The Siege of Zbarazh occurred from 10 July to 22 August 1649 when a combined Cossack-Tatar army led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky and Islam III Giray besieged the Polish-Lithuanian fortress of Zbarazh in Volhynia during the Khmelnytsky Uprising.
After peace talks between the Cossacks and the Poles fell through in February 1649, the Polish-Lithuanian army began gathering near the borders with the insurgent-held Ukraine, and the royal army assembled at the fortress of Zbarazh, with Prince Jeremi Wisniowiecki as its commander. The 15,000-strong Polish army found itself besieged by 70,000 seasoned Cossack regulars and rebellious peasants, as well as another 70,000 Crimean Tatars commanded by Khan Islam III Giray. The garrison bravely held out against Cossack and Tatar attacks, fighting off main assaults on 11, 13, 14, 16, and 17 July before the besiegers decided to starve out the defenders and step up their artillery bombardments. Hwoever, the besiegers failed to capture a nearby dam and flood Zbarazh. Eventually, rations began to run low, and 4,000 starving servants who were granted permission to leave the city found themselves either enslaved or massacred by the Tatars. In early August, lieutenant Mikolaj Skrzetuski slipped out of the city and reached King John II Casimir Vasa on 6 August, requesting reinforcements. On 6 August, the Cossacks and Tatars launched their final assault on the city walls, but they were defeated once again. Shortly after, the royal reinforcements defeated the Cossacks and Tatars at the Battle of Zboriv, resulting in the 17 August 1649 Treaty of Zboriv. Fighting continued until the ceasefire took effect on 22 August, and, by 25 August, the besieging army left Zbarazh. The Poles lost half of their army, most of them to disease, while the Cossacks and Tatars lost over a third of their massive force. As a result of the siege, the Tatars broke their alliance with the Cossacks.
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