Siege of Smolensk ( 1632 – 33 ) The Siege of Smolensk lasted almost a year between 1632 and 1633 , when the Muscovite army besieged the Polish - Lithuanian city of Smolensk during the war named after that siege . Muscovite forces of over 25 , 000 under Mikhail Borisovich Shein begun the siege of Smolensk on 28 October . Polish garrison under Samuel Drucki - Sokoliński numbered about 3 , 000 . The fortress held for nearly a year , and in 1633 the newly elected Polish king Władysław IV organised a relief force . In a series of fierce engagements , Commonwealth forces gradually overran the Russian field fortifications , and by 4 October the siege had broken . Shein had become besieged in his camp , and began surrender negotiations in January 1634 , capitulating around 1 March . Background . In 1632 , Sigismund III Vasa , the king of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania , died . Russia , having recovered to a certain extent from the Time of Troubles , decided to capitalize on the temporary confusion of its western neighbor . Russia ' s aim was to gain control of Smolensk , which it had ceded to the Commonwealth in 1618 at the Truce of Deulino , ending the last Russo - Polish War . Smolensk was the capital of the Commonwealth ' s Smoleńsk Voivodeship , but it had often been contested , and it changed hands many times during the 15th , 16th and 17th centuries ( from the days of the Muscovite - Lithuanian Wars ) . Opposing forces . The Russian army that crossed the Lithuanian border in early October 1632 had been carefully prepared and was under the experienced command of Mikhail Borisovich Shein , who had previously defended Smolensk against the Poles during the 1609 – 1611 siege . Estimates of the size of the Russian forces vary , from 25 , 000 through 30 , 000 to 34 , 500 , with 160 artillery pieces . Compared to former Russian armies , Shein ' s army was significantly modernised . Dissatisfied with their traditional formations of musket - equipped infantry ( the " streltsy " ) , the Russians looked to foreign officers to update the equipment and training of their troops based on the Western European model of regulars , dragoons , and reiters . Eight such regiments , totaling 14 , 000 to 17 , 000 men , comprised a part of Shein ' s army . Commonwealth forces in Smolensk were composed of the Smolensk garrison ( about 1 , 600 men with 170 artillery pieces under the command of the Voivode of Smolensk , Aleksander Korwin Gosiewski ) , strengthened by the local nobility , which formed a pospolite ruszenie force of about 1 , 500 strong . The city ' s fortifications had also recently been improved with Italian - style bastions . By mid - 1632 the deputy voivode ( " podwojewoda " ) of Smoleńsk , Samuel Drucki - Sokoliński , had about 500 volunteers from pospolite ruszenie and 2 , 500 of regular army soldiers and Cossacks . Siege . Shein ' s begun the siege of Smolensk on 28 October . The Muscovite forces constructed lines of circumvallation around the fortress . Using tunnels and mines , his forces damaged a long section of the city wall and one of its towers . Russian heavy artillery , mostly of Western manufacture , reached Smolensk in December 1632 with even heavier guns arriving the following March . After a preliminary artillery bombardment , Shein ordered an assault , which was repulsed by the Polish defenders . Nonetheless the siege was progressing ; Smolensk ' s fortifications were being eroded , and the defenders were suffering heavy casualties and running out of supplies . By June 1633 , some soldiers started to desert , and others talked of surrender . Despite these difficulties , the city , commanded by Deputy Voivode Samuel Drucki - Sokoliński , held out throughout 1633 while the Commonwealth , under its newly elected king Władysław IV , organised a relief force . The Sejm officially sanctioned a declaration of war and authorised a large payment ( 6 . 5 million zloty s , the highest tax contribution during Władysław ' s entire reign ) for the raising of a suitable force in Spring 1633 . The intended relief force would have an effective strength of about 21 , 500 men and would include : 24 chorągiew s of Winged Hussars ( ~ 3 , 200 horses ) , 27 chorągiews of light cavalry — also known as Cossack cavalry but not composed of Cossacks — ( 3 , 600 horses ) , 10 squadrons of raitar s ( ~ 1 , 700 horses ) , 7 Lithuanian petyhor regiments ( ~ 780 horses ) , 7 large regiments of dragoons ( ~ 2 , 250 horses ) , and ~ 20 regiments of infantry ( ~ 12 , 000 men ) . Over 10 , 000 of the infantry would be organized based on the Western model , previously not common in Commonwealth armies . Meanwhile , Field Hetman of Lithuania and Voivode of Vilnius , Krzysztof Radziwiłł , and Voivode Gosiewski established a camp about from Smolensk , moving from Orsha to Bajów and later , Krasne . By February 1633 , they had amassed around 4 , 500 soldiers , including over 2 , 000 infantry , and were engaged in raiding the rear areas of the Russian besiegers to disrupt their logistics . Hetman Radziwiłł also managed to break through the Russian lines on several occasions , bringing about 1 , 000 soldiers and supplies into Smolensk to reinforce the fortress and raising the defenders ' morale . By the summer of 1633 , the relief force , led personally by the king and numbering about 25 , 000 ( 20 , 000 in the Polish - Lithuanian army , according to Jasienica ) , arrived near Smolensk ; they reached Orsha on 17 August 1633 . By the first days of September , the main body of the relief forces approaching Smolensk numbered around 14 , 000 . The Russian army , recently reinforced , numbered 25 , 000 . Only when Cossack reinforcements , led by Timofiy Orendarenko and numbering between 10 , 000 to 20 , 000 , arrived on 17 September would the Commonwealth army gain numerical superiority . The Cossacks under Orendarenko and Marcin Kazanowski would raid the Russian rear lines , freeing the Polish - Lithuanian units under Radziwiłł and Gosiewski to join the effort to break the siege . Władysław ' s brother , John II Casimir , commanded one of the regiments in the relief army . Another notable commander was the Field Crown Hetman , Marcin Kazanowski . King Władysław IV , a great supporter of the modernization of the Commonwealth army , proved to be a good tactician , and his innovations in the use of artillery and fortifications based on Western ideas greatly contributed to the eventual Polish - Lithuanian success . He had replaced the old arquebusiers with musketeers , and standardized the Commonwealth artillery ( introducing 3 - to 6 - pounder regimental guns ) , both to great effect . Commonwealth ' s cavalry , including the Winged Hussars , significantly restricted Russian mobility , forcing them to stay in their trenches . In a series of fierce engagements , Commonwealth forces gradually overran the Russian field fortifications , and the siege reached its final stages by late September . On 28 September 1633 , Commonwealth forces took the main Russian supply points , and by 4 October the siege had broken . Shein ' s army retreated to its main camp , which was in turn surrounded by Commonwealth forces in mid - October . The besieged Russians waited for relief , but none arrived , as Commonwealth and Cossack cavalry had been sent to disrupt the Russian rear . Some historians also cite dissent and internal divisions in the Russian camp as responsible for their inaction and ineffectiveness ( Jasienica blames the Russian warlords , and Parker the foreign mercenaries ) . The Tatar invasion threatening the south Russian borderlands was a contributory factor , with many soldiers and boyars from those regions deserting the Russian camp to return to protect their homes . Some foreign mercenaries also deserted to the Commonwealth side . Shein began surrender negotiations in January 1634 , and by February they were in full swing . The Russians finally signed a surrender treaty on 25 February 1634 , and on 1 March they vacated their camp . ( Some scholars , such as Rickard and Black , give the date of 1 March for Shein ' s capitulation . ) Under the surrender terms , the Russians had to leave behind most of their artillery but were allowed to retain their banners after a ceremony in which they were laid before king Władysław . They also had to promise not to engage Commonwealth forces for the next three months . Shein ' s forces numbered around 12 , 000 at the time of their capitulation , but over 4 , 000 , including most of the foreign contingent , immediately decided to defect to the Commonwealth . Aftermath . After the victory at Smolensk , the Commonwealth army moved towards the fortress Belaya but the siege became a fiasco . The negotiations begun on 30 April , and would end with the Treaty of Polyanovka in May .