This event took place in 1788. The Turks declared war on Russia and Austria, within the framework of an agreement on military assistance, moved with a hundred thousandth army against the seventy thousandth army of the Turks.
After lengthy transitions, marches and small fights, both opponents were preparing for a general battle. On September 17, the Austrian army crossed the small river Temes near the town of Caransebes (now a city in the county of Karash-Severin, in the historical region of Banat, in Romania).
It was expected that the Turkish troops would meet them here, but in reality they came across a gypsy camp “armed” with barrels of alcohol for sale, which the “liberators of the Balkans” decided to take advantage of. Having bought barrels of schnapps at a low price, the hussars began to cheer themselves up and “relieve fatigue” after the hardships of the journey.
From that moment on, a series of incredible accidents and coincidences ensued.
When the grenadiers of the Austrian cavalry were celebrating the end of the difficult journey, the infantry began to move up to them, which was also not averse to joining the hussars and "taking a breath." Only the hussars were not happy with this and flatly refused to share alcohol with the infantry who came to the rescue. On this basis, a squabble began, which soon turned into a serious fight.
Seeing the senselessness of what was happening and wishing to stop the outbreak of the conflict, no one from those present fired into the air, which was his fatal mistake. Hearing the sound of a shot, part of the regiment of infantrymen grabbed their weapons, suspecting that the attack of the Turks had begun.
Although the numerical superiority was on the side of the Austrians, they had an important disadvantage. The army consisted of people of various nationalities: Austrians, Hungarians, Slovaks, Czechs, Romanians and others. They spoke each in their own languages and sometimes did not understand each other at all, and this played a cruel joke on them.
Due to the noise of shots and the screams of soldiers, several hundred cavalry horses that were in the paddock jumped out from behind the fence and rushed to the fighting. It was dark and hearing the sound of the cavalry, the commander of one of the artillery corps gave the order to open fire to kill.
The shells began to explode in the crowd of distraught soldiers, the officers built regiments and threw them into the attack, being sure that they were going to meet the Turkish enemy.
In the end, this recklessness ended in a general flight. The distraught crowd of fleeing soldiers almost trampled on their way even Emperor Joseph II himself, who tried to cope with the situation and was also in the firm belief that they were attacked by the Ottoman army. He only escaped by jumping into the river.
By morning, when it was all over, a sad picture appeared before them. The whole space was littered with guns, dead horses, saddles, provisions, smashed ammunition boxes and overturned cannons - in a word, everything that a completely defeated army throws. Ten thousand dead soldiers remained on the field of the most abnormal battle in the history of mankind.
The Turks, who arrived at the point of the supposed battle, saw piles of corpses there, puzzled over the question - what unknown enemy had destroyed their enemy. Indeed, in terms of the number of victims, this massacre surpassed even such major battles as the battles of Hastings, Agincourt, Valmy, in the Valley of Abraham and many others ...
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He wears a 1798 pattern uniform and a five-inch-long, four-bund hairdo.
Helmets gradually fell out of use from 1806, mainly due to high cost and considerable weight; besides, they could not be worn with head wounds.
1. Cooking pot model 1807 with a special lid that was used as a frying pan.
2. Model 1798 5/4 lot musket, developed on the basis of the French model 1777 musket. In use for over 10 years, it fired bullets weighing 21.5 grams, and its copper headset was much easier to clean.
3. Rifle lock model 1798. Galician flint (Podolische Feuersteine) was best suited for heavier locks.
The flint was enclosed in a lead case, which made it easier to replace it in battle (leather cases were abandoned).
In case of misfires, the flint could be "sharpened" by sharpening its edge with improvised means.
The flint held about 25 shots, while a good one held all 50. The charging boxes held 5,000 flints in small casks or 19,000 in powder kegs.
The empty barrels were used as targets when shooting at a target. Throughout the Revolutionary Wars, Austria used 50 million flints.
4. Musket model 1807 - a copy of the musket model 1798, except that it was made of plain wood with an iron headset.
5. Officer's pistol model 1809 with a smaller version of the lock model 1798, made of walnut wood.
6. Cartridge caliber 5/4 lot sample 1798
7. Training cartridge caliber 5 4 lots.
8. Made from the metal of a captured cannon, the Cannon Cross (Kannonkreuz) of 1814 was the first general service medal. The recipients could put their names on the reverse side.
9. Hungarian boots and German shoes. I am supposed to take care of shoes daily to increase the period of wear: thick leather was smeared with wax to prevent water from penetrating inside.
10. Cartridge bag sample 1798 on a 10 cm wide bandolier. Each soldier was supplied with three or four spare flints, which were worn in a small leather pouch under the cover of the pouch.
The infantryman carried 60 rounds; another 40 rounds per person were in the emergency reserve.
11. Metal flask for water sample 1773 on a white leather strap.
12. Rifle lock sample 1798 (in section).
Under the cut, a small but instructive story about how a gypsy camp, which accidentally had a barrel of alcohol, determined the fate of mankind.
In 1788, the Austrian emperor Joseph II decided for no reason at all to liberate the Balkans from the Turkish yoke - an intention worthy of a Christian, but based, of course, not on pious intentions, but on the desire to extend the influence of Austria to the so-called "underbelly of Europe". Having gathered a huge army, the Austrians crossed the border.
After marches, transitions, large and small skirmishes with varying success, both sides prepared for the decisive battle.
On a moonless night on September 19, 100,000 Austrians were moving closer to the 70,000th Turkish army in order to fight, which was to determine the fate of the war.
A company of hussars, marching at the forefront of the Austrians, crossed the small river Temesh, near the town of Karansebes, but there were no Turkish troops on the shore - they had not yet approached. However, the hussars saw a gypsy camp. Pleased with the opportunity to earn extra money, the gypsies offered the hussars to refresh themselves after the crossing - for money, of course. For a few coins, the cavalry bought a barrel of alcohol from the gypsies and began to quench their thirst.
In the meantime, several infantry companies crossed in the same place, which didn’t get alcohol, but they wanted to drink ... A squabble began between the hussars and infantrymen, during which one cavalryman either accidentally or out of anger shot a soldier. He collapsed, after which a general dump began. All the hussars and all the foot soldiers who were nearby intervened in the fight.
And the drunken hussars, and the infantry languishing with thirst, heated up by the massacre, did not want to yield. Finally, one of the sides took over - the defeated shamefully fled to their shore, pursued by a jubilant enemy. Who was broken? - history is silent, more precisely, the information is contradictory. It is quite possible that in some places the hussars won, and in others the foot soldiers. Be that as it may, the troops approaching the crossing suddenly saw frightened, fleeing soldiers and hussars, crumpled, bruised, covered in blood ... Victorious cries of the pursuers were heard behind.
Meanwhile, the hussar colonel, trying to stop his fighters, yelled in German: “Halt! Halt!” Since there were many Hungarians, Slovaks, Lombards and others who did not understand German well in the ranks of the Austrian army, some soldiers heard - “Allah! Allah!", after which the panic became general. During the general bustle and noise, several hundred cavalry horses that were in the corral broke out from behind the fence. So it happened late at night, everyone decided that the Turkish cavalry had broken into the army. The commander of one corps, having heard the formidable noise of the "advancing cavalry", gave the order to the artillerymen to open fire. Shells exploded in the crowd of distraught soldiers. The officers who tried to organize resistance built their regiments and threw them into an attack on artillery, in full confidence that they were fighting the Turks. In the end, everyone fled.
The emperor, who did not understand anything, was also convinced that the Turkish army had attacked the camp, tried to take control of the situation, but the fleeing crowd threw him off his horse. The emperor's adjutant was trampled on. Joseph himself escaped by jumping into the river.
By morning everything was quiet. The whole space was littered with guns, dead horses, saddles, provisions, broken ammunition boxes and overturned cannons - in a word, everything that a utterly defeated army throws. On the field of the strangest battle in the history of mankind, 10 thousand dead soldiers remained lying - that is, in terms of the number of dead, the battle is among the largest battles of mankind (in the famous battles of Hastings, Agincourt, Valmy, in the Valley of Abraham and many others, the death toll is much smaller). The Austrian army ceased to exist, as the survivors fled in horror.
Two days later, the Turkish army approached. The Turks looked with surprise at the piles of corpses, wandered among the wounded, groaning in delirium soldiers, puzzling over the question - what unknown enemy utterly defeated one of the most powerful armies in the world and saved Turkey from defeat. The Christian world failed to acquire the Balkans. Austria did not become the strongest state in Europe, could not stop the French Revolution, the world followed the path of France ...
A small gypsy camp, which accidentally turned out to have a barrel of alcohol, determined the fate of mankind.
The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy is made -This military disaster was perhaps the largest in history of those that were committed by their own sloppiness. Near the city of Karansebes, the Austrian army managed to defeat itself. Here is how it was.
By September 17, 1788, Austria had been at war with Turkey for about a year in alliance with Russia. The assembled army of about 100 thousand people approached the city of Caransebes, now located on the territory of Romania.
In the evening, the vanguard of the hussars crossed the Timish River, where, as expected, the Turkish camp was located. But instead of the Turkish camp, a gypsy camp was discovered. It was fun in the camp, and most importantly, there was a lot of wine, which the gypsies shared with the soldiers.
While the hussars were having fun, the first infantry detachments approached the camp. The infantrymen demanded that drinks be shared with them as well. But the hussars refused in a rude manner, or, more simply, sent the infantry through the forest, for whoever is ahead of him and slippers. And in general - the French will come up with equality and fraternity and only in a few years, and the brave Austrian hussars will drink everything themselves.
The infantrymen did not like this situation either, and they took up defensive positions behind the gypsy carts, saying that if the infantrymen climbed, they would start shooting. And the shooting started. It is not clear who fired first, but in any case, a fight ensued between their units.
And then someone, not understanding what was happening, shouted "Turks!". The cry was picked up and panic began. The mess was also intensified due to the fact that in the army there were representatives of different peoples united in the Austrian Empire. The Germans, Slavs, Hungarians, Italians, Romanians did not understand well, but everyone ran together.
The officers were mostly Germans and it was customary to give commands in German. Runners were stopped by shouting “Halt! Halt!”, which in the minds of panicked soldiers who did not know German was perceived as “Allah! Allah!". On top of that, the commander of one artillery unit, mistook the fleeing cavalry for the advancing Turks, deployed the guns and opened fire with grapeshot.
In general, those who could, fought with their own fleeing troops, but most of them simply fled. And so quickly that they almost trampled their own emperor Joseph, who took part in the campaign. With that, his adjutant was trampled, and Joseph himself was saved only by falling into a ditch.
Two days later, the Turkish army approached the same city, discovering a field strewn with the bodies of the Austrians. The army fled, and the losses in the battle with themselves amounted to about 10 thousand people.
To the honor of Emperor Joseph, it should be noted that Austria did not withdraw from the war, but continued the war, gathering the remnants of its forces and recruiting a new army in the future.
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