The Battle of Olasch (also Ólas, Ulaş, Olaschin) took place after a Habsburg Imperial army led by Saxon Elector General,

Augustus II the Strong Augustus II; german: August der Starke; lt, Augustas II; in Saxony also known as Frederick Augustus I – Friedrich August I (12 May 16701 February 1733), most commonly known as Augustus the Strong, was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as Ki ...

, laid siege to Turkish held Temesvár. On 26 August 1696, after learning that Sultan

Mustafa II Mustafa II (; ota, مصطفى ثانى ''Muṣṭafā-yi sānī''; 6 February 1664 – 29 December 1703) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1695 to 1703. Early life He was born at Edirne Palace on 6 February 1664. He was the son of Sult ...

's relief army was crossing the Danube at Pancsova, Augustus gave up the siege and headed to meet the Ottoman army. The battle near the Bega River resulted in a draw after both armies retreated with heavy casualties on both sides. Strategically, the Ottoman army's campaign can be considered a success, as it achieved its goal of retaining Temesvár.

Battle

The battle of Olasch started late in the day, around five in the evening. During the battle, the left-wing of the Imperial army took heavy casualties, in contrast to the centre and the right-wing that had the better of the action. At night the fighting stopped and the next day both armies withdrew from the battlefield. The Imperial commander Heissler of Heitersheim was wounded or died days later after the battle. 3,000 Habsburg soldiers killed or wounded. The Turks lost 4,000 men.

Aftermath

The battle ended in a tactical draw, however, after Augustus is compelled to lift the siege of Temesvár, the Sultan claimed victory and was thus able to achieve operational success. According to historian Tony Sharp it is hard to come up with any other result for the battle than a scoredraw, British historian

Robert William Seton-Watson Robert William Seton-Watson (20 August 1879, in London – 25 July 1951, in Skye), commonly referred to as R. W. Seton-Watson and also known by the pseudonym Scotus Viator, was a British political activist and historian who played an activ ...

called it an "indecisive battle", while according to the Encyclopædia Metropolitana, the encyclopedic work published from 1817 to 1845, "the Turks claimed the victory though no decided advantage accrued to either side". The imperial army took over the Bega and united with the separate corps at Titel. As early as the autumn of 1696, Augustus resigned from his position and went home to obtain the royal throne of Poland after the death of

John Sobieski John III Sobieski ( pl, Jan III Sobieski; lt, Jonas III Sobieskis; la, Ioannes III Sobiscius; 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobie ...

. The same year,

Emperor Leopold Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician; hu, I. Lipót; 9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, by his first wife, Maria An ...

appointed the brilliant young military strategist

Prince Eugene of Savoy Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy–Carignano, (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736) better known as Prince Eugene, was a Generalfeldmarschall, field marshal in the army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty during the 17th a ...

, who had returned from the Rhine front, as the new commander-in-chief. On 11 September 1697, a greatly outnumbered Imperial army led by Prince Eugene faced the Turks at Zenta on the

Tisza The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa, is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. Once, it was called "the most Hungarian river" because it flowed entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national borders. The Tisza be ...

Battle

Aftermath

Notes

References

Sources