Battle of Cahul

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Painting by Daniel Chodowiecki

The Battle of Cahul (or Battle of Kagul ) was one of the major battles of the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774 and one of the greatest battles of the 18th century . It happened on July 21st . / August 1, 1770 greg. near the city of Cahul in what is now Moldova . Only a week earlier, the Russians had defeated the Turkish army in the Battle of Larga (July 18), after they had almost completely destroyed the Turkish fleet in the battle of Çeşme two weeks earlier .

The Russian commander-in-chief Pyotr Rumyantsev placed his troops, which numbered only 17,000 men, in a solid square formation and surprisingly went on the offensive against the allied forces of the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Tatar Khanate . The strategist Pyotr Melissino played a major role in the success . The Ottoman army numbered 50,000 foot soldiers and around 100,000 cavalrymen. The Crimean Tatar army of 100,000 men was stationed about 30 km from the battlefield.

The comparatively small Russian association attacked the Turks and put them to flight. The Russian casualties amounted to around 1,000 men, while the Ottomans lost around 20,000 soldiers on the battlefield. In the course of the battle, the Russians captured 363 Turkish cannons and then overran all the larger fortresses in the region, including Ismail , Kilia , Akkerman , Brăila , Isaccea and Bendery .

In memory of the victory, Catherine the Great ordered the construction of the Kagul Obelisk in Tsarskoye Selo . Frederick the Great sent Rumyantsev his congratulations in a letter, in which he compared the victory of the outnumbered Russians with the victories of the ancient Romans .

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