Battle of Küçük Kaynarca

The battle of Küçük Kaynarca, also known as the battle of Kaynarca (Russian: Битва при Кайнарджи; Turkish: Kaynarca Muharebesi), was a major battle during the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774). It was fought between the units of Otto Weismann, one of Catherine the Great's finest generals, and Ottoman soldiers under the command of Numan Pasha.

Battle of Küçük Kaynarca
Part of the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774)
The battle plan from the Sytin Military Encyclopedia
Date 3 July [O.S. 22 June] 1773 Location Kaynardzha, Ottoman Empire (Now in Bulgaria) Result Russian victory
Belligerents
Ottoman Empire	Russia
Commanders and leaders
Numan Pasha	Weismann von Weissenstein †
Strength
20,000	5,600
Casualties and losses
4,000 to 5,000 dead	19 killed 161 wounded

Background

After the unsuccessful siege, the Russian army was in danger of a possible encirclement between the 30,000 garrison of Silistra and the corps of Numan Pasha, to counteract the latter, a detachment of General Weismann with 5,600 people was sent.

Battle

Following Rumyantsev's order on July 2, 1773, Weismann moved to meet Numan Pasha's army, and on July 3 attacked his camp, the Turks fought bravely at the beginning and were able to break through Weismann's infantry square wounding him in the heart, the Russian army fiercely repelled this attack and the morale of the Ottoman troops fell, the Russians did not spare even the prisoners.

Aftermath

Main article: Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca

A year later, an agreement was signed at the site of the battle, which stopped 6 years of bloodshed between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, the agreement was very beneficial to the Russians and the Turks ceded significant territories.

A monument at the place where the truce was concluded

Reference

Bibliography

• Velichko, Konstantin I.; Novitsky, Vasily F.; Schwarz, Alexey V. von; Apushkin, Vladimir A.; Schoultz, Gustav K. von (1911). "ВЕЙСМАНЪ, бар., фонъ Вейсенштейнъ, Отто-Адольфъ" [Weismann, baron, von Weißenstein, Otto Adolf]. Военная энциклопедия (in Russian). Vol. 5: Бомбарда – Верещагин. Moscow: Ivan Sytin. pp. 279–280. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  • Velichko, Konstantin; Novitsky, Vasily; Schwarz, Alexey von; Apushkin, Vladimir; Schoultz, Gustav von (1915). "КУЧУКЪ-КАЙНАРДЖИ" [Küçük Kaynarca]. Военная энциклопедия (in Russian). Vol. 14: Круковский – Линта. Moscow: Ivan Sytin. pp. 433–434. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
• Arsenyev, Konstantin; Petrushevsky, Fyodor (1892). "Вейсманъ фонъ-Вейсенштейнъ" [Weismann von Weißenstein]. Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian). Vol. 10: Вальтер – Венути. Friedrich A. Brockhaus (Leipzig), Ilya A. Efron (Saint Petersburg). p. 728.
• Egorshina, O.; Petrova, A. (2023). История русской армии [The history of the Russian Army] (in Russian). Moscow: Edition of the Russian Imperial Library. ISBN 978-5-699-42397-2.
• Davies, Brian L. (2016). The Russo-Turkish War, 1768–1774: Catherine II and the Ottoman Empire. London: Bloomabury. ISBN 978-1-4725-1293-2.