The Battle of Zhovti Vody or Yellow Waters (Ukrainian: Битва під Жовтими Водами; Polish: Bitwa pod Żołtymi Wodami; 29 April — 16 May 1648) was the first significant battle of the Khmelnytsky Uprising. Near the site of the present-day city of Zhovti Vody on the Zhovta River in Ukraine, the forces of the Zaporozhian Host and Crimean Khanate under the command of Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Colonels Mykhailo Krychevsky, Maksym Kryvonis, and Fylon Dzhalaliy with Tugay Bey attacked and defeated the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's forces under the command of Hetman Stefan Potocki and General Stefan Czarniecki, both of them were captured in the battle by the Zaporozhian Cossacks and Crimean Tatars.
The events took place about 20 miles in north of the city of Zhovti Vody on the Zhovta River, which is now on the border between the Kirovohrad Oblast and Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in south–central Ukraine, where the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's forces were attacked and defeated by the Zaporozhian Cossacks and Crimean Tatars. The Registered Cossacks, who were originally allied with the Crown Army, arrived and unexpectedly joined to the forces of the Zaporozhian Host and Crimean Khanate under the command of Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky and Khan İslâm III Giray, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's forces under the command of Hetman Stefan Potocki and General Stefan Czarniecki were annihilated while attempting to retreat in the 18-day battle, only days before reinforcements were to arrive.
Events leading to the battle
Preparation for the war with the Ottomans
With the death of Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski in March 1646, and without the knowledge of his successor Hetman Mikołaj Potocki, King Władysław IV Vasa established direct relations with the Cossacks, concerning the "wrongs and injustices that they were suffering".
In April 1646, after meeting with Cossack officers (starshyna), Władysław IV Vasa secretly chartered them to rally the Cossack's forces for the upcoming sea campaign against the Crimean Khanate, increased the size of the Zaporozhian Host to 12,000 and gave them 6,000 talers to equip "sixty well-armed boats". The king gave his letter to the Military Osavul Ivan Barabash. who headed the Cossack Diplomatic Mission to the royal court, Among other Cossack officers present was Bohdan Khmelnytsky, who at that time was a company commander of the Registered Cossacks Chyhyryn Regiment. Other members included another Yesaul, Ilyash Karaimovychm and regimental Yesaul Ivan Nestorenko.
Władysław picked Lviv as a rallying point for the campaign against the Crimean Tatars, stocking it with artillery, although that may have only been a rumor. These preparations led some to believe that the king was preparing for a takeover of government, and the Kraków Senate of July 1646 requested that he stop all preparations, intending to raise the issue at the upcoming session of the Polish Sejm (parliament). Being left without support from the parliament, Wladyslaw hoped that the Zaporozhian Cossacks, nonetheless, would be able to "obtain justice for themselves with their own forces".
Barabash and Karaimovych, after hearing that the king had lost his support in the Sejm, refused to follow his orders and go against the decision of the Polish Sejm. Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky decided to go forward with the king's directive. He was able to gain control over the king's letter and decided to take Cossack recruitment on himself. Barabash and Karaimovych informed the authorities about this development and the Chyhyryn starosta, Aleksander Koniecpolski set to supervise Khmelnytsky. His assistant Daniel Czapliński, enraged by a complaint Khmelnytsky had lodged against him, made a raid on the Khmelnytsky estate village of Subotiv in 1646, killing Khmelnytsky's younger son in the Chyhyryn market, seized Khmelnytsky's homestead, destroyed the manor, and confiscated "grain and all kinds of property".
At the beginning of May 1647, the next session of the Polish Sejm took place, where plans were made to discuss the king's drive to war. By the end of May, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, with an escort of ten other Cossacks, appeared in Warsaw. Officially his arrival could have been explained by his desire to seek justice in his case with Czapliński; however, in reality the goal of his appearance was much broader. Since 1646, the Sejm had seen remarkable changes taking place, and Khmelnytsky wanted to reassure himself of the King's stance on the war with the Turks. In case Wladyslaw was still planning to go forward, Khmelnytsky had intended to concentrate all the connections with the king and his supporters, as Barabash and Karaimovych sided with the opposition and refused material support to enable the king to realize his plans. Khmelnytsky also wanted to find out whether the Sejm would change its position regarding the war plans. In addition to all of that, Khmelnytsky and his comrades while visiting used that opportunity to study the situation in the region and gather all possible intelligence. Although this and other accounts of Khmelneytsky's visit to Warsaw are doubted by Hrushevsky, since Khmelnytsky could not have turned to the king while he was "a property holder without title", but Khmelnytsky did become the target of political maneuvering, including "accusations of treason and incitement of the Cossacks to revolt."
Khmelnytsky's conspiracy, arrest and bail
An important gathering took place in October 1647 near Chyhyryn, where Khmelnytsky reminded the public about the situation in the region, the intentions of the king of Poland to start a war against the Ottomans and how the Polish magnates counteracted those plans. He showed the king's letter that had been given to him, and at the end announced that it was a good time for an uprising while there were disagreements between the Poles. However, his audience was not eager to follow these proclamations, pointing to their shortage of arms, the size of the Polish armed forces and other factors. Responding to these arguments Khmelnytsky said that it would be a good idea to ally with an outside force such as the Muscovites or Tatars. However, historian Mykhailo Hrushevsky doubts Bohdan Khmelnytsky actually had the king's letter, viewing this account as "popular legend".
Sometime after the gathering Khmelnytsky was arrested in the village of Buzhyn, (30 kilometres (19 miles) north of Chyhyryn), by Radlinski, a servitor of Aleksander Koniecpolski, and was sent to Kryliv. Khmelnytsky was released on the bond of Mykhailo Krychevsky, who cautioned Khmelnytsky about a plot to kill him. "Having nowhere to turn for protection", Khmelnytsky "set out" for the Lower Dnipro River "to others who had been similarly mistreated". Khmelnytsky pretended that he was going with his escort (around 1,000 men, though some sources say 250) to Trakhtemyriv (administrative center of Registered Cossacks), but suddenly changed direction and moved towards the Zaporozhian Sich together with his older son Tymofii Khmelnytsky and 20 cavalrymen of his escort.
At that time, one of his friends, Fedir Liutai, a former Registered Cossack, was elected Kish Otaman. Khmelnytsky arrived to Zaporizhzhia sometime on 11 December 1647 (by some other sources 1 January 1648), where he was met by Liutai on Tomakivka island. At this time, on the neighboring island of Khortytsia there was a Polish garrison of the Cherkasy Cossack Regiment and a unit of dragoons headed by Col. Górski. Upon the arrival of Khmelnytsky and his men the preparations for the uprising went faster. Several envoys were sent to the Don Cossacks and to Bakhchysarai. However, in Crimea, Tatars were skeptical of the uprising intended by the Zaporozhian Cossacks, who were suppressed by "Ordination of 1638".
Attack on Khortytsia and the organization of expedition
At the end of January, Bohdan Khmelnytsky led a surprise attack on the Khortytsia garrison. The bigger part of the registered Cossacks joined the mutineers, and Colonel Górski, after losing over 30 people, retreated to Kryliv. Commenting on this attack, Adam Kisiel mentioned to the Putivl voivode, Prince Dolgoruki "on 4 February 1648, Bohdan Khmelnytsky attacked the Sich, where the Cherkasy regiment was standing guard, seized all the provisions, and took all the boats."
After expelling the Polish garrison from the Zaporozhian Sich Khmelnytsky sent out several agitation letters to the local public calling them to rise up against Poles ("summon them to unruliness"). The letters were effective as more and more people were drawn to the Sich, numbering around 3,000 to 5,000 by the end of February 1648. During that time Cossacks continued to reinforce their fortifications on Butsk (Butska) Island.
On 15 March 1648, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, together with his son Tymofii Khmelnytsky and a small company, arrived at Bakhchysarai on a diplomatic mission. Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky presented to Khan İslâm III Giray the King's letter and proposed an alliance. After a few days of thinking Giray decided to send his mirza Tugay Bey on the expedition with Cossacks. After that Khmelnytsky returned to Sich, leaving his son with the Khan as "insurance". Upon arrival of Khmelnytsky, the Kish Otaman called for the General Council that was set for 19 April. Because of the number of people attending the council it took place just outside the Sich itself. At the gathering the Cossacks unanimously expressed their will for the war against Poles and an immediate expedition. Bohdan Khmelnytsky was solemnly elected the Hetman. During the ceremony the Kish Otaman passed down to the new hetman the banner, the standard, and the military drums – the Cossack Kleinody.
It was decided that only eight thousand Cossacks would go out of the Sich while the rest would stay put as reserves. During the preparations the envoy of the Crown Hetman Mikołaj Potocki, rotmistrz Chmielnicki arrived in the Sich, and offered Bohdan Khmelnytsky and Zaporozhian Cossacks the chance to leave Zaporozhzhia and disperse. Khmelnytsky replied that it would happen if Potocki himself together with other Polish lords left Ukraine. Receiving such an answer Potocki in a great hurry moved with his army south.
The main element of Mikołaj Potocki was quartered in Cherkasy, while the Kalinowski's regiment stayed in Korsun, others in the estates of Crown Chorazy Aleksander Koniecpolski in Kaniv. The whole Crown Army, designated to suppress the uprising, accounted for less than 7,000 soldiers. Before departing the Sich, Khmelnytsky sent out Tugay Bey with part of his unit (500 cavalry) on patrol having the task of securing a safe passage to the Sich for other volunteers. After receiving intelligence that the Crown Army was heading for the Kodak fortress, Khmelnytsky decided to leave the Sich on 22 April 1648 with his main element (2,000 Cossacks) towards Kryliv and Chyhyryn.
Background
Around 21–22 April 1648, word of an uprising had spread through the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Either because they underestimated the size of the uprising, or because they wanted to act quickly to prevent it from spreading, the Commonwealth's Grand Crown Hetman Mikołaj Potocki and Field Crown Hetman Marcin Kalinowski sent a vanguard of 3,500 soldiers under the command of Mikołaj Potocki's son, Stefan Potocki (in fact, commanded by Commissioner Szemberg and Lieutenant Czarniecki) deep into Cossack territory, without waiting to gather additional forces from Prince Jeremi Wiśniowiecki. Stefan's force consisted of 7 banners of dragoons (700–800 men), 11 banners of Cossack style cavalry (550 men) and 1 banner of Winged Hussars (150 men), the rest of his force was composed of about 2,000 registered Cossacks. While this group travelled by land, an additional detachment was sent down the Dnipro river in boats to join Stefan Potocki's forces in due course. These troops, under the command of Polkovnyk (colonel) Mykhailo Krychevsky, Stanislaw Wadowski, Stanislaw Gorski, Illiash Karaimovych and Ivan Barabash, were composed almost entirely of registered Cossacks (they also included about 80 of German dragoon) and numbered at around 3,500. According to other sources, the army numbered 5,000.
A unit of 5,000 soldiers remained with Hetman Mikołaj Potocki while he attempted to gather local reinforcements from the various private armies of the local magnates, as well as from the pospolite ruszenie of the militant szlachta (Polish nobility).
Stefan's force arrived first at the rendezvous point. It is likely that Krychevsky, en route, contacted Bohdan Khmelnytsky, his old friend (whom he helped to escape into Zaporozhian Sich a year earlier) and the leader of the uprising.
Battle
On 28 April 1648, Stefan Potocki's forces came upon Khmelnytsky's forces in an area near the present-day city of Zhovti Vody. Numbering 3,500 the Commonwealth's forces were greatly outnumbered at this point in comparison with Cossack-Tatar troops, which consisted of 4,000–5,000 Zaporozhian Cossacks, as well as of 3,000–4,000 Crimean Tatars under the command of Tugay Bey.