In studying some Serbian history, I learned of the battle of Mišar, which took place in August of 1806, during the Serbs' long struggle to liberate themselves from the Ottoman Turks.
It was an astonishing victory by about 8,000 Serbs defeating an army of about 40,000 Ottomans. Even Napoleon Bonaparte is said to have sent his respects to Karađorđe, the Serbian commander in the battle.
http://www.carsa.rs/bitka-na-misaru-1806-dokumentarni-film/
(the clip has English subtitles.)
A great victory for the Serbs, who like the people in the Balkans, despised the Ottomans.
I personally have never heard of this battle and had to look it up.
Almost like the Spartans at Thermopylae.
Yes. It seems that Karađorđe's ("Black George's") ruse of hiding his cavalry in the woods nearby enabled him to flank the Ottomans by surprise, just at the right moment.
@Tink : Think he'll ever fix this damn voting system? I couldn't vote on any of your stuff.
Probably not. I forgot to put in a blank (...) first reply this time, which I sometimes do to get around the problem.
I learnt about this battle. Ottoman army had Bosnian Muslims as soldiers.
Yes, but it is my understanding (from 2:17 in the clip) that the Porte had also sent elite Turkish troops from the east to take part in the attack.
Were the Bosnian Muslims unreliable soldiers?
Many of them supported Ottoman rule but they were against Porte a few times in the 19th century.
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