Battle of Saint Gotthard ( 1664 ) The Battle of Saint Gotthard ( ) was fought on August 1 , 1664 as part of the Austro - Turkish War ( 1663 - 1664 ) , between an Habsburg army led by Raimondo Montecuccoli , Jean de Coligny - Saligny , Wolfgang Julius von Hohenlohe , Prince Leopold of Baden , Georg Friedrich of Waldeck and an Ottoman army under the command of Köprülü Fazıl Ahmed . The battle took place near Szentgotthárd and Mogersdorf in Western Hungary , near the present - day Austro - Hungarian border and is known as the Battle of Mogersdorf in Austria . The Turks were militarily defeated but were able to negotiate the Peace of Vasvár , which was highly favorable to them . Preparations . Ottoman dominance in Hungary began with the Battle of Mohács in 1526 , which resulted in the conquest of most of Hungary by Suleiman the Magnificent . Meanwhile , the parts of Hungary that remained under Austrian control became known as Royal Hungary . Although the Ottomans had been in relative decline since the death of Suleiman I , Ottoman power saw a resurgence under the extremely capable Köprülü family who sought to destroy the Austrian Habsburgs once and for all . They found their " casus belli " when the Habsburgs supported a Transylvanian rebellion against Ottoman rule . Transylvania had escaped Ottoman conquest during the invasion of Hungary and retained its independence by playing off of their powerful neighbors : Poland , Austria and the Ottomans . They recognized Ottoman suzerainty and paid a tribute to the Porte but were given political and religious autonomy in return . In 1658 , seeking new land for his principality , Prince George Rákóczy II invaded Poland with his Swedish allies in the Second Northern War . After initial success , he was defeated by the Poles and fled back to Transylvania . On hearing about Rákóczy ' s unauthorized war , the Ottomans declared war on their vassal . It was not long before Grand Vizier Köprülü Mehmed Pasha ( Vizier 1656 - 1661 ) defeated Rákóczy and conquered Transylvania . The new Transylvanian prince , János Kemény , fled to Vienna , seeking Austrian support . Emperor Leopold I , not wishing to see Transylvania fall under direct Ottoman control , sent Montecuccoli into Hungary with his small army . Montecuccoli gave no direct support as he was severely outnumbered by the Ottomans . The Ottomans , meanwhile , completed the conquest of Transylvania and built up their forces in Ottoman Hungary . Leopold I , not wishing to face the Turks alone , summoned the Imperial Diet in January 1663 . The Turks failed to conquer the fortress of Nové Zámky six times , but managed to do so in 1663 . It was made the center of an Ottoman province , the Uyvar eyalet in present - day southern Slovakia . Turks and Tatars crossed the Danube in strength in 1663 , ravaging Slovakia , Moravia , and Silesia . They took 12 , 000 slaves in Moravia . Several Turkish divisions reached as far as Olomouc . Diplomatic efforts . The Austrian victory was achieved more due to diplomatic efforts than military power . Although Leopold personally objected to Protestantism , he had to rely on his Protestant German princes to provide military aid . Even worse was the military aid from France , which was ( and continued to be until the Diplomatic Revolution of 1756 ) Austria ' s arch - nemesis . Despite numerous objections from some Protestant princes , help was not withheld . The League of the Rhine - a French dominated group of German princes - agreed to send a corps of 6 , 000 men independently commanded by Count Coligny of France and Prince Johann Philipp of Mainz . By September 1663 , Brandenburg and Saxony had also agreed to contingents of their own . In January 1664 , the Imperial Diet agreed to raise 21 , 000 men , although this army did not yet exist other than on paper . The Turks had declared war in April 1663 , but were slow in executing their invasion plans . Battle . Köprülü ' s army , which might have numbered 120 - 150 , 000 , probably included some 60 , 000 Janissaries and sipahi s , 60 - 90 , 000 azap s , akıncı s , silidar s , tatars and vassals and allegedly 360 guns . Montecuccoli ' s army consisted of Austrian , and German forces , Czech infantry , French brigades , approx . 2 , 000 Croatians , a Piedmontish regiment and few hundred Hungarians . The Habsburg forces : 5 , 000 infantry ( 10 Battalions ) , 5 , 900 cavalry ( 27 escadrons ) , 10 guns The Holy Roman forces : 6 , 200 infantry ( 6 Battalions ) , 1 , 200 cavalry ( 9 escadrons ) , 14 guns The Rhine forces : 600 infantry ( 2 Battalions ) , 300 cavalry ( 4 escadrons ) The French forces : 3 , 500 infantry ( 4 Battalions ) , 1 , 750 cavalry ( 10 escadrons ) Other forces : 2 , 000 Croat cavalry ( out of this a regiment ) , Hungarian foot soldiers in Szentgotthárd , and Esterházy , Batthyány and Nádasdy regiment ' s , Czech musketeer s and the Italian ( Piedmontish ) infantry regiment ( commander Marchese Pio de Savoya ) . The Turks renewed their invasion in the spring of 1664 . Montecuccoli was still waiting for help to arrive , and this delay was key to the defense of Austria . In July 1664 the Imperial forces were assembled and set out for the River Rába , which separated the Ottoman forces from the Austrian duchy itself . If the Turks were allowed to cross , they would threaten both Vienna and Graz . Montecuccoli intercepted the Turks before they crossed the river but the division of command made effective deployment of troops impossible . On 1 August 1664 , Ottoman forces crossed the river near the monastery of Saint Gotthar d and beat the Austrians back . Although initially plagued by disunity , Montecuccoli was finally able to convince Coligny and Leopold Wilhelm of Baden - Baden ( commander of the Imperial detachment ) to mass their forces and attack the Ottoman troops , who were reorganizing in a nearby forest . The attack surprised the Turks , who fled in confusion back to the river , a large number drowning . The confusion caused by the fleeing troops prevented Ahmed Köprülü ( Vizier 1661 - 1676 ) from sending the rest of his army across the river and he instead retired from the field . Ottoman casualties were heavy , significantly falling mostly on the elite corps of the army . Köprülü was left with an army of ill - trained irregulars and auxiliaries while Montecuccoli ' s casualties were light and mostly in the Imperial contingent . In his work " The Ottoman Centuries " , Lord Kinross reported that the Turks took huge casualties from the French auxiliaries in the Austrian ranks . This was the first Ottoman experience at fighting soldiers using the musket in disciplined ranks . But the Turks , in their conservatism , were slow to adopt new economic , military , and social methods , and thus were becoming at this time gradually outclassed by their European opponents . Aftermath . Although many in Europe , especially the Croats and Hungarian nobility , expected the Austrians to finally liberate Hungary once and for all , Leopold abandoned the campaign . Many have criticized him for this decision ( both in the past and the present ) . Although Montecuccoli ' s army was largely intact , there was no interest among the allies to liberate Hungary . Any invasion of Hungary would undoubtedly have to be done without the help of the French and German troops . Leopold noticed that the French officers had begun to fraternize with the Magyar nobles and encouraged them to rebel against Austrian rule . In addition , Leopold had always been a member of the " Spanish faction " in Vienna . With the last Spanish Habsburg , Carlos II , about to die at any given moment , Leopold wanted to ensure that his hands were free for the inevitable struggle against Louis XIV of France . Although the liberation of Hungary was a strategic interest of the Habsburgs , it would have to wait until later . Throughout his reign , Leopold had always been more interested in the struggle against France rather than the Ottomans . Therefore , he signed the humiliating Peace of Vasvár , which did not take into account the Battle of Saint Gotthard . The Battle of Saint Gotthard is still significant , however , for it stopped any Ottoman invasion of Austria , which certainly would have prolonged the war and led to an even more disastrous resolution . The Austrians would also use the twenty - year truce to build up their forces and begin the liberation of Hungary in 1683 . In literature . The battle of Mogersdorf / Szentgotthárd provided Rainer Maria Rilke with the inspiration for his poetic short story , " " , which was very popular among German and Austrian soldiers during the first half of the 20th century .