| Battle of Kletsk | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Grand Duchy of Lithuania | Crimean Khanate | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Michael Glinski | Fetih I Giray and Burnaş I Giray | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 7,000 | 20,000 | ||||||
The Battle of Kletsk (Belarusian: Бітва пад Клецкам, Lithuanian: Klecko mūšis) was fought on August 6, 1506 near Kletsk (now Belarus) between the army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania led by Court Marshall of Lithuania Michael Glinski and the army of the Crimean Khanate, led by Fetih I Giray and Burnaş I Giray, sons of the Khan of Crimea Meñli I Giray. It is considered one of the greatest Lithuanian victories against the Tatars.[1]
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The Lithuanians were allies with Hacı I Giray, founder of the Crimean Khanate. However, in 1480s his son Meñli I Giray allied with the Grand Duchy of Moscow, a long-standing Lithuanian enemy.[1] During the Muscovite–Lithuanian War of 1503, the Crimean Tatar armies pillaged Grand Duchy's southern towns of Slutsk, Kletsk and Nyasvizh and even threatened the capital in Vilnius. Therefore Alexander Jagiellon, Grand Duke of Lithuania, ordered to build the defensive city wall of Vilnius, which was completed in 1522.[1] About the same time conflicts in the Lithuanian Council of Lords began to emerge between quickly-rising Michael Glinski and Jan Zabrzeziński. In summer 1506, Alexander's health deteriorated and he decided to convene a Seimas in Lida so that he could transfer the Lithuanian throne to his brother Sigismund I. However, on July 25, the convention was disrupted by the news of Tatar invasion. According to scout reports, about 20,000 Tatars looted surroundings of Slutsk and approached Navahrudak and Lida.[2] Alexander evacuated to Vilnius leaving Stanisław Kiszka, Great Hetman of Lithuania, and Glinski in charge of defense.[1]
The Lithuanians quickly gathered 7,000 men in Navahrudak. Meanwhile the Tatars established their main camp near Kletsk and sent half of their force in smaller groups to loot surrounding areas.[2] On August 3, the Lithuanians learned the location of the Tatar camp and marched about 80 kilometres (50 mi) all night towards Kletsk. The march exhausted Kiszka, he fell ill, and command of the army passed to Glinksi. The Tatar camp was in a strong defensible position between the Lan River and its tributary Tsapra.[2] The Tatars were warned about the approaching Lithuanian army and were ready for battle.[3] The heavy Lithuanian cavalry could not cross the rivers and their swampy shores. Therefore Glinski ordered that the army split in half and built two pontoon bridges across the rivers while the enemies exchanged artillery fire.[3] He planned to attack the Tatas from two sides.
However, his political rival Jan Zabrzeziński did not trust Glinki's command and attacked first as soon as one of the bridges was completed on August 6.[2] The small detachments of Zabrzeziński's men was quickly defeated and the Tatars mockingly displayed their severed heads. This enraged the right wing of the Lithuanian army, which promptly attacked in full force. That prompted the Tatars to concentrate their full force against the Lithuanian right wing leaving only weak defenses against the Lithuanian left wing, which delayed its attack.[2] When Glinski commanded the left wing to begin the assault, the Lithuanians easily broke through the defenses and attacked the main Tatar forces from the rear. The Tatar army was split in half: one half was surrounded and defeated while the other retreated.[2] The Lithuanians pursued the retreating Tatars; it was said that more Tatars died retreating across Tsapra than in the battle.[3] The Lithuanians achieved a victory and recovered much loot and prisoners taken by the Tatars. For few more days, the Lithuanians waited for Tatar contingents returning to the camp after their looting expeditions.[1]
On August 12, 1506, victorious Michael Glinski entered Vilnius. In honor of the victory, Mikołaj II Radziwiłł sponsored Church of St. George on the bank of Neris River.[3] When Grand Duke Alexander Jagiellon died on August 19, Zabrzeziński accused Glinski of conspiracy to murder Alexander.[2] Glinski lost royal favors and began an anti-Lithuanian revolt, murdering Zabrzeziński and allying with the Grand Duchy of Moscow. The revolt became part of the renewed Muscovite–Lithuanian War. This time Khan Meñli I Giray broke off his long-standing alliance with Moscow due to its campaign against Kazan and allied with Lithuania.[4] Lithuanian Grand Duke Sigismund I received an iarlyk for the Russian territories of Novgorod, Pskov, Ryazan.[4]