The Battle of Hodów took place between the Kingdom of Poland and Budjak Horde forces, fought in June 1694 in the Ruthenian Voivodeship of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, near the village of Hodów (now Hodiv in Ternopil Raion, Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine). In Polish sources it is often called the Polish Thermopylae, like the Battle of Wizna.
== Prelude == In May 1694, Tatar raiders were preparing for an attack on Polish territory in Red Ruthenia; while the main Crimean Tatar force was engaged supporting Ottoman operations against Habsburg forces, this raid was carried out by Nogai Tatars from Budjak Horde, whose aim were to resupply the fortress of Kamianets-Podilskyi and carry out a diversionary attack against the Poles. During their raid, they clashed with Polish forces composed of seven banners of hussars and pancerni , approximately 400 men in total; historian Mirosław Nagielski estimates 100 hussars and 300 pancernis. Contemporary Polish sources claimed that the Tatar force numbered around 30,000, with John III Sobieski, the king of Poland at the time, claiming the figure of 40,000. Though later Polish historiography drawing on the contemporary sources, gave figures ranging from 25,000 to 70,000, with 40,000 being the most commonly repeated figure. However, it has been argued that these figures reflect wartime and commemorative amplification rather than a precise count. The total population of the Budjak Horde in the start of the 17th century, which was around 30,000-45,000, couldn't physically sustain such armies.
== Battle == The Horde's attack took four days and occurred between the 8th and the 11th of June. Poles claimed that their proper deployment of their forces and Tatars' failure in obtaining large number of captives forced them to retreat. During their march towards Kamianets, the Nogais were attacked by Polish cavalry from fortresses of Trenches of Holy Trinity and Earthwork of Holy Mary. The Pole's were overwhelmed and they retreated to the village of Hodów, where they fortified themselves and managed to defend themselves against Nogai attacks for a few hours. Unable to break through the strong defence, the Nogais ceased their attack on Hodow and continued their march towards Kamianets. The Polish royal court decided that Zahorowski's action was crucial in stopping the raid of 1694, therefore it was used as part of propaganda action before the Sejm of 1695. King Jan III Sobieski, despite having commissioned a statue commemorating the battle, was unable to convince a majority of his subjects, that Hodów was a great success, though.
== Legacy == The Statue John III Sobieski had commissioned has survived to this day. It was renewed in the summer of 2014 and officially unveiled during the celebration of 320th anniversary of the battle on 25 October 2014. In 2025, "Polskie Termopile" Polish foundation published a comic book about this battle titled 400.
== See also == Magnate wars in Moldavia
References
== External links == "Hodów 1694 – Kresy – Portal Społeczności Kresowej". kresy.pl. 17 October 2012. Archived from the original on 16 November 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2017. "Polskie Termopile 1694. Bitwa pod Hodowem | Konflikty.pl". www.konflikty.pl. Retrieved 16 September 2026. Winged Hussars, Radoslaw Sikora, Bartosz Musialowicz, Business Ukraine Magazine, October 2016.
