Historical story

Stefan Batory - a warrior king who reformed the army

Although he did not speak Polish, he knew very well what his new homeland needed. He saw the threats and understood what ignoring them might lead to. The rule of the Vistula River was for Stefan Batory one of the many challenges in his life - this time the most important challenge.

The beginning of the reign was not easy for Batory, because the problem of Gdańsk stood in the way. However, also in this case the king showed his determination, although some accused him of unnecessarily starting a civil war. Gdańsk supported the candidacy of Emperor Maximilian II, but after his death, the citizens of Gdańsk asked Batory for forgiveness. The latter, however, in retaliation demanded from the proud Gdańsk councilors, incl. the handing over of the Wisłoujście fortress and the demolition of part of the fortifications - conditions unacceptable for Gdańsk. The war has become a fact.

Gdańsk defiant

Unfortunately, Batory did not find broad support for these actions among the nobility, which even refused to call a mass mobilization and to pass taxes for the war. Faced with this attitude, the king was angry to say:

By the grace of God you have made me your king; I came at your pleas, with your votes. You put the crown on my head, therefore I am your king neither imaginary nor painted . I want to rule and rule, and I don't suffer that any of you interfere with this [...] .

Despite such problems, Batory's army successfully blocked the city and on April 17, 1577, they defeated the many times more numerous Gdańsk forces in the battle of Lubieszów. It was the first clash of Polish troops with an army of Western European type in a long time. It proved the greater maneuverability of the Hungarian royal infantry over the landsknechts. Also, the Polish cavalry could not resist the compact pikemen columns, which usually successfully repelled Western-type cavalry hits.

Thaler minted by the city of Gdańsk during the siege. On the obverse, instead of the figure of King Stefan Batory, the figure of Jesus Christ

The victory in Lubieszów did not manage to bring Gdańsk to its knees, and Batory did not have enough strength to conquer the city walls . In addition, news began to come from the east of Moscow's attack on Livonia. Therefore, an agreement was concluded with Gdańsk - the city, in exchange for maintaining its autonomy, was to pay a contribution (200,000 Polish zlotys) and recognize Stefan as its king. Thus, at the cost of the tarnished royal prestige, it was possible to avert the internal threat , but it also showed Batory what needs to be done as soon as possible - the reform of the army.

Great Reformer

The inevitable clash with Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible only accelerated the king's actions to strengthen and transform the Polish-Lithuanian army. Of course, he could count on the Transylvanian haiduks - both fierce and ruthless soldiers. both for enemies and for my own. It was not enough, however, and he decided to bring to life the chosen infantry of peasants and townspeople. One footman was to be dispatched from every 20 fiefs. In addition, the ranks of his army were enriched by mercenary city, peasant and petty ranks as well as German and Scottish regiments. Batory also decided to expand the Cossack infantry, especially dangerous during combat in the rolling stock.

Polish soldiers 1588-1632

The reforms also affected cavalry, which was the backbone of the armed forces. The heavily armed miners under Batory disappeared almost completely. Their place was taken by the hussars who started their great career at the Battle of Orsza in 1514. Next to them, the ranks of the cavalry were complemented by Cossack and Tatar banners. Moreover, Batory was engaged in hauls of Hungarian and German cavalry - arquebusers. They were not as effective against cavalry as Polish cavalry, but proved to be very useful as a supplement to infantry during siege operations.

Efficient artillery and engineering troops were needed to carry out the latter. Chamberless cannons were introduced on a larger scale - quite a progress at that time. The king is also credited with inventing, or at least improving, fire missiles, also known as knockers. They were used, among others during the siege of Połack in 1579. Then, due to the ineffectiveness of shooting with ordinary bullets, the artillery commander, Kasper Bekiesz (Batory forgave him for the former rebellion in Transylvania and accepted his command), ordered to throw burning balls. The royal engineers were able to erect pontoon bridges quickly, even within 3 hours . And the efficient digging of aphids (trenches) and laying mines defeated most of the tsarist fortresses.

Moscow campaigns

The three Moscow campaigns showed emphatically how efficient and forward-thinking Stefan Batory was. His hostilities were extremely methodical both in preparation and in conducting them. The ruler took care of the proper armament and equipment of the soldiers (shortcomings in this regard appeared only during the third campaign of 1581–1582, when the supply lines were excessively stretched).

The use of maps (!) ruled out randomness in the directions of impact. Efficient intelligence meant that the king attacked exactly where the opponent did not expect it. An example of such an action was the attack on Veliko Luki during the Second Moscow Campaign in 1580. Batory went into the middle of the possible directions of the tsarist troops, threatening to cut off the forces stationed in Livonia.

Stefan Batory near Pskov

Veliko Luki was the operational center of the forces of Ivan IV and it was the forward bulwark of the indigenous lands of Moscow. Their loss shook the tsar's defense system, and thus lost his strategic initiative . As you can see, the tsar was not sure not only from where, but also in what power Batory would come. Ivan the Terrible was surprised by the scale of forces mobilized by the Commonwealth against him during the first campaign. Nearly 60 thousand soldiers with 90 guns turned out to be an impossible opponent. Moreover, Batory, instead of wasting time and energy besieging fortresses in Livonia, moved hostilities deep into enemy territory.

Deep raids by Polish-Lithuanian cavalry units paralyzed the ability to concentrate and maneuver the Moscow troops. It was close, and during one of such games, Iwan the Groźny himself would have fallen into Polish hands. At the same time, Batory did not stick to his plans rigidly, but was able to react quickly to changing conditions. All this was a surprise for the tsarist command, which only confirms the fact of modern and efficient command of the king of Poland. As a consequence, the opponent avoided a clash in the field, hoping to successfully defend his castles . These, however, fell one after another, and the Moscow attempts to regain them in 1581 came to nothing due to the rebuilding and a strong manning on the orders of Batory. In addition, the king was able to properly manage his forces and never wasted the lives of his subordinates unnecessarily.

The war, however, caused human losses. To minimize them, Batory appointed a team of doctors, and the costs of treatment were covered by himself. The versatility of preparations and reforms in Batoria is also evidenced by the fact appreciating the role of propaganda and information by the ruler.

At the persuasion of Jan Zamoyski, a field printing house was created, which published prints informing about the course of the campaign and the successes of the army . And the latter was not lacking. The conquest of Połock, Falcon, Wieliż, Wielki Łuk, Newl, the pogrom of the Moscow cavalry near Toropec, just to name a few - was something to be proud of. This was not changed by the unsuccessful siege of Pskov in 1581–1582, ending the victorious Moscow wars of Batory. Anyway, this failure was translated as an effective blockade. The strategic plan to recover Livonia and push Moscow away from the Baltic Sea has been fully successful. The ruler himself, however, did not hide that the reflection of Livonia was not his last word. Batory wanted to conquer all of Moscow and lead to a crusade against Turkey. Unfortunately, the death of the king in 1586 prevented the realization of these far-reaching plans.

Stefan Batory was undoubtedly a warrior king

The state lost its ruler, whose element was war and politics . He preferred to stay in wars than at the Wawel court (malicious say that the reason for the king's absence was the unbearable beauty of his wife).

He had a good knowledge of the needs of the army and an ordinary soldier. He could stand on the first line (for example near Połack), did not spare himself during the march, he cut down the forest with his soldiers, spent the night in the open sky. In a word, he was a flesh and blood soldier with immense military experience and undeniable talent. Yes, some people remind him of leaving the soldiers at Pskov, that with his decisions he favored the separateness of Poland and Lithuania, that he based his rule on powerful families, that he cruelly dealt with the Zborowski family and that he laid the foundations for the later power of Prussia. However, as historians say: In the case of Batory, the legend is the most important. Poland has had so few battles won and so few campaigns won. [...] The flash of the victorious saber drawn by Batory sheds light on his entire reign.

And let the words of Andrzej Zborowski's royal enemy summarize the arguments of Batoria:He was such a master that he led many lions, as by God's grace, Lithuanian people, but if he led deer, he would not lose with them.