Battle of Vedrosha

Battle of the Vedrosha River
	Part of the Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars
	; Map of army movements in 1500
Date	14 July 1500
Location	Vedrosha River, 50 km west of Kaluga
Result	Russian victory
Belligerents
Grand Duchy of Lithuania	Grand Duchy of Moscow
Commanders and leaders
Prince Konstantin Ostrogski	Prince Daniil Shchenya
Strength
40,000	40,000
Casualties and losses
5,000 to 8,000 dead; 500 taken captive	unknown

The Battle of the Vedrosha River took place during the Second Muscovite–Lithuanian War which ended with a decisive Muscovite victory and proved to be of strategic significance. It was carried out on 14 July 1500, some 50 km to the west of Kaluga, between forces of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, under command of Prince Konstantin Ostrozhsky and Muscovite army under Prince Daniil Shchenya.

The battle occurred due to the carelessness of the Lithuanian hetman, who, without waiting for the entire army to concentrate, attacked an enemy five times larger in number. The skilled Russian commander employed similar tactics that proved successful for the Russian army in the Battle of Kulikovo. Vedrosha was a crushing victory for the Muscovites. Some 8,000 Lithuanians were killed, and many more were taken prisoner, including Prince Konstantin Ostrogski, the first ever Grand Hetman of Lithuania.

After the battle the Lithuanians lost the possibility for military initiative and restricted themselves to defensive actions.

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