Battle of Oltenița
| date | November 4, 1853 |
|---|---|
| place | Oltenița |
| output | Ottoman victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 10,000 men | 15,000 men |
| losses | |
|
28 dead, 84 wounded |
600–700 dead, 3,000–4,000 wounded |
Olteniţa - Akhaltsikhe - Başgedikler - Sinope - Cetate - Silistra - Nigojeti - Tscholok - Odessa - Kurekdere - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky - Alma - Sevastopol - Bomarsund - Balaklava - Inkerman - Yevpatoria - Taganrog - Çorğun - Kars - Tschernaja - Malakoff - Kinburn - Third Paris peace
The Battle of Oltenița took place on November 4, 1853. It was the first major battle of the Crimean War and ended in a tactical Ottoman victory.
prehistory
In the run-up to the battle, Russian troops occupied Moldova and other areas on the left bank of the Danube such as Wallachia . After the Russian invasion, the Ottoman army began to occupy the right bank of the Danube .
With the expiry of an Ottoman ultimatum to leave the occupied territories on October 4, 1853, 10,000 men crossed the Danube on November 2, 1853 under the command of Omar Pascha and conquered the city of Oltenița near today's Romanian capital Bucharest . In addition, the Ottomans fell into the hands of a heavily fortified fort near the town of Turtukai, armed with ten large-caliber cannons.
The battle
In order to stop the further advance of the Ottomans and to prevent an attack on Bucharest, a Russian armed force was formed to counterattack under the command of Pyotr Andreevich Dannenberg . Two Russian attacks on November 4, 1853 on Oltenița could finally be repulsed and Dannenberg had to withdraw with heavy losses. However, due to the likely arrival of further Russian reinforcements, Omar Pascha gave up the captured positions on the left of the Danube before the beginning of winter and withdrew his troops to the right bank of the Danube by November 15.
consequences
The battle marked a tactical victory for the Ottomans despite Omar Pasha's withdrawal. Another advance of the Russians in Wallachia could be stopped before winter. The end of the battle, first commented on by an international press, also meant the continued Russian occupation of the lower Danube region, which could only be ended a year later.
literature
- Winfried Baumgart: The Crimean War 1853-1856 . 1999, ISBN 0-340-61465-X
- Karl Marx: Russia's drive to the west. The Crimean War and European Secret Diplomacy in the 19th Century. Manesse Verlag , 1999