Battle of Lubieszów

The Battle of Lubieszów (Battle of Lubieszów Lake), which occurred on 17 April 1577, was the most crucial battle in the two-year Danzig Rebellion fought between the forces loyal to the newly elected King Stefan Batory of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Commonwealth's most prosperous city, Gdańsk (Danzig in German), following the city's refusal to accept the election of Batory as monarch of the Commonwealth which had taken place on 15 December 1575. The battle took place to the west of the town of Tczew (Dirschau), southeast of Gdansk on the left bank of the Vistula River, near Lubieszów Lake (present name Lubiszewo Lake) and the modern village of Lubiszewo Tczewskie (German: Lübschau). While it was not a decisive victory insofar as Gdansk itself was not taken and the war raged on, the city, having lost much of its wealthy citizenry, did finally to come to terms with the king at the end of the year.

The city's army, led by the mercenary German commander Jan Winkelbruch (Hans Winckelbruch or Winckelburg von Kölln), was about 7,000–12,000 strong (including mercenaries, among them a Scottish regiment which did not participate in the battle itself), but with less than 1,000 cavalry. The city's army was utterly defeated by the army of Jan Zborowski (of about 2,000 men, half of them cavalry). The Danzigers, who lost over half of their army to casualties and surrender, were forced to retreat behind the walls. Thus the Siege of Danzig (1577) began.