Siege of Zamość

Siege of Zamość
	Part of The Deluge
	; The fortress in XVII century
Date	February 25-March 1, 1656
Location	Zamość, Poland
Result	Polish victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Sweden	Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Commanders and leaders
Robert Douglas	Jan Sobiepan Zamoyski
Casualties and losses
Light	Light

Siege of Zamość was part of The Deluge.

Prelude

In the summer of 1655, the joint Russo-Cossack army approached the fortress, but did not try to capture it. During the Deluge in 1655, when the rest of Poland quickly surrendered to Charles X Gustav of Sweden, Lord of Zamość, Jan II Zamoyski, decided to support King John II Casimir of Poland.

Siege

On February 25, 1656, Swedish troops appeared at the gates of the stronghold. According to a legend, when Swedish representatives came to the town and proposed the capitulation of the fortress, Jan ‘Sobiepan’ Zamoyski answered: "I am the Lord for myself and I will not give Zamość to the Swedes".^[1]

The Swedes began with artillery barrage, but due to lack of heavy guns, it was not successful. Within a few days, Charles X Gustav realized that capturing Zamość, whose fortifications had been strengthened since 1648, was impossible, and on March 1, the invaders withdrew.^[2]

Aftermath

Next year, the Transilvanian army under George II Rákóczi appeared near Zamość, but it did not even try to capture the mighty fortress.

In the last stage of the war, Zamość was a prison for high-ranking officers of the Swedish Army. Among those kept there, was Field Marshal Arvid Wittenberg, who died in prison of natural causes.

In popular culture

Swedish siege of Zamość was described by Henryk Sienkiewicz, in his popular book The Deluge (novel).

References

↑ 1846-1916,, Sienkiewicz, Henryk,. The deluge. Kuniczak, W. S., 1930-2000, (First ed.). New York. ISBN 0870520040. OCLC 24288556.
↑ The Trilogy companion : a reader's guide to the Trilogy of Henryk Sienkiewicz. Krzyżanowski, Jerzy Ryszard. (1st ed.). Fort Washington, Pa.: Copernicus Society of America. 1991. ISBN 0870522213. OCLC 26130180.

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[1] 1846-1916,, Sienkiewicz, Henryk,. The deluge. Kuniczak, W. S., 1930-2000, (First ed.). New York. ISBN 0870520040. OCLC 24288556.

[2] The Trilogy companion : a reader's guide to the Trilogy of Henryk Sienkiewicz. Krzyżanowski, Jerzy Ryszard. (1st ed.). Fort Washington, Pa.: Copernicus Society of America. 1991. ISBN 0870522213. OCLC 26130180.