The Campaign
x The situation was volatile, and the spark that ignited it into open
warfare was a rebellion against the Teutonic Knights by the
inhabitants of a region called Samogitia in western Lithuania. With
Ulrich taking a hard line in negotiations, Jagiello and Vytautas
determined to launch an invasion of the Knights’ territory.
x Lithuania hoped to recover Samogitia and Poland to acquire a lost
province of its own, Pomerania. To achieve these aims, Jagiello and
Vytautas decided to launch a strike northwards towards the Knights’
main stronghold at Marienbad.x As the allied army marched north, the Knights’ army shadowed
their movements, and eventually, the two forces drew together
between the villages of Tannenberg and Grunwald. Most modern
analysts believe that the army of the Teutonic Knights had 25,000
to 30,000 men, and the allied army of the Poles and Lithuanians,
about 40,000 to 55,000.The Battle
x On July 15, 1410, the two armies faced off across a shallow valley.
The elite of the Teutonic Knights were deployed on the left side of
the line, while the guest Crusaders constituted the right wing. On
the other side, the Lithuanians formed the allied army’s right wing,
facing the Knights, while the Poles were deployed on the left.
x The combined Polish–Lithuanian army swept forward along the
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of intense hand-to-hand combat continued for nearly an hour, with
neither side giving way.x Then, abruptly, the Lithuanians and some of the allied forces on
the right wing pulled back and apparently went into full retreat.
This incident is controversial, with commentators both ancient and
modern disagreeing widely as to its cause.
o Some claim that it was a planned retreat designed to lure the
Knights out of their formation and scatter them, in which