Battle of Zboriv (1649)

The Battle of Zboriv (Bitwa pod Zborowem, Зборівська битва) was fought in the vicinity of Zborów (village of Mlynivtsi, Ukraine) at Strypa River, as part of the Khmelnytsky Uprising, between the combined Cossack-Crimean force and the Crown army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

The Crown forces resumed hostilities upon expiration of the Pereyaslav armistice in May of 1649. Led by Jeremi Wiśniowiecki the Crown forces invaded Volhynia, but were forced to retreat from Starokostyantyniv to a small, yet better fortified Zbarazh Castle. The Cossack and Tatar forces (which arrived in Volhynia in late June) laid a siege to the entrenched Polish army on July 10, 1649. After receiving information about the critical situation of Wiśniowiecki's troops in Zbaraż (Zbarazh) the King of Poland John II Casimir left Lublin with about 25,000-30,000 men and marched to relieve them. On August 15, 1649 Bohdan Khmelnytsky acquired information on advancing Polish reinforcements. He left his General Quartermaster to continue the siege, while he, along with Khan İslâm III Giray and 60,000 troops moved westwards to intercept the main Polish force.

The Crown forces were surprised while crossing the river Strypa. The battle lasted two days and was very bloody. As its tide turned against the Poles, they asked for talks, and the Khan forced Khmelnytsky to agree to them, possibly after being bribed by the Poles. The result was an agreement known as the Treaty of Zboriv (Zborów). The agreement was to some degree advantageous to the Cossacks, while being less than what Khmelnytsky originally hoped to obtain from his campaign.

The fighting itself was technically inconclusive as both forces remained undefeated on the battlefield when the ceasefire took effect.