At the time, Plevna was under Turkish control as Field Marshal Osman Pasha had set up fortifications there following his defeat at the Nikopol on 16 July. Osman was successful at fending off the Russian attacks on them during the first two battles. In the third battle, which began on 31 August and culminated on 11 September 1877, Russian forces under the command of General Mikhail Skobelev took two Turkish redoubts and a Romanian division took a third, the Grivitsa redoubt. Osman's troops were able to recapture the two redoubts taken by the Russians, but they were unable to dislodge the Romanians from Grivitsa.