Battle of Poti (1626)

Battle of Poti
Part of the Cossack raids and Cossack naval campaigns
Date Spring of 1626 Location Near Poti (now Georgia) 42.15°N 41.67°E / 42.15; 41.67 Result Ottoman victory
Belligerents
Ottoman Empire	Zaporozhian Cossacks
Commanders and leaders
Unknown	Mykhailo Doroshenko
Strength
Unknown	60 chaykas
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Several killed and captured 30 chaykas destroyed and captured
class=notpageimage| Location within Georgia

The Battle on Poti was a naval battle that took place between the Zaporozhian Cossacks and the Ottoman fleet in the spring of 1626, ending the Cossack expedition to Georgia.

Background

Following the Treaty of Kurukove, Mykhailo Doroshenko was elected as the hetman of registered Cossacks. In early 1626, he gathered 60 chaykas for a raid on the Black sea coast of Caucasus. Before this, the Zaporozhian and Don Cossacks led by Oleksiy Shafran jointly raided Trabzon.

Cossack campaign and battle

In the spring of 1626, the Cossack fleet that consisted of 60 chaykas had set off for a raid to the coast of Georgia. The Cossack squadron reached the mouth of river Rioni near Poti, where it was caught up and defeated by the Ottoman fleet. The Cossacks lost 30 chaykas – 20 were destroyed and 10 were captured.

Aftermath

Despite the defeat, Cossacks continued their campaigns on the sea. In summer of the same year, the Zaporozhian and Don Cossacks had set off on a raid to the Bosporus, where they fought an unsuccessful battle against an Ottoman fleet and lost approximately 25 chaykas. In October 1626, the Cossacks of Mykhailo Doroshenko jointly with the Polish units of Stanislaw Chmielecki defeated the Tatar raiders at Bila Tserkva.