page_title: Siege of Belgrade (1717)
section_title: Siege
hierarchical_section_title: Siege of Belgrade (1717) / Siege
caption_attribution_description: English: Prince Eugene in the Battle of Belgrade 1717 by a contamporary painter (ca. 1720). Oil on canvas, Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna, Austria. Deutsch: Prinz Eugen in der Schlacht bei Belgrad 1717. Zeitgenössischer, anonymer Künstler um 1720. Ölgemälde im Heeresgeschichtlichen Museum, Wien.
context_page_description: The Siege of Belgrade occurred during the Austro-Venetian-Ottoman war, after the Austrian victory of Petrovaradin. The siege ended on 17 August 1717 with the conquest of the stronghold by Austrian troops under the command of Prince Eugene of Savoy and the defeat of Grand Vizier Hacı Halil Pasha's Ottoman relief army the day before.
context_section_description: On the advice of one of his generals, he chose to return across the Danube, surprising the Ottomans who did not expect the enemy to cross the river at that point. The Austrian army managed to cross almost intact between June 15 and 16. Eugene deployed his artillery while the Imperial troops began digging trenches, both in front of the fortress and at the rear of the army. The Ottoman defenders in Belgrade numbered 30,000 men. Prince Eugene was informed that an Ottoman army had been sent to relieve Belgrade. This army arrived on July 28. However, instead of taking action against the besiegers, they also began to dig trenches. Prince Eugene's troops were caught between the fortress and the relief army. Because of losses to cannon fire as well as malaria, the strength of the Austrian army was slowly diminishing. The Ottomans wanted to let the enemy wear themselves down in a long siege. While the situation was rather worrying for the imperial troops, on August 14, Belgrade was suddenly shaken by a powerful explosion: a mortar shell struck the powder magazine inside the fortress and 3,000 defenders were killed in the explosion. 
  At this time, Eugene ordered an attack on the Ottomans for the next day: at midnight, on August 16, the attack began with infantry in the center and cavalry on the wings. Apart from those men necessary to defend the trenches facing the fortress, the entire army was involved in the attack. The night attack surprised the Ottomans; after the first hours of fighting, while the sun rose, the Ottomans had predicted an opening in the center of the Austrian attack and attacked in force, before a counterattack by the Austrian cavalry, led by Eugene himself, not only pushed them back but took the trenches, throwing the Ottoman camp into turmoil and causing the soldiers to flee. After 10 hours of fighting, the battle was won by the Austrians. Ottoman losses were approximately 10,000 men and all of their 150 artillery pieces. The garrison of Belgrade surrendered after the defeat of the army in exchange for safe passage from the city.
caption: Eugene of Savoy at the Battle of Belgrade by Johann Gottfried Auerbach.
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