Young Pasek at Parkany & Juliusz Kossak painting

 Salvete Omnes

the painting above, a watercolor painted by famous artist Juliusz Kossak in the late XIX century, depicts a particular event that took place during the aftermath of  the 2nd battle of Parkany.

Polish XVII century memoirist Jan Ch. Pasek wrote down the description of the 1683 campaign based on conversations with the actual participants. One of them was his brother's son (hence synowiec) or nephew  Stanislaw Pasek.
The painting describes Stanislaw's tale about what happened after the battle:

'My nephew Stanislaw Pasek [captured] a certain  important-looking Turk, because of his fine costume and  of a beautiful steed he was mounted upon; he had already disarmed [his prisoner] and rode with him by leading the [Turkish] horse by its reins, with the Turk mounted upon it, until a German [horseman] rode up, and when [the German] was parallel to the Turk , he run  [the Turk] through with his sword. The Turk just only groaned, so when [my] nephew turned to see [he saw] that the [Turk] opened his mouth  in last gasps and was falling off the horse. The German rode quickly to the side. My nephew berated the [German] -
-"Oh scoundrel, such and son of the bitch! you killed my prisoner, is that honorable?"
The German just laughed and said [in broken Polish]:
-"I am [your] Pan/Sir / Brother , Pan/Sir/ Pole, I am astonished that you want to feed this devil/pagan."
My Nephew continued to scold him:
-"You are a knave, not a chivalrous man, when you kill a prisoner in my custody (in my hands)."
The German kept on laughing and riding, thus slipped away [unpunished].                                                     What was the nephew to do? The German harbored [then] great hatred towards the Turks [...] and because the German were cruel by nature and when in victory don't know how to show noble moderation.''

in Polish from one of the versions that survived, devoid of Latin phrases and curses) -

..

enjoy

Valete

Around Jan Sobieski part III - Miaczynski the cavalry commander

Salve, 

The anniversary of battle of  Parkany (9th of October 1683AD) caused me to bring up the person of  one of the most talented Crown army  officers of the king Jan III's reign.
Atanazy Walenty Miączyński, Suchekomnaty coat of arms (1639-1723), voivode of Wołyń (Volhynia), venator Regni,; starost and court treasurer,; pułkownik (commander of the pułk which was a larger than banner/company tactical unit of the pre-1764 Commonwealth armies) lived a long life that was spent in war camps war, in the diplomatic journeys and courtly life (and thus obviously he had to be part of many courtly intrigues). 

 He must have been a fine cavalryman as a young warrior, and pan Antanazy rather quickly and early become a commander of cavalry, eg we know that in 1673 he was a rotameister(captain) of a Vallachian light cavalry banner that took part in many a battle: eg at Bracław (AD1671) the cavalry  banners he commanded blocked the Tatar's retreat thus allowing the complete rout of the Tatars during that engagement; then he commanded cavalry units at  the Podhajce fight; fought under Jan Sobieski   at the war camp of Żurawno, and  while pursuing the fleeing Ottoman soldiers during the final stage  at the battle of Chocim (Khotin) AD 1673 he was seriously wounded -    it is good to remember that the Ottoman cavalry and warriors were terribly skilled in hand-to-hand cavalry combat,  and their swords were most deadly in those close combat encounters. 

Battle of Vienna 1683 campaign - the turning point of his courtly career -  pan Atanazy entered the campaign commanding  3 pancerni cavalry companies (his own and his brothers). He also served personally on the king, along with Andrzej Modrzejowski, who got killed in the preliminary royal winged hussar banner charge against the Ottoman camp. During the general advance on the Turks he captured the Grand Vizier's tent where he took into custody of the famous, with sword Zulfikar (Zulfiqar), banner. 

Then, after the battle and capture of the enemy camp, our king Jan III sent him to pursue the Ottoman forces feeling away  across the river, giving him the 'pulkownik' command of the Polish army's light cavalry banners. 

During the first battle (6th of October) of Parkany he helped to save our good king's life. As we can see he was rather busy, active and very resilient, surviving mayhem and hand to hand combats, camp sickness, hunger, and successfully  commanding larger tactical cavalry units.

The war against the Ottoman Empire and their Tatar allies continued and then came the Polish campaigns to recover Polish Crown Podolia and the fortress of Kamieniec Podolski, fought hard and with much of great war effort, i.e, money and  human and equine participants (and animals for consumption only, including oxen and sheep, and fresh pork where available). The continuous war against the Ottomans saw pan Atanazy grow up in significance within the court, eg during the 1686 Moldavian campaign he was part of the king's war council, as he had become one of the most experienced mid-level commanders of the ''Respublica'' army.

He was significantly involved in the defeat of the Tatars during the winter  battle of Lwow(1695), one of the astonishing feats of audacity, bravery, strength and fury on the part of the nomadic Crimean Tatars. 

 During the reign of the  next Commonwealth ruler, our king Augustus the Strong, when the Great Northern War already had erupted in our part of the woods and plains, he also took to the field, eg commanded units during the Kliszow campaign,  later remained faithfully in the much defeated and troubled king Augustus' camp and that in spite of the Swedish depredation pinpointed against his own estates and his 'people'. 

During his long life he built a castle at Maciejów (now in Ukraine) while at his estate at Zawieprzyce founded a hospital for the soldiers wounded during the wars with the Ottomans and their allies, the Tatars. 

 

famous painting by Jan Matejko 

Valete

Parkany II - 9 Ocotober 1683 AD

 Salvete Omnes,

the routed Ottomans' fatal crossing of the river Danube - detail from a painting by Pierre-Denis Martin

today we celebrate the anniversary of the second battle of Parkany - 9th October 1683AD.

on the left bank the fortress of Parkany or today's Sturovo in Slovakia opposite Gran in Hungary

.

Parkany II was mostly a cavalry battle, roughly some 30-plus thousands on each side, although some sources say 15-plus thousands of cavalry and 1000 Janissary on the Ottoman side. The Ottomans had a camp with supply train with the swamped banks of Hron river behind them.

Victorious engagement for the armies of  our Polish Crown and Hapsburg Empire against the Ottoman Imperial army commanded by seraskier Kara Mehmed.
Hapsburg army was commanded by prince Charles of Lorraine, husband to the widow of our king Michal Korybut.  Overall command belonged to Jan III.

Winged hussars shock tactics shone in this battle - skillfully managed by our king Jan III. 

Jan III placed prince Charles' forces - infantry and artillery - in the center of the allied army, his left wing under hetman Stanislaw Jan Jablonowski, and the right wing under Hieronim Augustyn Lubomirski, here also was the command post of king Jan III.  Around noon the allied army advanced and came up to the enemy lines, about 1,5km from the Parkany fortress. Then the Ottoman forces attacked furiously and charged, mostly the left wing, according to Dupont, king's secretary, at least ten times they charge, but the center was protected by the portable devices known as cheval de frise, while Jablonowski counterattacked with his Polish cavalry supported by the Imperial cuirassiers.  King's left wing moved forward breaking the right wing of the Ottomans and causing panic that ended in a rout. Most panicked Ottoman cavalry then tried to swim the Danube, a huge river at this juncture, and drowned in process. Serskier Kara Mehmed did save himself but his command was destroyed. 
The battle resulted in a complete annihilation of the Ottoman army - depriving the sultan  of his best sipahi cavalry. 

Pierre-Denis Martin's full canvass showing the battle

Altomonte also painted  this monumental canvass - 

Parkany frieze from  the royal Wilanow Castle

Monument to king Jan III Sobieski in Sturovo

ps.
there are some interesting primary sources to this engagement, including three Ottoman chroniclers. 

enjoy

Valete

Ahmed 'Ata Tayyarzade (Walters MS 661) - Ottoman horses

 Salvete Omnes,

The Walters Art Museum has a late (XIX century)  Ottoman manuscript on the training and care of warhorses (Tuhfat ül-farisin fi ahval-i huyul il-mucahidin), in the tradition of the Islamic furusiyya manuals. 

According to the museum it was authored by  Aḥmed ʿAṭā Ṭayyārzāde, 

it was dedicated to the sultan Abdulmecid I (1823-1861) and

.

enjoy

Valete

Granicus River 334BC - podcast and articles

 Salvete Omnes,

October has begun.. hopefully it will be a better month than September,

 Ad rem,

today I finished listening to dr Goldsworthy addressing the battle of the Granicus River 334BC topic in his Yt podcast.  The great cavalry battle of the war.

In the ancient primary sources this first battle won by Alexander of Macedon  in his Achaemenid Persian wars survived, to some extend, in five major ancient works - Diodorus Siculus, Justin, Plutarch, Qvitus Curtius Rufus and Flavius Arrianus.

E. Badian wrote his article - The Battle of the Granicus: a new look, 1977. 

N.G.L. Hammond went to Turkiye and did in situ study of the Granicus river valley, and  in 1980 his findings he published in an article (Journal of Hellenic Studies) available on JSTOR or on Cambridge Univ. site.. In 1986 A.M. Devine wrote his article, Demythologizing the battle of the Granicus - available on JSTOR. 

K.Harl, Alexander's cavalry battle at the Granicus. (1997) - this is a major study, with good maps. I like 

Kathleen Toohey made he study of Alexander's tactics available on Academia - Chapter 2: The Battle of the Granicus.

D.B. Campbell  wrote his article "Alexander's great cavalry battle: What Really happened at the River Granics" (Ancient Warfare Magazine VI-2) - available on Academia.edu. The article contains illustration by great Spanish illustrator Pablo Outeiral, showing Alexander with his Companion Macedonian horsemen.  There is also a map of the battle. 

Baroque horses of Cornelis Troost

In 2022 Philip Register wrote his senior thesis (Univ of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) - Fresh Evidence: Reevaluating Alexander's Battle at the Granicus (pdf link). 

The military history of Alexander's generalship is treated by Major-general J.F.C Fuller in his work: The Generalship of Alexander the Great (London 1958), pp.147- 154, General Fuller is critical of the Persian satraps' plan and performance in this engagement with the Young Macedonian king and his fine cavalry. 

Waldemar Heckel in The Conquests of Alexander wrote a brief accout of the sources and some critique of the official narrative, as history usually is written as some narrative (pp. 47-51).

Also, Polish historian Krzysztof Nawotka wrote the analysis of the battle in his book Aleksander Wielki (2004) - pages 172-181. Another Polish historian Eddward Dabrowa narrates, based on Diodorus, Plutarch and Arrian, the event of the battle in hs book Gaugamela 331p.n.e.

And another battle of the Granicus -  Charles Le Brun painting and tapestry by Louis Licherie (Academia link to the article about this Baroque artwork).

Chalres Le Brun Baroque horses 

Valete

Kapalin husarski - winged hussar war hat

 Salvete Omnes,

today is the 420 anniversary of the momentous battle of Kircholm (1605). I have written about Kircholm many times (please, be so kind and check labels). 

Today a word or two about the war hat found to have been used by the winged hussars(companions and retainers). Typically we associate the winged hussars lancers, especially the companions, with a helmet known as a szyszak (shishak, shishaq). Naturally during the period of late XVI and early XVII century the lancers wore a variety of helmets, and a kapalin war hat was one of them. 

Note that war hats or kettle hats were in use since the early Middle Ages, and even as late as 1630s Swedish modern army had kapalin war hats in their panoply, especially the cavalry, albeit their were often blackened.

winged hussar carrying a lance and a kapalin war hat

Polish museums, eg Krakow National Museum, have a collection of these helmets, also in Belarus too, perhaps in Lithuanian and Ukraine as well.

a 'kaapalin' from a Belarusian museum, placed on a chain mail shirt 

National Museum in Kielce has a very nice example of these kapalin war hats used by our hussars. 

Also, Museum Ziem Wschodnich-Lublin Castle   has  a well preserved example of Polish-Lithuanian cavalry kapalin war hat.

more photos of the helmet on the museum website.

So perhaps some of the boys who charged the Karl IX's Swedish army wore the kapalin war hats, a popular helmet with some companions and many retainers through 1650s.

enjoy

Valete