John III Sobieski ,the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.
Year 1683:
The Ottoman empire was at its peak. It had spared no land , it had pillaged ,plundered lands and converted thousands forcibly to Islam.
It had many a aspirations and one of that was the capture of the city of Vienna due to its inter-locking control over Danubean southern Europe, and the overland (Eastern Mediterranean-to-Germany) trade routes. Capturing Vienna meant a path to a expansion into Europe. The Ottomans had spent a considerable amount of time preparing to siege Vienna .
July 1683:
An Ottoman Turkish assault in a second siege in July 1683 destroyed the town of Perchtoldsdorf, that ended in a massacre. The Turks reneged on their surrender terms after the city capitulated and the keys had been handed over.
Hearing this news, the leader of the remaining 15,000 troops and 8,700 volunteers with 370 cannons of Vienna , refused to capitulate.
July 14: The Ottoman force laid siege to Vienna. This siege continued for long as the Ottomans were in no hurry to capture the city.
They were very confident (let me say overconfident), they had enough gun powder and man power. They started resorting to methods like mining and digging tunnels below the fortified city.
Vienna would have eventually fallen if ……….
it wasn't for the alliance of John III Sobieski and the Emperor Leopold I.
John III Sobieski had barely six days to act. He was about to lead the largest infantry charge in the history of mankind.
The Crown Kingdom of Poland brought along with it:
Around 16000+ infantry troop, 20,000+ dragoons and cavalry units and around 28 canons.
The battle started before all units were fully deployed. Charles of Lorraine moved forward with the Imperial army on the left and the other Holy Roman Empire forces in the center. The full thrust of the Ottomans was concentrated in penetrating the fortifications of Vienna. In the meanwhile the Polish infantry launched a massive assault from the right flank.
The Polish forces were able to hold a high ground toward the right. Kara Mustafa, the Ottoman commander also ordered the execution of around 30,000 Christians during this time.
The Ottomans knew Sobieski was coming and wanted to capture the city before he arrived. But the time ran out.
The initial battle started on September 11 at around 4:00 hrs and by 17:00 hrs it was evident that the Polish infantry had an upper hand. But where was the cavalry?
Surrounding the city of Vienna were hills, the Polish cavalry consisting of elite winged Hussars and dragoons were hiding behind the hills , waiting for the right time to strike. At around 17h hours the cavalry emerged from behind the infantry lines and this may have been the last thing some Ottomans may have seen before they breathed their last:
3000 Polish heavy lancers or "Winged Hussars led by none other than Sobieski himself.
Thousands of Cavalry Men rained on the Ottomans who were now tired of fighting on two fronts.
It was now evident that the tides had turned, the defenders of Vienna now poured out from the city walls to eliminate their enemies.
In less than three hours after the cavalry attack, the Christian forces had won the battle and saved Vienna.
After the battle, Sobieski paraphrased Julius Caesar's famous quote (Veni, vidi, vici) by saying "Venimus, Vidimus, Deus vincit" – "We came, We saw, God conquered".
The Ottomans fought on for another 16 years, losing control of Hungary and Transylvania in the process, before finally giving up.
The free, secular Europe with its technological advancements we see today is solely because of the battle of Vienna. If this battle would have been won, the landscape in Europe would have been completely different today.
I wrote about Sobieski because he is a lesser know badass warrior. While we study many wars in our schools , this war is never a part of books.
Here’s an enactment of the final charge of the Battle of Vienna
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