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Directions of attacks of the Polish-Lithuianian troops
Directions of attacks of the Polish-Lithuianian troops
Stephen Bathory — the new king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, had to prove himself in the first place as a liberator and a ruler capable of recovering the losses the country had suffered during the war. The most painful among them was the loss of Polotsk in 1563. That became the direction of his revenge.
Polotzk (55° 29′ N , 28° 48′ E) had changed dramatically for the time of it being a part of the Russian tsardom. It had transformed from a trading town into a mighty fortress. The large settlement (where now the central quarters of the town are situated) fell into decay and became overgrown with grass and brushwood. The previous owners abandoned the houses, while the Russians hardly ever occupied or restored them. On the other hand, next to the heavily fortified Upper Castle, the Lower, Streletsky castle was built. Although today its ramparts are under the stands of the Polotsk stadium, they can be identified on the ground. Beyond the Polota River, in Zapolotye, an additional wooden fortress was built (no traces of it remain on the surface today).
Polotsk, 1579; engraving from a drawing by S. Pakholovitsky
Cathedral of St. Sophia in Polotsk draw from the icon of the XVI century
Cathedral of St. Sophia in Polotsk. Reconstruction from the Museum of St. Sophia Cathedral
Similar to Pskov, Polotsk was surrounded by a system of small fortresses, known as Polotsk subject towns. From the south it was protected by Susha (today’s village Dvor-Susha, on the island between Lake Temenitsa and Lake Ostrovki, 55.085136, 29.023947), Krasny (the exact location is unknown, supposedly between Lake Paulskoye (Tetcha) and Lake Berezovskoye, near Tetcha village, 55.228888, 28.951621), Turovlya (Gorodishche village at the mouth of the Turovlyanka river where it flows into the Western Dvina, 55.356354, 28.990265) and Ula (Ula agrotown, Beshankovichi district, Vitebsk region, 55.235700, 29.238590), from the north — by Sokol (near Kulnevo village of Sokolishchenski village council, where the Nishcha river meets the Drysa river, 55.731138, 28.542437), from the east — by Usvyat (55.746345, 30.751937), Neshcherda (at Lake Neshcherdo 55.929794, 29.088708), Ozerishche (nowadays Ezerishche, 55.844082, 30.026411), Sitna (Malaya Sitna village, where the Polota river flows into Lake Izmok, 55.701099, 29.363300) and Kozyan (Kozyany village, Mishnevichi village council, Shumilino district, Vitebsk region, 55.527056, 29.508759).
Suburbs of Polotsk
— fortresses of Polotsk
— fortresses of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania countered with the forts of Chashniki (54.856875, 29.160096), Drysa (today’s Verkhnedvinsk, 55.783154, 27.936249), Lepel (54.904716, 28.705724), Surazh (where the Kasplya river meets the Western Dvina, 55° 24′ 20″ N , 30° 43′ 22"E), and Voronach (Voronichi village, Polotsk district, Vitebsk region, 55° 19′ 43″ N , 28° 38′ 16″ E ). The construction of some castles was not finished, though, due to lack of funds. Those Russian and Lithuanian citadels carried on a real «war of the fortresses» in 1564–1571, the aim of which was to prevent the enemies from completing their fortifications and succeed in building one’s own. The balance tipped towards Russia, which enjoyed a clear advantage in manpower and money, sparing neither of them for the Polotsk subject towns.
On 30 June 1579, the king’s army marched on Russia. The royal army was colourful: horses were covered with wolf- and tigerskins, and harnesses were decorated with gold stones, gold and silk. The hussars had eagle wings behind their backs. It was an international force: Poles, Lithuanians, Ruthenians, Hungarians, Germans, Italians, French — mercenaries from all over Europe.
The defenders of Polotsk were supposed to feel on their own in front of the enemy and to expect no external help. To this end Bathory launched his first attack on the Polotsk subject towns. On July 28 Kozyan was burnt, on July 31 Krasny surrendered, on August 4 Sitna was taken. Then Polotsk was besieged. Stephen Bathory’s army numbered up to 16 thousand, while 6–7 thousand were defending Polotsk with 38 cannons (a cannon-tower was built for them in the Upper Castle) and 300 large-calibre guns (called gakovnitsas in Russian, because of a hook (gak) on the barrel, with which the gun was attached to the wall, so that it would not recoil — a counter-recoil system of the 16th century).
Bathory’s troops burned down Zapolotye, but the Upper and Lower castles were a more difficult target. Bathory’s soldiers took large baskets — sconces, moved them towards the town, and poured earth into them. The result was quite a reliable shelter from bullets and even small cannon-balls. Chains of such sconces slowly crept towards the fortress walls. The artillery bombarded the town with heated shots which, when hit, burst into red-hot pieces capable of setting fire to wooden buildings. Volunteers with torches were sent to the fortress walls to try and set fire to the logs.
Attacks at various places of fortifications and gunfire went on almost unceasingly from August 11 to 29. On August 29 multiple fires were set in the fortress wall. On August 30, the Hungarians under the command of Péter Rácz were able to seize and burn the fortress tower situated near the breach. A gap was created in the defence and it lost its integrity. The garrison of Polotsk panicked and surrendered on 1 September 1579, without waiting for the final assault. The capitulation condition was that anybody who wanted to could freely leave for Russia. However, not everyone left — the wrath of Ivan the Terrible was scarier than his enemies. On September 17, Stephen Bathory sent a diplomatic note from Polotsk to Ivan IV, advising him that the king had returned Polotsk to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Now the king’s forces only had to deal the final blow on Polotsk subject towns. During the siege they hardly helped Polotsk, only Susha and Turovlya sent sorties to the rear of the Polish army. Sokol, Drysa, Nisha, Turovlya and Susha were attacked and captured. In some places heavy fighting was going on, such as for instance, near Sokol (the glow of its fire was seen in Polotsk). Other garrisons gave up on condition that they would be allowed to leave for Russia freely.
Polotsk' strongholds, picturs by S. Pakholovitskiy
Kazyan fortress
Krasny fortress
Sitna fortress
Sokol fortress
Susha fortress
Today in the Vitebsk region one can see the sites of most above-mentioned fortresses. The localisation of some of them is disputed, while the locations of others have been determined with sufficient precision and confirmed by archaeological research. All the forts were wooden and small, although earthen foundations can be seen on the places of the towers here and there.
The victory at Polotsk raised the prestige of Stephen Bathory, revived the spirit of his army and their desire to fight. The Commonwealth began to prepare for the second Russian campaign.
Alexander Filjushkin