In the battle the outnumbered Polish-Lithuanian force secured a decisive victory over Russia, due to the tactical competence of hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski and the military prowess of Polish hussars, the elite of the army of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland.

[1] A Russian army under Prince Dmitry Shuisky was heading towards the besieged fortress of Smolensk, but was intercepted by Polish-Lithuanian forces.

[2] The Polish-Lithuanian forces numbering about 6,500[1]–6,800 men[2] (of which about 5,500, or about 80 percent, were the famous "winged" hussars) under Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski faced a numerically superior force of about 30,000 Russians under Princes Dmitry Shuisky, Andrey Galitzine, and Danilo Mezetsky, as well as about 5,000 mercenary units temporarily allied to Russia, under the command of Jacob De la Gardie, composed of Flemish, French, Irish, German, Spanish, English, and Scottish soldiers.

[2] According to a description based on the work of Leszek Podhorecki, although the Poles were more aware that the battle was about to take place, the forces encountered one another in the darkness of the night, and Żółkiewski decided to organize his army rather than engaging immediately, which also gave the Tsardom of Russia time to prepare.

[2] According to Mirosław Nagielski, however, the Poles under Żółkiewski purposefully chose to engage the opponent at that time, hoping to catch them asleep.

[2] The battlefield, a flat agricultural field, was crossed by a high village picket fence, reinforced by improvised fieldworks, which allowed the Polish hussars to charge only through a narrow gap.

[2][4] The Polish forces continued to make ferocious attacks, and Samuel Maskiewicz, a witness from one hussar company, claimed that his unit charged eight or ten times.

Abandoned by the Russians, the foreign mercenaries entered negotiations with the Polish troops and eventually surrendered, having reached satisfactory conditions.

[4] Regardless, following the battle, Żółkiewski then turned back towards the Russians at Tsaryovo-Zaymishche, commanded by Valuyev, who after learning about the defeat of their relief force at Kluszyno decided to surrender.

[2] He claimed the Tsar's title from 1610 to 1634 but never assumed the throne, as his father and Commonwealth king, Zygmunt III Waza, failed to negotiate a lasting agreement with the boyars; the Polish-Lithuanian garrison in Moscow was soon besieged and would surrender a year later.