The battle of Mehadia in 1788 was a battle during the Austro-Turkish War of 1788–1791, which took place in August 1788 during the offensive of the Ottoman army of Yusuf Pasha in

Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...

. The Ottomans managed to capture the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

position and force them to retreat.

Prelude

After the outbreak of the Austro-Turkish War in 1788, the Ottoman army of 70,000 men led by Grand Vizier Koca Yusuf Pasha invaded Banat on August 7 after forcing the Habsburgs to raise the siege of

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. At

Mehadia Mehadia (; ; ) is a small market town and Commune in Romania, commune in Caraș-Severin County, Banat, Romania. It lies on the European route E70, in the Cerna River (Danube), Cerna River valley. The town is located on the site of the ancient An ...

, there was a Habsburg force led by

Wilhelm von Wartensleben Gustav Wilhelm Ludwig Count Wartensleben (11 October 1734 – 21 April 1798) was a Swedish nobleman active in the Dutch military. He was born in Hesse-Kassel. He was the younger son of the Swedish royal house and the princely Hesse house of Scha ...

, which consisted of 7 battalions and 12 squadrons and was reinforced by

the Emperor ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...

to 15 battalions and 14 squadrons. On August 4, the Ottomans crossed the Danube and began bombarding a Habsburg army camp led by General Papilla, which consisted of

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

n cavalry at Szupany. Papilla did not attempt to prevent the Ottomans from crossing but instead withdrew to Mehadia north; however, on August 7, he was ambushed by the Ottomans, killed several of them, and captured 13 cannons left by them. Papilla managed to break through. The Habsburg emperor,

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

, criticized Papilla for this. Joseph's primary concern was the safety of Wartensleben's camp at Mehadia. The breach of the line of defense at Szupany exposed him to enemy attack and made his line of supply vulnerable. Joseph marched to help Wartensleben's camp.

Battle

On August 17, while the Ottomans were chasing Papilla to Mehadia, they dispatched a vanguard consisting of 5,000 men to attack the fortified position of the Bánság corps south of Mehádia at Lazu Mare. This attack failed, and the Ottomans suffered 500 casualties. Wartensleben sent urgent messages to the emperor asking for help, which did not arrive. On August 25, the main Ottoman army finally arrived at the scene and began bombarding the Imperial camp with a large amount of artillery. The Imperials managed to resist the Ottomans for days; however, on August 28, the Ottomans changed their plan and concentrated their forces on the fortification on the Imperial left flank. The Ottomans launched two attacks against this fortification, but despite the resistance of the Lattermann regiment, the Ottomans managed to destroy the fortification, which forced the imperials to retreat. This allowed the Ottomans to maneuver the Imperials and attack them from behind. Realizing this, Wartensleben was forced to retreat on August 29.

Aftermath

As Wartensleben was retreating, the emperor had not heard of him for 4 days, wondering if he was attacked or waiting for his arrival. He finally managed to rendezvous with him in

Caransebeș Caransebeș (; ; , Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a city in Caraș-Severin County, part of the Banat region in southwestern Romania. One village, Jupa (), is administered by the city. The city is located at the confluence of the Timiș River with ...

. The Emperor criticized Wartensleben for making his position dependent on one fortification.Matthew Z Mayer, pp. 53–4

References

Sources

*Matthew Z Mayer, Joseph II and the campaign of 1788 against the Ottoman Turk

*Oscar Criste, Wars under Emperor Josef II. Edited according to field files and other authentic sources in the military history departmen

*József Bánlaky: Military history of the Hungarian nation (MEK-OSZK), 0014/1149. The campaign of 178

{{coord missing, Caraș-Severin County Conflicts in 1788 History of Banat 1788 in the Habsburg monarchy Austro-Turkish Wars Battles involving the Ottoman Empire 1788 in the Ottoman Empire Battles of the Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) Battles involving Austria