Battle of Svishtov
| date | June 26-27 , 1877 |
|---|---|
| place | Swishtov , Ottoman Empire , today Bulgaria |
| output | Russian victory |
| Territorial changes | Northern Bulgaria |
| consequences | Russian bridgehead advance to Nikopol |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
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| Commander | |
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Ahmed Hamdi Pasha |
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| Troop strength | |
| Landing group: 17 battalions infantry 64 cannons |
6 battalions infantry 1 squadron cavalry 6 cannons |
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Zimnicea - Nikopol - 1st Shipka Pass - Elena - 2nd Shipka Pass - Pleven - Lovech - 3rd Shipka Pass - Kızıl Tepe - Alaja - Gorni-Dubnik - Kars - Tashkesen - 4th Shipka Pass - Plovdiv
The Danube crossing from Swishtov took place on June 26th and 27th, 1877 as part of the Russo-Ottoman War near Swishtow on the Danube and only took place with weak resistance from the Turkish defense. It was the first major infantry war event in the Balkans.
prehistory
On April 24, 1877, the Russian Empire declared war on the Sublime Porte , and the first troop movements took place in Bessarabia. In space Galati and Braila the Russian XIV. Army Corps under General had Zimmermann set on 22 and 23 June in boats over the Danube and occupied until June 26 Isaktscha, Tulcea and Hirsova . The Ottomans' monitors patrolling the Danube could be sunk beforehand. The Lufti Gelil exploded on May 11 in the lower reaches of the Danube near the Romanian fortress Braila. A mine barrier was erected at the mouth of the Danube to prevent Ottoman reinforcements across the Black Sea.
course
The Danube crossing at Zimnicea-Swischtow
Under the command of the Grand Duke, Grand Duke Nikolaus , the Danube began to cross at Zimnicea on June 26th . The XIII. Corps advanced with the 35th Infantry Division, from Alexandria to Piatra. In order to deceive the enemy and his own people about the transition point, the 9th Infantry Division was directed from Alexandria to Piatra in the area northwest of Zimnicea. The XII. Army corps with the assigned Bulgarian legion was moved to Broska. The IX. Corps was initially to concentrate as part of the army at the transition point at Flamanda and, after arriving in Segarcia, turn to Siaka. In order to leave the opponent in doubt about the intended main crossing at Zimnecea, XI. Corps at Giurgevo and the IX. Corps to undertake transitional demonstrations at Turnu. In order to make the distraction sections more manifest, the bank batteries at Giurgevo and Turnu had to maintain a continuous bombardment from June 24th and 25th.
Tsar Alexander II stayed on June 26th with his entire suite on a hill near Turnu, where he was given the plan for the passage of the IX. Corps declared the transition at Turnu -Flamanda. It was not until the evening when the headquarters moved from Slatina to Dracea that the Grand Duke informed him that the whole process at Flamanda was a sham and that the actual transition was to take place at Zimnicea (25 km down the Danube).
Coming from Zimnicea, the first landing of the 8th Army Corps under General Fyodor Radezki took place on June 26th with rowing boats and prams . First, the 14th Infantry Division landed under General Dragomirov , who said in a speech to his soldiers: Soldiers, you either cross the Danube or you are drowned in it! The ensuing struggle for possession of the Swishtow bridgehead lasted from 3 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon, a full 11 hours. When the bridgehead was strengthened, further trips were made with a steamer and two barges. The Russians were able to occupy the city of Swishtov on June 27, 1877.
Russian pioneer troops under Major General Alexander Depp built 2 pontoon bridges over the Danube near the island of Buzhiresku in the following days . The bridge construction was completed and secured on July 3, via this the transition of the Russian army took place until July 6:
- The VIII Army Corps was followed by the 4th Rifle Brigade, the Bulgarian Volunteer Corps ( Opaltschenzi / опълченци ) and several united Cossack Sotnias.
- IX. Army Corps, (5th and 31st Divisions), Lieutenant General Baron Nikolai von Krüdener
Start of the advance
- The XIII. Army Corps (1st and 35th Divisions), General of the Infantry Alexander Baron von Hahn had been completely on the right bank of the Danube since July 2nd -
- the XII. Army Corps (12th and 33rd Divisions), Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich arrived at Zimnicea on July 3rd and 4th in order to effect the Danube crossing in the next few days. Under the command of the Russian heir to the throne Alexander Alexandrowitsch , an "Army Department East" was established with the last two corps.
The following infantry corps were also transferred to Rumelia as reinforcements by July 16 :
- IV Army Corps (16th and 30th Divisions), Lieutenant General Pawel Dmitrijewitsch Zotow , the 30th Division, which was still moving with the Tete to Bucharest , received instructions to march against Giurgevo .
- XI. Army Corps (11th and 32nd Divisions), Lieutenant General Alexei Ivanovich Shachowskoi
Start of the following operations
The Russian forces split up like a fan for further operations in Rumelia :
- The avant-garde under General Gurko moved south to the Shipka Pass , which he reached on July 17th.
- General Krüdener moved with his IX. Corps westwards towards the fortress Nikopol . There it came to the battle of Nikopol on July 16 and consequently to the first battle of Plevna on July 20 .
- General Shuvalov with the 2nd Guards Infantry Division moved south to get hold of another Balkan pass, where the battle of Elena took place on July 12th .
- With the assigned 12th Cavalry Division ahead, the "Eastern Army" of the Russian heir to the throne was sent via Bjela to the middle Jantra section, on the one hand with the XII. Corps to advance against Rustschuk , on the other hand with the XIII. Corps against the fortress Schumla to build a front. The 13th and 8th Cavalry Divisions crossed the Jantra near Radau above Bjela and in the Osman-Bazar area covered the eastern flank of the 8th Army Corps advancing towards Tarnowo in the middle army group .
- In Dobruja , the independently operating Russian XIV Army Corps (17th and 18th Divisions) began to advance to the so-called Trajan's Wall between Hârşova - Cernavodă to the coast after crossing the Danube at Măcin on July 4th .
reception
- The heroes of the Shipka Pass (Геройте на шипка), Russian epic epic (1954), 115 min. by Sergei Wassiljew
See also
literature
- Conko Genov: Osvoboditelnata vojna. Verlag Wissenschaft und Kunst, Sofia 1978, OCLC 252093811 , pp. 100-102.
- George Georgiev: Osvoboditelnata vojna 1877–1878. P. Beron, Sofia 1986, OCLC 230911565 , pp. 52, 112-113.
- Frederick William von Herbert: The Defense of Plevna 1877. Longmans, London 1895, OCLC 457852527 .
- Thilo von Trotha: The fight for Plewna. Tactical studies. Mittler, Berlin 1878.
- Anton Springer: The Russo-Turkish War 1877–1878 in Europe. Publisher by Karl Konegen, Vienna 1892.
Web links
- The battle of Nikopol. ( Memento of June 17, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Radio Bulgaria, July 25, 2007.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Heritage History: Russo Turkish wars ( Memento from July 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Thilo von Trotha : The battle for Plewna. Tactical studies. Berlin 1878, p. 12.