In 1695, taking advantage of the empire's involvement in the war against France, the new Ottoman Sultan Mustafa gathered large forces and attacked the imperial forces in Hungary. The Sultan with 50,000 men defeated the 8,000 imperial soldiers of General Veterani at the Battle of Lugos (September 20, 1695) and advanced north.
The following year the Sultan achieved a truly great victory. At the Battle of Olacin he crushed the imperial army (50,000 men) of Augustus of Saxony. This time the blow was too severe to ignore. If the Turks continued their advance it would not be long before they recaptured all of Hungary and the crossings of the Danube. From there Vienna was very close.
The threat was felt again, especially after the capture of Belgrade by the Turks, Marshal Eugene of Savoy appeared before the Austrian emperor and asked him to entrust him with a new campaign against the Turks. The moment seemed opportune, since operations on the western fronts had practically ceased. There was therefore the possibility of gathering strong forces against the Turks. The issue was which general would take over their command.
After his crushing defeat at Olacin the imperial army on the Balkan front had turned into an armed mob, without supplies, food and above all discipline. Its commander, the Elector of Saxony Augustus the "Strong", as well as his military adviser Caprara, were completely unable to rebuild the army, which they had led to defeat, to inspire the troops and instill discipline in them.
The general who was finally chosen was none other than Eugene. On July 27, 1697, Eugene was in front of the fortress of Petrovaradin on the north bank of the Danube. About 30,000 Austrian, Saxon and Prussian soldiers were lined up outside the fort waiting to be inspected by their new commander.
As soon as Eugene arrived, 30,000 mouths simultaneously shouted the cry "live". A slim young man appeared before them. He wasn't even wearing the top officer's uniform. He wore only a worn brown long tunic that reached to his knees. The only insignia of his rank was the marshal's baton which he held tightly in his right hand. With a quick step the new marshal passed in front of the lined up regiments.
He looked with dismay at the overworked men whose only sign of pride were the fluttering flags with the two-headed imperial eagles and the Virgin. The men also looked in surprise, perhaps with secret disappointment, at their new commander.
He looked like a caricature, a capuchin monk wearing a short cassock. The "little capuchin," as their soldiers called him, because of his brown tunic, observed with a quick glance. He was motionless. He was asking the colonels, trying to find out about the condition of the men. He was definitely different from any general they had met up until then.
The situation that Eugene was called to face was much worse than he had imagined. Men had a long time to earn wages. As he characteristically wrote to the emperor "there was not a penny in their pockets". There was also a severe food shortage that plagued the army and forced the men to pillage friendly populations. The previous administration had taken cognizance of the matter but did not take action against looters for obvious reasons.
Discipline had, as is easily perceived, been shaken. Immediate measures had to be taken and Eugene was the right man to take them. To solve the army's food problem he asked his superior officers for the payment of a compulsory "loan". With the money he collected he bought food and distributed it to the men.
The latter no longer had an excuse to loot and anyone caught doing so faced the detachment. Within a few days the image of the Petrovaradin camp had changed drastically. Discipline was restored and the army again began to train normally for the impending campaign against the Turks.
Despite Eugene's efforts, his superiors in Vienna did not believe that he could really take any form of action beyond static defense. The emperor himself had ordered him to act with the utmost caution and avoid any risky action. After all, in that period a new movement of the Hungarians against their Austrian overlords had broken out.
Of course, the movement was immediately suppressed, but the danger of a new general uprising of the Hungarians at the rear of Eugene's army was real and visible.
He who defends himself dies...
Static defense therefore seemed to be the only logical course of action. Eugene, although active by nature, had no other choice but to comply, at least initially, with the imperial orders. For this purpose, he personally supervised the construction of a series of projectile fortifications, along the bed of the Danube and Tisza, from Petrovaradin to Steged.
Behind the "fortified line" depots of supplies and ammunition were created. Because the swampy terrain did not allow the creation of roads or the rapid transport of supplies, Eugene, with the help of the local inhabitants, formed a flotilla of "boats", which sailed on the Danube, which was the main, if not the only, supply route of his army.
However, the accounting problem of Eugene's army still existed since its main supplier - the state then outsourced the supply of the army to private suppliers, was not so regular in the deliveries of food and materials and did not offer products of excellent quality. However, thanks to Eugene's indefatigable activity, his men never faced food problems again. On the contrary, under his leadership, his army was reborn every day.
The men saw that they could trust the "little cappuccino". With constant work and arduous exercises the morale of the troops was kept at a very high level. Everyone was waiting for the arrival of the Turk to "teach him his lesson", as they said.
It was August. Only 4 months had passed since Eugene had taken command of the Balkan frontier of the empire and everything had changed so much for the better as if the 33-year-old marshal had some magic wand with which to change the course of things.
Eugene, whose army had now been reinforced, after the suppression of the Hungarian rebellion, patiently awaited the enemy by strengthening his positions. He was sure that the Turks, encouraged by their success at Olacin, would not hesitate to take the next step forward.
Eugenios had understood the psychology of the opponent, who was distinguished for his audacity but not for his courage and stability. A scholar of military history himself, he understood that the Turks simply occupied as much space as you let them occupy – something that some modern Greeks do not seem to understand. In this case, however, Eugene was ready to face them and had the will to do so. So he was not at all surprised when, on August 19, 1697, hussar patrols informed him that a huge Turkish army had crossed the Danube at its confluence with the Tisza.
Courage
The Turkish army - 60,000 infantry, 40,000 cavalry and 200 cannons - was led by Sultan Mustafa II himself. Encouraged by the previous success, the insolent Turk brought with him special carriages loaded with chains with which he intended to chain the Christian captives! Hubris was displayed in all its glory. The Sultan was so confident of his success that he did not bother to send reconnaissance parties to gather information about the enemy. All he managed to learn was that Eugene and his army were stationed at Petrovaradin.
On the contrary, the elite light cavalry of the Austrians closely followed the Turkish movements and constantly informed Eugene about the Turkish movements. In the meantime the "brave" Sultan, on learning that Eugene is at Petrovaradin, although he had only half his own forces, decided not to attack the Austrians but to move east, attack Steged, and then invade Transylvania . Of course, Eugene was informed by his tireless hussars about the change of direction of the Turkish advance.
The news electrified him. If only he had time to attack the Turks just as they were crossing the Tisza River he was sure to destroy them. He immediately assembled his army and rushed, at the head of divisions of hussars and dragoons, in pursuit of the Turks who had begun to build a floating bridge over the Tisza at the height of Zenda.
The sultan, trembling at the idea that he was in danger of being caught between Eugene's army, Steged's garrison, and the river, hastened to cross the river first, as soon as the construction of the bridge was completed.
To Zenda
In the meantime, Eugene hastened with all possible speed to Zenda. The next morning - September 11 - and as the Austrian advance continued, a hussar presented before Eugene a Turkish pasha he had captured. The Turk, literally trembling, saw Eugene in front of him, who told him sharply:"if you don't speak I will cut you to pieces in a minute" ! At the same time he ordered the hussar who had captured the Pasha to draw his sword and cut off the Turk's head. The pasha could not stand it.
He fell into Eugene's heavy boots and hugged them crying and begging, trembling for his life. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the glint of the hussar's bare sword. With tears in his eyes, with wishes that God bless Eugene, the Turk said that he knew.
He said that they had established a bridge made of 60 barges across the river and that the Sultan and the cavalry had already crossed the river and that at that time the artillery and transports were crossing the Tisza. The infantry led by the grand vizier Elmas Mohammed remained in the rear guard.
The Pasha also reported that their infantry positions were protected by a makeshift fortification constructed from transport carriages that had been left behind for this very reason. Eugene wasted no time. He put himself at the head of the hussars and galloped towards the river bank. At the same time he ordered the officers to move with maximum speed towards the river. They should not miss such an opportunity.
When Eugene with his few companions arrived opposite the Turkish positions, there were only 5 hours left before nightfall. An hour later the Imperial infantry also arrived in the area. Immediately Eugene ordered his forces into a menoid formation and ordered a direct attack to be launched. His divisions immediately followed his orders.
At the same time the commander of the left horn, General Guido Starenberg, discovered a shallow spot in the river and from there moved his infantry behind the Turkish wagon line, cutting off those Turks who had not crossed the bridge.
Massacre
What followed is difficult to describe. The encircled Turks had no hope of escape and the Austrians did not seem at all philanthropic. When their outer line of defense collapsed the Turks tried to rush the Austrians out of the line of carriages again. With batons in hand and shouting "Allah, Allah," they rushed like a rushing wave against the imperialists.
The highly trained men of Eugene, however, did not lose their cool. The infantry regiments took up positions. The men raised their weapons and aimed at the savage mob. They let them approach within less than 30 meters. Abruptly and sharply the officers gave the order "fire".
The barrels of the muskets thundered. A death roar followed. Thousands of Turks fell. A macabre pile of corpses formed in front of the Austrian lines. The bank and the water of the river had turned crimson. Blood flowed profusely. Having repulsed the desperate Turkish counter-attack, the Austrians rose and with swords drawn and bayonets extended attacked in turn. The Turks were trying to escape. They rushed towards the bridge and dragging whoever was on the opposite side tried to cross. Few succeeded. Among the dead was the grand vizier.
The battle continued until 22.00 at night. Few prisoners were captured as, as Eugene himself reported, "the soldiers, enraged as they were, spared no one and slaughtered anyone who fell into their hands, despite the money offered to them by the Turkish pasades" . More than 30,000 Turks lay dead on the river bank. However, the magnitude of the victory only became apparent the next day, when the victors crossed the river. Thousands of Turkish corpses were floating in the river.
The infantry of the overzealous Sultan had literally been annihilated. The "brave" sultan had already set off with their horsemen, leaving behind his artillery and transports, including the wagons of the chain-laden ones. 3,000,000 Turkish coins were found in the Turkish camp and 9,000 carriages, 21,000 animals and seven horses were captured. On the contrary, Eugene's army mourned only 300 dead and 1,800 wounded. It was a real triumph.