Battle of Finta

Battle of Finta
Part of War for the succession to the throne of Moldavia (1653)
Vasile Lupu (ruled 1634-1653).
Date 27 May 1653 Location Finta 44°47′25″N25°49′17″E Result Decisive Wallachian victory
Belligerents
Wallachia Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth SeimeniSerb mercenaries Hungarian mercenaries	Moldavia Cossack Hetmanate Tatars German and Austrianmercenaries
Commanders and leaders
Matei Basarab Gheorghe Ștefan Diicul Buicescul	Vasile Lupu Tymofiy Khmelnytsky
Strength
20-30,000 Wallachians, 5,000 allies	4,000 Moldavians, 15,000 Cossacks, 2,000 Tatars, 100 Germans
Casualties and losses
1,000 Wallachians, 200 Poles and Lithuanians, 100 Serbs, 80 Hungarians	3,000 Moldavians, 7,000 Cossacks, 1,000 Tatars, all Germans and Austrians killed, the rest captured

TheBattle of Finta(27 May 1653) was a confrontation betweenPrinceMatei Basarab'sWallachianarmy and a combinedMoldavian–Cossack–Tatarforce underPrinceVasile LupuandTymofiy Khmelnytsky.It took place aroundFinta,now acommuneinDâmbovița County,Romania.

The battle began by an attack ofMoldavian infantryand Tatar–Cossack cavalrymen. From the beginning, the Moldavians, Tatars and Cossacks were driven back by theWallachian military forcesand Lithuanian defenders. Subsequently, both armies advanced to meet in a marshland, where a greatmeleebegan. Wallachians, Polish-Lithuanians,SeimeniSerb and Hungarian mercenaries destroyed the entire force of Cossacks and Tatars, with their swords and bayonets; the Moldavians, alongside theGerman and Austrianmercenaries, retreated a kilometer to prepare for the attacks. They resisted a series of attacks by the Wallachian-led combined troops, until finally the Wallachians bombarded their positions. The German and Austrian mercenaries were all killed during the bombardment. 1,000 Moldavians, 4,000 Cossacks and 1,000 Tatars were taken as prisoners, and mistreated by Wallachians. Almost half of them perished in captivity or weresold as slaves.

The battle was a Wallachian decisive victory, resulting in the ousting of the Moldavian Prince and his replacement withGheorghe Ștefan.There was a brief Wallachian occupation ofIași,and a siege ofSuceava(where Tymofiy was killed).