History /
Ancient Polish History thread [180]
I'll add my favourite 2 battles.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kircholm
September 27, 1605, the Polish-Lithuanian and Swedish forces met near the small town of Kircholm (now Salaspils in Latvia, some 18 km. South East of Riga). The forces of Charles IX of Sweden were numerically superior and were composed of 11,000 infantry (8500 pikeman, 2500 musketeer), 2,500 cavalry and 11 cannons. The Swedish army included a few thousand German and Dutch mercenaries and even a few hundred Scots.
Jan Karol Chodkiewicz was composed of roughly 1,300 infantry (1040 pikeman and 260 musketeer), 2,600 cavalry and only 5 cannons.
The fighting lasted barely 20 to 30 minutes, yet the Swedish defeat was utter and complete. The army of Charles IX had lost at least half, perhaps as much as two-thirds, its original strength. The Polish-Lithuanian losses numbered only about 100 dead and 200 wounded
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Klushino
Polish forces numbering about 6,800 men (of which about 80 percent (5556[2]) were the famous 'winged' hussars) under Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski defeated a numerically superior force of about 35,000 - 40,000 Russians under Dmitry Shuisky, Andrew Golicyn and Danilo Mezecki, including about 5,000 - 10,000 mercenary units temporarily allied to Russia, under the command of Jacob De la Gardie, mostly Finnish and Swedish, with some regiments composed of French, German and British. Including the forces that did not take part in combat (remained in camp, reserve or was delayed), the numbers were 12,300 Poles against 48,000 Russians. Poles were supported by 2 cannons, and Russians by 11.
Casualties and losses
Poles 400 Russians and Swedes 5,000
