Siege of Belgrade
1789 CE.
Shown on the map at 44.817°, 20.467°.
In the siege of Belgrade (15 September – 8 October 1789) a Habsburg Austrian army led by feldmarschall Ernst Gideon von Laudon besieged an Ottoman force under Osman Pasha in the fortress of Belgrade. After a three-week leaguer, the Austrians forced the surrender of the fortress. During the campaign which was part of the Austro-Turkish War, the Austrian army was greatly hampered by illness. Austria held the city until 1791 when it handed Belgrade back to the Ottomans according to the terms of the peace treaty. Several Austrian soldiers who distinguished themselves during the siege later held important commands in the subsequent French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Belgrade is the capital of modern Serbia. At the urging of Russian Empress Catherine the Great, Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor committed the Habsburg monarchy to a war against Ottoman Turkey. In 1788, the Austrians captured one fortress and seized some territory but most of their efforts were thwarted. In August 1788, Joseph appointed Laudon commander in Croatia where that general enjoyed some successes.
Text from the Wikipedia article Siege of Belgrade (1789), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.