Battle of Valea Albă

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Valea Albă/Războieni


caption=
partof=the Moldavian-Ottoman Wars
date=July 26 1476
place=Războieni, present-day Romania
result=Ottoman victory
combatant1=flagicon|Moldavia Moldavia
combatant2=
commander1=Ştefan cel Mare
commander2=Mehmed II
strength1=Unknown
strength2=Unknown
casualties1=Unknown
casualties2=Unknown

The Battle of Valea Albă or Battle of Războieni was an important event in the medieval history of Moldavia. It took place at Războieni, also known as "Valea Albă", on July 26 1476, between the Moldavian army of Ştefan cel Mare and an invading Ottoman army which was commanded personally by the Sultan Mehmed II.

Background

In 1475 the Ottoman's attempt to bring Moldavia under their control ended disastrously with a defeat in the Battle of Vaslui. Not willing to give up, the Ottomans assembled a larger army than the one used in the 1475 campaign and entered Moldavia in June 1476. Meanwhile groups of Tartars from the Crimean Khanate (the Ottomans' recent ally) were sent to attack Moldavia; they were repelled,M. Barbulescu, D. Deletant, K. Hitchins, S. Papacostea, P. Teodor, "Istoria României (History of Romania)", Ed. Corint, Bucharest, 2002, ISBN 973-653-215-1, p. 157] but in the process the Moldavians forces ended up being dispersed throughout the country, leaving only a small force of about 12-20.000 men, led by Ştefan cel Mare himself, to face the main Ottoman attack.

The battle

The battle began with the Moldavians luring the main Ottoman forces into a forest that was set on fire, causing some casualties to the attacking Ottoman army in the forest. According to another battle description, the defending Moldavian forces repelled several Ottoman attacks with steady fire from hand-guns. [ro icon Akademia, " [http://www.akademia.ro/articole.php?view=26 Rolul distinctiv al artileriei în marile oşti moldoveneşti] (The special role of artillery in the larger Moldavian armies)", April 2000] The attacking Turkish Janissaries were forced to crouch on their stomachs instead of charging headlong into the defenders positions. Seeing the imminent defeat of his forces, Mehmed charged with his personal guard against the Moldavians, managing to rally the Janissaries, and turning the tide of the battle. Turkish janissaries penetrated inside the forest and engaged the defenders in man-to-man fighting. The Moldavian army was utterly defeated (casualties were very high on both sides, and the chronicles say that the entire battlefield was covered with the bones of the dead, a probable source for the toponym ("Valea Albă" is Romanian for "The White Valley").

Aftermath

Ştefan cel Mare retreated into the north-western part of Moldavia or even into the Polish Kingdomro icon Jurnalul Naţional, " [http://old.jurnalul.ro/articol.php?id=2790 Calendar 26 iulie 2005.Moment istoric] (Anniversaries on July 26 2005.A historical moment)"] and began forming another army. The Ottomans were unable to conquer any of the major Moldavian strongholds (Suceava, Neamţ, Hotin) and were constantly harassed by small scale Moldavians attacks. Soon they were also confronted with starvation, a situation made worst by a plague epidemic.Meanwhile anti-Ottoman forces were being assembled in Transylvania [ "Istoria României", p.158] under Stephen V Báthory's command, assisted by Ştefan's presumed cousin Vlad III Dracula; confronted with this army and with Ştefan's counterattack the Ottomans retreated from Moldavia in August 1476.

In fiction

In the Romanian theatrical play "Apus de Soare" by Barbu Ştefănescu Delavrancea (set in the final year of Ştefan's reign), one can find a description of the battle in the form of a dialog between the daughters and widows of the boyars who had fallen in the battle, in which they describe how their respective fathers and husbands had to drag Ştefan out of the battle, as he desperately tried to keep fighting.

References