Sapiehas' attempts to control local politics through sejmiks and their arrogation of other nobles' lands increased dissatisfaction among rank-and-file szlachta.

The anti-Sapieha coalition consisted of members of the Radziwiłł, Pac and Ogiński families, and had the support of medium and lesser nobles.

Initial military engagements, at Lipniszki and in a skirmish on the Ashmyanka River, were favorable to the Sapiehas who commanded well trained professional troops against the szlachta's irregular forces.

[4] Last minute negotiations and an attempt at a truce was made by Bishop of Vilnius Konstanty Kazimierz Brzostowski, who while a long time Sapieha opponent, was genuinely worried about the extent of destruction that the civil war was going to cause in Lithuania.

Brzostowski, accompanied by bishop sufragan Jan Mikołaj Zgierski, met with the Sapiehas at a tavern in nearby Leipalingis.

The details of the proposed truce are unknown but the conditions were rejected by Sapiehas, who declared that things will have to be "settled with sabres".

The battle and the subsequent slaughter marked the end of the dominance of the Sapiehas in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in general, and in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in particular.