Draft:Battle of Bila Tserkva (1596)

The Battle of Bila Tserkva in 1596 was a battle between the Cossack and peasant army and the advance unit of the Russian prince Kiryk Ruzhynskyi near Bila Tserkva during the Nalyvaiko uprising.

Battle
After the uprising spread to Galicia and Belarus, a detachment led by Stanisław Żółkiewski and Kyryk Ruzhynski was sent against the Nalyvaiko rebels. The parties met in the Kyiv region. Part of the government troops led by Ruzhynskyi occupied the castle of Bila Tserkva, considering it a "good" and even "impregnable" fortress with good fortifications. But the Cossacks also moved to the same Bila Tserkva. Moving rapidly and having 8,000 armed troops, according to Polish sources, Cossack leaders S. Nalyvaiko and M. Shaula arrived in Bila Tserkva on 23 March and camped around the castle. The castle stood on a hill and was heavily fortified with walls and ramparts. The fortified Bila Tserkva was thus protected against the Tatars (the Black Road passed through the city). Having gathered near the Bila Tserkva, both sides did not dare to fight openly and tried to win by tricks. Ruzhynskyi was the first to do so: with several companies of Stanislavskyi and Hungarian hired cavalry under the leadership of the Hungarian Lipsheny, the commander stormed out of the city at night and headed straight for the Cossack camp, leaving only the servants and hired Hungarians in the fortress.

At the same time, the Cossacks planned an attack against the government forces. Leaving Shaula's detachment in the camp to guard it, Nalyvaiko went around the city and broke through the back gate into the fortress. The Cossacks quickly cut down the peasants and Hungarians and, hearing shots in their own camp, hurried to leave the castle. The Poles, having entered the camp, began a fierce battle with the Cossacks of Shaula. The Cossacks, who had not expected the attack, were initially frightened, but later came to their senses, attacked the Poles and chased them through the camp. At that moment, Nalyvaiko was returning from the castle. The situation of the Poles became hopeless. According to Polish writers, in the first minutes of the battle, more than 100 cavalrymen fell, and there were many wounded. After that, "our people," Joachim Bielski recalls, "seeing that things were bad, fled. jhhhh