Battle of Finta

The Battle of Finta (May 1653) was a confrontation between Matei Basarab's Wallachian army and a combined Moldo-Cossack force under Vasile Lupu and Tymofiy Khmelnytsky. It took place around Finta, a commune in Dâmboviţa county. The battle began by an attack of Moldavian infantry and Tatar-Cossack cavalrymen. From the beginning, the Moldavians, Tatars and Cossacks were driven back by Wallachian and Lithuanian defenders. Then, the both armies advanced to meet in a place full of mud. There, a great hand-to-hand battle started. Wallachians, Polish-Lithuanians, Serbs and Hungarians destroyed the entire force of Cossacks and Tatars by sword and bayonet while the Moldavians, German and Austrian mercenaries retreated a kilometer to prepare for the attacks. Many attacks of the Wallachian-Polish-Lithuanian-Serbian-Hungarian troops were stopped but finally, the Wallachians managed to bombard with cannons the 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 prisoner. The prisoners were badly treated by Wallachians. Almost half of them perished in captivity or were sold as slaves.

The battle was a Wallachian decisive victory, resulting in the ousting of the Moldavian Prince, his replacement with Gheorghe Ştefan, the brief Wallachian occupation of Iaşi, and the siege of Suceava (where Tymofiy was killed).