Kings and Generals

Battle of Kirchholm 1605 (Poland vs. Sweden) (2017x2)

Air date: Aug 13, 2017

A new week and a new documentary. This time we make a big step towards the modern era with the War of 1600-1611 between the Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania and the Kingdom of Sweden. Although this war has some impressive and memorable engagements, we decided to focus on the battle of Kirchholm (Salaspils) of 1605. This battle proved the tactical genius of the leader of Poland, the Grand Hetman of Lithuania Jan Karol Chodkiewicz and the dominance of the Winged Hussars who demonstrated that fearsome tercios can be defeated by the cavalry.