The Military History Thread

[Ennath]

June 24, 1380
Battle of Chioggia

Venice and Genoa had long been leading commercial powers with ties to Constantinople that had nurtured their growth. Their rivalry over trade with the Levant had generated a number of wars. Genoa, having suffered previous defeats at the hands of the Venetians, had emerged from submission to the Visconti tyrants of Milan during the 14th century, although it had also been severely weakened by the Black Death of 1348, which killed 40,000 in the city. Venice had gradually taken over land in the Adriatic, entering into conflict with Hungary; on the Italian mainland, its terrestrial acquisition had generated a rivalry with the nearby largest city, Padua. Both of these became Genoese allies. The King of Hungary, Louis I, had conquered Dalmatia from Venice and by 1379 Hungarian forces threatened Venice itself by land from the north. Paduan forces, under the leadership of Francesco I da Carrara, cut off Venice’s communications to the west. Genoa’s allies also included the Patriarch of Aquileia and Leopold III, Duke of Austria.

The danger on land seemed trifling to Venice so long as she could keep the sea lanes open and press the war against the Genoese in the Levant. Venice’s allies, which included Bernabo Visconti of Milan, provided little help, although his mercenaries invaded Genoese territory. The Milanese were defeated in September 1379 in the Val Bisagno. Bernabo, whose despotism and taxes had enraged the Milanese, was deposed by his nephew Gian Galeazzo in 1385. Imprisoned in the castle of Trezzo, he was poisoned in December of that year. Venice also had the support of John V Palaiologos, Byzantine Emperor. In 1376, the Genoese helped Andronikos IV overthrow John V, but in 1379 Venice restored the latter to the throne.

The war was initially fought over control of the island of Tenedos in the Aegean; both sides supported different claimants to the throne of the Byzantine Empire. Tenedos had been acquired by Venice from the Byzantines in 1377, but after this conflict, they ceded it to Savoy and evacuated it in 1381. The Pope decided that the castle on Tenedos should be demolished, rather than be a source of contention between the two cities.

During the first stage of the war the plans of the Venetian Senate were carried out with general success. While Carlo Zeno harassed the Genoese stations in the Levant, Vettor Pisani brought one of their squadrons to action on May 30, 1378 off Anzio and defeated it. The battle was fought in a gale by 10 Venetian against 11 Genoese galleys. The Genoese admiral, Luigi de’ Fieschi, was taken with 5 of his galleys, and 2 others were wrecked. 4 of the squadron escaped, and steered for Genoese-held Famagusta in Cyprus. If Pisani had sailed to Genoa itself, which was thrown into a panic by the defeat at Anzio, it is possible that he might have dictated peace, but he thought his squadron too weak, and preferred to follow the Genoese to Famagusta. He accomplished little there.

Pisani returned to the Adriatic and with a fleet of 25 galleys destroyed the port of Sebenico (Sibenik) and headed towards Trau (Trogir), where 22 Genoese galleys were found, commanded by Luciano Doria. Pisani attacked, but the heavily fortified port resisted his attempt. The Venetians withdrew to Venice.

The next spring, the Venetians attempted to attack Trau again, but were repelled. During the summer of 1379 Pisani was employed partly in attacking Genoese holdings in Cyprus, but mainly in taking possession of the Istrian and Dalmatian towns which supported the Hungarians from fear of the aggressive ambition of Venice. He was ordered to winter on the coast of Istria, where his crews suffered from exposure and disease. Genoa, having recovered from the panic caused by the disaster at Anzio, decided to attack Venice at home while the best of her ships were absent with Carlo Zeno. The Ligurian republic sent a strong fleet into the Adriatic under Luciano Doria.

Pisani had been reinforced early in the spring of 1379, but when he was sighted by the Genoese fleet of 25 off Pola in Istria on May 7, he was slightly outnumbered, and his crews were still weak. The Venetian admiral would have preferred to avoid battle, and to check an attack on Venice itself, by threatening the Genoese fleet from his base on the Istrian coast. He was forced into battle by the commissioner (proveditore) Michele Steno, who as agent of the Senate had authority over the admiral. The Venetians were defeated with the loss of all their galleys save 6. Luciano Doria fell in the battle, and the Genoese, who had suffered severely, did not at once follow up their success. When Pisani returned home, he was thrown into prison.

On the arrival of Pietro Doria, with reinforcements, the Genoese appeared off the Lido, the outer barrier of the lagoon of Venice, in July, and in August they launched a combined sea-land attack, in combination with the Paduans and Hungarians. The Venetians had closed the passages through the outer banks except at the southern end, at the island of Brondolo, and the town of Chioggia. The barrier here approaches close to the mainland, and the position facilitated the cooperation of the Genoese with the Paduans and Hungarians, but Chioggia is distant from Venice, which could only be reached along the canals across the lagoon. The Venetians had taken up the buoys which marked the fairway, and had placed a light squadron on the lagoon.

Chioggia had a Venetian garrison of 3000 men. The Genoese suddenly and unexpectedly attacked the south end of the lagoon, brought her fleet into the channels of the lagoon and, with her allies, stormed and captured Chioggia on August 16; by mid-August 1379 the allies had Venice encircled. The Venetian Senate sued for peace, but when the Genoese replied that they were resolved to “bit and bridle the Horses of Saint Mark” the Venetians decided to fight to the end. All Venetian reserves were mobilized, using forced loans and mass conscription to assemble and arm a force of galleys 34 strong. Vittor Pisani, imprisoned after the battle of Pola, was released by popular demand. After training the new conscripts, who were mostly craftsmen, the new fleet executed Pisani’s plan to turn the besieging Genoese into the besieged.

On the night of December 22, the Venetian force sunk barges laden with stones in the canals and channels leading to the lagoon, blocking the supply lines and escape of the Genoese occupying Chioggia. The Venetian ships could more readily navigate the smaller canals, and so they blocked the larger ones, using a small land force at Chioggia as a distraction while they worked. The Venetians spent the next 5 months struggling to defend the barriers from Genoese attacks, while Genoese supplies dwindled. Carlo Zeno, who had been using his force of 14 well-equipped galleys to capture undefended Genoese merchant ships in the east, arrived in January, greatly bolstering the Venetian effort. Gradually they secured every entrance to the lagoon.

The attack on Genoese-held Chioggia was now pressed with vigor. The Genoese held out resolutely in the hope of relief from home. Months of skirmishes followed. The Genoese attempted to clear the barricades in the channels and the Venetians to defend them. The heavy Genoese vessels were hampered by the shallow water and intricate passages through the lagoon. Pisani stationed the galleys under his command in the open sea outside Brondolo and blockaded the enemy closely. The distress of the Venetians themselves was great, but the Doge Andrea Contarini and the nobles set an example by sharing the general hardships, and taking an oath not to return to Venice till they had recovered Chioggia.

But the resources of Genoa had been taxed to fit out the squadrons she had already sent to sea. It was not until May 12, 1380 that her admiral, Matteo Maruffo, was able to reach the vicinity of Brondolo with a relief force. By this time the Venetians had recovered the island, and their fleet occupied a fortified anchorage from which they refused to be drawn. Maruffo had to try and force the issue and on June 24, 1380, a naval battle took place in the lagoon off Chioggia, resulting in a victory for Venice. The Genoese garrison, near starvation, surrendered and thus allowed the Venetians to regain control of the Adriatic.

This battle is the first recorded use of ship-mounted gunpowder weapons being used in combat. The Venetians, who were already using gunpowder siege weapons on land, mounted small bombards on many of their galleys. Although there is little known about these weapons, it is known that they were not used for ship-to-ship combat. The weapons were far too inaccurate to be used against other ships, and instead were used to bombard enemy walls and fortifications. The Genoese commander, Pietro Doria, was killed by a collapsing fortification that was hit by a ball fired from a Venetian galley.

At the Peace of Turin, Venice made several concessions to the Genoese, including Tenedos, the original source of contention. Nevertheless, the Genoese stopped their military and trade forays into most of the Mediterranean. Venice too was left with a great deal of debt, but crawled slowly out of it over the next few decades. Genoa could not do so and the long rivalry between the 2 maritime republics had ended in Venetian victory.

[Ennath]

326 BC
Mallian Campaign

In the summer of 326 BC, Alexander the Great’s army mutinied (see posting, Alexander’s Army Mutinies). The had marched from their homeland as far as India and had been away from home for 8 years. Upset, but resigned, Alexander decided to head for home. Rather than return home the same way he came, Alexander decided to end his eastern campaigns with a flourish by taking a new route home and doing some fighting to remind his new subjects that it was dangerous to cross him. A large fleet had been built back on the Hydaspes River and manned by Phoenician, Cypriot, Karian and Egyptian seamen brought east. This fleet, almost 2000 craft, was to sail down the Hydaspes to the Indus, then down that river to the sea, before sailing along the coast west to Persia.

On reaching the river, Alexander embarked his agema (the elite of the Companion cavalry), all the hypaspsists, archers and Agrianian javelinmen on the boats. The main part of the army, now including elephants, was to march down the left bank under Hephaistion. A smaller force was to proceed down the right bank under Krateros and a rearguard under Philippos was 3 days behind. This force moved at the gentle rate of 5 miles a day.

At first the rulers along the banks submitted. However, further down lay the territory of the Mallians, openly hostile, and who had to be chastened if the Indus was to be a secure frontier for Alexander’s empire. The situation was further complicated by rapids which damaged many warships, though not the more heavily built transports. After repairs, Alexander split his force. Nearchos was to take the fleet 3 days in advance, so as to cut off any enemy fleeing the army. If he moved fast enough, the tribesmen would not have time to concentrate enough men to do him harm. Alexander took a short cut through the desert with half the Companions, the horse archers, the hypaspsists, one unit of phalangites, the archers and the Agrianians. The main body was march downstream under Krateros, and Ptolemaios was to follow 3 days behind to intercept and enemy fleeing in that direction.

Alexander halted for the evening meal 12 miles on at the last waterhole, rested a few hours, filled every possible container with water, then marched through the night. At dawn, he was 50 miles away, with his cavalry outside one of the Mallian cities. The Mallians were completely taken by surprise at being attacked from such an impossible direction. Many were killed and other fled into the city. Alexander waited for his infantry, meanwhile cordoning off the city. When they arrived, he sent Perdikas with some cavalry and Agrianians to surround the next city while he himself assaulted the first one. The tribesmen abandoned the wall quickly; about 2000 got to the citadel, but were overwhelmed and slaughtered.

Perdikas found his city deserted by its inhabitants, but pursued with his cavalry and killed many before the survivors took refuge in the marshes. Alexander fed and rested his men, and set out again at dusk, reaching a ford over the Hydaspes. Most of the locals had already crossed in flight, but he slaughtered those he found there, and pressed on in pursuit of the others. Most of the fugitives managed to reach a town identified as modern Tulamba. Alexander left them to his infantry, who took the fortress at the first assault and enslaved the survivors.

Other Mallians had taken refuge in the nearby city of Aturi, which was not actually a member of their confederation. The walls were quickly cleared, but an initial assault on the citadel failed with heavy losses. Alexander ordered mining which brought down a tower and breached a nearby wall. He then ordered an attack on the breaches. At first the men held back, but were shamed into following when Alexander attacked alone. The defenders, about 5000 strong, refused to surrender and mostly died fighting.

Alexander now rested his detachments for a day, then moved on the remaining Mallian cities. He found all those nearby deserted, so he sent fresh detachments to beat the woods along the river for fugitives, while he took the main body against the largest city, to which many people from the others were said to have fled. They had, but rather than try and hold it, they crossed the Hydraotes and chose to defend its high banks. Alexander pushed on with his cavalry alone, crossed the river by a ford and sought to pin the defenders until the infantry could come up. The Agrianians and archers were nearby and arrived quickly. As the main body came in sight, the defenders panicked and broke. Many were cut down, but most got into the most strongly fortified of their remaining cities, almost certainly modern Multan. Alexander may no immediate attack with his now completely exhausted troops, but instead camped around the place.

Next day, he attacked from 2 sides. The Mallians made no attempt to defend the walls, but with drew to the citadel. Alexander forced his way through a postern gate and made his way with only a few troops through the streets toward the citadel. The rest of his party had trouble filing through the narrow entrance which was all they had until the main gates could be brought under control. The other assault was equally delayed by a shortage of ladders. Having reached the citadel, Alexander organized an immediate escalade with the troops available before the defenders could rally. Sensing reluctance from his weary Macedonians, he again led the way up the first ladder and gained a foothold on the wall, accompanied by 2 officers and a veteran NCO. Seeing this, his troops followed in a rush, and the ladder broke under the weight, leaving Alexander isolated and under archery from the dominating towers still in Mallian hands. He decided that he would be in no greater danger if he leaped down from the wall on the other side and that swift action might break enemy morale. He did so, accompanied by his 3 stalwarts, one of whom was hot as he jumped. They fought backs to the wall until the enemy would not close, but resumed shooting at them. Alexander was seriously wounded in the ling by one arrow.

As his 2 surviving followers tried to cover Alexander with their shields, help came from outside. Some men tried to repair a broken ladder, others hammered pegs into cracks to climb up by, and others climbs on their comrades’ shoulders. The first to get in joined the defense of the king, while the others got control of the gate and let in the army. A great massacre now ensued. The troops, infuriated by the wound to their beloved leader, took out their guilt on the Mallians. There were no survivors.

Alexander was carried back to the camp and the barbed arrow was cut out. This sort of wound was usually fatal, but Alexander’s incredible luck again saw him through. To quiet apprehensions, he let himself be seen on horseback, then walked a few paces. He then received a Multan delegation offering its submission.

The army and fleet then continued to the Indus, where another Alexandria was founded. Philippos was made satrap. Alexander dispatched Krateros with the elephants and veterans to march overland back to the west. Alexander had heard rumors of a revolt among the Greek mercenaries left in Bactria, and so decided to combine Krateros’ return with a show of force.

Several more kings either submitted or were brought to heel by force before Alexander finally reached Pattala and the mouth of the Indus, to find that the ruler and his people had fled. He enticed them back, improved the fortifications, created new dockyards and prepared his ships for the open sea.

[Ennath]

June 25, 1216
Siege of DoverCastle

In 1216 the fate of the Angevin Empire hung in the balance. King John, whose vast inheritance had already been greatly diminished by the conquests of Philip Augustus, was embroiled in an English civil war which threatened his very throne. A group of rebel barons, provoked at what they described as John’s tyrannical rule, had risen against the king and established themselves in London, from where they invited Prince Louis of France, the eldest son of Philip Augustus, to assume the crown. When Louis landed in England on the May 21, 1216 John fled before him; Canterbury opened its gates, Rochester Castle fell after a short siege, and the French prince entered London in triumph on June 2.

After securing the capital, Louis marched west to take Winchester. By this time his success was attracting important figures from John’s allegiance as well as the support of King Alexander of Scotland, and Llywelyn, Prince of North Wales. Winchester fell within a month, along with several important neighboring castles. With England’s two principal cities under his control, Louis now turned his attention to capturing the stronghold which governed his communications with France: Dover Castle.

Dover’s Constable at this time was a staunch supporter of King John, Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent and Justiciar of England. He was a veteran soldier and his garrison, more than 140 knights and. a great number of men at arms, was plentifully supplied. To have taken Dover would have placed Louis in a very powerful position and the success or failure of the castle’s defense was of great importance. It was indeed in relation to the events of 1216 that Matthew Paris famously described Dover Castle as “Clavis Angliae”, the key of England.

When Louis arrived in Dover in late June, he spent several days with his army billeted or camping in and around the town. The castle, high on the hill above, was not under siege at this time and the garrison took the opportunity to parade itself in full armor on several occasions outside the barbican. The siege proper began in mid-July when Louis divided his forces, one part remaining in the town, and the remainder moving to an encampment on the hill in front of the castle. He also sent his fleet to sea, in order to close in the castle on all sides. Siege engines were set up to bombard the walls and gate, and a wattle siege tower, described as “a very high castle made of hurdles”, was erected. Louis, using a covered gallery, then undermined the barbican’s timber palisade. The breach was stormed and the barbican fell.

Louis now pressed his attack, sending miners to dig beneath the castle gate. One of the 2 towers here collapsed; Louis’ men managed storm this breach but, after a sharp encounter, they were repulsed and the gap in the defenses was successfully blocked with great timbers, including crossbeams, which must have been stripped from the castle’s buildings.

After the failure of the assault, Louis struck a truce on October 14. Almost immediately afterwards, on October 18, King John died with only a 9 year old boy, Henry Ill, to succeed him. An attempt was made to persuade the garrison to acknowledge the French prince instead of the young boy, but this offer was rejected and Louis left for London after nearly 4 months spent before the gates of Dover. Curiously, the siege encampment appears to have been left as it stood because accounts relate that it was destroyed and the guards killed a few months later.

This reverse was to be of decisive importance in Louis’ bid for the English throne. The Dover garrison kept its truce badly, harrying his communications and preventing the landing of reinforcements. So discomforting was this that in 1217 he was forced to invest the castle again. The second siege began on May 12, when Louis again encamped on the hill in front of the castle. He set up a trebuchet, which proved ineffective, and busily began the construction of fortified positions. Louis’ trebuchet may have been the first ever seen in England.

The investment of Dover necessitated the division of Louis’ forces across England and in his absence one half of his army was destroyed at the battle of Lincoln on May 20 1217 (see posting). When news of this reached Louis he disassembled his trebuchet at Dover and, shortly afterwards, moved to London. The disaster at Lincoln was compounded by the Battle of Sandwich (see posting), in which an English fleet led by Hubert de Burgh inflicted a crushing defeat on a new incoming force of men and supplies as they crossed the Channel. In its aftermath Louis gave up his attempt on the English throne and tried to negotiate an honorable withdrawal from England.

[Ennath]

June 26, 1866
Battle of Podol

As Helmuth von Moltke began his invasion of Bohemia, he moved his armies separately to ease movement and supply, concentrating in the event of a major battle At the start of June 26, Prussian 1st Army was centered around Reichenberg, to the north of the Iser, while the Saxon and Austrian forces were based around Münchengrätz. The Austrians had some troops across the river, with a cavalry force at the village of Liebenau, halfway between the Iser at Turnau and the Prussians at Reichenberg. Count Eduard von Clam-Gallas had argued against defending Turnau, and so the river crossing there and further south at Podol were unguarded.

On the morning of June 26, Prussian 8th Division (Horn) had advanced south towards Turnau and run into the Austrian outposts. The Austrians were forced to retreat by weight of numbers. Prussian 7th Division then reached Turnau, and established a foothold across the Iser, while Horn's 8th Division moved south towards Podol.

In the afternoon, Crown Prince Albert of Saxony and Clam-Gallas received orders from General Benedek to hold the line of the Iser, and in particular to defend Turnau and Münchengrätz. When these orders were sent, Benedek was planning to concentrate his efforts against Prince Frederick Charles, and intended to move his main army west. Clam-Gallas and the Crown Prince decided to try and restore the situation by launching an immediate counterattack towards Turnau, and to occupy the hills west of the Iser. If this plan had succeeded it would only have placed the Austrians in further danger, for the Prussian Army of the Elbe was advancing from that direction.

Two major bridges crossed the Iser at Podol, carrying the railway and the main road from Turnau to Münchengrätz across the river. The railway crossed on an iron bridge, the road on a much lower wooden bridge linked to a causeway across the low meadows alongside the river. These bridges are about 200 yards apart.

The Prussians sent part of 8th Division along the north bank to occupy Podol. They reached Preper, a couple of miles to the east, at 6 AM, and sent patrols west towards the village. At this stage an Austrians had a small garrison in the village, and a fight broke out between them and a company of Jägers from 4th Battalion. The Austrians were forced out, their barricades cleared, and the Prussians captured the river bridges.

The Austrians soon counterattacked. Troops from Poschacher’s Brigade pushed the Prussians back across the bridges. More Austrian troops were detected coming from the west, and so the local Prussian commander, Major Flotow, decided to retreat. However Gen. von Bose, commander of 15th Brigade, could hear the firing from Preper, and advanced towards the sound of the guns with 2 battalions of infantry. Bose decided to attack into the village, despite the superior Austrian numbers. The Austrians made a series of attacks in columns, but these were repulsed by volley fire from the Prussian needle guns. The Prussians then attacked the bridges. The first attack was repulsed, but Bose led from the front, and a second attack succeeded.

By this point Clam Gallas had arrived at the battlefield. He made a series of uncoordinated attacks using parts of Piret’s and Abele’s brigades, but these were repulsed with heavy losses. Finally, at about 1 AM on June 27, the Austrians withdrew.

The Prussians lost 32 men dead, 81 wounded and 17 missing. The Austrian lost 11 men killed, but 432 wounded and 509 captured. Many of these prisoners were taken after the fighting in Podol village - the Austrians had made good use of the village buildings as impromptu strongpoints, but many of these troops were then trapped as the Prussians advanced past them.

The defeat at Podol left the Austrians and Saxons in a very vulnerable position. The Prussians now controlled the quickest route to Gitschin, and could have cut the communications between the 2 separated wings of the Austrian army. Instead Prince Frederick Charles wasted June 27 planning for a formal assault on the Austrian position at Müchengrätz, to be carried out by both of his armies on June 28. This was based on an assumption that his opponents would stay in place, but Crown Prince Albert realized that his army was in grave danger, and ordered a retreat, to begin early on June 28. When the Prussians did attack the resulting battle of Müchengrätz was more of a rearguard action than a major battle, and most of the Austrian and Saxon forces escaped to relative safety.

[Ennath]

June 27, 1905
Potemkin Mutiny

The Potemkin was a pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet. She began sea trials at Sevastopol in September 1903 and these continued, off and on, until early 1905 when her gun turrets were completed. Displacing 13,100 tons and capable of 16 knots, she was armed with 2 twin 12” gun turrets, 16 single 6” guns, 14 single 3” guns, 6 machine guns and 5 torpedo tubes.

The Potemkin uprising was sparked by a disagreement over food, but it was anything but accidental. During the Russo-Japanese War, many of the Black Sea Fleet’s most experienced officers and enlisted men were transferred to the Pacific to replace losses. This left the fleet with primarily raw recruits and less capable officers. With the news of the disastrous Battle of Tsushima in May 1905 morale dropped to an all-time low, further spurred by widespread civil unrest on the home front. Many ships were teeming with revolutionary sentiment and animosity toward the aristocratic officer class. One of the Potemkin’s chief radicals was Afanasy Matyushenko, a fiery quartermaster known for railing against the brutal discipline of navy life. In early June 1905, he and crewman Grigory Vakulenchuk joined with other disgruntled sailors in plotting a fleet-wide mutiny. Their plan called for the rank and file to rise up and strike a concerted blow against the officers. After commandeering all the ships in the Black Sea, the conspirators would enlist the peasant class in a revolt that would sweep Nicholas II from the Russian throne. The mutiny was scheduled to begin in early August aboard the flagship, but events led Potemkin to take the starring role.

The trouble began on June 27, a few days after the ship sailed from Sevastopol to conduct maneuvers. That morning, a group of conscripted crewmen discovered that the beef for their lunchtime borsht was crawling with maggots. The sailors complained to their officers, but after an inspection by the ship’s doctor, the meat was deemed suitable for consumption. Potemkin’s 763-man crew was left seething with rage. Led by Matyushenko and Vakulenchuk, they resolved to protest by refusing to eat the tainted food. When lunch came and the crew ignored the vats of borsht, Capt. Yevgeny Golikov had them line up on the main deck. He and his short-tempered first officer Ippolit Gilyarovsky both suspected the protest was tied to revolutionary factions lurking in the ship, and were determined to single out the ringleaders for punishment. After threatening the men with death, Golikov gave a simple order: “Whoever wants to eat the borscht, step forward.” Many sailors lost their nerve and complied, but the hard-liners stubbornly held their ground. When Golikov called out the marine guards, a few of the conspirators broke rank and took cover at a nearby gun turret, as Matyushenko called for the crew to take over the ship.

Before the officers could react, several mutineers ran to the weapons room and armed themselves. A vicious firefight broke out; Gilyarovsky succeeded in mortally wounding Vakulenchuk, but he and several other loyalists were promptly gunned down and pitched overboard. The stunned officers found that very few of the marines and conscripted sailors were willing to come to their aid. After 30 frantic minutes, the rebels had commandeered both Potemkin and the torpedo boat Ismail, which was its escort. The surviving officers were rounded up and placed under guard. Capt. Golikov was shot dead after he was found hiding in a stateroom.

The rising had been premature, but Matyushenko was determined to press on. After convincing more crewmen to join the cause, the mutineers elected a 25-man committee to run the ship’s affairs. As its first order of business, the committee voted to set course for Odessa, which was in the grip of mass protests and strikes. There, they planned to stock up on supplies and seek out the support they needed to spread their revolution to the mainland. Potemkin arrived in Odessa harbor that same night, flying a red flag. In the hopes of rallying the workers, a few men rowed ashore and laid Vakulenchuk’s corpse near the Richelieu Steps, a famous stairway that served as the gateway to the city. The funeral bier quickly attracted onlookers, and it wasn’t long before thousands of citizens arrived to voice support for the mutineers.

Word of the Potemkin revolt finally reached Nicholas II. The Tsar ordered his military to quash the mutiny at all costs. “Each hour of delay may cost rivers of blood in the future,” he warned. By late afternoon the following day, the Odessa waterfront had swelled with protesting workers. Many urged Potemkin’s crew to join them in taking over the city, but as night fell, the crowd began to riot and set fire to nearby buildings. Acting on Nicholas II’s orders, the city’s garrison streamed into the harbor, pinned the mob against the waterfront and began firing indiscriminately. A gruesome scene unfolded on the Richelieu steps, where mounted Cossack guards cut a swath through the crowd with their sabers. Fearful of hitting civilians, Potemkin’s gunners held their fire and waited for the mayhem to subside. By the time it finally did, some 1000 Odessans lay dead in the streets.

The Odessa massacre broke the spirit of many mutineers, but Matyushenko and the other diehards were still counting on spreading the revolt to the rest of the fleet. When the Black Sea Fleet came to intercept them on July 1, they sailed out to meet it and made two seemingly suicidal passes through the center of its formation. Sympathetic crewmen refused to fire on the rebels, and before the fleet could withdraw, sailors aboard the battleship St. George overran their officers and cast their lot with the mutineers. The Potemkin and its new sister ship steamed back to Odessa in triumph, but their victory was short lived. The St. George revolt had involved only a small faction, and many of its crew still harbored Tsarist sympathies. Shortly after arriving in the harbor, the loyalists staged a counter-mutiny, recaptured the ship and surrendered it to the garrison.

The sudden reversal of fortune was a bitter blow to the mutineers. The St. George incident was proof that the fleet-wide revolt would never materialize, and with Odessa now under guard, the Potemkin’s crew had no way of replenishing coal and fresh water. That evening, the sailors weighed anchor and retreated from the harbor. They wandered the Black Sea for the next several days in search of supplies and support, but found neither. A final blow came during a stopover at the Crimean port of Feodosia, where some two-dozen crewmen were killed or captured trying to procure coal. Faced with dwindling fuel and the threat of capture, the sailors finally voted to call it quits. On July 8, they sailed to the Romanian port of Costanza, where they surrendered in exchange for political asylum. As a final act of rebellion, they opened the ship’s seacocks and flooded it with water before abandoning it. The Ismail also surrendered.

After calling off their revolt, the Potemkin mutineers went their separate ways. Many chose to live out the rest of their lives in exile, but a few returned to Russia to face military justice. Matyushenko became something of a celebrity revolutionary and even met with Lenin in Switzerland. He later snuck back into Russia to continue his fight, only to be captured and executed in October 1907.

The battleship was handed over by the Romanians to the Russian Navy and returned to Sevastopol for repairs, renamed Panteleimon. After service in World War I, she was placed in reserve in March 1918 and was captured by the Germans at Sevastopol in May. They handed the ship over to the Allies in December 1918 after the Armistice. The British wrecked her engines in April 1919 when they left the Crimea to prevent the advancing Bolsheviks from using her. Thoroughly obsolete by this time, the ship was captured by both sides during the Russian Civil War, but was abandoned by the White Russians when they evacuated the Crimea in November 1920. She was scrapped beginning in 1923, although she was not stricken from the Navy List until November 1925.

After the Revolution, Soviet propagandists repackaged the Black Sea mutineers as early heroes of the revolution. In 1925, their deeds were even recreated on the screen in the famed silent film Battleship Potemkin.

[Ennath]

June 28, 1389
Battle of Kosovo

Emperor Stefan Uros IV Dushan (r. 1331–55), whose reign saw Serbian power reach its height, was succeeded by his son Stefan Uros V (r. 1355–71), whose reign was characterized by decline of central power and rise of numerous virtually independent principalities. Uros V was unable to sustain the great empire created by his father nor to repulse the foreign threats or limit the independence of the nobility. He died childless in December 1371, after much of the Serbian nobility had been destroyed by the Ottomans in the Battle of Maritsa River earlier that year. Prince Lazar, ruler of the northern part of the former empire (Moravian Serbia), aware of the Ottoman threat, began diplomatic and military preparations for a campaign against the Ottomans.

After the defeat of the Ottomans at Plocnik (1386, see posting) and Bileca (1388), Murad I, the reigning Ottoman sultan, moved his troops from Philippopolis to Ihtiman (modern Bulgaria) in the spring of 1388. From there, they traveled across Velbuzhd and Kratovo (modern Macedonia). Though longer than the alternative route through Sofia and the Nishava Valley, this route led the Ottoman army to Kosovo, one of the most important crossroads in the Balkans. From here, Murad could attack the lands of either Prince Lazar or Vuk Brankovic, another leading Serbian lord. Having stayed in Kratovo for a time, Murad and his troops marched through Kumanovo, Presevo and Gjilan to Pristina, where he arrived on June 14.

Murad's army numbered almost 40,000. These included no more than 2000 Janissaries (the corps was still quite new, founded in 1363)), 2500 of Murad’s cavalry guard, 6000 sipahis, 20,000 azabs (infantry) and akincis (cavalry) and 8000 troops from his vassals. The Ottoman army was supported by the forces of the Anatolian Turkoman Beylik of Isfendiyar.

While there is less information about Lazar’s preparations, he gathered his troops near Nish, on the right bank of the South Morava. His party likely remained there until he learned that Murad had moved to Velbuzhd, whereupon he moved to Kosovo. This was the best place Lazar could choose as a battlefield, as it gave him control of all the routes that Murad could take.

Lazar’s army numbered about 20,000. About half were under Lazar's command, with 5000 under Brankovic, and as many under the nobleman Vlatko Vukovic, who had been sent by the Bosnian king Tvrtko I Kotromanic. Also present were Knights Hospitaller led by the Croatian knight John of Palisna. Furthermore, there have been several anachronistic accounts which have mentioned that the “Christian army” of Lazar was far greater, and that it also included contingents from Bulgaria and Albania, although these cannot be verified.

Murad deployed in 3 lines. The first consisted of archers and a cavalry vanguard in front of a deep, camouflaged ditch filled with emplaced stakes. Behind this, the 2nd line contained the Janissaries and other infantry, while the remaining cavalry formed the 3rd line. Lazar also formed up in 3 lines, with archers in the 1st line, cavalry in the 2nd and the infantry in the 3rd. Both sides had a small amount of light artillery in the center.

The battle opened with a vicious exchange of missiles from archers and artillery. Murad then sent his 1st line into the attack, scattering the Serbian archers. The vanguard cavalry was then engaged by the Serbian horse. The Serbian cavalry, centered on the heavy vlastela, got the better of the fight and soon counterattacked, routing the Ottoman vanguard and advancing in turn, before their own attack foundered at the ditch. Here, the Ottoman infantry inflicted significant losses before the Serbs managed to overcome the obstacle and engage the infantry line. Some of the Serbian infantry was now coming forward in support.

Desperate close-quarters fighting ensued, causing heavy casualties on both sides, especially among the Ottoman foot, lighter than their Serbian opposites. The Ottoman left was near collapse and the center was pushed back, but barely held. On the Turkish right, however, they had a significant numerical advantage and held firm. During the chaos of this stage of the battle, Murad was killed. His son Bayezid, commanding the right, assumed control of both the army and the empire. Both sides were now fully committed.

As the larger Ottoman force began to wear down the Serbian attack, Bayezid launched a sudden counterattack, succeeding all along the front. The Serbian left collapsed. Each faction of the Serbian army began to withdraw haphazardly as the situation deteriorated. Lazar himself fought until he was captured (and later executed). Bayezid wished to pursue the rapidly retreating Serbs, but the battered state of his own army prevented him.

Both armies lost about 10,000 men. The Serbs were less able to absorb the this loss and never recovered. In the coming years, the Serbian princes were made Ottoman vassals. One of these, Stefan Lazarevic became a loyal ally of Bayezid, going on to contribute significant forces to many of Bayezid’s future military engagements. Eventually, the Serbian Despotate would, on numerous occasions, attempt to expel the Ottomans in conjunction with the Hungarians until its final defeat in 1459.

The Battle of Kosovo is important to Serbian history and tradition. The day of the battle, known as St. Vitus’ Day, is an important part of Serb ethnic and national identity, with notable events in Serbian history falling on that day, among which are the 1876 declaration of war on Turkey and the 1914 assassination of Franz Ferdinand.

[Ennath]

230 BC
1st Illyrian War

In the second half of the third century BC, the Ardiaei kingdom of Illyria (coastal Croatia) was transformed into a formidable power under the leadership of Agron. During this time, Agron invaded part of Epirus, Corcyra, Epidamnos and Pharos in succession, establishing garrisons. A large part of his power rested on a powerful fleet of small, fast ships known as lembi, with a single bank of oars. Raids by sea from the Adriatic and Ionian Seas were a familiar threat to the northwestern Greeks. What was new was the use of a land army to follow up. The Greek cities on the Adriatic were systematically attacked and perhaps already conquered by Agron’s forces. Rome answered an appeal from the island of Issa, threatened by Agron, by sending envoys. They never got there. They were attacked en route by Illyrian vessels, and one of them was killed, together with an Issaean ambassador.

In 234 BC, the royal line in Epirus came to an end, and a federal republic was instituted. In the south, the western part of Acarnania seceded, but their independence was soon threatened by the Aetolians, who began to occupy territory around the Gulf of Ambracia, including Pyrrhus’ old capital, Ambracia, which forced the Epirotes to establish a new center at Pheonice. Besieged at Medion, the Acarnanians sought assistance from Demetrius II of Macedonia, who for the most of his reign had been at war with the Aetolian and Achaean Leagues. In response, the king requested assistance from Agron to relieve the siege.

The Illyrian attack was mounted in either 232 or 231 BC. 100 lembi, with 5000 men on board, sailed up to land at Medion. The Aetolians formed for battle, but the Illyrian charge swept them away. This defeat of the Aetolians, who were famed for their victory over the invading Galatians a generation before, caused a sensation in Greece.

Illyrian success continued when command passed to Agron’s widow Teuta, who granted individual ships a license to plunder. In 231 BC, the fleet and army attacked Elis and Messenia in the Peloponnese. On the way home, Teuta sent her general Scerdilaidas to capture Phoenice in Epirus, which he did. A truce was agreed and Phoenice was ransomed, along with the prisoners. The continued Illyrian success was another shock for the Greeks. The Epirotes signified their acceptance of the Illyrian victory by sending envoys to Teuta promising cooperation with them and hostility towards the Leagues of Greece. Phoenice was the most prosperous city in Epirus, and the center for the growing commerce with Italy. It was Illyrian interference with the commerce that brought Roman attention. Nevertheless, the Illyrians had to withdraw from Phoenice in order to deal with an internal rebellion.

Even before the war with Carthage (264-241 BC), the Romans had been aware of the vulnerability of the Adriatic coast of Italy to seaborne attack. In 246 BC, a Roman colony was settled at Brundisium (Brindisi) to keep a watch on the Ionian gulf. During their occupation of Phoenice, a number of Illyrian ships had engaged in privateering against Italian merchants. So many were robbed, murdered or captured that the Roman Senate, after ignoring earlier complaints, realized that something had to be done. Polybius furnishes a suspiciously vivid account of a Roman embassy to Teuta. It was led by the brothers Lucius and Gnaeus Coruncanius. On arrival, they found Teuta celebrating the end of a rebellion in Illyria and engaged in laying siege to the Greek island of Issa, the last town which held out. When the ambassadors complained of injuries to Romans, Teuta promised that no royal forces would harm them, but said that she was unable to put an end to the tradition of private raiding. One of the ambassadors lost his temper; in response, the queen arranged for the insolent envoy to be murdered on his homeward voyage. News of this caused the Romans to prepare for war, as there was general indignation at “the queen's violation of the law of nations”. It would be their first venture to the eastern shore of the Adriatic.

As soon as the weather permitted, Teuta had ordered south a naval expedition even larger than those of previous years, with most of the ships heading to attack Corcyra. Some landed at Epidamnos, entered the city, with weapons concealed, to procure food and water, almost capturing it; but were thrown out after a fight. These ships now joined the main Illyrian force in the siege of Corcyra.

The Corcyraeans, along with Appolonia and Epidamnos, sought assistance from the Leagues of Greece. 10 Achaean ships and 7 Acarnanian vessels were dispatched. They encountered the Illyrian fleet off the island Paxos south of Corcyra. The Illyrians lashed their ships in batches of 4 and presented them broadside, inviting ramming attack. However, when the Greeks did ram, they got stuck and boarded by the other connected vessels. The Greeks lost a pentere sunk and 4 triremes captured. The Corcyreans, after enduring the siege for a short time longer, came to terms and was occupied by a garrison under the command of Demetrius of Pharos. The main Illyrian force sailed north for another attack on Epidamnos. The Illyrians were now on the point of controlling all of the coastline north of the Gulf of Corinth, including all of the sea routes to Sicily and Italy via Corcyra.

The Roman invasion of Illyria in 229 BC appears to have caught Teuta completely off guard. The consul Gnaeus Fulvius Centumalus sailed 200 ships to Corcyra to raise the siege, despite having learned that the island had already surrendered. He was in secret negotiations with Demetrius, who had fallen out of favor with Teuta, so Corcyra welcomed the Romans and, with the aid of Demetrius, surrendered its garrison. The city became a Roman client and would henceforward rely on Roman protection from the Illyrians. Demetrius now served as an adviser to the Roman commanders for the rest of the war. Meanwhile, the consul Lucius Postumius brought an army of 20,000 infantry and 2000 cavalry across from Brundisium to Apollonia, which now joined the Roman alliance. The combined force advanced toward Epidamnos, causing the Illyrians to abandon the siege and disperse. The city was received into Roman protection and the army now moved inland among the Illyrian peoples of the hinterland. Here, the Romans received delegations from many peoples, including the Atintani and Parthini, from whom a formal surrender was accepted. At sea, the blockade of Issa was raised and the city also received Roman protection.

As the Romans approached the Illyrian heartlands, opposition stiffened. The fleet moved northwards and attacked coastal towns, at one of which, the unidentified Noutria, Roman losses included a magistrate and some military tribunes, although 20 ships laden with plunder were intercepted. The besiegers of Issa fled to Arbo and Teuta retreated to her capital, Rhizon in the Gulf of Kotor. The Romans decided enough had been achieved and hostilities ceased. The consuls handed over the kingdom to Demetrius and withdrew the fleet and army to Italy under Fulvius. Having assembled 40 ships and some troops from allies in the area, the other consul remained in Illyria to keep watch on the Ardiaei and the peoples under Roman protection.

Before the end of winter, Teuta’s envoys appeared in Rome and a treaty was concluded. According to its terms, the queen would abandon Illyria, except for a few places, and promise not to sail south of Lissus at the mouth of the Drin with more than 2 warships or 10 unarmed vessels. The terms of the settlement were conveyed to the Leagues in Greece, where they were well received. The Illyrians had been forced to give up all their recent conquests south of the Drin. The Romans had gained control of the strategic ports of Epidamnos, Apollonia and Corcyra. In the hinterland, several of the Illyrian tribes now had the status of Roman clients. Moreover, not only were the Ardiaei prevented from moving at will by land and sea into Epirus and western Greece, but they were now cut off from the inland route to Macedonia, their patron and ally against the Greek Leagues.

[Ennath]

June 29, 1941
Operation Platinum Fox

At the launch of Operation Barbarossa, German units of AOK Norwegen, commanded by Nikolaus von Falkenhorst, were sent east from Norway to secure Petsamo at the Finnish-Soviet border; there they joined Finnish forces poised on the border. These divisions consisted, for the most part, of mountain troops mostly from Austria specially trained to operate above the Arctic Circle. The Finnish-German forces were to launch Operation Silver Fox, aimed at attacking Murmansk from two directions. The first assault, from Petsamo directly towards Murmansk, was codenamed Platinum Fox. The second attack was to first attack Kandalaksha from Salla and then threaten to Murmansk from the south by cutting the Murmansk railway. This parallel operation was codenamed Operation Arctic Fox.

On June 29, Platinum Fox phase of Silver Fox was launched. Mountain Corps Norway (Lt. Gen. Eduard Dietl), consisting of the German 2nd and 3rd Mountain Divisions and the Finnish Ivalo Border Guard Battalion crossed the border and advanced on Murmansk. They were opposed by units of the Soviet 14th Army, namely the 14th and 52nd Rifle Divisions, under Valerian Frolov. After some initial successes the advance was slowed. The German offensive met with many difficulties right from the start, as the rough terrain with few (and poor) roads made advance difficult. The German units also lacked proper maps and had to move mostly through unknown terrain.

The Germans advanced in two directions. In the south, 3rd Mountain Division was able to penetrate the Soviet lines at the Titovka Valley in a day of fierce fighting and secured a bridge over the river. In the north, 2nd Division also made good progress in the first hours to secure the neck of the Rybachy Peninsula. Nevertheless, the offensive soon met with heavy resistance, especially from some ad-hoc ground units of the Soviet Northern Fleet. 2nd Division could not advance into the Rybachy Peninsula, and already at the start of July had to go onto the defensive in this sector. Further south, after a heavy Soviet counterattack, the Germans resumed their offensive to reach the Litsa River, with joint forces from both divisions. With the element of surprise lost, the Germans were only able to establish a small bridgehead over the river. After a heavy Soviet counterattack on July 7, Dietl requested reinforcements, but he received only a motorized machine-gun battalion from Norway.

On July 10, a new plan had to be made, after a copy of the offensive plan fell into Soviet hands. 2nd Mountain Division was to expand the bridgehead, while 3rd Division was to advance on the south and establish another bridgehead. The renewed attack was again initially successful, but after the Soviets landed 2 battalions on the other side of Litsa Bay further north, Dietl had to halt the offensive. The situation now became worse for the Germans, as the thinly stretched forces had to hold a 35-mile front along the Litsa to the Rybachy Peninsula. With the absence of roads, the supply situation also deteriorated and the offensive stalled. Dietl again asked for reinforcements and Hitler, after initially being reluctant, agreed to transfer 6th Mountain Division from Greece. After more argument, in August, the 388th and 9th SS Regiments were also assigned to the operation.

Dietl now made plans to renew the offensive, with the fresh SS regiments leading the assault, in September before the onset of winter. But a combination of British and Soviet surface ships and aircraft, which constantly attacked German shipping to the northern ports, hampered the arrival of reinforcements and supplies and would delay the arrival of 6th Mountain Division to October. Nevertheless, on September 8, Dietl started with the renewed offensive without 6th Division. The initial assault failed badly and the SS regiments, untrained for arctic warfare, took heavy casualties. The Germans made some initial progress, but a Soviet counterattack stopped the offensive soon after.

British surface ships (2 aircraft carriers, 2 cruisers and 6 destroyers) sank numerous German ships and worsened the supply situation even more. For this reason Falkenhorst prohibited German shipping from sailing east of the North Cape on September 13. Hitler pressured him to continue the offensive, but Dietl made it clear, that with the dire supply situation and without further reinforcements no further advance was possible. On September 19, the Germans retreated from their bridgehead east of the Litsa River. More Soviet reinforcements arrived in the area and on September 21, the German offensive was broken off. Mountain Corps Norway was ordered to now defend and secure the Petsamo area and its nickel-mines, as a renewed offensive was ruled out. In mid-October, 2nd Mountain Division withdrew to Petsamo and 6th Mountain Division replaced the 3rd along the Litsa line. 3rd Mountain Division was then moved back to Germany in December.

During the winter of 1941-42, the Soviets launched several heavy attacks on the Litsa as well as the Rybachy Peninsula front. The dug-in German units were able to hold, cementing the front line for the next years.

The failure of Platinum Fox had a significant impact on the course of the war in the east. Murmansk was a major base for the Soviet Northern fleet and it also was the destination of much Western Allied aid shipped to the Soviet Union. With the entry of the United States into the war in December 1941, the stream of supplies intensified even more.

[73north]

Battle of Philiphaugh ( Selkirk , Scotland )
13th September 1645

This is a Scottish Battle that is virtually unheard of - and within 8 miles
of where I live , yet was very important in the Civil War

After his dramatic victory at Kilsyth, Montrose intended to recruit his royalist army before attempting to complete his military control in Scotland. However, because the Lowlands were a Covenanter stronghold and, moreover, as a result of the destruction wreaked on the general population by his forces, Montrose was unable to significantly strengthen his army. Indeed many of his troops left the army in the weeks following Kilsyth.

In early September the royalists marched into the Borders to disrupt the mustering of the Covenanter levies. On the night of the 12th September they camped at Philiphaugh, just to the west of Selkirk. But Montrose was poorly served by his scouts throughout this campaign. Most importantly he seems to have been unaware that, on the 6th September, Sir David Leslie had marched north out England with a large Scottish army. On the 11th Leslie had rendezvoused with Lothian forces at Gladsmuir (west of Haddington) and marched south. On the night of the 12th, unbeknown to Montrose, the Covenanter army approached Selkirk, beating up the quarters of Montrose's advance guard.

On the morning of the 13th September, at Philiphaugh, the battle hardened forces of this Covenanter army won the decisive action of the Civil War in Scotland. Montrose's army was effectively destroyed and, most importantly, the myth of his invincibility was shattered. Never again would he muster enough troops to be able to face the Covenanters in open battle.
http://www.borderreivers.co.uk/Borde...hiliphaugh.htm

[Ennath]

June 30, 1758
Battle of Domstadtl

Frederick the Great invaded Moravia in the beginning of May 1758 and besieged the fortified city of Olmutz. He hoped that the Austrian army would come out to relieve the fortress and the Prussians could defeat them in battle at the site of their choice. If the Austrian army did not come, he could take Olmutz in a short time and use it as a base for defending Silesia and increasing pressure on Vienna.

Austrian Field Marshal Leopold von Daun knew the strength of the Prussian army and therefore avoided a decisive clash. Instead the Austrians concentrated on attacking the Prussian supply lines and causing damage in minor skirmishes. The defenders of the Olmutz fortress also held much longer than Frederick had expected. Although by June it was on the verge of being taken, with 2 breaches in the walls, the Prussians desperately needed supplies to be able to continue the fight.

Frederick was afraid that many separate, small convoys protected by small forces could be easily captured by the Austrians and so he decided that one huge convoy guarded by a large, strong force should be sent. The supplies for the convoy were collected in Silesia and at the end of June it arrived in the territory of Moravia. The convoy was so large that there was no chance it could be kept secret. It contained about 4000 wagons loaded with military materiel and accompanied by about 2500 head of cattle. As it set out on its way, it stretched 25 miles long. The convoy was protected by 10,870 soldiers, commanded by Col. Wilhelm von Mosel. The strongest part was probably cavalry consisting of 1340 men; further he had 8 infantry battalions created from new recruits or healed veterans. As soon as Daun learned about the convoy, he decided it had to be stopped. The task was given to Ernst Gideon von Laudon and Joseph von Siskovits.

Laudon waited at Guntramovice, a small village in northern Moravia. Siskovits, who had lost his way in woods, was supposed to arrive in 2 days. This was quite a problem for Laudon, because his 4 infantry battalions, 2 cavalry regiments, an artillery battery and a troop of frontier guards had only about 6000 men. Despite this, he decided to attack since Olmutz was near defeat and there was no time to lose. He also knew that a Prussian force of 20,000 commanded by Lt-Gen. Hans Joachim von Zieten was rushing towards the convoy to help Mosel.

The convoy arrived on June 28 early in the morning. The Austrians opened up on the front wagons. One Prussian battalion forged ahead in order to discern the strength of the enemy, but they were routed by the Austrian artillery. The Prussians also formed batteries on their side of the road and returned fire. They tried to attack the Austrian positions in the hilly terrain several times, but were always forced back. The fight took about 5 hours but finally the Prussians started to dominate the battleground and Laudon ordered his men to retreat towards Moravsky Beroun, which they did without trouble, as Mosel did not have enough cavalry to pursue.

Although Laudon retreated and did not manage to destroy the convoy, his losses were much lower than Prussian casualties. However, the most precious thing that he gained was time. Some historians point out that the Prussians had a chance to succeed if they had sacrificed some of the dispersed wagons and immediately rushed to Olmutz. However, neither Mosel nor Zieten, who reached the convoy several hours after the clash, knew about Siskovits’ approaching force, and therefore they decided to devote some time to rearranging the convoy and repairing damage. They continued on June 30 early in the morning.

Meanwhile, the Austrians prepared a new attack. They chose an open spot between Domasov nad Bystricí and Nova Veska, which was surrounded by hills and woods, ideal for an ambush. Siskovits’ troops arrived on the scene first and waited in the woods on the left side of the road. Laudon was supposed to come from Moravsky Beroun later, in the middle of the fight, and attack from the opposite side, increasing the chaos in the Prussian ranks.

First the Prussian vanguard, 4850 troops and 250 wagons arrived, but Siskovits let them pass. Austrian artillery started the fight when the main body of the convoy was passing, which caused enormous chaos among the wagon crews. Siskovits’ infantry then launched its attack. Despite being outnumbered 3-1, they took advantage of Prussian confusion and pressed in at the convoy. When Laudon appeared on the other side of the field, the outcome was decided. After 7 hours of fighting, the Prussian convoy was routed.

The 2 fights cost the Austrians only 600 men. Prussian casualties were much higher, although different sources give different numbers. The Austrians claimed about 2000 killed, injured or missing soldiers and 1450 captured, while the Prussians reported only 2700 killed, injured, missing and captured, although they admitted that they found it difficult to count precisely due to the complete dispersion of their troops after the battle. The victors also seized 2200 horses, numerous cattle and a major part of the transported materiel. Because many of the wagons were damaged, they burned everything they were not able to take away with them. Some of the ammunition wagons were blown up as a part of the victory celebrations. An important part of the spoils was 2 million Prussian thalers, but the Austrian commanders let their soldiers keep half of it and only the residual part reached the state coffers. Only 250 wagons from the vanguard escaped, but some of them were captured by Croatian raiders a few miles short of Olmutz, and as a result only about 100-200 of them reached their destination.

The loss of the supplies had severe consequences. It significantly influenced Frederick’s opinion on whether to continue to besiege Olmutz and shocked the Prussian camp. When Daun finally came out in force, the Prussians were forced to abandon the siege as the lack of ammunition had made its capture impossible. The Prussian army retreated to Bohemia.