Mykhailo Krychevsky

Mykhailo Krychevsky or Stanisław Krzyczewski or Krzeczowski (died 3 August 1649) was a Polish noble, military officer and Cossack commander. He fought for the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth against various Cossack revolts and Crimean Tatar factions. During his time as a Cossack commander, Krychevsky befriended Bohdan Khmelnytsky, who would go on to stage a revolt against the Polish-Lithuanian throne.

After being captured by enemy forces in 1648, Krychevsky was ransomed to Khmelnytsky and was named an acting hetman of Khmelnytsky's rebel forces. Krychevsky was mortally wounded in the battle of Loyew on 31 July 1649 and died in the custody of Polish forces.

Biography

He was born Stanisław Krzeczowski or Krzyczewski (sources vary) to a Roman Catholic family of nobility (szlachta), polonized around the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries in the Brest Litovsk Voivodeship. His year of birth is unknown, but in mid-1640s he likely served in the Commonwealth army for 10 to 20 years. In 1647 he helped Khmelnytsky, who had been arrested and sentenced to death under a suspicion of preparing another Cossack uprising. After receiving guarantees of Khmelnytsky's innocence (from Krychevsky and others), Koniecpolski allowed Khmelnytsky to go free. Khmelnytsky's promptly went to Zaporizhian Sich where he started the Khmelnytsky Uprising. Nonetheless Krychevsky did not join the uprising and remained in command of his unit and was known as a supporter of official Commonwealth policies. Krychevsky himself informed Koniecpolski of Khmelnytsky's escape, and then started gathering information about the situation in Zaphoroze. He took part in scouting missions, captured Cossack prisoners, and participated in negotiations early that year. During this time he was assaulted and battered by the Cossacks.

According to an account given in Polski Słownik Biograficzny, in April, while securing a fortification in Bucki, a Cossack unit under his command rebelled and he was taken prisoner. Unlike some of his fellow officers, however, he was not killed but instead given to the Tatars. He was ransomed from them by Khmelnytsky (for 4,000 talars), and joined his side becoming a respected commander.

A different account of how Krychevsky joined Khmelnytsky is present in other sources. Taken prisoner by Tatars during the Battle of Zhovti Vody (Yellow Waters) in April/May 1648, where he still fought on the Polish-Lithuanian side against the Cossacks, he was liberated by Khmelnytsky, who convinced him to join his side. Other sources even accuse Krychevsky of joining Khmelnytsky in the midst of the battle, and of meeting (or planning to meet) with him before the battle.

In either case, all accounts agree that Krychevsky converted to Orthodoxy from Roman Catholicism, adopting a new name, Mykahilo (Michael).

He was given the title of acting Hetman and was considered a very able and promising commander by Khmelnytsky. Very likely he acted as a close adviser to the rebel leader. He was defeated and mortally wounded in the battle of Loyew on 31 July 1649. Field Hetman of Lithuania Janusz Radziwiłł wanted to save his life, so he could be put on trial for joining the uprising, but his wounds were too great and he died soon afterwards, on 3 August 1649.

In fiction Krychevsky was a minor character in Henryk Sienkiewicz's novel With Fire and Sword (Ogniem i Mieczem).