Battle of Slankamen
Contemporary depiction of the Battle of Slankamen (1702)
| date | August 19, 1691 |
|---|---|
| place | Slankamen ; 60 km northwest of Belgrade |
| output | Victory of the imperial troops |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| about 50,000 men | about 33,000 men |
| losses | |
|
12,000 - 25,000 men |
4,000 - 7,300 men |
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In the Battle of Slankamen (also Szlankamen ) during the Great Turkish War on August 19, 1691, the armies of Austria and the Ottoman Empire met . The battle at Slankamen ended with a clear victory for the imperial troops , which enabled them to hold most of Hungary against the Ottomans.
prehistory
In 1683 the Ottomans began the Great Turkish War with an offensive against the Austrian capital Vienna . After the siege of Vienna was ended by the Ottoman defeat in the Battle of Kahlenberg (September 12, 1683), the initiative passed to the imperial troops. In the following years the Ottomans were gradually driven out of Hungary and Transylvania ; In 1686 they captured Ofen and the following year inflicted a devastating defeat on the Ottomans in the Battle of Mohács (August 12, 1687). But when the Palatinate War of Succession against France began in 1688 , Emperor Leopold I had to concentrate most of his army on the Rhine . Although the imperial family were able to gain further advantages by taking Belgrade in 1688 , the city and all of Serbia were lost again in 1690 .
For the year 1691, the imperial commander, Margrave Ludwig Wilhelm von Baden, was again given more resources. Among others, 6,000 Brandenburgers and 2,000 Bavarians joined the army at Buda , which grew to around 50,000 soldiers and 90 guns. The margrave intended to engage the Ottoman army in a battle and defeat it. After a decisive victory, he hoped to regain all of the previous year's losses. After it became known that the Ottoman army was moving towards Belgrade, the imperial army marched against the Serbian city via Esseg on the southern banks of the Drava and Danube . The Margrave of Baden set up a supply base near Peterwardein , from which supplies followed the army under the protection of a river flotilla on the Danube. When the imperial approached Semlin on August 12, they discovered the numerically far superior Ottoman army (approx. 90,000 men; 200 guns) in a heavily entrenched position.
For two days the imperial army camped in battle order in front of Semlin and expected an Ottoman attack, which did not take place. Instead, their own army was decimated by extreme heat and insufficient supplies. Finally, in memory of the Battle of Mohács , the margrave tried to induce the Ottomans to attack by retreating. In slow marches, the imperial troops withdrew to the fortified town of Slankamen. Between the town and a mountain range the army took up a position in which the margrave intended to repel the attack of the Ottoman army. In fact, this followed the imperial and encamped on August 16 in front of their position. Up to this point in time, the strength of the two armies had decreased significantly due to illness, desertion and heat death. While the imperial army still comprised around 33,000 soldiers, the grand vizier was still able to muster around 50,000 men.
course
Maneuvers and deployment
On the night of August 17-18, Grand Vizier Köprülü Fazıl Mustafa secretly had the Ottoman camp demolished. As cover he left his cavalry in front of the imperial position and marched with the rest of his army, including the baggage train via Kercsedin, south around the right flank of the imperial troops. The Ottoman forces then moved to a new position west of the imperial on a hill on the Danube, in which they immediately began to entrench themselves. Later the Ottoman cavalry followed on the same route and gained connection to the right Ottoman wing. The imperial army was thus in a precarious position. It was cut off from both its line of retreat and its line of supply. The numerically far superior Ottomans holed up on a higher ground and also brought a superior fleet on the Danube. On the morning of August 18, an urgently needed transport of provisions coming from Peterwardein fell into the hands of the Ottomans.
Margrave Ludwig von Baden was now forced to attack the Ottoman position soon in order to free the imperial army from its grip. To do this, however, it had to change its position beforehand. By noon on August 19th, the imperial troops swung west without being disturbed by the Ottomans. Apparently Köprülü Mustafa was aware that the imperial forces were being forced to run against his fortified position, and so he did not want to rush anything. At 3 p.m. the margrave's troops were ready. On the right wing stood Feldzeugmeister Karl Ludwig Graf de Souches with 20 battalions on the Danube. Behind this, almost the entire artillery of the army stood on a hill in order to be able to bombard the Ottoman camp and its fortifications. The focus was on General Hans Albrecht von Barfus with the Brandenburg auxiliary corps, 17 battalions and 31 squadrons . The cavalry corps with 85 squadrons and 16 battalions under Field Marshal Johann Heinrich von Dünewald was deployed on the left wing . The only reserve was another cavalry unit under the Prince of Holstein behind the right wing. The margrave's plan was to attack with the left wing (dune forest) and to blow up the Ottoman right wing. The Ottomans were to be thrown out of their entrenchments and then pushed into the Danube. So that the janissaries in the fortifications could not come to the aid of the threatened wing, they were to be held by attacks by the imperial center and right wing.
The fight on the banks of the Danube
The left wing of the Imperial troops attacked at 3:00 p.m. To ensure that the imperial troops had sufficient stability, the margrave had the infantry and cavalry formations of the wing proceed in a mixed manner. Because of this and the difficult terrain, the advance was delayed. Instead, contrary to the original plan of attack, the right imperial wing, which was actually only intended to relieve the burden, first got into a difficult battle. The guns were brought up to 200 paces and the Ottoman entrenchments were under fire. Then the attack of the imperial grenadiers followed. Under the personal command of Feldzeugmeister de Souches, they broke into the Ottoman positions, but were beaten back by the Ottomans, who were supported by 300 French artillery specialists. Feldzeugmeister de Souches fell, and the imperial battalions fell back. The subsequent counterattack by the Janissaries brought the imperial right wing into a critical position because, following the death of the commanding officer, there was no unified leadership. Only through the use of the large cannon battery and four cuirassier regiments from the reserve (Prince of Holstein) could the Ottoman advance be repulsed with difficulty. Instead of Feldzeugmeister de Souches, Guido von Starhemberg took over command of the right wing and led him to a second forward attack, which was also repulsed by the Ottomans. Although he was wounded by an arrow, Starhemberg also commanded a third, unsuccessful assault. The losses, especially among the officers' corps, were meanwhile so severe that the entire imperial right wing could hardly be used.
At the same time, the Ottoman river flotilla took action against the imperial ships. Thanks to her numerical superiority, she quickly succeeded in overcoming the small imperial fleet. This also interrupted the last line of communication between the Imperial Army and its bases.
The attack of the Ottoman cavalry
In the meantime, the left imperial wing advanced in the confusing area and lost the connection to the center. In this opening, Köprülü Mustafa led the attack of his entire cavalry. The Sipahi broke through the first lines of the imperial troops, threw back their cavalry and also broke into the second meeting . There they met the resistance of the Brandenburg associations. General von Barfus had a few battalions swivel in and attacked the flanks of the Ottoman cavalry with them. The riders were caught in a violent crossfire , suffered heavy losses and finally fled.
The break into the Ottoman camp
The Margrave of Baden now personally reorganized the troops of the left wing. He pulled the squadrons out to the left from the previously mixed infantry and cavalry formations of Dünewald and reinforced them with the Prince of Holstein's reserve cavalry. The united imperial cavalry encountered in the following attack on the Ottoman cavalry, which rallied after their unsuccessful attack and just stood in two large "lumps". Since their formation was not yet completed, they could not offer any orderly resistance to the attack of the imperial. After the first impact, some of the Ottoman horsemen fled to the west, while the majority fled to the Ottoman camp and its fortifications. Now the imperial left wing could attack the Grand Vizier's camp via the bared Ottoman flank. The Janissaries initially defended themselves in all directions, but when the Grand Vizier Köprülü Mustafa himself fell in battle, panic broke out among them. By nightfall, the imperial officers killed all enemies in the area of the Ottoman camp. Among the fallen were the commander and 15 colonels of the Janissaries , as well as 18 pashas .
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The Ottoman camp fell into the hands of the imperial troops with the entire entourage and artillery (158 cannons). Their losses were very high with 7,000 soldiers, including the Prince of Holstein. The Ottomans lost up to 25,000 men, which corresponded to about 50% of the effective strength. The rest of the army was split up or on the run and had to be gathered again in the weeks that followed. The imperial commander proudly reported that the grand vizier's standard and all the flags of all pashas had been captured. Only later did the margrave learn from prisoners' statements that the grand vizier himself was among the dead Ottomans. A medal from Georg Hautsch, Nuremberg , indicated the prey shortly afterwards with 10,000 bulls, 10,000 tents, 4 horse tails , 14 standard symbols, 5000 horses and 2000 camels and mules.
consequences
On the following day, August 20, the young officer Karl von Vaudemont , who had distinguished himself in battle, was sent to Vienna with a short report in which the Margrave of Baden wrote about the battle:
"Although it cost you a lot of blood, it is of such a nature that the loss can be blurred by nothing to reckon with your loss, ours, and hopefully by this prank you will be brought into such a position that you will hardly be will do great spunk this year ... "
The imperial victory at Slankamen in 1691 was significant because it freed the imperial army from the Ottoman enclosure. The situation in which it found itself after bypassing its flanks was so threatening that a defeat could easily have resulted in the loss of the entire army. This loss would have been difficult to replace in the long two-front war of the Habsburgs and would have resulted in great strategic disadvantages. In addition, the defeat at Slankamen cost the Ottomans so heavy losses that they were unable to take the offensive again in that or the following year. This was a noticeable relief for the imperial army, which at that time was fighting against French troops on the Rhine. Secondly, the victory resulted in a number of local advantages in the Hungarian theater of war. Although the fortress of Belgrade was now barely covered by Ottoman troops, Margrave Ludwig von Baden considered himself too weak to take the place, especially since a secure supply of the army seemed impossible after the loss of his Danube flotilla . Instead, the imperial family retreated north across the Danube before they conquered Lippa , Brod and Gradiška , among others , and began a siege of Oradea , which was captured on June 5, 1692. Due to his successful campaign, Emperor Leopold I appointed Ludwig Wilhelm von Baden lieutenant general of the imperial army, d. H. commander in chief of all imperial troops. The Spanish king awarded the margrave the Order of the Golden Fleece .
Footnotes
- ↑ a b c d e f Christian Greiner: The "Türkenlouis" - Margrave Ludwig von Baden-Baden (1655–1707) , in: Military History Contributions , Vol. 3, (Ed. By the Military History Research Office ), Herford / Bonn 1989, p 27-41.
- ^ A b c Philipp von Schröter: War history of the Prussians from the year 1655 to 1763 , Frankfurt a. M. / Leipzig 1764, p. 61
- ↑ a b c d Max von Turek: sv Szlankamen , in: Bernhard von Poten : Handbook of the entire military sciences , Vol. 9, Leipzig 1880, p. 106
- ↑ Important dates in the history of the city of Belgrade The City of Belgrade - Secretariat for Information
- ↑ Georg Christian von Holstein (1653–1691), Catholic line, owner of the cuirassier regime Jung-Holstein
- ^ A b c Alfred Rapp: A German soldier from the Upper Rhine - Margrave Ludwig Wilhelm von Baden - The "Türkenlouis" , Karlsruhe 1943, p. 30 f.
- ^ Epitaph (illustration) at Schleswig-Holsteinische Landesbibliothek - Landesgeschichtliche Sammlung
- ^ Philipp Röder von Diersburg : The Margrave Ludwig Wilhelm Margrave of Baden campaigns against the Turks , Volume 2, Karlsruhe 1842, p. 392f
- ^ Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe (ed.): Der Türkenlouis - Exhibition for the 300th birthday of Margrave Ludwig Wilhelm von Baden , Karlsruhe 1955, p. 166
- ↑ Philipp Freiherr Röder von Diersburg: The Margrave Ludwig Wilhelm campaigns against the Turks , Volume 2, Karlsruhe 1842, p. 385f
literature
- Leopold Brock: The Brandenburgers near Szlankamen and in the Turkish War from 1691 to 1697.Babenzien, Rathenow 1891.
- Christian Greiner: The "Türkenlouis" - Margrave Ludwig of Baden-Baden (1655–1707). In: Military history contributions. Vol. 3, 1989, ISSN 0936-3564 , pp. 27-41.
- Eugen von Müller: The Brandenburg auxiliary corps under the margrave Ludwig Wilhelm von Baden in the battle of Slankamen on August 19, 1691. In: Military weekly . No. 72, 1891, col. 1833-1852 and No. 73, col. 1871-1886.
- Bernhard von Poten : Concise dictionary of the entire military science. Volume 9: Sievershausen to Zymotic Diseases. von Velhagen and Klasing, Bielefeld u. a. 1880 (reprint: Archiv-Verlag, Braunschweig 2004).
- Alfred Rapp: A German soldier from the Upper Rhine. Margrave Ludwig Wilhelm von Baden The "Türkenlouis". Führer-Verlag, Karlsruhe 1936.
- Philipp Roeder von Diersburg : The margrave Ludwig Wilhelm von Baden campaigns against the Turks. Volume 2. Müller, Karlsruhe 1842.