Battle
On 8 September 1514, shortly after dawn, Ivan Chelyadnin gave the order to attack. The Russian forces attempted to outflank the Lithuanians and Poles by attacking the flanks, manned by Polish, Lithuanian light hussar and tartar troops. One of the pincers of the attack was commanded by Chelyadnin personally, while the other was led by Prince Bulgakov-Golitsa. The initial attack failed, and the Russians withdrew toward their starting positions. Chelyadnin was still confident that the almost 3:1 odds in his favor would give him the victory. However, preoccupied with his own wing of the Russian forces, he lost track of the other sectors and failed to coordinate a defense against the counterattack by the Lithuanian light and Polish heavy cavalry, which until then had been kept in reserve.
The Lithuanian and Polish light horse and tartars attacked the overstretched center of the Russian lines in an attempt to split them. At the crucial moment the cavalry of the Grand Duchy seemed to waver, then went into retreat. The Russians pursued with all their cavalry reserves. The Lithuanian tartars and Polish cavalry, after retreating for several minutes, chased by the Russians, suddenly turned to the sides. The Russian cavalry now found themselves confronted by artillery concealed in the forest. From both sides, Polish and Lithuanian forces appeared and proceeded to surround the Russians. Ivan Chelyadnin sounded retreat, which soon became somewhat panicky. The Russian forces were pursued by the army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for five kilometers.
The Russian defeat is often attributed to repeated failures by Ivan Chelyadnin and Golitsa to coordinate their operations.
Sigismund von Herberstein reported that 40,000 Russians were killed. According to accounts in Polish chronicles, at the Battle of Orsha 30,000 Russians were killed and an additional 3,000 were taken captive, including Ivan Chelyadnin and eight other commanders. The forces of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Kingdom of Poland seized the Russian camp and all 300 cannons. Upset at word of the massive defeat, Grand Prince Vasili III allegedly remarked that "the prisoners as useful as the dead".
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Orsha
Famous quotes containing the word battle:
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—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
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—Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)