, 2022, immediately after the Russian army invaded Ukraine, the Hetman Sahaidachny frigate, which was undergoing repairs at the Nibulon shipyard in Mykolaiv, was sunk to prevent it from being taken by the enemy. But we will build a new fleet. A modern, powerful one. The main thing now is to resist," Oleksiy Reznikov said on March 4. On September 28, 1991, a monument to Hetman Sahaidachnyi was unveiled near the Khotyn fortress. In 1992, another monument was erected in his homeland, in the village of Kulchytsi, where there is also a museum of Petro Sahaidachny. In 2008, a monument to Petro Sahaidachnyi was erected in Sevastopol, but it was dismantled by the Russian occupiers on April 25, 2014. Later, in mid-May, he was moved to Kharkiv on the initiative of the mayor.

The National Army Academy named after Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi is named in honor of Petro Sahaidachnyi

Sahaidachnyi is an underrated character in Ukrainian history, there are many unknowns in his life, but the legends that are made about him are full of pathos, they tell of a fight with fists, when Sahaidachnyi took the mace in hand-to-hand combat. His skill and tactics of DRGs and small groups are a science for the modern army, namely: Army, GUR and Special Forces. We can talk about his coolness for a long time, but it is impossible to truly appreciate his life because little has survived from those times.