The first encounter at the site of the events, – the field combat of Lanckorona, – then the storming of the Lanckorona Castle (Polish: Obrona Lanckorony, lit. 'Defense of Lanckorona') and finally the second field engagement – namely the battle of Lanckorona (Russian: Лянцкоронское сражение; Polish: Bitwa pod Lanckoroną) – were three distinct clashes of the Bar Confederation that took place at Lanckorona Castle, on the plains before Lanckorona, and in the town ifself, a small settlement 27 km (17 mi) southwest of the de jure Polish capital Kraków (de facto capital was Warsaw). The first two engagements took place on 20 February 1771, and the third on 21 May of the same year. The clashes involved a detachment of the Russian army of Ivan Weymarn led by Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov and Polish force with other European troops under the command of the French envoy Charles François Dumouriez. The field encounters where Dumouriez was attacked ended successfully for Suvorov, but the Russian commander failed to take the castle by assault.
Alexander Suvorov had already fought the Confederates in a substantial battle the year before last — he gave a heavy defeat to Casimir Pulaski at Orzechowo. Here, in the battle of Orzechowo, possessing a detachment not reaching 400 men, Suvorov won against 2,000 Polish Confederates.
