Połonka, battle of Basia, and battle of Kuszliki. This campaign, however, marked the zenith of his popularity. King John II Casimir Vasa attempted to involve him in the unpopular plan of vivente rege – to bypass the traditions of the royal elections in Poland and instead chose the next successor to the Polish throne (John II Casimir favored Louis, Grand Condé) still during the life of the previous king. His reputation among the unpaid and dissenting military took a dive; and many criticized him for appropriating the entire ransom that the Russians paid for their prisoners from Połonka. During the Sejm of 1662 some military representatives demanded sanctions and punishments to be levied on him. His last campaign took place at the end of 1664. He led an army against the Russians, but the Siege of Hlukhiv was not successful, and a new Cossack uprising of Ivan Sirko forced the Polish troops to fall back. On 22 July 1664 he received the office of the voivode of Kiev, and on 2 January 1665 he was appointed Field Crown Hetman. Before receiving the news of the nomination he desired for years, he was wounded at Lysianka. Called back by the king, who feared that magnate Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski that he just banished might start a rebellion, his recent wound became infected, and he died on 16 February 1665 in Sokołówka (now Sokolívka) near Lwów, six weeks after receiving this supreme distinction. Legacy Czarniecki received a state funeral in Warsaw, and has been interred in the tomb chapel of the church founded by him in Czarnca. He left his estates to a nephew, Stefan Stanisław Czarniecki, but the Czarniecki name did not last long, and the wealth he gathered became instead the foundation of the Branicki family of magnates. Czarniecki is remembered as one of the most able Polish commanders of all times. Podhorecki called him the greatest Polish military expert in "hit-and-run tactics", and notes that he was the longest-serving of the major Polish military commanders of his era, that he participated in 27 large battles, commanding 17 of them. He is seen as instrumental in defeating the Swedes during the Deluge, although he was even more successful in his battles against the Russians. His career, rising from a simple noble family to the rank of a hetman and a wealthy magnate, was unprecedented in the Commonwealth's history. His legend had