Battle of Cecora (1595)

Battle of Cecora
Part of Moldavian Magnate Wars, Polish-Ottoman Wars
"Struggle for the Turkish banner" by Józef Brandt.
Date September 19–20, 1595 Location near Țuțora and Prut river, Moldavia Result Polish victory
Belligerents
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Moldavia	Ottoman Empire Crimean Khanate
Commanders and leaders
Jan Zamoyski	Gazi II Girej
Strength
5000 cavalry, 2300 infantry, some artillery	25,000
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

The Battle of Cecora took place on October 19–20, 1595, during an expedition of Jan Zamoyski, of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, to Moldavia, as part of the Moldavian Magnate Wars.

In early 1595 Sigismund Báthory, Prince of Translyvania, convinced Ștefan Răzvan, a commander of Hungarian mercenaries in the service of the then Hospodar Aaron the Tyrant to rebel. Ștefan captured Aaron and sent him to Transylvania, then proclaimed himself as the new Hospodar and a vassal of Sigismund. In response the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed III, who had been Aaron's protector and sovereign, decided to put an end to the ongoing power struggles in Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania between various magnates. While Wallachia was to receive a new Turkish sponsored ruler, Moldavia was to be simply incorporated into the Ottoman Empire as a province. The Ottoman intervention aroused alarms in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth which sought to reestablish its influence in the region, having lost sovereignty over Moldavia some hundred years earlier after the Battle of the Cosmin Forest.

In the summer of 1595 the crown army of the Kingdom of Poland, numbering around 5000 cavalry, 2300 infantry and a few artillery pieces, led by the Crown Hetman Jan Zamoyski entered into the territory of Principality of Moldavia and on the 27th of August took Chocim and shortly after, on September 3, the capital of the principality, Iași. Zamoyski then installed Ieremia Movilă, who was amicably disposed towards the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, as Hospodar (Prince) of Moldavia. Zamoyski's intent was to create a buffer zone of friendly states around the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, consisting of Moldavia, Transylvania and Wallachia, in order to protect it from Ottoman Turkey.

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