In 2001, Kyiv saw the unveiling of a monument to Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny, a prominent Cossack hetman of the early seventeenth century, one of Ukraine’s most illustrious figures. Without doubt, this outstanding historical personage deserves to be commemorated in such a way more than any other Ukrainian statesman of those days. For it was he who led the Cossacks in the victorious naval campaigns to the Crimea and Turkey. He headed the Cossack troops when they nearly captured Moscow fighting as part of the Polish army. It was his military leadership that saved Central Europe from the invasion of the Turkish army in 1621. Finally, he anticipated the unification of the Cossacks and the Orthodox Church for the sake of the future revival of Ukrainian statehood.
Has all of the above been reflected in the hetman’s statue that dominates Kyiv’s centuries-old Kontraktova Ploshcha [Contract Square]? Not only Kyivans but also tourists view this monument as a poor replica of the monument to Bohdan Khmelnytsky near St. Sophia’s Cathedral, which is a real sculptural masterpiece. The trouble is that the sculptor must have been too lazy to read some history and fiction books, while some of the local officials did not bother to consult the historians, who have been studying the national hero’s life story for many decades and could have advised the author on the relevance of some of the sculpture’s elements and its so-called ideological content.
For example, why not show Hetman Sahaidachny with a sword raised in the air? This would look true and original. He received the sword from Prince Wladyslaw in 1621 as a reward for successful action near the Khotyn Fortress. This sword was inlaid with gold and diamonds and depicted the allegorical scenes of Solomon’s trial and a battle of ancient warriors. It bore a Latin inscription that translates as “From Wladyslaw in gift to Hetman Konashevych near Khotyn against the Ottoman.” Thus one of the most honorable royal courts of Central Europe eventually recognized the significant merits of the Ukrainian Cossacks in defending Ukraine, Rzeczpospolita, and other countries from the Turkish threat.
According to the customs of those days, that the future Polish king presented a sword to Sahaidachny meant recognition of the high social and legal status of the Cossacks’ hetman and the Zaporozhzhian Host. Since then the Cossacks enjoyed the status equal to that of the knights in the Ukrainian regions of Rzeczpospolita. The main symbol of knighthood, this sword served as a kind of writ of protection of the Cossacks for many years. It will be recalled that ever since the late sixteenth century the Polish authorities had regarded the Cossacks as nothing but an “unruly mob of rogues.” But Sahaidachny’s golden sword paved the way for the restoration of the Kyiv Orthodox Eparchy and allowed the Kyiv Fraternity and the Kyiv Mohyla Academy to strengthen their influence.
Several decades had passed before Sahaidachny’s military merits were duly appreciated. One of the brightest pages in his military biography was assisting the Polish- Lithuanian army to prevent Turkish Sultan Ottoman II from penetrating deep into Europe. At the end of the summer of 1621, forty thousand Cossacks gathered near Khotyn on the call of Polish King Sigismund III, as did thirty-five thousand Poles headed by Crown Hetman Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, and twenty-five thousand Lithuanians, to oppose an Ottoman army of 220,000. The Ukrainian host led by Konashevych- Sahaidachny comprised thirteen regiments, including the hetman’s regiment of three thousand Cossacks and the regiments of Ivan Hardzeya (2,000), Ivan Zyshkar (2,300), Bohdan Konsha (1,600), Tymosh Fedorovych (4,000), Musiy Pysarenko (2,500), Fedir Biloborodko (3,200), Danylo Dovhen (3,000), Adam Pidhorsky (3,700), Sydir Semakovych (3,500), Vasyl Luchkovych (4,100), Yatsko Hordiyenko (2,700), and Semen Chechuha (3,200). Some additional non-registered Cossack companies were actively involved in hostilities in early September.
The Battle of Khotyn began on September 2 with the attack of Turkish main forces along the front line and a concentrated attack on the positions of Sahaidachny’s regiments, with about forty Cossacks killed or wounded. On the night of September 3 the Cossacks, on their hetman’s order, reinforced the earth fortifications damaged by cannon fire.
The Ukrainian hetman revealed his military talent as soon as September 3, when the Cossack army was regrouping to counterattack. According to historian Petro Sas, to avoid losses from the enemy’s murderous cannon and rifle fire on that day, Hetman Konashevych-Sahaidachny concentrated his forces on the right and left flanks, exposing the center. The forces that amassed on the flanks reinforced the planned assault in the main directions of the counterattack. The Turks, now squeezed between the two Cossack groupings and unable to withstand the deadly rifle fire from Cossack infantrymen, began to retreat hastily. As a result, Sultan Ottoman II lost nearly ten thousand of his elite troops. “I won’t eat or drink until you fetch me that Sahaidachny,” he ordered in a fit of anger.
Turkish generals never carried out his order, for Hetman Petro Sahaidachny’s elite units suddenly burst into the enemy camp. “The sudden invasion of Ottoman’s camp by the Zaporozhzhian Cossacks caused the Turks to panic: people of all ranks and estates were terrified; Ottoman, who until then considered himself the world’s mightiest ruler, now saw how precarious his condition was,” an eyewitness wrote.
Aside from his ably organized offensive operations, Sahaidachny paid close attention to defensive tactics and especially military engineering. On September 4 the Cossacks quickly built the seemingly unusual dugout-type structures that could withstand artillery fire for nearly five hours. Also effective was the system of defensive rifle fire that the Cossack hetman employed perhaps for the first time on such a wide scale. This tactic consisted in a massed volley fire from as close a distance as possible. This happened on September 8, when janissaries attacked the Cossacks’ camp. The Turks crossed the defensive moat, but the Cossacks rose along the whole defense line and shot the attackers pointblank from muskets. About three thousand so-called infidels drowned in the moat. Sahaidachny also used the traditional Cossack tactic of night attacks. He did so on the nights of September 7, 17, 20, and 23. The last of these attacks involved three thousand Cossacks, who destroyed the Turkish tents, killed several hundred Turks, and seized many weapons and valuables.
The Battle of Khotyn, being the final stage of the 1621 Polish-Turkish War, lasted until the end of September and gradually turned into slow trench warfare. On September 28 Sultan Ottoman ventured for a decisive battle against the allies. One of the main attacks was directed at the Cossack camp. The Turks never managed, however, to penetrate the defenses. In his turn, Sahaidachny ordered his regiments to launch a counterattack, thus forcing the enemy to retreat. As a result, the Turkish sultan had to sign a peace treaty with the Polish king and waive his intention to seize Ukraine and Poland.
After 250 years of their aggressive policies in this region, the Ottoman Turks were denied access to the heart of Europe. This became possible thanks to the dedicated and sacrificial actions of the Ukrainian army and the military art of Hetman Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny. A Kypchak chronicle thus described the great role of the Cossacks in the 1621 Khotyn war, “Those Cossacks encountered, fought, and defeated the infidels every God’s day, saving the Poles from destruction. But for the Cossacks, the Poles would undoubtedly have been beaten in three or four days.”
A committed defender of Europe, Sahaidachny was decorated with a sword inlaid with gold and diamonds. “And what is the destiny of this honorary weapon?” you might ask. Has it lasted to this day, and, if so, where is it kept and is it possible to see it? Should you ever visit Krakow, stop by at the Wawel Royal Palace museum complex. You will see there the Ukrainian hetman’s famous weapon titled “Honorary Sword of Cossack Hetman Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny” and kept as part of the State Collection of Arts. In all probability, upon Sahaidachny’s death his sword was taken to Warsaw’s Crown Treasury and eventually passed to the Waza dynasty.
Such was the difficult destiny of the golden sword presented to Hetman Sahaidachny as a token of the victory of Poles, Lithuanians, and Ukrainians over their common enemy. Ukraine, the glorious hetman’s homeland, knew nothing about its existence for many centuries. Only recently have we learned that Sahaidachny’s sword is kept in Krakow.
