Battle of Cecora ( 1620 ) The Battle of Cecora ( also known as the Battle of Ţuţora ) was a battle between the Polish - Lithuanian Commonwealth ( aided by rebel Moldavia n troops ) and Ottoman forces ( backed by Nogais ) , fought from 17 September to 7 October 1620 in Moldavia , near the Prut River . Prelude . Because of the failure of Commonwealth diplomatic mission to Constantinople , and violations of the Treaty of Busza by both sides ( as Cossacks and Tatars continued their raids across the borders ) , relations between the Ottomans and the Commonwealth rapidly deteriorated in early 1620 . Both sides began preparing for war , as neither was quite ready for it at the time . The Ottomans planned for a war in 1621 , while the Commonwealth Sejm denied most funds the hetman s had asked for . The Senate ' s secret council finally decided , convinced by the Habsburgs ' representative , to contribute the Commonwealth forces in 1620 — even though many members of the Sejm thought that Polish forces were neither sufficient nor fully prepared . Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski , who was by then over 70 years old ( as Commonwealth policy didn ' t allow for a possibility of forced retirement from government offices such as that of hetman ) , foresaw the coming confrontation with the Ottoman Empire and decided to meet Ottoman troops on foreign soil , Moldavia being the obvious choice . Hetman s Zółkiewski and Koniecpolski led the army to Țuțora ( " Cecora " in Polish sources ) , a commune in Iaşi county , Romania ) , to fight the Horde of Khan Temir ( Kantymir ) . The army numbered over 9 , 000 ( 2 , 000 infantry but almost no Cossack cavalry ) , with many regiments being made up of the private forces of magnates Korecki s , Zasławski s , Kazanowski s , Kalinowski s and Potocki s . The army entered Moldavia in September . The Moldavian ruler , hospodar Gaspar Graziani , nominally a vassal of the Ottoman Empire , decided to rebel and support the Commonwealth against the Ottomans . Graziani killed the janissaries in Iaşi , imprisoned envoys of Sultan Osman II ( who had ordered his removal from power and his transport to Istanbul ) and then prepared to flee , but was forced by Żółkiewski to attach his troops to the Polish camp . However , many of the Moldavian boyars left the camp in order to defend their own estates against pillaging by undisciplined Commonwealth magnates ' troops , and others decided to wait and see what the outcome appeared to be so they could join the winning side . Consequently , only about 600 – 1000 rebel Moldavian troops appeared in the Commonwealth camp . Żółkiewski ordered the army to proceed to the fortified camp ( standing from previous wars ) at Cecora . Battle . On 10 September , near Ţuţora ( close to Iasi , Romania ) , the Commonwealth army encountered the Tatar and Ottoman forces , with Wallachian contingents ( 13 , 000 – 22 , 000 ) under the command of Iskender Pasha , the beylerbey of Oczakov ( Ozi ) . This force had been sent by the Ottoman Sultan to help Gabriel Bethlen in his struggle against the Habsburgs . The Tatar forces surprised the Commonwealth defenders , taking many prisoners . During the first day of fighting ( the 18th ) , most of the rebel Moldavians decided to switch sides and quickly attacked the Polish flank . Mercenaries , private troops and their magnate leaders were lacking in discipline and morale . Stanisław Koniecpolski commanded the right flank of the Commonwealth forces during the ensuing battle . On 19 September it had become clear that the Polish forces were defeated , although they still managed to hold their positions ; Koniecpolski prevented the army from disintegrating on 20 / 21 September . On 29 September Commonwealth troops had broken through Ottoman ranks with tabor wagon trains and started their retreat . However , after Graziani bribed some magnates , units of private troops begun to flee and some mercenary cavalry panicked and also ran . This was a prelude of things to come . Consecutive attacks during the retreat ( including a particularly violent one on 3 October ) were repelled , but troop units started disintegrating as soon as soldiers caught sight of the Dniester and the Polish border . During another heavy assault on 6 October , most of the magnates and nobles broke and fled north , leaving infantry and camp , thus sealing the fate of the whole expedition : most of the Polish troops were killed or captured . In the ensuing battle Żólkiewski died and Koniecpolski and many others ( Samuel Korecki , Mikolaj Struś , Mikołaj Potocki , Jan Żółkiewski , Łukasz Żołkiewski ) , Stanisław " Rewera " Potocki and Bohdan Khmelnytsky were taken captive . Żółkiewski ' s head was mounted on a pike and sent to the sultan ; Duke Korecki , having often meddled in Moldavian territories , was executed in the Constantinople prison . In the face of such an important victory , advised by grand vizier Ali Pasha and Gabriel Bethlen , Osman II decided that he could reinforce his rule or even extend it . Alexandru Iliaş was appointed as the ruler of Moldavia , the rebel Graziani having been killed during his flight on 29 September . Aftermath . In 1621 an army of 200 , 000 – 250 , 000 Ottoman veterans , led by Osman II , advanced from Edirne towards the Polish frontier . The Ottomans , following their victory in the Battle of Cecora , had high hopes of conquering Ukraine , at the time a part of Poland . Polish commander Jan Karol Chodkiewicz crossed the Dniester in September with approximately 35 , 000 Polish troops and Cossack supporters and entrenched himself at the Khotyn Fortress , blocking the path of the slow Ottoman march . At Khotyn , for more than a month ( 2 September – 9 October ) , the Commonwealth hetman held the sultan at bay until the first autumn snow ( Battle of Khotyn ) . The lateness of the season and the loss of approximately 40 , 000 men in battle compelled Osman II to initiate negotiations . A few days before the siege was to be lifted , the aged grand hetman died of exhaustion in the fortress ( 24 September 1621 ) . The battle was a stalemate and the resulting Treaty of Khotyn reflected it , providing some concessions to the Commonwealth but meeting some Ottoman demands . Osman II blamed the stalemate of war on the lack of zeal and the " degeneracy " of the Janissaries . His efforts at modernizing the Ottoman army were not well received by the Janissaries and the conservative " learned " class . A revolt led by Janissaries and the students of the madrases erupted on 18 May 1622 and Osman II was deposed ; two days later he was killed by the rebels who deposed him .