Battle of Berestechko The Battle of Berestechko ( ; ) was fought " after a two - year truce " , between the Ukrainian Cossacks , led by Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky , aided by their Crimean Tatar allies , and a Polish - Lithuanian Commonwealth army under King John II Casimir . Fought over three days from 28 to 30 June 1651 , the battle took place in the Polish province of Volhynia , on the hilly plain south of the Styr River . The Polish camp was on the river opposite Berestechko and faced south , towards the Cossack army about two km away , who ' s right flank was against the Pliashivka ( Pliashova ) River and the Tartar army on their left flank . It was , very probably , the world ' s largest land battle of the 17th century . The number of Polish troops is uncertain . One of the senior Polish commanders on the day , Duke Bogusław Radziwiłł , wrote that the Polish army had had 80 , 000 soldiers , which included " 40 , 000 regulars and 40 , 000 nobles of the levy en masse , accompanied by roughly the same number of various servants , footmen , and such " Modern historians Zbigniew Wójcik , Józef Gierowski , and Władysław Czapliński have reduced this figure to 60 , 000 - 63 , 000 soldiers . The Cossack army totaled 80 , 000 men , including 28 , 000 - 33 , 000 Tatars and an uncertain number of Ukrainian peasants or as much as 100 , 000 men , most of them low - grade foot troops , plus 40 , 000 to 50 , 000 allied Crimean Tatar cavalry and a few thousand Turks and Vlachs , for a total of 200 , 000 . Both sides had about 40 , 000 cavalry . Fighting was close , with the core of excellent Cossack infantry making up for the weakness of their cavalry ; much of the decisive fighting was by the infantry and dismounted dragoons of each side . The Armies . On 19 June 1651 , the Polish Army numbered 14 , 844 Polish cavalry , 2 , 250 German - style cavalry , 11 , 900 German - style infantry and dragoons , 2 , 950 Hungarian - style infantry ( haiduks ) , 1 , 550 Lithuanian volunteers , and 960 Lipka Tatars . In addition there was a huge militia force , of limited value , numbering 30 , 000 noblemen of the levée en masse . The Polish commanders were hoping to break into the Cossack ranks with an impetous charge of the famous Polish ' Winged ' Hussars - a tactic proven effective in many previous battles , including Kircholm , and Kłuszyn ( and which would later prove successful at the 1683 Battle of Vienna against the Turks ) . The Cossack army were well acquainted with this Polish style of war well , having much experience of fighting against the Poles and alongside them . Their preferred tactic was to avoid an open field battle , and to fight from the cover of a huge fortified camp . First day of battle . 2000 Polish cavalry ( one regiment under the command of Aleksander Koniecpolski , supported by Jerzy Lubomirski , six pancerni cavalry companies of Jeremi Wiśniowiecki and Winged Hussars under the command of Stefan Czarniecki ) repulsed the Tatars , who suffered heavy losses . During the first day of " skirmishes by the Tatar and Cossack vanguard regiments " , the Poles were victorious " since their army sustained that first attack cheerfully and in high spirits " . Second day of battle . The Poles , encouraged by their success on the first day , deployed all their available cavalry against the " main Tatar horde " and " Cossack vanguard regiments " . The Polish infantry and artillery remained in camp and didn ' t support the cavalry . This time , Tatar cavalry gained the upper hand , pushing the Poles back to their camp but were then " barely repelled " by heavy fire from the Polish infantry and artillery . The Poles lost 300 soldiers , including many officers of " caliber " , and the " escort troop of Hetman Mikolaj Potocki " . During the second day of the battle , the rebels were victorious , although " the Tatars , too , were unpleasantly surprised by the determination and endurance of the Polish army in both battles and , having suffered rather painful losses of their own , they lost heart " . Third day of battle . The " king insisted , at a night council , on engaging the enemy in a decisive battle the next day , Friday , 30 June " . The Polish army appeared out of the " morning mist in full strength " but only the Tatars engaged in skirmishes which was met by the Polish artillery . At 3 p . m . Duke Jeremi Wiśniowiecki led a successful charge of 18 cavalry companies against the right wing of the Cossack - Tatar Army and " the zealous cavalry attack was a success : it broke up the rows of Cossack infantry and the wagons moving in corral formation " . The Polish infantry centre , under the personal command of King John Casimir , advanced slowly forward and " drove the Tatars from the field " . During the fighting , a Polish nobleman called Otwinowski noticed the Tatar Khan ' s standard , and Polish artillery was directed to fire at it . A Tatar standing next to the Khan fell dead . With the battle already turning badly , the Tatar forces panicked , " abandoning the Khan ' s camp as it stood " , with the Khan taking Khmelnytsky and Vyhovsky hostage . With their cavalry support gone , the Cossack wagon - fort , containing the vast bulk of the Cossack army now stood isolated on the battlefield , and in effect was under siege by the Polish army . The siege of the Cossack wagons . The Polish army and Cossack camp exchanged artillery fire for ten days while both sides built fortifications , the Polish intent to establish a blockade of the camp . Leadership without Khemlnytsky , the Cossacks were commanded by Colonel Filon Dzhalalii , but after a few days he was replaced by Ivan Bohun but some accounts state it was Matvii Hladky . When terms for surrender failed and the Poles dammed the Pliashivka River so as to flood the Cossack Camp , the Poles prepared to attack on July 10 , while the Cossacks prepared to flee across the river . When Bohun " went to the crossing point with two thousand cavalrymen and several cannon " , the Cossacks thought the officers were fleeing and " everyone panicked in desperation and began to flee wherever he could , worse than at Pyliavtsi " . The Polish forces attacked the panicked Cossacks and the battle turned into a slaughter with more than 20 , 000 killed or drowned . " Khmelnytsky ' s tent was captured intact , with all his belongings " , which included two banners , one he received from John II Casimir ' s 1649 commission and one from Wladyslaw IV in 1646 . Aftermath . As the battle ended , King John Casimir made the error of not pressing even harder the pursuit of the fleeing Cossacks , " the first several days following . . . defeat of the enemy were so blatantly wasted " but there " was the unwillingness of the nobility ' s levy en masse to proceed into Ukraine " plus " rainy weather and a lack of food and fodder , coupled with epidemics and diseases that were becoming active in the army , were generally undercutting any energy for war " . The " king left the whole army to Potocki " on 17 July [ N . S . ] and returned " to Warsaw to celebrate his victories over the Cossacks " . After making promises of a pecuniary nature , Khmelnytsky was soon released by the Tatar Khan . He was then able to reassemble the Cossack host , which was able to present a substantial army to confront the Poles at the Battle of Bila Tserkva ( 1651 ) . Poland and " the bulk of the rebels make peace in the Treaty of Bila Tserkva " on 28 September 1651 , which " reduces the number of registered Cossacks from 40 , 000 to 20 , 000 and deprives them of the right to settle in or control various provinces of Ukraine previously allowed to them under the Treaty of Zboriv " . The Ukrainian revolt far from ending would continue for several more years under Khmelnytsky . Polish noble families . Members of noble families had the personal obligation to take part in the battle with men from their towns and villages . Those who supplied men for this battle included : Legacy . Samuel Twardowski ' s narrative poem , Civil War , describes the setting for the battle along the Styr River : There is a little town on it , In the middle of Volhynia , called Berestechko , Belonging to the Leszczynski family , that was not as famous in the past As it has now become - both ancient Cannae And Khotyn are far outshone by it , because as many heads here Our eyes have seen as at Thermopylae Or Marathon they counted , although there the whole strength Of Europe and Asia had come together . Since our arrival - hilly roads And steep slopes , until open Meadows unfold near the Styr ' s Low banks . It was pleasant to look from the south At the pyramid of the Pronskis and the groves that are green In winter always . And to th east there lies as if a natural Field for a camp - and there it was indeed placed Later , but first - this was pondered for a long time .