The Battle of Garbów was fought on 14 October 1655 between the armies of Poland-Lithuania and Sweden. In a humiliating defeat, King Carl Gustaf of Sweden was captured by the Polish mercenary leader Jerzy Wisniewski.
By October 1655, the Swedes' short-lived run of successes had been reversed as Warsaw was liberated by the Poles and Swedish armies suffered several defeats in both Poland and Prussia. King Jan II Casimir rewarded Wisniewski for his role in these victories by making him lord of Vydzy, and he then assigned him the task of capturing a Swedish general to show that the Swedes, too, could bleed. Wisniewski chanced upon King Carl Gustaf's Swedish army just outside Lublin. In the ensuing battle, Polish cavalry massacred the Swedish king's musketeer lifeguards and overcame stiff resistance from his pikemen. Carl Gustaf was wounded and captured, and Wisniewski handed him over to Jan Casimir. The Polish king had his chancellor make a royal deed to be distributed to every province, letting every man know that the Poles had taken whole regiments of Swedes captive, and that Wisniewski was responsible.