The Battle
On April 28, 1648, Stefan Potocki's forces came upon Khmelnytsky's army in an area near the present-day city Zhovti Vody. Numbering only 3,000, the Commonwealth forces were greatly outnumbered at this point in comparison with Khmelnytsky's army of 8,000, which consisted of Cossacks, as well as 3,000-4,000 Crimean Tatars under the command of Tuhaj Bej. Stefan Potocki (advised by Jacek Szemberk and Stefan Czarniecki) ordered his force to retreat and take on the defensive tabor formation, which allowed for a messenger to be sent to contact Hetman Mikołaj Potocki.
On May 4, 1648, instead of doubling the Commonwealth's forces at Zhovti Vody, Mykhailo Krychevsky's 4,000 registered Cossacks arrived and sided with Khmelnytsky (Krychevsky himself was taken prisoner by the Tatars while still fighting for the Commonwealth; he would be liberated by Khmelnytsky and would join his army soon after the battle). Cossacks who stayed loyal to the Crown, such as Ivan Barabash, were cut down, as well as the German dragoons in their midst. The next day, Stefan Potocki saw his already undermanned force of 3,000 halved to 1,500, when the registered Cossacks who arrived with Stefan also joined the uprising. Polkovnyk Ivan Hanzha is recognized as being instrumental in swaying his fellow registered Cossacks into taking Khmelnytsky's side. At this point, Khmelnytsky's army swelled to 15,000 (further reinforced by local Cossacks joining the uprising).
The Commonwealth army managed to hold off from being overrun; this was due in part to their superior artillery. On May 13, 1648, Khmelnytsky met with representatives of Stefan Potocki, who debated turning over their artillery in exchange for safe passage. With negotiations breaking down, Potocki decided to leave the artillery and escape under the cover of darkness on the night of May 15. The Commonwealth forces were surprised by a hail of arrows from Tuhaj Bej's Tatar forces, which diverted their escape route towards the nearby fortified village of Kniazhi Bairaky (today a tract in Piatykhatky Raion). There the combined forces of Tatar horsemen and Cossacks under the command of Khmelnytsky's Colonel Maksym Olshansky (aka "Crook-nose", Kryvonis, or Perebyinis) overwhelmed Potocki's tabor formation and thoroughly routed the fleeing force.
Hetman Mikołaj Potocki, who had received word on May 3, 1648, of his son's plight, could not move his forces in time to reinforce the Commonwealth's position, with his forces getting to within 100 km from the site of the battle.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Zhovti Vody
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