Events on August 5, 1716 - Ottoman-Habsburg wars: imperial army led by Prince Eugene of Savoy defeated the Ottoman army at the Battle of Petrovaradin. The Battle of Petrovaradin or Battle of Peterwardein was a decisive victory for Austrian forces in the war between Habsburg Monarchy of Austria and the Ottoman Empire (1716–1718), at Petrovaradin (then part of Military Frontier, Habsburg Monarchy; today part of Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Serbia). In 1716, Grand Vizier Damat Ali gathered a 150,000 strong Ottoman army at Belgrade at the core of which were 40,000 Janissaries, 20,000 Sipahi, and 10,000 Tatars, together with some renegade Kuruc cavalry. They crossed the Sava at Zemun at the end of July, and moved on the right bank of the Danube towards Sremski Karlovci (in the Habsburg territory). The Tatars, with Moldavians and Kurucs drove into Transylvania, but the Transylvanian forces were no match for the Tatars. The commander of the Austrian forces, Prince Eugene of Savoy, decided to engage the Ottomans at Petrovaradin. He had arranged for the construction of a fortified encampment within the fortress there, and set the 83,300 strong Imperial army on the march from their quarters in Futog. There was an 8,000 man garrison in the fortress consisting primarily of Serbs. In the Austrian army served Croatian and Hungarian infantry and cavalry regiments (approx. 42,000 men) and Serbian border soldiers in the Vojvodina. On August 2, the first skirmish between the Imperial vanguard and Ottoman horsemen occurred. By the next day, the Grand Vizier had already reached Petrovaradin and immediately dispatched 30,000 Janissaries against the imperial positions. They dug saps and began to bombard the fortress. The core of the Imperial army only crossed the Danube on the night of August 5 by two pontoon bridges after which they encamped.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 19:35:30 +0000
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