Battle of Karánsebes The Battle of Karánsebes ( , ) is a possibly apocryphal episode in the Austro – Turkish War of 1787 – 1791 . Published sources . The earliest major source detailing this battle is from " Geschichte Josephs des Zweiten " by A . J . Gross - Hoffinger , written 59 years after the battle ' s supposed occurrence , and most authors tend to cite this account . The earliest source for this battle was from " History of the eighteenth century and of the nineteenth till the overthrow of the French empire , with particular reference to mental cultivation and progress " , which was published in 1843 , 55 years after the incident . This source refers readers to the " Austrian Military Magazine of 1831 " to find a more complete account of the battle : " A detailed account of the singular story of this night - march and its consequences does not appear to us to belong to the province of general history ; it will however be found both authentic and complete in the ' Austrian Military Magazine of 1831 . ' " The battle . Different portions of an Austrian army , which was scouting for forces of the Ottoman Empire , fired on each other by mistake , causing a self - inflicted decimation . The battle took place on the evening of 17 September 1788 . Ottomans were victorious and captured the city . The army of Austria , approximately 100 , 000 strong , was setting up camp around the town of Karánsebes ( now Caransebeş , in modern Romania ) . The army ' s vanguard , a contingent of hussar s , crossed the Timiş River nearby to scout for the presence of the Ottoman Turks . There was no sign of the Ottoman army , but the hussars did run into a group of gypsies , who offered to sell schnapps to the war - weary soldiers . The cavalrymen bought the schnapps and started to drink . Soon afterwards , some infantry crossed the river . When they saw the party going on , the infantry demanded alcohol for themselves . The hussars refused to give them any of the schnapps , and while still drunk , they set up makeshift fortifications around the barrels . A heated argument ensued , and one soldier fired a shot . Immediately , the hussars and infantry engaged in combat with one another . During the conflict , some infantry began shouting " Turci ! Turci ! " ( " Turks ! Turks ! " ) . The hussars fled the scene , thinking that the Ottoman army ’ s attack was imminent . Most of the infantry also ran away ; the army comprised Italians from Lombardy , Slavs from the Balkans , and Austrians , plus other minorities , many of whom could not understand each other . While it is not clear which one of these groups did so , they gave the false warning without telling the others , who promptly fled . The situation was made worse when officers , in an attempt to restore order , shouted " Halt ! Halt ! " which was misheard by soldiers with no knowledge of German as " Allah ! Allah ! " . As the cavalry ran through the camps , a corps commander reasoned that it was a cavalry charge by the Ottoman army , and ordered artillery fire . Meanwhile , the entire camp awoke to the sound of battle and , rather than waiting to see what the situation was , everyone fled . The troops fired at every shadow , thinking the Ottomans were everywhere ; in reality they were shooting fellow Austrian soldiers . The incident escalated to the point where the whole army retreated from the imaginary enemy , and Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II was pushed off his horse into a small creek . Two days later , the Ottoman army arrived . They discovered 10 , 000 dead and wounded soldiers and easily took Caransebeş .