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{{Short description|Part of Smolensk War}}
{{For|other sieges|Siege of Smolensk (disambiguation)}}
{{good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Siege of Smolensk
| partof = [[Smolensk War]]
| image = Smolensk-1632-1634.jpg
| image_size = 300px
| caption = Siege of Smolensk, engraving from 1636
| date = 28 October 1632 – 4 October 1633
| place = [[Smolensk]], [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]
| result =
| combatant1
| combatant2
| commander1 = [[Władysław IV|King Władysław IV]]<br>Samuel Drucki-Sokoliński<br>[[Krzysztof Radziwiłł]]<br>[[Aleksander Korwin Gosiewski]]
| commander2 = [[Mikhail Shein]]<br>[[Artemy Izmaylov]]<br>[[Semyon Prozorovsky]]<br>[[Bogdan Nagoy]]
| strength1 = '''Garrison of Smolensk:'''<br/ >2,212 soldiers<br/ >less than 170 artillery pieces<ref>Dariusz Kupisz, Smoleńsk 1632-1634, Warszawa 2001, Bellona, p. 92, {{ISBN|83-11-09282-6}}</ref><br/ >'''Relief force:'''<br/ >13,200 infantry and dragoons<br/ >8,300 cavalry<ref name= "Dariusz Kupisz p. 129">Dariusz Kupisz, Smoleńsk 1632-1634, Warszawa 2001, Bellona, p. 129, {{ISBN|83-11-09282-6}}</ref><br/ >12,000 [[Zaporozhian Cossacks|Zaporozhians]]
| strength2 = 20,
| casualties1 = Unknown
| casualties2 = Unknown
}}
{{Campaignbox Smolensk War}}
[[File:Medal commemorating Polish victory over Russia in Smolensk 1634.PNG|166px|thumb|right|Medal commemorating Polish victory over Russia in Smolensk 1634]]
The '''siege of Smolensk''' lasted almost a year between 1632 and 1633, when the [[Muscovite]] army [[siege|besieged]] the [[Polish-Lithuania Commonwealth|Polish–Lithuanian]] city of [[Smolensk]] during the [[Smolensk War|war named after that siege]].
==Background==
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Compared to former Russian armies, Shein's army was significantly modernised.<ref name="Black"/> 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 [[Regular Army|regulars]], [[dragoons]], and [[reiters]].<ref name="Black"/> Eight such regiments, totaling 14,000 to 17,000 men, comprised a part of Shein's army.<ref name="Black"/>
[[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth#
==Siege==
Shein began the siege of Smolensk on 28 October.<ref name="Nag8-9"/> The Muscovite forces constructed [[Investment (military)|lines of circumvallation]] around the fortress.<ref name="Gierowski"/> Using tunnels and mines, his forces damaged a long section of the city wall and one of its towers.<ref name="Jasienica"/> Russian heavy artillery, mostly of Western manufacture,<ref name="Jasienica"/> reached Smolensk in December 1632 with even heavier guns arriving the following March.<ref name="Rick"/> After a preliminary artillery bombardment, Shein ordered an assault, which was repulsed by the Polish defenders.<ref name="Gierowski"/> Nonetheless the siege was progressing; Smolensk's fortifications were being eroded, and the defenders were suffering heavy casualties and running out of supplies.<ref name="Nag12-13"/> By June 1633, some soldiers started to desert, and others talked of surrender.<ref name="Nag18"/>
Despite these difficulties, the city, commanded by Deputy Voivode Samuel Drucki-Sokoliński,<ref name="Nag11-12"/> held out throughout 1633 while the Commonwealth, under its newly-elected King [[Władysław IV Vasa|Władysław IV]], organised a relief force. The [[Sejm walny|Sejm]] officially sanctioned a declaration of war and authorised a large payment (6.5 million [[Polish zloty|zloty]]s, the highest tax contribution during Władysław's entire reign) for the raising of a suitable force in Spring 1633.<ref name="Bonney"/> 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).<ref name="Nag12-13"/> Over 10,000 of the infantry would be organized based on the Western model, previously not common in Commonwealth armies.<ref name="RzeczMW"/>
Meanwhile, [[Field Hetman of Lithuania]] and [[Voivode of Vilnius]], [[Krzysztof Radziwiłł]], and Voivode Gosiewski established a camp about {{convert|30|km|mi|1}} 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]].<ref name="Nag11-12"/> 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.<ref name="Gierowski"/><ref name="Jasienica"/><ref name="Nag12-13"/>
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By the summer of 1633, the relief force, led personally by the king and numbering about 25,000<ref name="Gierowski"/><ref name="RzeczMW"/> (20,000 in the Polish-Lithuanian army, according to [[Paweł Jasienica|Jasienica]]), arrived near Smolensk; they reached Orsha on 17 August 1633.<ref name="Nag20"/> 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.<ref name="Nag21"/> Only when Cossack reinforcements, led by [[Timofiy Orendarenko]] and numbering between 10,000 and 20,000, arrived on 17 September would the Commonwealth army gain numerical superiority.<ref name="Jasienica"/><ref name="Nag21"/><ref name="Nag31-33"/> 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.<ref name="Nag24"/>
[[File:
Władysław's brother, [[John II Casimir of Poland|John II Casimir]], commanded one of the regiments in the relief army.<ref name="RzeczMW"/> Another notable commander was the [[Field Crown Hetman]], [[Marcin Kazanowski]].<ref name="Nag31-33"/> 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.<ref name="Gierowski"/><ref name="RzeczMW"/> He had replaced the old [[arquebusiers]] with [[musketeers]], and standardized the Commonwealth artillery (introducing 3- to 6-[[pound (mass)|pounder]] regimental guns), both to great effect.<ref name="Black"/>
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==Bibliography==
* Mirosław Nagielski, ''Diariusz kampanii smoleńskiej Władysława IV 1633-1634'', DiG, 2006, {{ISBN|83-7181-410-0}}
{{Lithuanian wars and conflicts}}
{{coord|54|47|N|32|03|E|display=title|region:RU_type:event}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Siege of Smolensk (1632-33)}}
[[Category:Conflicts in 1632|Smolensk]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1633|Smolensk]]
[[Category:Sieges involving
[[Category:Sieges involving the Tsardom of Russia|Smolensk 1632]]
[[Category:1632 in Europe]]
[[Category:1633 in Europe]]
[[Category:Sieges of Smolensk|Smolensk 1632–1633]]
[[Category:1632 in Russia]]
[[Category:1633 in Russia]]
[[Category:Battles of the Smolensk War|Smolensk]]
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