Battle of Mišar

Battle of Mišar
Part of First Serbian uprising
Date 12–15 August 1806 Location Mišar, Serbia Result Decisive Serbian victory[1]
Belligerents
Serbian revolutionaries	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Karađorđe Petrović Jakov Nenadovic	Sulejman Paşa Skopljak Mehmed-beg Kulenović † Sinan-paša Sijerčić †
Strength
8,000 serbian rebels	40,000 + several french artillery officers
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

The Battle of Mišar took place from 12 to 15 August 1806, with a Serbian victory over the Ottomans. For months the Serbian insurgents remained entrenched in sonces on field of Misar Hill as a pitched battle itself seemed suicidal from the Serbian standpoint since their army of 7,000-9,000 men stood against an Ottoman force some 40,000 strong.

Before the battle

Turkish army made its way toward occupied Belgrade. Karadjordje Petrović came to Mišar, and made his plans with rest of Serbian commanders. During following four days from Saturday to Thursday, there were smaller clashes with Turkish scouts, but on the morning of Wednesday, the main event happened.

The sconce fortress

When Karadjordje arrived, he calculated the strategic position. He than made his decision, that the sconce should be on top of Mišar hill, on the field on the hill, between river Sava, the wood and villages Zabar, Jelenča and Mišar... The sconce was placed in direction North-South with two of its corners where cannons were placed...

The fortress was made from earth in shape of square with the northern side a little curved from middle up to gun position. It had palisade as protection, and it had trenches around it. It had four cannons, from which one was a redan and a place to put powder and ammunition.^[2]

Mišar battle sconce earthwork 3D model

Confrontation

The fighting began on Misar Hill, with an opening charge of the Turkish Sipahi Cavalry followed by a charge of their infantry units led by the Bosniak kapetan Mehmed-beg Kulenović of Zvornik. The Serbian Rebels made a sconce in the form of square, which measured 300x280 m; the rebel leader Karadjordje remained in the fortifications to keep the moral of men. The fortification had trenches around it. The plan consisted in Karadjordje remaining in the fortification, while the Serbian cavalry would wait the moment to attack led by Luka Lazarevic and Milos Obrenovic. The Serbian sharpshooters were divided into two lines on sconce parapet, and beside them were two lines of men that loaded the rifles in trench beside parapet. The shooters and gunners mowed down the first line of cavalry and panic struck the Turkish lines when the horsemen retreated into the infantry led by Mehmed-beg Kulenović of Zvornik. However, the Ottomans soon regrouped and engaged the Serbian infantry. At one point Serbian men struck panic and they all went on middle of sconce fortress, but Karadjordje took his sabre, and ordered them to get back on their posts. Then, he signaled for the charge of the Serbian Cavalry from the opposite ends with two simultaneously cannon fire, to come and defeated the Ottomans on the field.

Serbian rebel cavalry, intended as a reserve were situated close to the ditch near village of Zabar.

Fights at Mišar lasted several days with mutual losses but the battle itself ended with the collapse of the Ottoman center and the exposure of the right and left columns.

Mehmed-beg Kulenović and the remaining Ottomans and Bosniaks continued asymmetric efforts against the advancements of the Serbian rebels. Than the Luka Lazarević charged with cavalry, broke the Turkish line, and the cavalry divided into two parts. One part charged boldly on Turkish artillery, the first rank was killed, but the rest killed all the artillery, and came to Turkish Headquarters, where Turkish chief in command Suleiman Pasa Skopljak was celebrating too soon. Mehmed-beg Kulenović of Zvornik and his Bosniak were killed on the battlefield. The remaining Turkish Bosniak army fled in panic from the battlefield. Some crossed Drina, some were killed, and some crossed Sava.

International involvement

The battle could be considered part of Napoleonic wars, since both Austria and Imperial France had their involvement, and followed events of the battle. Emperor Napoleon I sent some of his artilerymen to help Turks, and one good part of Serbian Rebels included Karadjordje were in Austrian Freikorps duriong Koča's Krajna. From his experience from that war Karadjordje knew all he needed to know about earth fortification and tactic. Also, on Austrian side of Sava river, officers of Austrian army and Serbian people in Vojvodina made a high outpost from which they could watch battle on other side.

Death of Mehmed-beg Kulenović

Some Serbian sources say that Mehmed-beg Kulenović of Zvornik (Kulen-kapetan) was slewn in a duel with Pop Luka Lazarević during battle, in which Luka was wounded. Other sources say that Mehmed-beg was killed by some Serbian riflemen, who ambushed him after his duel with Pop Luka. Mehmed-beg is the central figure with his wife in epic poem by Filip Višnjić, Boj na Mišaru (Battle of Mišar), where Mehmed-beg's wife waits for news from the battlefield, that is brought to her by two ravens.

Testimony by Sekula Gavrilović

The cliffs of Mišar hill where battle of Mišar occurred

One of men that were involved in battle, Sekula Gavrilović, told how it was during the battle. He said Karadjordje came to Mišar on Saturday. On Sunday there was a smaller clash with Turkish scouts, from Monday to Tuesday there was nothing, and on Wednesday the battle occurred. The testimony was written during 1810 by Isidor Stojanović, only four years after the battle, while Serbia was under rule of Karadjordje, but it was published as a commemorative in 1848.

Aftermath

Battle of Mišar, monument on Mišar

The battle forced the Turks into retreat and provided a significant military and morale victory for the Serbian rebels.

References

Sources

• Leopold Ranke, Die Serbische Revolution pages 86–87.
• Tošković, J.B. (1930) Odnosi između Bosne i Srbije 1805-1806 i boj na Mišaru. Subotica

External links

• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/434996/Ottoman-Empire/44402/Rule-of-Mahmud-II