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Battle of Požarevac

Battle of the Second Serbian Uprising

Battle of Požarevac
Part of Second Serbian uprising
The Monument to Miloš Obrenović in Požarevac, erected in gratitude for the liberation of Požarevac and Serbia
Date 1 July – 7 July 1815 (6 days) Location Požarevac, Serbia Result Serbian victory
Belligerents
Serbian rebels	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Miloš Obrenović Jovan Vukomanović †	Asan-delibaša †
Strength
12,000	1,900 Turks and 2,000 Arnauts
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown One captured cannon

The Battle of Požarevac (Serbian: Битка код Пожаревца/Bitka kod Požarevca) took place during the Second Serbian Uprising between the Serbian Revolutionaries and Ottoman forces at Požarevac from 1 July to 7 July 1815. It ended in a Serbian victory.^[1]

Battle[edit]

After the liberation of Čačak, Miloš Obrenović set out with a large army of 12,000 insurgents to liberate Požarevac. Miloš was informed that a large army was gathering around Požarevac and that the Turks were being assisted by the delibasha of Vidin's vezir along with 1900 deli troops, who had made six trenches and had one cannon. On the way to Požarevac in Batočina, Miloš found a trench with 2000 Arnauts. There, the insurgents fought with the Arnauts, but the Arnauts surrendered after three days. Then, after this victory, the insurgents crossed the Morava and headed towards Požarevac.^[2]

On the way to Požarevac, Miloš and the insurgents ran into the deli troops. The Serbs immediately started fighting the delis, but at one point they hesitated, seeing how fiercely the delis fought. Miloš then launched an attack on the delis on his personal initiative. He rushed on horseback towards Asan-delibaša, addressing him with the words: "Delibasha, you may have a place on the other side, but I really have no place other than here, dead or alive." The insurgents then defeated the delis who retreated to the trenches. On the first day, the Serbs took the first trench with a charge, then in the next two days the next two trenches, while the Turks fled the large trench with the cannon and two small trenches next to the church and the mosque. Miloš then sent his scribe with a proposal that the Turks surrender and leave the pocket and the cannon, and that he would get a safe passage to Turkey. During the battles, Jovan Vukomanović, the brother-in-law of Prince Miloš and the brother of Princess Ljubica, was killed.

Legacy[edit]

• The battle was screened in the Vuk Karadžić TV series. The series shows the fight of the Serbian infantry and cavalry with the Turks and the scene in which Miloš Obrenović on horseback attacks Asan-delibaša with his famous words.
• Anastas Jovanović made a lithograph, "Prince Miloš in Battle", in which Prince Miloš is shown with the insurgents fighting against the Turks on horseback. The lithograph, together with the lithograph "Karađorđe in color", was published in the monograph of Anastas Jovanović in the residence of Princess Ljubica.
• Princess Ljubica planted two apple trees at the spot where her brother Jovan Vukomanović died on the battle field.
• The epic folk song Boj na Požarevcu was written in honour of the Serbian victory.

References[edit]