 Wiśniowiecki 's courtier and first biographer , Michał Kałyszowski , counted that Jeremi participated in nine wars in his lifetime . The first of those was the Smolensk Campaign of 1633 – 34 against the Tsardom of Russia . In that war he accompanied castellan Aleksander Piaseczyński 's southern army and took part in several battles , among them the unsuccessful siege of Putyvl ; later that year they took Rylsk and Sevsk before retreating . The following year he worked with Adam Kisiel and Łukasz Żółkiewski , commanding his own private army of 4 @,@ 000 . As his troops formed 2 / 3 of their army ( not counting supporting Cossack elements ) , Jeremi , despite being the most junior of commanders , had much influence over their campaign . Lacking in artillery , they failed to take any major towns , but ravaged the countryside near Sevsk and Kursk . The war ended soon afterward , and in May 1634 he returned to Lubny . For his service , he received a commendation from the King of Poland , Władysław IV Vasa , and the castellany of Kiev . 
