What was Poland's greatest victory against the odds?
Kircholm in 1605 tops our ranking: about 3,600 Polish-Lithuanian troops destroyed a Swedish army of about 11,000, about 1 to 3, on the best attested figures of any entry. Jasna Góra in 1655 ties it on points, and Klushino in 1610, won at about 1 to 5, comes third.
Again and again, Polish and Polish-Lithuanian armies beat enemies far larger than themselves, from Obertyn in 1531 to Komarów in 1920. These eleven are the battles in which the Poles were clearly outnumbered on modern counts of both armies, not only in the chronicles. They are ranked by score, and the odds count the most; see how we chose and ranked them. Every entry says who gives each side's figures and marks the ratios we worked out ourselves. Famous wins in which the Poles were not the smaller side, such as Vienna and Warsaw 1920, are in our guide to the greatest Polish battles, and lost stands such as Westerplatte are among the greatest last stands.1
1 Kircholm, 1605
- Where
- Kircholm on the Daugava near Riga (now Salaspils, Latvia)
- War
- Polish-Swedish War
- Sides
- Lithuanian army of Hetman Jan Karol Chodkiewicz vs the Swedish army of King Charles IX
- Strength
- About 3,600 Polish-Lithuanian troops (2,600 horse) vs about 11,000 Swedes (8,358 foot and 2,500 horse, Olofsson); about 1 to 3
- Result
- Swedish army destroyed; 8,000 to 9,000 Swedes dead (estimate), 100 to 200 Commonwealth losses
In September 1605 King Charles IX of Sweden was besieging Riga, and the Lithuanian hetman Jan Karol Chodkiewicz marched to relieve it with about 3,600 men, 2,600 of them horsemen. The Museum of Polish History puts the army Charles brought to Kircholm at 11,000, and Magnus Olofsson counts 8,358 foot and 2,500 horse. Chodkiewicz faced about three times his own numbers. In horse the two sides were almost level, so it was the Swedish infantry that made the gap.2
On 27 September the Swedes formed up on the crest of a hill, and for about four hours neither side would move. Then Chodkiewicz had part of his force fake a retreat. The Swedish line came down after it, and the hussars charged. The Swedish cavalry was driven off; the infantry, split into isolated blocks, was cut down, and after about three hours the army had ceased to exist. The Museum of Polish History puts the Swedish dead at 8,000 to 9,000, some 70 percent of the army, against 100 to 200 Commonwealth losses, only 13 of them hussars. Yet the victory brought no strategic gain: unpaid soldiers left the hetman soon after, and the Swedes gladly accepted a truce.3
Why it ranks here: Kircholm and Jasna Góra both score 40 and tie on recognition (4) and consequence (3), so the older battle takes first place; its numbers are the best attested here, certainty 5. Odds of about 1 to 3, mostly in infantry, score 4, and it saved Riga only for a time, consequence 3.
2 Jasna Góra, 1655
- Where
- Pauline monastery of Jasna Góra, Częstochowa, Poland
- War
- Swedish Deluge (Polish-Swedish War)
- Besiegers
- Swedish corps under General Burchard Müller, about 2,000 men, many of them German mercenaries, and Poles (accounts written after the siege claimed 10,000)
- Defenders
- About 160 soldiers and the armed monks (Museum of Polish History), about 250 armed men in all (OKO.press), under Prior Augustyn Kordecki
- Outcome
- Held; the Swedes withdrew on the night of 26 to 27 December 1655 after about 40 days
In 1655 the Commonwealth came close to collapse. The Greater Poland levy capitulated at Ujście, Lithuania accepted Swedish protection, King John Casimir took refuge in Silesia and much of his army went over to Charles X Gustav. Even Prior Augustyn Kordecki recognized the Swedish king on 7 November in return for a promise that the monastery would be spared, while quietly sending the miraculous icon to Silesia; the historian Idzi Panic reads his letter to Charles Gustav as playing for time.4
On 18 November Burchard Müller's troops were refused entry and the siege began. Later accounts gave Müller ten thousand infantry; Adam Węgłowski, writing for OKO.press, gives him two thousand men, many of them German mercenaries and Poles, against about 250 armed defenders. The Museum of Polish History, with 160 soldiers against ten times as many, gives much the same odds. Myth and fact: the monastery was not saved by the icon, which was not even there; it was a modern bastioned fortress whose guns outmatched the Swedish artillery. After a last failed assault at Christmas the Swedes marched off. On 1 April 1656, in Lwów, John Casimir placed the kingdom under the care of Mary as Queen of Poland, and Sienkiewicz later made Kordecki a hero of The Deluge.5
Why it ranks here: About 250 men against some 2,000, roughly 1 to 8, earns full marks for the odds, and the cult of the Queen of Poland keeps the defense alive, memory 5. But the Swedish strength rests on few counts, certainty 3, and a monastery that held decided no campaign, consequence 3; it ties Kircholm on 40 and on recognition and consequence, and goes below it as the younger.6
3 Klushino, 1610
- Where
- Klushino, west of Moscow, Russia
- War
- Polish-Muscovite War, in Russia's Time of Troubles
- Sides
- Polish-Lithuanian army of Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski vs the Russian army of Dmitry Shuysky and foreign mercenaries under Jacob De la Gardie
- Strength
- Poles about 6,700 (Rickard's figures, our sum) or 2,700 to 4,000 (Sikora, doubted by Gawron); Russians 30,000 (Żółkiewski's own letter, Rickard) or about 15,000 (Sikora), plus 3,300 to 7,000 mercenaries; our ratio about 1 to 5 on either count
- Result
- Russian and mercenary army broken; Tsar Vasily Shuysky deposed on 27 July
In 1610, in Russia's Time of Troubles, King Sigismund III was besieging Smolensk. A Russian army under Dmitry Shuysky, with foreign mercenaries under Jacob De la Gardie, marched to relieve it, and Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski went to meet it with an army made almost entirely of horse. How many stood on each side is disputed. J. Rickard counts 5,556 hussars, 679 Cossack and 290 Lithuanian horse and 200 infantry with two small guns, against 30,000 Russians and 5,000 to 7,000 mercenaries. Przemysław Gawron of the Wilanów Palace Museum sets out Radosław Sikora's far lower count, 2,700 to 4,000 Poles against about 15,000 Russian soldiers and some 3,300 mercenaries, but Gawron doubts the Polish figure; the round 30,000 Russians goes back to Żółkiewski's own letter to the king. Either way the odds were about five to one by our reckoning, and the Museum of Polish History also writes of an enemy almost five times larger.7
After a night march the Poles struck the camp on 4 July. For hours the hussars charged again and again; the mercenary horse was swept away, and the foreign infantry gave up once the two Polish guns came up. On 27 July Tsar Vasily Shuysky was deposed in Moscow, and the boyars accepted Prince Władysław as tsar and let Polish troops into the Kremlin.8
Why it ranks here: Full marks for the odds, about 1 to 5 on either count, and the victory brought down a tsar, consequence 4. But the counts vary so widely that certainty is only 3, and the name is less known than Kircholm's, recognition 3, so it ends on 39, a point behind the two battles on 40.
4 Komarów, 1920
- Where
- Near Komarów, east of Zamość, Lublin region, Poland
- War
- Polish-Soviet War
- Sides
- Polish 1st Cavalry Division (Colonel Juliusz Rómmel) vs the Soviet 1st Cavalry Army (Semyon Budyonny)
- Strength
- About 1,500 Polish vs more than 6,000 Soviet troops at Komarów (PAP; Ministry of National Defence); about 1 to 4 on these figures. Other counts give the Poles about 5,600 cavalrymen (IPN) or 7,500 men (PAP). The whole 1st Cavalry Army reported 11,581 sabers on 25 August
- Result
- Polish victory; the 1st Cavalry Army broke out east with heavy losses
After the Battle of Warsaw, Budyonny's 1st Cavalry Army, the most feared Soviet force of the war, turned north toward Lublin. By its own report of 25 August it counted 1,352 commanders, 11,581 sabers and 51 guns. From 29 to 31 August a Polish and Ukrainian garrison under Colonel Marko Bezruchko held it off at Zamość, while Polish divisions closed a ring around it. On 31 August Colonel Juliusz Rómmel's 1st Cavalry Division blocked its way east near Komarów. Polish Press Agency figures, repeated by the Ministry of National Defence, give the whole division about 1,500 men against more than 6,000 of Budyonny's men on that field, about 1 to 4 by our reckoning. Other counts give the Poles more: an IPN infographic about 5,600 cavalrymen, and another PAP report about 7,500 men for the whole Polish force. Of the 21 cavalry regiments in the battle, six were Polish.9
Through the morning the 7th Cavalry Brigade fought alone, throwing back repeated Soviet charges until Rómmel sent part of the 6th Brigade to help; in the end a charge by the 8th Uhlans and the arrival of the 6th Brigade decided the day. By the IPN historian Marek Kozubel's count the division lost several hundred men killed and wounded and about 700 horses. Myth and fact: Budyonny's army was not destroyed. Most of it broke out east toward Hrubieszów, but it was so badly mauled that it was later withdrawn from the front. The Polish cavalry still keeps the anniversary as its own day, Polish Cavalry Day.10
Why it ranks here: The counts disagree: about 1 to 4 on one agency's figures, but other counts give the Poles 5,600 or 7,500 men, which is nearer 1 to 2, so odds 3. Taking the most feared Soviet army out of the campaign earns consequence 4. The head counts rest on agency and summary figures, not on the records of both armies, so certainty 3, and with recognition 3 it ends on 33.
5 Khotyn, 1621
- Where
- Fortified camp at Khotyn on the Dniester (now Khotyn, Ukraine)
- War
- Polish-Ottoman War of 1620 to 1621
- Sides
- Polish-Lithuanian army (Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, after his death Stanisław Lubomirski) and Zaporozhian Cossacks (Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny) vs the Ottoman army of Sultan Osman II
- Strength
- About 30,000 Polish-Lithuanian troops and 30,000 to 40,000 Cossacks vs about 100,000 Ottomans (Museum of Polish History) or 150,000 Ottomans and Tatars (Encyclopedia of Ukraine); our ratio about 1 to 1.4 to 1 to 2.5
- Result
- Ottoman assaults repulsed; treaty of 9 October 1621, no territory lost
The war began in disaster: in 1620 Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski's army was destroyed at Cecora in Moldavia, Żółkiewski was killed, and the Crown was left almost defenseless. The Sejm voted taxes for 60,000 men, but only half that number could be raised; the Encyclopedia of Ukraine likewise says Poland could not muster more than 30,000. In 1621 Osman II marched north with about 100,000 men by the Museum of Polish History's count, 150,000 Ottomans and Crimean Tatars by the encyclopedia's. Chodkiewicz crossed the Dniester and dug in at Khotyn to keep the fighting off Crown soil, and on the eve of battle about 30,000 Cossacks arrived and camped beside him; the encyclopedia gives 40,000. By our sum the two camps held 60,000 to 70,000 men, so the sultan had about 1.4 to 2.5 times their number.11
From 2 September the Ottomans stormed the camps again and again, then settled for a siege. Chodkiewicz died of illness on 24 September and Lubomirski took command; a last assault on 28 September failed, though the camp was down to a single barrel of powder. The treaty agreed on 9 October was worded so that both sides could claim success, but the sultan gained no land, and in 1622 the Janissaries deposed and murdered him, the first regicide in Ottoman history.12
Why it ranks here: The camps held off an army perhaps twice their size, odds 3, but the Ottoman total is probably inflated, certainty 3, and the war ended on the old border, consequence 3. It is the only entry on 31, one point ahead of Zbarazh.
6 Zbarazh, 1649
- Where
- Zbarazh, Volhynia (today western Ukraine)
- War
- Khmelnytsky Uprising
- Sides
- Commonwealth army with Prince Jeremi Wiśniowiecki vs the Cossacks of Bohdan Khmelnytsky and the Crimean Tatars
- Strength
- About 9,000 soldiers and 11,000 camp servants vs 20,000 to 40,000 Tatars and a Cossack army of perhaps 70,000 fighting men or more (estimates differ widely)
- Result
- The camp held for six weeks; siege lifted on 22 August after the Zborów agreement
In the summer of 1649 the Cossack rising of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, now joined by the Crimean Tatars, rolled west into the Commonwealth. The Crown commanders and Prince Jeremi Wiśniowiecki, the Cossacks’ most feared enemy, chose to dig in beside the castle at Zbarazh. In the fortified camp were about 9,000 Polish soldiers and 11,000 camp servants, by the figures quoted on dzieje.pl; Maciej Adam Pieńkowski counts about 9,000 regulars and some 15,000 men in all with private troops and servants.13
The besiegers are another matter. The Tatars are put at 20,000 to 40,000; the Cossack host at up to 150,000 people, only half of them real soldiers, in the same dzieje.pl text, and at 70,000 Cossacks by Mykhailo Hrushevsky, with tens of thousands of armed peasants behind them. The 300,000 Tatars of old accounts, Pieńkowski writes, is pure fantasy. From about 10 July the defenders beat off assault after assault while hunger and wounds thinned their ranks.14
Relief came from diplomacy, not battle. Chancellor Jerzy Ossoliński persuaded the khan to negotiate, and on 22 August 1649, after more than six weeks, Khmelnytsky lifted the siege. The Zborów agreement that followed suited neither side, and the war resumed in 1651. Henryk Sienkiewicz made the siege the climax of With Fire and Sword, which is why every Polish reader knows it.15
Why it ranks here: The camp was outnumbered about 1 to 4 or worse even on the lowest counts (odds 4), and Sienkiewicz keeps it famous (recognition 3, memory 4); but it ended in a compromise that settled nothing, consequence 2, and the besiegers’ numbers are guesses, certainty 2, which leaves it the only entry on 30.
7 Lubieszów, 1577
- Where
- By the Lubieszów lakes near Lubiszewo, west of Tczew, south of Gdańsk, Poland
- War
- War of King Stephen Báthory with Gdańsk, 1576 to 1577
- Sides
- Royal army of Hetman Jan Zborowski vs the army of Gdańsk under the mercenary captain Hans Winckelbruch von Köln
- Strength
- About 1,300 to 1,350 horse and 1,000 to 1,050 foot with a few guns vs about 3,100 landsknechts, 800 horse and 6,000 to 8,000 city militia, 10,000 to 12,000 in all (our sum); our ratio about 1 to 4 to 1 to 5
- Result
- Gdańsk army routed; about 4,400 to 4,500 dead and some 5,000 prisoners against 188 royal casualties, 58 of them killed
Gdańsk, the great port city of the Commonwealth, refused to accept Stephen Báthory as king after the double election of 1575, and by the autumn of 1576 it was the only place still holding out. The royal army of Hetman Jan Zborowski wintered at Tczew: about 1,300 horse and 1,000 foot with a few guns, by a Jagiellonian University lexicon of Polish battles. Treasury rolls studied by Dominik Kadzik list 1,281 horse a month before the battle. In April the city's commander, Hans Winckelbruch von Köln, marched on it with about 3,100 landsknechts, 400 hired reiters, 400 city horse and 6,000 to 8,000 militia, 10,000 to 12,000 men by our sum, four or five to one. That is the whole expedition: Polish Renaissance Warfare adds that Winckelbruch sent the militia and 200 horse to the Rokitki crossing to hold the Poles there, so fewer of the city's men fought at Lubieszów itself.16
On 17 April Zborowski met Winckelbruch at the causeway between the Lubieszów lakes, where the city's army was crossing the Motława. Some 600 Hungarian hajduks stormed the Gdańsk guns on the causeway and turned them on their owners. When the hussars held in reserve struck the landsknechts from the side, the city's army fled, pursued to the walls of Gdańsk. The lexicon puts Winckelbruch's losses at about 4,500 dead and 5,000 prisoners, against 188 royal casualties, 58 of them killed. Yet the city held. Báthory's siege that summer failed, and in December 1577 he left Gdańsk its autonomy in return for an oath of loyalty and 200,000 złoty.17
Why it ranks here: Odds of four or five to one for the whole expedition earn full marks, but the city held out and the war ended in a compromise, consequence 2, and few readers know the name, recognition 2. Both armies are known from few accounts, the treasury rolls do not match the infantry figure, and part of the city's force was at another crossing, so certainty 2; with 29 points it stands below Zbarazh on 30 and above Obertyn on 28.
8 Obertyn, 1531
- Where
- Obertyn, Pokuttya (today western Ukraine)
- War
- Polish-Moldavian War
- Sides
- Crown army of Hetman Jan Tarnowski vs the Moldavian army of Prince Petru Rareș
- Strength
- About 5,650 Poles (some 4,450 horse and 1,150 foot) with 12 guns vs about 17,000 Moldavians, mostly light cavalry, with 50 guns
- Result
- Polish victory; the Moldavian army routed and Pokuttya kept
Pokuttya was claimed by both Poland and Moldavia. In 1530 Prince Petru Rareș overran it, and in early August 1531 Hetman Jan Tarnowski took it back. When the Moldavian army returned, Tarnowski crossed the Dniester, beat a Moldavian force at Gwoździec on 19 August, and on 22 August met Rareș himself at Obertyn.18
The muster rolls give Tarnowski 5,648 men: 4,452 horse, 1,136 foot and 12 guns, as Przemysław Mazur sums them up for the city of Tarnów; the Polish Army Museum gives about 4,500 horse and 1,200 foot. Both put the Moldavians at about 17,000, mostly light cavalry, with 50 guns, roughly three to one. If anything, the gap was wider: Aleksander Bołdyrew found that the last companies joined nine days after the battle, so fewer Poles fought than the totals suggest.19
Tarnowski formed a fortified camp of wagons chained together. Polish infantry fire broke the Moldavian charge, then the hetman led most of his cavalry out through the camp gate, and after a short fight the encircled Moldavian army broke. By the museum’s count it lost almost 7,000 dead, about 1,000 prisoners and all its guns. Yet, as Marek Plewczyński wrote, the victory was exploited neither militarily nor politically, and the fighting with Rareș dragged on for years.20
Why it ranks here: About 1 to 3, on muster rolls for the Poles and a less sure estimate for the Moldavians, gives odds 4 and certainty 3; but it kept a border province rather than deciding a war, consequence 2, and few readers outside military history know the name, recognition 2, so it is eighth on 28.
9 Trembowla, 1675
- Where
- Trembowla castle, Podolia (today Terebovlia, western Ukraine)
- War
- Polish-Ottoman War of 1672 to 1676
- Sides
- The castle garrison under Captain Jan Samuel Chrzanowski vs an Ottoman army under Ibrahim Pasha, called Shishman
- Strength
- About 300 to 330 defenders vs about 7,000 to 8,000 Ottomans in the siege itself, by Marek Wagner’s count
- Result
- The Ottomans gave up the siege; the castle held
In the autumn of 1675 an Ottoman army under Ibrahim Pasha, known as Shishman, “the Fat,” was moving through the south-eastern borderlands, and on about 20 September it laid siege to Trembowla, a small castle on a hill above the Gniezna river. The garrison was tiny. The Wilanów Palace Museum and the Polish Army Museum count 80 dragoons, about 200 peasants and a handful of local nobles; Marek Wagner, the siege’s modern historian, puts it at only about 300 to 330 men, with 12 or 13 guns. The Ottoman troops directly engaged in the siege, he says, numbered about 7,000 to 8,000.21
For about two weeks the Ottomans fired more than 4,000 cannonballs at the castle and stormed it again and again. On the night of 4 to 5 October only about 20 men could still fight. Legend says that when the commander thought of surrender, his wife Anna Dorota threatened to kill him and then herself; Wagner warns that very little about her is documented. Fearing a relief army, Ibrahim lifted the siege: on 5 October by the Wilanów museum’s dating, on 11 October by the Polish Army Museum’s. The Sejm of 1676 ennobled the couple. An opera by Józef Wybicki, paintings by Aleksander Lesser and Leopold Löffler and a monument below the walls kept the story alive.22
Why it ranks here: About 1 to 21 to 1 to 27 on Wagner’s figures by our reckoning, but his is the only modern count of the Ottomans, so odds 4 and certainty 2; a castle that held did not change the war (consequence 2), and it is known mainly through the Chrzanowska legend (recognition 2, memory 3). It ties Hodów on 27 and on recognition and consequence, and goes above it as the older.
10 Hodów, 1694
- Where
- Hodów, Podolia (today western Ukraine)
- War
- Polish-Ottoman War of 1683 to 1699
- Sides
- Cavalry banners from the Holy Trinity Trenches and the Panna Maria fort under Konstanty Zahorowski vs the Budjak Tatars
- Strength
- About 400 to 600 horsemen vs a Tatar force given as 40,000 by the royal court (perhaps far fewer; the true number is unknown)
- Result
- The Tatars gave up their attacks and withdrew after several hours
In June 1694 the Nogai Tatars of the Budjak raided Red Ruthenia. On the way back they were attacked by cavalry banners from the Holy Trinity Trenches and the Panna Maria fort, who took them for a mere raiding party. Konstanty Zahorowski’s horsemen fell back into the village of Hodów and on 11 June held it for several hours, until the Tatars gave up and rode on.23
Tradition gives about 400 men in seven banners of hussars and pancerni against some 40,000 Tatars, one against a hundred, as dzieje.pl puts it. Zbigniew Hundert counts about 400 men from the Trenches and about 200 from the fort, of whom fewer than 100 were hussars. The Tatar figure is far less certain. Before the raid the court reckoned the horde at 30,000. The 40,000 first appears in a Lwów postmaster's letter, as the size of the whole convoy the horde had escorted, and then in the account of wounded companions who came to the king asking for help; in 1694 the pairing 400 against 40,000 was made only once, by King Jan III himself, over dinner, while official texts spoke only of “several tens of thousands.” Hundert notes Mirosław Nagielski’s view that perhaps 4,000 Tatars took part, and concludes that the true number cannot be fixed. So the myth is 400 hussars against 40,000; the fact is a few hundred horsemen, mostly not hussars, against a horde of unknown size.24
In 1695 Sobieski raised an obelisk on the field, and its inscription already claims 70,000 Tatars.25
Why it ranks here: Even on the lowest guess the defenders were outnumbered several times, so odds 4, but the famous figure is court propaganda (certainty 2) and the fight decided nothing (consequence 2). It ties Trembowla on 27 and on recognition and consequence, and goes below it as the younger.
11 Podhajce, 1667
- Where
- Podhajce, Ruthenia (today Pidhaitsi, western Ukraine)
- War
- War with the Crimean Tatars and the Cossacks of Petro Doroshenko
- Sides
- Crown army of Field Hetman Jan Sobieski vs the Crimean Tatars of Krym Giray and the Cossacks of Hetman Petro Doroshenko
- Strength
- About 3,000 soldiers and several thousand armed peasants in the camp vs 20,000 to 30,000 Tatars and Cossacks at Podhajce (30,000 to 35,000 in the whole invasion)
- Result
- The camp held; truce with the Tatars on 16 October, Doroshenko submitted on 19 October
In the autumn of 1667 a Tatar army under Krym Giray, joined by the Cossacks of Hetman Petro Doroshenko, invaded the south-east of the Commonwealth, about 30,000 to 35,000 men in all. Field Hetman Jan Sobieski had about 17,000 to 18,000 men across the whole region, counting fortress garrisons, private troops and the local nobility, by Polish Radio’s account. He dug in himself at Podhajce with about 1,000 horse, 2,000 foot and several thousand local peasants. Michał Szuster also gives the hetman about 3,000 men at Podhajce.26
Between 20,000 and 30,000 Tatars and Cossacks reached the camp in early October. Contemporaries wrote of 80,000 Tatars and 24,000 Cossacks, figures Szuster calls heavily exaggerated. On 6 October the Tatars attacked first, to draw attention from an assault on the eastern side; Sobieski beat off both. A standoff followed, broken by news that Ivan Sirko’s Zaporozhians were raiding Crimea. On 16 October the Tatars agreed a truce, and three days later Doroshenko came to terms.27
It was no spectacular victory: the Tatars left with their loot and captives, and Doroshenko’s recognition of the king’s authority was only a truce in a long war. But it made Sobieski’s name, and he was soon rewarded with the grand hetman’s mace.28
Why it ranks here: About 1 to 3 if the armed peasants are counted, and far worse if only the soldiers are, so odds 4; but the numbers rest on few accounts (certainty 2), the truce did not end the war (consequence 2), and the name means little to most readers (recognition 2), which leaves it last on 26.
How we chose and ranked these Polish victories against the odds
We counted a battle won by a Polish or Polish-Lithuanian army that was clearly the smaller side, judged on modern counts of both armies, not on the chronicles alone. A camp or a fortress that held until the enemy gave up counts as a win, which is why Jasna Góra and Khotyn 1621 are here. Famous victories in which the Poles were not in fact outnumbered, such as Grunwald, Vienna and the Battle of Warsaw in 1920, are ranked in our guide to the greatest Polish battles; stands that ended in surrender or death, such as Westerplatte, Zadwórze and Wizna, belong to the greatest last stands; and the underdog wins of other nations are in battles won against the odds, which uses the same criteria and scores Klushino exactly as we do here and Kircholm one point lower on recognition.29
We considered 25 candidates and scored each one from 1 to 5 on five criteria. The odds count three times, because this page answers the question of which Polish victories were won against the heaviest odds; recognition, consequence and certainty of the numbers count twice, and memory counts once. Many old Polish figures for the enemy, Tatar and Ottoman above all, come from one side's reports and are often inflated, so we scored the odds on modern estimates and marked down certainty where the figures are weak:
- Recognition (×2). 5 if the name is known far beyond military history and appears on most published lists of its kind, 1 if only specialists know it.
- The odds (×3). How outnumbered the winner was, on sourced modern figures: 5 if about 1 to 4 or worse and well attested, 4 about 1 to 3, 3 about 1 to 2, 2 a clear but small gap (about 1 to 1.5), 1 if the sides were roughly even or the winner was possibly not smaller; a 1 puts a battle out of scope.
- Consequence (×2). 5 if it decided a war or the fate of a state, 1 if it changed nothing about the outcome.
- Memory (×1). 5 if it is still a living tradition (a day of remembrance, a monument, a song, a national story), 1 if it is forgotten.
- Certainty (×2). 5 if both sides' numbers are confirmed by records or independent sources, 1 if they rest on one late or partisan source. Ancient and medieval odds are often inflated and score low.
The list is ranked by total score, not by date. Ties go to the better-known battle, then to the one with the greater consequence, then to the older one. The scores are our editorial judgment, made on the evidence in the sources below, and the table shows every one of them, so you can see exactly why Kircholm and Jasna Góra share first place on points and Kircholm goes first as the older, and why Hodów, 400 men against a Tatar army put at 40,000, sits only tenth: the figure was spread by the royal court, Zbigniew Hundert reads it as propaganda, and the fight changed little.30
| Rank | Name | Recognition ×2 | The odds ×3 | Consequence ×2 | Memory ×1 | Certainty ×2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kircholm | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 40 |
| 2 | Jasna Góra | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 40 |
| 3 | Klushino | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 39 |
| 4 | Komarów | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 33 |
| 5 | Khotyn | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 31 |
| 6 | Zbarazh | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 30 |
| 7 | Lubieszów | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 29 |
| 8 | Obertyn | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 28 |
| 9 | Trembowla | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 27 |
| 10 | Hodów | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 27 |
| 11 | Podhajce | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 26 |
Close calls
Five battles came close and did not make the list:
Somosierra, 1808. One squadron of Polish light horse, 88 men by J. Rickard’s count, rode up a pass held by about 9,000 Spaniards with 16 guns. But the battle was won by Napoleon, whose advance guard alone was 45,000 strong, and French infantry did the main fighting. The odds of the battle, not of the charge, keep it off; our cavalry charges guide ranks the charge.31
Lwów, 1918. Polish volunteers began the fight outnumbered, but by the end 6,022 people had served among the defenders, 1,422 of them under 17, and we found no sourced count of the West Ukrainian troops. The odds over the whole battle cannot be shown, so Lwów is ranked instead in our guide to the battles that won Polish independence.32
Mont Ormel (Falaise), 1944. About 1,500 infantry, 80 tanks and 20 anti-tank guns of Maczek’s division held Hill 262 from 19 to 21 August against Germans breaking out of the Falaise pocket and the 2nd SS Panzer Division attacking from outside. No source counts the Germans who actually attacked the hill, so the odds rest on judgment, not on counts of both sides.33
Mokra, 1939. On 1 September 1939 the Volhynian Cavalry Brigade beat off the German 4th Panzer Division, which lost about 70 tanks and several hundred men by the PAP account. But we found no sourced head count for either side, only the gap in armor, and the brigade withdrew after dark, so the fight changed little.34
Orsha, 1514. On the old list. Ostrogski’s army, about 25,000 men backed by more than ten thousand horse under Jerzy Radziwiłł and 5,000 Polish horse, beat a Muscovite army that dzieje.pl puts at 80,000, but that is an old figure, and the Russian historians A. N. Lobin and M. M. Bentsianov argue that Polish and Belarusian writers have greatly exaggerated the battle’s scale. The gap may be small, and Smolensk stayed Muscovite.35
What was the secret of the winged hussars?
The winged hussars, the heavy cavalry of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, won by timing more than by numbers: they charged at the moment an enemy line opened, and a lance charge could break formations that outnumbered them several times. At Kircholm Hetman Chodkiewicz drew the Swedes off their hill with a feigned retreat before the hussars struck, and at Klushino they charged again and again for hours until the mercenary horse gave way. Not every famous victory was theirs, though: at Hodów, Zbigniew Hundert finds, fewer than 100 of the 400 horsemen from the Holy Trinity Trenches were hussars. Read more in our guide to the winged hussars.36
Why are Vienna, Warsaw 1920 and Westerplatte not on this list?
Because this list counts only victories in which the Poles were clearly the smaller side. On modern estimates the relief army at Vienna in 1683 was at least as large as the Ottoman force it fought on 12 September, and at Warsaw in 1920, by the dzieje.pl account, the Poles had the edge in numbers and equipment over Tukhachevsky’s forces at the Warsaw bridgehead; both battles are ranked in our guide to the greatest Polish battles. Westerplatte and Wizna in 1939 were stands against overwhelming odds, but they ended in surrender or death, so they belong to the greatest last stands. Somosierra, Orsha, Mokra, Lwów 1918 and Mont Ormel came close; the close calls say why they missed.37
Notes
A number in the text points to a note; each note names the works that paragraph draws on, listed in full under Sources.
- Muzeum Wojska Polskiego w Warszawie, “Bitwa pod Obertynem”; dzieje.pl, “Manewry kawalerii w 96. rocznicę Bitwy pod Komarowem”. ↩
- Museum of Polish History, “The great victory of the winged hussars. The Battle of Kirchholm (1605)”; Magnus Olofsson, Military History Matters. ↩
- Museum of Polish History, “The great victory of the winged hussars. The Battle of Kirchholm (1605)”; Magnus Olofsson, Military History Matters. ↩
- OKO.press, “Obrona Jasnej Góry”; Museum of Polish History, “Szwedzi odstępują od oblężenia Jasnej Góry”; dzieje.pl, “Ojciec Augustyn Kordecki, obrońca Jasnej Góry”. ↩
- Museum of Polish History, “Szwedzi odstępują od oblężenia Jasnej Góry”; OKO.press, “Obrona Jasnej Góry”; dzieje.pl, “Ojciec Augustyn Kordecki, obrońca Jasnej Góry”; dzieje.pl, “370. rocznica ślubów lwowskich Jana Kazimierza”. ↩
- Polskie Radio, “Podhajce 1667. Przełomowa bitwa Jana Sobieskiego”; Historia Do Rzeczy, “Bitwa pod Podhajcami. Początek legendy hetmana Sobieskiego”; Konflikty.pl, “Podhajce (6-16 X 1667)”. ↩
- HistoryOfWar.org, “Battle of Klushino, 4 July 1610”; Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanów, “Bitwa pod Kłuszynem 1610 r.”; Museum of Polish History, “Stanisław Żółkiewski”. ↩
- HistoryOfWar.org, “Battle of Klushino, 4 July 1610”; Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanów, “Bitwa pod Kłuszynem 1610 r.”; Museum of Polish History, “Stanisław Żółkiewski”. ↩
- Institute of National Remembrance, “Zamość-Komarów 1920”; dzieje.pl, “Manewry kawalerii w 96. rocznicę Bitwy pod Komarowem”; Ministry of National Defence of Poland, “102. rocznica Bitwy pod Komarowem”; Institute of National Remembrance, “Wojna polsko-bolszewicka. Infografiki historyczne 7”; dzieje.pl, “102 lata temu w bitwie pod Komarowem polscy ułani pokonali bolszewików”; dzieje.pl, “Szef UdSKiOR”. ↩
- Institute of National Remembrance, “Zamość-Komarów 1920”; dzieje.pl, “Szef UdSKiOR”. ↩
- Museum of Polish History, “Bitwa pod Chocimiem”; Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine, “Khotyn, Battle of”. ↩
- Museum of Polish History, “Bitwa pod Chocimiem”; Senate of the Republic of Poland, “Uchwała Senatu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 29 października 2021 r. w 400. rocznicę bitwy pod Chocimiem”. ↩
- dzieje.pl (Muzeum Historii Polski; Aleksandra Beczek on T. Stańczyk and W. Pasek, Polskie Termopile; Histmag.org, “Bohaterska obrona Zbaraża 1649”. ↩
- dzieje.pl (Muzeum Historii Polski; Aleksandra Beczek on T. Stańczyk and W. Pasek, Polskie Termopile; Histmag.org, “Bohaterska obrona Zbaraża 1649”; Polskie Radio, “Obrona Zbaraża. Chluba polskiego oręża”. ↩
- Polskie Radio, “Obrona Zbaraża. Chluba polskiego oręża”; dzieje.pl (Muzeum Historii Polski; Aleksandra Beczek on T. Stańczyk and W. Pasek, Polskie Termopile; Histmag.org, “Bohaterska obrona Zbaraża 1649”. ↩
- dzieje.pl, “Stefan Batory”; TwojaHistoria.pl, “Bitwa pod Lubieszowem (17 kwietnia 1577)”; Polish Renaissance Warfare, “War with the Gdansk Rebels 1576-78”; Dominik Kadzik, “„Wojsko nadworne” na początku wojny Stefana Batorego z Gdańskiem w świetle akt skarbowych”. ↩
- TwojaHistoria.pl, “Bitwa pod Lubieszowem (17 kwietnia 1577)”; Polish Renaissance Warfare, “War with the Gdansk Rebels 1576-78”; dzieje.pl, “Stefan Batory”. ↩
- Muzeum Wojska Polskiego w Warszawie, “Bitwa pod Obertynem”; Aleksander Bołdyrew, Klio. ↩
- Muzeum Wojska Polskiego w Warszawie, “Bitwa pod Obertynem”; City of Tarnów, “Bitwa pod Obertynem w 1531 r. Wielki sukces hetmana Tarnowskiego”; Aleksander Bołdyrew, Klio. ↩
- Muzeum Wojska Polskiego w Warszawie, “Bitwa pod Obertynem”; Aleksander Bołdyrew, Klio. ↩
- Muzeum Wojska Polskiego w Warszawie, “Koniec oblężenia Trembowli”; Tadeusz Grabarczyk, Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Historica; Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów, “Bohaterska obrona Trembowli w 1675 r.”; Histmag.org, “Prof. Marek Wagner”. ↩
- Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów, “Bohaterska obrona Trembowli w 1675 r.”; Marta Skrzypek, “Obrona zamku w Trembowli w wybranych dumach i poematach z pierwszej połowy XIX wieku”; Histmag.org, “Prof. Marek Wagner”; Muzeum Wojska Polskiego w Warszawie, “Koniec oblężenia Trembowli”; Tadeusz Grabarczyk, Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Historica. ↩
- Zbigniew Hundert, Res Historica. ↩
- dzieje.pl, “Pomnik bitwy pod Hodowem”; Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów, “Jaka husaria walczyła pod Hodowem w 1694 r.?”; Zbigniew Hundert, Res Historica. ↩
- Zbigniew Hundert, Res Historica; dzieje.pl, “Pomnik bitwy pod Hodowem”. ↩
- Polskie Radio, “Podhajce 1667. Przełomowa bitwa Jana Sobieskiego”; Historia Do Rzeczy, “Bitwa pod Podhajcami. Początek legendy hetmana Sobieskiego”; Konflikty.pl, “Podhajce (6-16 X 1667)”. ↩
- Polskie Radio, “Podhajce 1667. Przełomowa bitwa Jana Sobieskiego”; Konflikty.pl, “Podhajce (6-16 X 1667)”. ↩
- Historia Do Rzeczy, “Bitwa pod Podhajcami. Początek legendy hetmana Sobieskiego”. ↩
- Museum of Polish History, “Szwedzi odstępują od oblężenia Jasnej Góry”; Museum of Polish History, “Bitwa pod Chocimiem”. ↩
- Museum of Polish History, “Bitwa pod Chocimiem”; Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine, “Khotyn, Battle of”. ↩
- HistoryOfWar.org, “Battle of the Somosierra Pass, 30 November 1808”. ↩
- dzieje.pl, “100 lat temu rozpoczęły się walki ukraińsko-polskie we Lwowie”. ↩
- HistoryNet, “Hallowed Ground”. ↩
- dzieje.pl, “Bój pod Mokrą z 1939 r. Polscy ułani zatrzymali niemieckie czołgi”. ↩
- dzieje.pl, “Mija 500 lat od wiktorii polsko-litewskich wojsk pod Orszą”; A. N. Lobin and M. M. Bentsianov, Studia Slavica et Balcanica Petropolitana. ↩
- HistoryOfWar.org, “Battle of Kircholm, 27 September 1605”; HistoryOfWar.org, “Battle of Klushino, 4 July 1610”; Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów, “Jaka husaria walczyła pod Hodowem w 1694 r.?”. ↩
- EBSCO Research Starters, “Defeat of the Ottomans at Vienna”; dzieje.pl, “100 lat temu Polska odniosła zwycięstwo w bitwie z Rosją bolszewicką”; dzieje.pl, “7 września 1939 r. po bohaterskiej walce skapitulowało Westerplatte”; dzieje.pl, “76. rocznica walk pod Wizną w kampanii 1939 r.”. ↩
Sources
- Muzeum Wojska Polskiego w Warszawie (Polish Army Museum), “Bitwa pod Obertynem” (in Polish)
- dzieje.pl (Museum of Polish History / PAP), “Manewry kawalerii w 96. rocznicę Bitwy pod Komarowem” (in Polish)
- Museum of Polish History, polishhistory.pl (Piotr Abryszeński), “The great victory of the winged hussars. The Battle of Kirchholm (1605)”
- Magnus Olofsson, Military History Matters 120, “The Battle of Kircholm, 1605: Sweden's Greatest Defeat”
- OKO.press (Adam Węgłowski), “Obrona Jasnej Góry: trud, nie cud” (in Polish)
- Museum of Polish History, “Szwedzi odstępują od oblężenia Jasnej Góry” (in Polish)
- dzieje.pl (PAP), “Ojciec Augustyn Kordecki, obrońca Jasnej Góry” (in Polish)
- dzieje.pl (PAP), “370. rocznica ślubów lwowskich Jana Kazimierza” (in Polish)
- Polskie Radio (PR24), “Podhajce 1667. Przełomowa bitwa Jana Sobieskiego” (in Polish)
- Historia Do Rzeczy (Anna Szczepańska), “Bitwa pod Podhajcami. Początek legendy hetmana Sobieskiego” (in Polish)
- Konflikty.pl (Michał Szuster), “Podhajce (6-16 X 1667)” (in Polish)
- HistoryOfWar.org (J. Rickard), “Battle of Klushino, 4 July 1610”
- Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanów (Przemysław Gawron), “Bitwa pod Kłuszynem 1610 r.” (in Polish)
- Museum of Polish History, polishhistory.pl (Michał Wasiucionek), “Stanisław Żółkiewski: Between Military Service and Private Interests”
- Institute of National Remembrance, Szczecin branch (Marek Kozubel, 2020), “Zamość-Komarów 1920” (in Polish)
- Ministry of National Defence of Poland (gov.pl), “102. rocznica Bitwy pod Komarowem: wnioski dla współczesnych Polaków” (in Polish)
- Institute of National Remembrance, Edukacja, “Wojna polsko-bolszewicka. Infografiki historyczne 7: Bitwa pod Komarowem” (in Polish)
- dzieje.pl (Museum of Polish History / PAP), “102 lata temu w bitwie pod Komarowem polscy ułani pokonali bolszewików” (in Polish)
- dzieje.pl (PAP, Anna Kruszyńska), “Szef UdSKiOR: kawaleria polska to odbicie ducha narodu” (in Polish)
- Museum of Polish History (Michał Wasiucionek), “Bitwa pod Chocimiem: klęska, zwycięstwo i królobójstwo” (in Polish)
- Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine (Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies), “Khotyn, Battle of”
- Senate of the Republic of Poland, Monitor Polski 2021 item 1073, “Uchwała Senatu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 29 października 2021 r. w 400. rocznicę bitwy pod Chocimiem” (in Polish)
- dzieje.pl (Muzeum Historii Polski; Aleksandra Beczek on T. Stańczyk and W. Pasek, Polskie Termopile), “Polskie Termopile. Walczyli do końca” (in Polish)
- Histmag.org (Maciej Adam Pieńkowski), “Bohaterska obrona Zbaraża 1649” (in Polish)
- Polskie Radio, Studio Reportażu, “Obrona Zbaraża. Chluba polskiego oręża” (in Polish)
- dzieje.pl (Museum of Polish History), “Stefan Batory” (in Polish)
- TwojaHistoria.pl (Jerzy Ronikier, entry from Bitwy polskie. Leksykon, Znak 1999, by lecturers of the Jagiellonian University), “Bitwa pod Lubieszowem (17 kwietnia 1577)” (in Polish)
- Polish Renaissance Warfare (jasinski.co.uk), “War with the Gdansk Rebels 1576-78”
- Dominik Kadzik, “„Wojsko nadworne” na początku wojny Stefana Batorego z Gdańskiem w świetle akt skarbowych”, Przegląd Historyczno-Wojskowy 18 (69), no. 1 (2017), pp. 10 and 23 (in Polish)
- Aleksander Bołdyrew, Klio 67 (3), 2023, “Mobilizacja zaciężnych w kampanii letniej 1531 r.” (in Polish)
- City of Tarnów, tarnow.pl (Przemysław Mazur), “Bitwa pod Obertynem w 1531 r. Wielki sukces hetmana Tarnowskiego” (in Polish)
- Muzeum Wojska Polskiego w Warszawie (Polish Army Museum), “Koniec oblężenia Trembowli” (in Polish)
- Tadeusz Grabarczyk, Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Historica 111, 2022, “Zamek w Trembowli w świetle inwentarzy z lat 1550 i 1551” (in Polish)
- Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów (Hanna Widacka), “Bohaterska obrona Trembowli w 1675 r.” (in Polish)
- Histmag.org (Magdalena Mikrut-Majeranek, interview with Marek Wagner, 2023), “Prof. Marek Wagner: W tradycyjnej świadomości historycznej „Trembowla przegrała z Kamieńcem”” (in Polish)
- Marta Skrzypek, University of Białystok repository, “Obrona zamku w Trembowli w wybranych dumach i poematach z pierwszej połowy XIX wieku” (in Polish)
- Zbigniew Hundert, Res Historica 52, 2021, “Przekaz informacji na temat starcia pod Hodowem 11 czerwca 1694 r. Propaganda dworska Jana III?” (in Polish)
- dzieje.pl (Muzeum Historii Polski / PAP, Mikołaj Falkowski), “Pomnik bitwy pod Hodowem” (in Polish)
- Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów (Zbigniew Hundert), “Jaka husaria walczyła pod Hodowem w 1694 r.?” (in Polish)
- HistoryOfWar.org (J. Rickard), “Battle of the Somosierra Pass, 30 November 1808”
- dzieje.pl (Muzeum Historii Polski / PAP), “100 lat temu rozpoczęły się walki ukraińsko-polskie we Lwowie” (in Polish)
- HistoryNet (David T. Zabecki), “Hallowed Ground: Mont-Ormel, France”
- dzieje.pl (Muzeum Historii Polski / PAP), “Bój pod Mokrą z 1939 r. Polscy ułani zatrzymali niemieckie czołgi” (in Polish)
- dzieje.pl (Muzeum Historii Polski / PAP), “Mija 500 lat od wiktorii polsko-litewskich wojsk pod Orszą” (in Polish)
- A. N. Lobin and M. M. Bentsianov, Studia Slavica et Balcanica Petropolitana 2013, no. 2, “On the question of the structure of the Russian army at the Battle of Orsha” (English abstract; article in Russian)
- HistoryOfWar.org (J. Rickard), “Battle of Kircholm, 27 September 1605”
- EBSCO Research Starters, “Defeat of the Ottomans at Vienna”
- dzieje.pl (Museum of Polish History / PAP), “100 lat temu Polska odniosła zwycięstwo w bitwie z Rosją bolszewicką” (in Polish)
- dzieje.pl (Muzeum Historii Polski / PAP), “7 września 1939 r. po bohaterskiej walce skapitulowało Westerplatte” (in Polish)
- dzieje.pl (Museum of Polish History / PAP), “76. rocznica walk pod Wizną w kampanii 1939 r.” (in Polish)
