Osijek Campaign

1685 Osijek Campaign
	Part of Croatian-Slavonian-Dalmatian theater in Great Turkish War
	; The fortified town of Osijek and its wooden bridge in 1687.
Date	August 1685
Location	Sanjak of Pojega, modern-day Slavonia, Croatia
Result	–Habsburg tactical victory ; –Osijek bridge burnt down ; –Habsburg tactical withdrawal
Belligerents
Army of Croatian ban	Ottoman Turks
Commanders and leaders
gen. James Leslie ; capt. Gašpar Balog ; capt. Stjepan Patačić †	Unknown
Strength
Six infantry and cavalry regiments ; –Army of Croatian ban (2,000 men) ; –-3 light cannons	Unknown

Last updated December 10, 2023

Osijek Campaign of 1685 was a successful Habsburg-Croatian raid towards the town of Osijek in Ottoman held Slavonia. Although the campaign inside enemy territory ended in a tactical victory for Habsburg-Croatian troops, James Leslie - the general in charge, decided for a tactical withdrawal after reaching Osijek and defeating one Ottoman army there, because he lacked sufficient heavy weapons to besiege the Osijek's main fort.

Prelude

After the Ottoman Empire attempted to besiege Vienna in 1683 and failed in its intention, the Holy League was formed, and allied Christian powers decided to begin the Great Turkish War against the Ottoman Empire. In the Croatian-Slavonian theater of operations, the army of Croatian ban (viceroy), commanded by general James Leslie, (a Scotsman in service of Habsburg Imperial Army) successfully captured the town of Virovitica in 1684 and turned it into an outpost for further incursions inside Slavonia.

In August 1685, Leslie again assembled his army and began another campaign, this time deeper inside Ottoman-held Slavonia.^[1]

The Incursion

On August 9, Leslie's army began another thrust inside Slavonia towards Osijek. At a time, this Slavonian town was a vital Ottoman hub in the region and also an important crossroad that connected the roads leading from Slavonia to Hungary. Leslie's army, however, progressed slowly due to the scorching summer heat. Two days later, a vanguard of 500 cavalrymen commanded by captain Gašpar Balog attacked Miholjac, whose garrison quickly surrendered to Balog. He then captured prisoners shut inside a tower and assigned 300 soldiers to guard them.^[1]

On August 12, the main army under Leslie's command reached Karašica river, where they encamped. At 10 in the morning, the vanguard informed Leslie of Ottoman troops marching out from Osijek and heading towards them, so Leslie prepared maneuvers. He instructed his men to fire their cannons and march in different directions to make it look as if they were larger in number than they really were. In the meantime, Leslie learned from a peasant that a few days ago, Ottoman troops had indeed marched out from Osijek to Valpovo. Still, when they found out about the presence of Leslie's army, they pulled back across the Karašica river.^[1]

Not wanting to allow Ottomans to burn down any bridge across Karašica, the cavalrymen of the Croatian vanguard charged at these Turks and inflicted losses on them. In this bloody skirmish Ivanić, captain Stjepan Patačić and dozens of other men were killed. However, the Ottomans ultimately withdrew behind the safety of the Osijek walls.^[1]

The Battle of Osijek

On August 13, Leslie's main army reached Osijek and encamped there. He again erected a large camp for 30,000 men to make it look like his army was larger than it really was. He formed his army in battle order by positioning his infantry, German cavalry, chamber, and artillery in the center while placing his Croatian cavalry on both flanks. The Ottoman army consisting of infantry and cavalry, came out to meet them and formed their own battle line. The two armies then started slowly approaching each other. When they came really close, Croatian cavalry swiftly attacked both flanks of the enemy army, routing them. As Croatians continued to pursue them, the Ottoman troops withdrew in panic inside the Osijek fort. Meanwhile, Leslie's main army continued to approach them while maintaining their battle order until they reached the palanka of Osijek.^[1]

On August 14, Leslie continued the reconnaissance around Osijek and ordered some 13 nearby water mills to be burnt down. He also decided to burn down the wooden Suleiman bridge across the Drava river near Osijek.^[1]

The Aftermath

Since he lacked resources to besiege the main Osijek fort, Leslie first had the Osijek palanka burnt down, then decided to retreat his army back to Virovitica on August 14 due to the concern of being cut off from behind. On the morning of August 15, his army completed the withdrawal. The word of Leslie's success near Osijek soon spread around Europe, so the bishop of Passau, for example, held a thanksgiving mass upon hearing the news. The news also reached Milan, where commemorative flyers about the offensive were printed.^[1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slavonia</span> Historical region of Croatia

Slavonia is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja, Požega-Slavonia, Virovitica-Podravina, and Vukovar-Syrmia, although the territory of the counties includes Baranya, and the definition of the western extent of Slavonia as a region varies. The counties cover 12,556 square kilometres or 22.2% of Croatia, inhabited by 806,192—18.8% of Croatia's population. The largest city in the region is Osijek, followed by Slavonski Brod and Vinkovci.

Valpovo is a town in Slavonia, Croatia. It is close to the Drava river, 25 km (16 mi) northwest of Osijek. The population of Valpovo is 7,406, with a total of 11,563 in the municipality.

The Military Frontier was a borderland of the Habsburg monarchy and later the Austrian and Austro-Hungarian Empire. It acted as the cordon sanitaire against incursions from the Ottoman Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virovitica County</span> Historic county of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia

Virovitica County was an administrative subdivision of the Medieval Kingdom of Croatia, the Kingdom of Slavonia and the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. Slavonia was an autonomous kingdom within both Croatia and Hungary, themselves within the Habsburg Monarchy/Austrian Empire; Croatia-Slavonia, its successor, was an autonomous kingdom within the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen (Transleithania), the Hungarian part of Austria-Hungary. Its territory is now in eastern Croatia. The name of the county comes from the town of Virovitica. The capital of the county moved from Virovitica to Osijek in the late 18th century.

The Great Turkish War, also called the Wars of the Holy League, was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Poland-Lithuania, Venice, Russia, and the Kingdom of Hungary. Intensive fighting began in 1683 and ended with the signing of the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699. The war was a defeat for the Ottoman Empire, which for the first time lost substantial territory, in Hungary and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, as well as in part of the western Balkans. The war was significant also for being the first instance of Russia joining an alliance with Western Europe.

The Kingdom of Slavonia was a kingdom of the Habsburg monarchy and the Austrian Empire that existed from 1699 to 1868. The kingdom included northern parts of present-day regions of Slavonia and Syrmia. The southern parts of these regions were part of the Slavonian Military Frontier, which was a component of the Military Frontier separating the Habsburg monarchy from the Ottoman Empire.

The Second Battle of Mohács, also known as the Battle of Harsány Mountain, was fought on 12 August 1687 between the forces of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed IV, commanded by the Grand-Vizier Sari Süleyman Paşa, and the forces of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, commanded by Charles of Lorraine. The result was a decisive victory for the Austrians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Petrovaradin</span> 1716 Battle during the Austro-Turkish War

The Battle of Petrovaradin also known as the Battle of Peterwardein, took place on 5 August 1716 during the Austro-Turkish War when the Ottoman army besieged the Habsburgs-controlled fortress of Petrovaradin on the Military Frontier of the Habsburg monarchy. The Ottomans attempted to capture Petrovaradin, the so-called Gibraltar on the Danube, but experienced a great defeat by an army half the size of their own, similar to the defeat they had experienced in 1697 at Zenta. Ottoman Grand Vizier Damad Ali Pasha was fatally wounded, while the Ottoman army lost 20,000 men and 250 guns to the Habsburg army led by Field Marshal Prince Eugene of Savoy.

The Kingdom of Croatia was part of the Lands of the Hungarian Crown, but was subject to direct Imperial Austrian rule for significant periods of time, including its final years. Its capital was Zagreb. It was also a part of the lands of the Habsburg monarchy from 1527, following the Election in Cetin, and the Austrian Empire from 1804 to 1867.

The Battle of Gorjani or Battle of Đakovo was a battle fought on 9 October 1537 at Gorjani, a place in present-day Slavonia, between the towns of Đakovo and Valpovo, as part of the Little War in Hungary as well as the Hundred Years' Croatian–Ottoman War.

The Hundred Years' Croatian–Ottoman War is the name of a sequence of conflicts, mostly of relatively low intensity, between the Ottoman Empire and the medieval Kingdom of Croatia, and the later Habsburg Kingdom of Croatia. Except for periods of "small" borderland warfare, the conflict also saw episodes of major conquest campaigns of Croatian land undertaken by the Ottomans especially during the 16th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pejačević family</span> Croatian noble family

The House of Pejačević or Pejácsevich is an old Croatian noble family, remarkable during the period in history marked by the Ottoman war in the Kingdom of Croatia and Austro-Hungarian Empire respectively. Notable members of the family were politicians, clerics, artists, senior military officers, Bans (viceroys) of Croatia and other high state officials. They were very potent and influential in the political, social, economic and cultural life of the country, and especially distinguished in the region of Slavonia. In German and Spanish, the family name was sometimes rendered Pejacsevich, i.e. a simplified variant of the Hungarian spelling.

The siege of Gvozdansko was an Ottoman siege of the fort of Gvozdansko in the Kingdom of Croatia in 1577–1578. In the 1570s, the Ottomans intensified their efforts to capture the valley of the Una River. A string of forts along the Una, centred around Gvozdansko and in possession of the Zrinski noble family, formed the main line of defense of Croatia since 1527. The fort held off Ottoman attacks in 1540 and 1561.

Katzianer's Campaign or Katzianer's War was a failed 1537 Habsburg attempt of driving the Ottomans away from the region of Slavonia in modern-day Croatia. Despite being well resourced, Katzianer's army failed to achieve any objectives and it was ultimately completely annihilated in the Battle of Gorjani.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Virovitica (1684)</span> A siege of Slavonian town of Virovitica during Great Turkish War

The siege of Virovitica was one of the first battles of Croatian–Slavonian theater during Great Turkish War. The siege took place in July 1684, and it ended with the Ottoman garrison's surrender and Habsburg-Croatian capture of town. Due to its capture in early phase of the war, the town became a vital Habsburg base for further operations in Slavonia.

Croatian-Slavonian theater in Great Turkish War, concerns military operations undertaken during Great Turkish War of 1684-1689 by the forces of Holy League against the Ottoman Empire on territories of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia. The war was concluded by Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699, which significantly eased off the Ottoman grip off Croatia.

Siege of Bihać (1697) was a Habsburg siege of the Ottoman fortress town of Bihać in Bosnian Krajina. The siege was planned as a diversionary attack from main Habsburg offensive on Danube river, and was called off after several failed storming attempts.

The Battle of Derventa was a battle between the Holy Roman Empire and Ottoman Empire on 5 September 1688. It ended in a Holy Roman Empire victory.

Ivan Andrija Makar of Makarska (c.1640–1700) was a 17th-century Croatian general, Habsburg Military Frontier commander, Križevci capitancy commander and haramije leader.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Mažuran, Ive (1998). Hrvati i Osmansko Carstvo (in Croatian). Zagreb: Golden marketing. pp. 251–252. ISBN 953-6168-38-3.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[:0-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Mažuran, Ive (1998). Hrvati i Osmansko Carstvo (in Croatian). Zagreb: Golden marketing. pp. 251–252. ISBN 953-6168-38-3.

[1]