Stanisław Żółkiewski Stanisław Żółkiewski ( 1547 – 1620 ) was a Polish nobleman of the Lubicz coat of arms , magnate and military commander of the Polish - Lithuanian Commonwealth , who took part in many campaigns of the Commonwealth and on its southern and eastern borders . He occupied a number of high - ranking posts in the administration of the Commonwealth , including castellan of L ' viv ( from 1590 ) , voivod of the Kiev Voivodeship and Great Chancellor of the Crown ( from 1618 ) . From 1588 he was also a Field Crown Hetman , and in 1613 was promoted to Grand Hetman of the Crown . During his military career he won major battles against Sweden , Muscovy , the Ottoman Empire and the Tatars . Żółkiewski ' s best - known victory was against combined Russian and Swedish forces at the battle of Klushino in 1610 , in the aftermath of which the Poles seized and occupied Moscow . He died in the 1620 battle of Cecora against the Ottomans , after allegedly refusing to retreat . Already renowned as a military leader , Żółkiewski ' s heroic death further boosted his fame . He is seen as one of the most accomplished military commanders in the history of the Polish - Lithuanian Commonwealth . Life . Youth . Stanisław Żółkiewski was born in the village of Turynka in 1547 to Stanisław Żółkiewski of the Lubicz coat of arms , voivode of Ruthenia , and Zofia Lipska . The exact date of his birth is unknown , and even the year is disputed : most sources agree on 1547 , although a few suggest 1550 . Żółkiewski attended a cathedral school in Lwów ( now L ' viv , Ukraine ) . Unlike many of his peers he had no higher education and did not travel abroad . However , he pursued studies on his own and was particularly interested in history and historical literature . In 1566 he joined the court of King Zygmunt August , as an aid to the king ' s secretary Jan Zamoyski . There he became familiar with the executionist movement , which advocated numerous reforms including military ones . In 1573 he took part in the diplomatic mission to France , sent to meet a newly elected king Henryk Walezy , and on his way back he was sent to Vienna to appease the Hapsburgs . Early career . Żółkiewski gained his first military experience under King Stefan Batory during the Danzig rebellion in which he commanded a rota of Polish hussars . He subsequently participated in Batory ' s Livonian campaign , fighting at Polotsk , Rossony ( Sokół ) , Velizh and at the Siege of Pskov . Żółkiewski maintained his political alliance with the Zamoyski family after those campaigns ended , particularly in their conflict with the Zborowskis . On the night of 11 to 12 May 1584 he captured Samuel Zborowski , whose subsequent execution caused much controversy . Żółkiewski became notorious for his role in the incident , and was the subject of heated debates during the Sejm of 1585 . In 1588 , during the War of the Polish Succession between factions of Sigismund III Vasa and Maximilian III , Żółkiewski supported Sigismund . Żółkiewski commanded the right flank of Commonwealth forces in the battle of Byczyna , during which he received a knee wound that lamed him for the remainder of his life . For his part in the battle he was appointed a Field Crown Hetman , and became the starost of Hrubieszów . As Field Crown Hetman . Soon after becoming a Hetman , Żółkiewski was sent to Ukraine to repel a Tatar invasion . In 1590 he became the castellan of Lwów , but his requests for military reinforcements against the Tatars went unheeded . In 1595 Żółkiewski participated in the Moldavian campaign and the battle of Cecora near the Prut river . The following year he defeated the Cossack uprising of Severyn Nalivaiko . Żółkiewski was a known supporter of Cossack grievances , and generally favored peaceful negotiations with them . When the Cossacks surrendered Nalivaiko and other leaders of the uprising to him he guaranteed their fair treatment . But Nalivaiko was subsequently executed in Warsaw , and a mob of Polish soldiers massacred the other prisoners , which led to a deterioration in Polish - Cossack relations . In 1600 Żółkiewski returned to Moldova , where he took part in the victorious battle of Bucov . In 1601 Żółkiewski operated in the north , in Livonia ( Inflanty ) , during the Polish – Swedish War . He also took part in the successful siege of Wolmar , and in 1602 the taking of Fellin . That same year he led Polish forces at the battle of Reval , which led to a Swedish capitulation at the siege of Biały Kamień . Żólkiewski became ill near the end of the campaign and had to relinquish command of his forces to Hetman Jan Karol Chodkiewicz . In 1606 Żółkiewski returned to Ukraine , where he defeated the Tatars at the battle of Udycz . Later that year he decided to support the king during the Zebrzydowski ' s Rebellion . His decision was not an obvious one , as his mentor Zamoyski opposed the king . Additionally , Żółkiewski was related to the Zebrzydowski family and was sympathetic to some of the rebels ' arguments . In the battle of Guzów he commanded the left flank of the royal forces , but his troops took relatively little part in the battle . Unimpressed with Żółkiewski ' s performance , the king did not give him not the Grand Crown Hetman ship that he coveted , although he was appointed to the office of the voivode of Kiev . In the second half of 1609 Żółkiewski took part in the Polish – Muscovite War ( also known as the Dymitriads ) . He supported the election of Władysław IV Vasa for the tsar of Russia and the idea of a personal union between the Commonwealth and the Tsardom of Russia ( the Polish - Muscovite union ) . During the De la Gardie Campaign in 1610 he achieved another significant victory against combined Russian and Swedish forces at the battle of Klushino . As a result of his successful campaign Żółkiewski seized Moscow and captured the tsar Vasiliy Shuyskiy and his brothers , Ivan Shuyskiy and Dmitri Shuyskiy . Zygmunt rejected Żółkiewski ' s political plan however , which would have required Władysław to convert to Orthodoxy . Żółkiewski began to write his memoirs after his return from Muscovy . The " Początek i progres wojny moskiewskiej " ( " The beginning and Progress of the Muscovy War " ) , published in 1612 , is a critique of Zygmunt ' s policies . In 1612 he became a teacher and tutor of Stanisław Koniecpolski , future hetman and military commander . Also that year he returned to Ukraine to defend against continuing Tatar and Moldovan incursions , as well as Cossack unrest . In 1616 during a Sejm he presented a project " O chowaniu żołnierza kwarcianego " ( " On the raising of the kwarciane soldiers " ) , in which he argued for the need to raise a larger army to deal with the Tatars and the Cossacks . The project was however not approved by the parliament . Final years . Żółkiewski ' s popularity waned in the latter years of his career . He was accused of not supporting Samuel Korecki during the battle of Sasowy Róg in 1616 , of signing the Treaty of Jaruga ( Busza ) in 1617 which relinquished influence in some borderlands to Moldova and the Ottoman Empire ; and of failing to stop the Tatars at the battle of Orynin in 1618 . But in 1618 he finally received his coveted buława of the Grand Crown Hetman , and shortly afterwards the office of Grand Crown Chancellor . He was thus for a brief period the most powerful individual in the Commonwealth after the king , a position he reached not through wealth or family but by military achievement and reputation . Despite being more than 70 years old , Żółkiewski continued in active service as a military commander until the very end . He died on 7 October 1620 , during the Commonwealth ' s retreat after the battle of Cecora against the Turks , during the Polish – Ottoman War ( 1620 – 1621 ) which marked the end of the Moldavian campaigns . The battle comprised several engagements , in which Polish forces were routed . During the last rout Żólkiewski was killed ; according to an anecdote he refused to retreat , preferring to stay with the rear guard till the very end . After the battle Żółkiewski ' s corpse was desecrated by the removal of its head and sent to Constantinople as a trophy of war . His widow bought his body from the Turks and ransomed their son , who had been captured during the battle . Żółkiewski was buried in St Lawrence Church in Żółkiew ( now Zhovkva , Ukraine ) , the town he enlarged and where he built the Żółkiew Castle . Remembrance . Żółkiewski ' s heroic death – portrayed in several works of art by contemporaries such as Teofil Szemberg and Stanisław Witkowski – boosted his reputation and guaranteed him a place among the pantheon of the most famous of Polish military commanders . In the years following his death he was mentioned in the works of writers such as Stefan Żeromski , Józef Szujski , Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz and Maria Konopnicka . Up to the present day , the story of his death is the best remembered aspect of his life , with a number of sources discussing the " legend of Żółkiewski " . A monument was built at the site of Żółkiewski ' s death ( now in Berezovca in Ocnița District , Moldova ) by his son Jan , in 1621 . It is inscribed with a motto from Horace : " " Quam dulce et decorum est pro patria mori " " ( How sweet and fitting it is to die for one ' s country ) . The monument was destroyed in 1868 , rebuilt in 1912 , and renovated in 2003 . It is a venue for events organized by the Polish minority in Moldova . In 1903 a statue of Żółkiewski was built in Źółkiew , but it was demolished in 1939 by Soviet troops in the aftermath of the Soviet invasion of Poland . In modern Poland Źółkiewski is celebrated as a military hero , but modern Russia ' s Unity Day instead celebrates the anniversary of the surrender of the Polish forces he installed in the Moscow garrison . As of 2011 , the St . Lawrence ' s Church and castle in Źółkwia were being renovated by a team of Polish and Ukrainians conservators . Family and assets . Żółkiewski was married to Regina Herbutówna ; they had a son , Jan , and two daughters , Katarzyna and Zofia . Over the course of his career Żółkiewski amassed a large fortune , and acquired lands near Boryspil , Brody , Vinnytsia and Żółkiew . His annual income of more than 100 , 000 złoty s made him one of the wealthiest magnates in the Commonwealth . Żółkiewski ' s assets were eventually inherited by Jakub Sobieski , whose son Jan became a Polish king and another renowned Polish commander .