The Battle of Cetate was fought during the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

. In this battle a large Ottoman force under Ahmed Pasha unsuccessfully attempted to capture the village of Cetate which was controlled by Russian Colonel .

Background

The battle took place during the Danube campaign of the Crimean War. In the build-up to the war, Russia occupied the

Danubian Principalities The Danubian Principalities ( ro, Principatele Dunărene, sr, Дунавске кнежевине, translit=Dunavske kneževine) was a conventional name given to the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which emerged in the early 14th c ...

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...

and

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and s ...

, positioning troops on the left (northern) bank of the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

, which formed the border with Ottoman territory. The

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

had responded by moving troops to the right bank to face them. In the west, on the border with Austria and Serbia, Russian troops in Cetate were faced by Ottoman forces in the fortress of Vidin. Following the Ottoman ultimatum on 4 October 1853 to withdraw within 2 weeks, Ottoman forces under Ahmed Pasha crossed the river and occupied the town of Calafat, which they fortified as a bridgehead.

Battle

On 31 December 1853 Ahmed Pasha and a force of several thousand cavalry, supported by infantry, advanced to attack Cetate, which was held by a Russian detachment, under Colonel Alexander K. Baumgarten. This attack was repulsed, after which both sides called up reinforcements. On 6 January 1854 (Christmas Day in the Russian Orthodox calendar), Ahmed renewed his assault with a force of 18,000 men. The Russians repelled several attacks but were running out of shells and losing a significant number of the troops. However, Russian reinforcements arrived during the day, and Ahmed, fearing an assault on his base and being cut off himself, abandoned the town and retreated to Calafat.

Aftermath

The battle at Cetate was ultimately indecisive. After heavy casualties on both sides, both armies were back at their start positions. The Ottoman forces were still in a strong position and barring contact between the Russians and the Serbs, to whom they looked for support, but were themselves no nearer driving the Russians from the Principalities, their stated aim.

Gallery

File:Schlacht bei Cetate.jpg, ''Battle of Cetate'' by

Karl Lanzedelli Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austri ...

File:Arrival at Kalafat of the wounded from Citate.jpg, Arrival at Calafat of the wounded from Cetate File:Distribution of the Medjidie, After the Battle of Citate.jpg, Distribution of the Medjidie, after the Battle of Cetate File:Baumgartenak.jpeg, Colonel Alexander Karlovich Baumgarten, sometimes between 1858 and 1861

References

Bibliography