Siege of Belaya

The siege of Belaya was the final military episode of the Smolensk War. The heroic defense of the fortress by its small Russian garrison against a big army of the Polish-Lithuanian king Władysław IV Vasa baffled his plan to march against Moscow and made him sign the Treaty of Polyanovka in which he relinquished his claims of the Russian throne.

Previous events
The small fortress of Belaya which fell into the hands of the Commonwealth during the Time of Troubles was liberated by the Russian army during its offensive in 1632. It became guarded by a garrison of 1,000 soldiers under the commandership of the voivode Fyodor Volkonsky. He already distinguished himself in 1618 during the defence of Moscow against Władysław IV as well as during his successful operations against Crimean Tatar raids.

During the fortuneless siege of Smolensk for the Russians, Volkonsky tried to help the voivode Mikhail Shein by attacking Polish detachments, capturing the Polish baggage, attracting the enemy's forces and repelling their attacks. After Shein's situation worsened and he signed the capitualation treaty, king Władysław IV who still claimed to be the legitimate Russian Tsar intended to deepen his success and moved his army towards Moscow. On his way to Russian capital he wanted to capture the small fortress Belaya.

Course of the siege
When the Polish army approached Belaya, the king sent negotiators who demanded an immediate surrender to avoid the king's "wrath". Otherwise the garrison and the citizens were to be punished by death. The envoys reminded Volkonsky of the capitulation of Shein. However, Volkonsky decisively refused by saying that Shein was not an example to him. The defenders of Belaya decided to fight till the bitter end and filled up the fortress gate with earth.

The Polish-Lithuanian army tried to storm the fortress but suffered heavy losses and broke the storm off. After that a siege started but it proved to be unsuccessful, too. The Commonwealth soldiers tried to blow up the fortifications of Belaya with the help of a subsurface mine but the engineers' calculations weren't precise enough. The explosion made no harm to the fortress but killed 100 Polish infantry. After several new storming attempts the Poles succeeded in destroying parts of the wall but the defenders managed to repel Władysław's mercenaries and even to conduct a counter-attack. They captured eight Polish standards, crushed the elite mercenary unit of Weyher and injured the king himself. For Władysław the siege of the small fortress became a matter of honour and he decided to continue the siege at any price. From the military point of view it was a mistake because the freezing temperatures and the lack of food more and more decimated his army.

Because of the big losses (according to modern estimations, 4,000 men), the Poles called Belaya (literally, the White fortress) the Red fortress. The siege lasted eight weeks and three days. Meanwhile, a 10,000 men strong Russian army led by the princes Dmitry Cherkassky and Dmitry Pozharsky gathered at the neighbouring Mozhaysk. The Polish-Lithuanian side which suffered from hunger and desertions and was not ready for new battles initiated peace talks.

Consequences
Due to the steadfastness of the Belaya defenders, in June 1634 the Treaty of Polyanovka was signed. It reinforced the borders which were defined by the truce of Deulino of 1618. The Russians handed over several towns they took during the war back to the Commonwealth but could keep Serpeysk. The Polish-Lithuanian king officially gave up his claims to the Russian throne.

The garrison commander Fyodor Volkonsky was celebrated in Moscow as a hero. The eight captured Polish standards were exhibited in the Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. He was granted the rank of okolnichy by Michael Romanov as well as large estates.

Links

 * The siege of the Russian fortress Belaya
 * An article about the siege of Belaya