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The Ethnology Notebooks. 2026. № 5 (191), 1533—1546

UDK 355.422-021.363:94(477.75)

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/

  • Received: 07.06.2026
  • Accepted: 25.10.2026
  • Published: ??.??.2026

«FEIGNED RETREAT» TACTICAL MANEUVER AND ITS APPLICATION BY THE MILITARY OF THE CRIMEAN KHANATE

KOZLOVSKYI Serhii

  • ORCID ID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4590-2433
  • Ph.D (in History), Associate Professor,
  • Department of Medieval History and Byzantine Studies,
  • Ivan Franko National University of Lviv,
  • 1, Universytetska str., 79000, Lviv, Ukraine,
  • Contacts: e-mail: serg.kozlovskyy@gmail.com

Abstract. The article analyzes the tactical maneuver of the «feigned retreat», describing its utilization by the Byzantine, Norman, Mongol, and Crimean Tatar armies. It reveals the application of the «feigned retreat» by the Crimean Tatars during battles against the forces of various states. Particular attention is focused on the Battle of Konotop in 1659, where the Crimean Khanate employed this tactical maneuver with notable success, routing the detachments of the Muscovite princes Pozharsky and Lvov. The specific features of the Crimean Khanate’s military, alongside its strategy and tactics, are examined. The relevance of the topic stems from the fact that the tactical component of the Crimean Tatar military art remains insufficiently addressed in historical scholarship. The purpose of the article is to comprehensively examine the characteristics of the «feigned retreat» tactical maneuver, its history, and the methods of its deployment by the army of the Crimean Khanate.

Research methods: comparative-historical method, critical collation of sources. Results. It has been established that the Crimeans were able to employ the «feigned retreat» due to the high mobility of their army and because this maneuver was thoroughly mastered, while the Khanate’s enemies made numerous mistakes (lack of reconnaissance, disruption of battle formations, poor unit coordination, among others). It is proven that thanks to this tactical maneuver, the Tatars achieved victories over the enemy’s heavily armed cavalry. The Crimeans used the «feigned retreat» particularly often in the 17th century, when it was necessary to lure the enemy army out of a fortified camp protected by field artillery and numerous musketeers. Typically, a detachment of the Tatar army would attack first, provoke the enemy into a pursuit, and draw them into the strikes of units waiting in ambush. For a comprehensive study of the Crimean Tatars’ use of the «feigned retreat», a series of military campaign characteristics involving the Crimeans must be thoroughly analyzed, including the course of battles, troop numbers, weaponry, and reflection in contemporary narrative sources.

Keywords: conflict, military art, tactics, battle, army, cavalry, retreat, maneuver, casualties, Crimean Khanate.

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