Battle of Negotin
Battle of Negotin (Serbian Cyrillic: Опсада Неготина (1813)), also referred to as The Siege of Negotin, was one of the battles that marked the collapse of the First Serbian Uprising.
Introduction
The settlement of Negotin was first mentioned in 1627; during the Austrian occupation 1718-1739. The Germans built barracks on the site of today's cemetery. In time, neighborhoods and several shops developed around it, and in 1784, a Serbian prince, who ruled 47 villages, and a Turkish Boluk-bashi friendly with the Serbs also settled in Negotin. In 1792, it was captured by the pasha of Vidin, Osman Pazvantoğlu, who fortified it with a high stone wall with several towers and stationed an army there. In the First Serbian Uprising, Negotin was, after the battles of Stubik and Malajnica, from 24 June to 19 July 1807 unsuccessfully besieged by the Russian-Serbian army under the command of Generals Isaev and Milenko Stojković. After several unsuccessful Serbian attacks, Negotin was finally captured by the Russian-Serbian army led by Generals Cukat and Petar Dobrnjac with about 2,500 Russians and 6,000 Serbs on 19 September 1810. The Turks, overwhelmed by the numbers, left the place without a fight. In Negotin, Miša Stanković Karapandža was appointed prince, and in the summer of 1811, Hajduk-Veljko Petrović, until then duke of Sokobanja, was appointed Krajina duke and commander of Negotin. At the same time, a young clerk, Vuk Karadžić, was appointed customs officer in nearby Kladovo.
Turkish offensive on Serbia
At the beginning of June 1813, the main Turkish force attacked Serbia from three sides: from Niš to Deligrad, from Bosnia to the Drina, and from Vidin to Negotin. Expecting an attack, the insurgent army was divided into three legions: Mladen Milovanović was at Deligrad with 10-12,000 soldiers, Prince Sima Marković was situated at the Drina with as many more, Hajduk-Veljko Petrović held Krajina with about 3,000, and Karađorđe was in Jagodina with 4-5,000 soldiers as a strategic reserve. There were 500-1,000 soldiers in other border fortifications and trenches. The Grand Vizier Hurshid Pasha himself came to Negotin with more than 15,000 people; the Bosniaks, having built a bridge on the Drina, occupied the trenches in Lesnica and Loznica and surrounded Zasavica, and the Turkish forces attacked Deligrad.[1]
Opposing forces
Before the attack of the Turks on Serbia in 1813, Negotin was prepared for defense: Hajduk-Veljko's trench, four-sided, with 4 cannons on two cannon platforms, fortified with a trench and palisades, was arranged on the highest place. Veljko's tower Baba-Finka had several floors; on the north side of the town, next to the stone bridge, was Martin's trench, and on the east, Abrashev's trench, each with three cannons; on the southwest side the trench of Cvetko Bregovljanin with one cannon and on the west side the trench of Cvetko Kuljanin with three cannons. On the northeast and southeast sides of the city, there was one wooden tower, which was defended by the locals under their Boluk-bashi.
Hajduk-Veljko had about 3,000 fighters with 14 cannons in Negotin, of which he paid 300 bejars (horsemen), 4 captains and 13 buljubas. Turkish forces under Hurshid Pasha had about 20,000 men, 30 cannons, and seven kumbars; and the lower commanders were Redzep-aga Adakalski, Alija Gusanac (former Dahija of Belgrade), Mula-pasha and Yusuf-aga.
Battle
The attack of the Turks on Negotin began on 11 July, and the next day they captured the village of Kobišnica and on 13 July they stopped in a trench 1 km from Negotin towards the trench of Cvetko Bregovljanin (on the west side of the city). By 16 July, the Turks had surrounded Negotin on the north and east sides and approached it at gunpoint. The forces were commanded from the south by Rexhep-aga, and from the east and north by Hurshid Pasha. The Turks then began to bombard the city day and night with artillery fire. During that time, Hajduk-Veljko made successful raids into the Turkish ranks and inflicted losses on them.
However, Turkish cannons destroyed tower after tower, including Veljko's, which is why he went down into the trench. While touring the trenches, on 31 July, he was hit by a cannonball in Abraš's trench and killed. The command over the crew was received by his brother Milutin, who left the remaining crew on the night of 9/10 August. In August, Milutin and his men retreated imperceptibly from the Turks to Poreč, leaving behind cannons, ammunition, food, and the wounded in the church. The Turks captured Negotin without a fight on 10 August.[2]
Consequences
Ordinary soldiers, frightened by Turkish cannons, did not stay in Poreč, but fled to their homes, leaving the trenches in Brza Palanka and the Great War Island. Then half of the Turkish army with the Grand Vizier went to Deligrad, and the rest to the warships to Kladovo, which surrendered after a few cannon shots, while the remaining army in Porec (where Veljko's brothers were with the soldiers) partly escaped by boat to Banat, and the rest fell back into slavery.[3]
Until 1833, Negotin was ruled by a Turkish duke with few soldiers. At the end of April 1833, the town was captured by the prince of the Poreč nahija, Stevan Stevanović Tenka, with 600-700 Serbs; since then, Negotin has been part of Serbia.[4]
Interesting facts
The battle was screened in the series Vuk Karadžić in 5 episodes.
References
- Translated and adapted from Serbian Wikipedia: https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9E%D0%BF%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B0_%D0%9D%D0%B5%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0_%281813%29
- ↑ Стефановић Караџић, Вук (1969). Историјски списи. Београд: Просвета. pp. 91–92. Search this book on
- ↑ Гажевић, Никола (1974). Војна енциклопедија (том 6). Београд: Војноиздавачки завод. p. 18. Search this book on
- ↑ Стефановић Караџић, Вук (1969). Историјски списи. Београд: Просвета. p. 93. Search this book on
- ↑ name="ВЕ2"
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