The Battle of Loznica ( sr-cyr, бој на Лозници) also known as the Battle of Tičar (бој на Тичару) was fought on 17–18 October 1810 between Serbian Revolutionaries and Ottoman forces in

Loznica Loznica ( sr-cyrl, Лозница, ) is a city located in the Mačva District of western Serbia. It lies on the right bank of the Drina river. In 2011 the city had a total population of 19,572, while the administrative area had a population of 79 ...

, at the time part of the

Sanjak of Zvornik The Sanjak of Zvornik ( tr, İzvornik Sancağı, sh, Zvornički sandžak) was one of the sanjaks in the Ottoman Empire with Zvornik (in modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina) as its administrative centre. It was divided into 4 different districts: Že ...

, a region of the Ottoman Empire, (today

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

). Following their defeat at the Battle of Varvarin, a large Ottoman force from Bosnia poured across the Drina and struck against the Serbian entrenchments at Loznica west of Belgrade. After a fierce battle and the arrival of reinforcements, the Serbs were victorious and Serbia was liberated. The battle has been called one of the greatest victory of the First Serbian Uprising.

Battle

Around 30,000 Ottomans composed of regional Ottoman Bosnian militia, under the command of Ali Pasha Vidajić descended the

Drina river The Drina ( sr-Cyrl, Дрина, ) is a long Balkans river, which forms a large portion of the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. It is the longest tributary of the Sava River and the longest karst river in the Dinaric Alps whic ...

with boats to the Tičar field near Loznica, west of Belgrade. The fortified city walls were defended by 1,200 Serb rebels led by local '' vojvode'' Anta Bogićević. Estimating that the defense would be unable to resist, Anta requested aid from Luka Lazarević. Learning of the planned siege,

Karađorđe Đorđe Petrović ( sr-Cyrl, Ђорђе Петровић, ), better known by the sobriquet Karađorđe ( sr-Cyrl, Карађорђе, lit=Black George, ; – ), was a Serbian revolutionary who led the struggle for his country's independ ...

sent a message to Petar Dobrnjac urging him to also send reinforcements as soon as possible. Around 10,000 rebels, of the

Šabac Šabac (Serbian Cyrillic: Шабац, ) is a city and the administrative centre of the Mačva District in western Serbia. The traditional centre of the fertile Mačva region, Šabac is located on the right banks of the river Sava. , the city ...

and

Valjevo Valjevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Ваљево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Kolubara District in western Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the administrative area of Valjevo had 90,312 inhabitants, 59,073 of whom were urban dwell ...

'' nahije'' under the command of Luka Lazarević and

Jakov Nenadović Jakov Nenadović ( sr-cyr, Јаков Ненадовић; 1765 – 1836) was a Serbian voivode and politician who served as the prime minister of Serbia from 31 December 1810 to 22 January 1811. He was the first Serbian interior minister. Nenadov ...

as well as several of Joseph O'Rourke's Cossack units rushed to bolster the Serbian positions. Karadjordje also hastened, from the

Deligrad Deligrad, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (Jabukovac ) is a village in the municipality of Aleksinac, Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in S ...

front to relieve

. The fight began in the morning, with two hours of swordfighting, and then shootouts with artillery and rifles, ending after eight hours in a Serbian victory.

Cincar-Janko Janko Popović ( sr-cyr, Јанко Поповић; 1779–1833), nicknamed Cincar Janko (Цинцар-Јанко), was a Serbian vojvoda, one of the most prominent leaders of the First Serbian Uprising. Early life Janko was born in 1779 in O ...

was wounded in the battle. The Serbs had 121 dead and 178 wounded, while the Ottomans, according to historic records, suffered three times more casualties.

Aftermath

The blind ''

guslar The gusle ( sr-cyrl, гусле) or lahuta ( sq, lahutë) is a single- stringed musical instrument (and musical style) traditionally used in the Dinarides region of Southeastern Europe (in the Balkans). The instrument is always accompanied by ...

Filip Višnjić Filip Višnjić ( sr-cyr, Филип Вишњић, ; 1767–1834) was a Serbian epic poet and ''guslar''. His repertoire included 13 original epic poems chronicling the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire and four reinterpreted e ...

, who was present at the battle rallying the troops, wrote an epic poem of the battle, ''Boj na Loznici'', recorded in the Šišatovac monastery in 1815. Less than two years later, under threat by Napoleon, Russia chose to make peace with Turkey at Bucharest abandoning Serbia to the Turks who then invaded in full force.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * {{Loznica Municipality

Battles involving Bosnian militia (Ottoman) Conflicts in 1810 First Serbian Uprising 1810 in Europe Loznica