The Polish-Lithuanian army of Grand Hetman Konstanty Ostrogski won the Battle of Orsha on 8 September 15142, defeating a larger Muscovite army on the Dnieper near Orsha in modern Belarus. Using a feigned retreat to draw the Muscovites into the fire of hidden guns, Ostrogski routed them and captured their commanders. The victory was celebrated across Europe, but it did not recover Smolensk, which Muscovy had taken weeks earlier.
In the summer of 1514 Muscovy captured the great fortress of Smolensk from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Weeks later, on the banks of the Dnieper near Orsha, a Polish-Lithuanian army under Konstanty Ostrogski met the Muscovite field army, and won one of the most celebrated victories of the age.
The fall of Smolensk
For decades Muscovy and Lithuania fought over the lands of old Rus. In July 1514 the army of Grand Prince Vasili III took Smolensk.3 King Sigismund I sent an army of Polish and Lithuanian troops east under the Lithuanian hetman Konstanty Ostrogski to stop the Muscovite advance.
Crossing the Dnieper
The Muscovite army under Ivan Chelyadnin waited on the far side of the Dnieper. Ostrogski got his army across the river, using bridges and fords, and drew it up facing a larger enemy, with cavalry, infantry and artillery working together.
The feigned retreat
When the Muscovite cavalry attacked, part of the Polish-Lithuanian cavalry pretended to fall back, drawing the pursuers toward a wood where Ostrogski had hidden his infantry and guns3. Their fire threw the attackers into confusion.
The rout
Ostrogski's whole army then went over to the attack. The Muscovite army broke and fled, many killed or drowned in the pursuit. Chelyadnin and his fellow commander Mikhail Golitsa Bulgakov were captured, along with many other officers.2
Why Orsha mattered
Orsha did not reverse the war: Smolensk remained in Muscovite hands, a loss confirmed by the truce of 15224. But the victory became one of the proudest moments of the Jagiellonian era. Sigismund I publicised it throughout Europe2, and a large painting of the battle from the circle of Lucas Cranach the Elder survives5 as one of the most important early images of the armies of Central Europe.
