Battle of Ivankovac

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Ivankovac
partof=First Serbian uprising
date=18 August 1805
place=Ivankovac, Serbia
casus=
territory=
result=Serbian victory
combatant1=flagicon|Serbia|1882 Serbian revolutionaries
combatant2=flagicon|Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire
commander1=flagicon|Serbia|1882 Karađorđe Petrović
flagicon|Serbia|1882 Milenko Stojković
commander2=flagicon|Ottoman Empire Hafiz-paša
strength1=2,500 men
strength2=15,000 men
casualties1=n/a
casualties2=n/aThe Battle of Ivankovac was the first full-scale confrontation between the Serbian rebels and the official forces of the Ottoman Empire, during the First Serbian Uprising. It took place on August 18, 1805.

The Ottoman Empire, trying to regain Serbian territories lost in 1804, sent Hafiz-paša, commander of Niš, to defeat the rebels. He led an army of 15,000 soldiers.

The leader of the rebellion, Karađorđe Petrović anticipated the attack near the town of Ćuprija, on the left bank of the Great Morava river. However, Hafiz-paša evaded him, and attacked Duke Milenko Stojković, who was entrenched near the village of Ivankovac (about 4 km from Ćuprija) and commanded an army of 2,500 soldiers.

After an unsuccessful attempt to bribe Stojković, the Turks attacked. Their assault on the Serbian trenches lasted the entire day, but in the evening Serbs repelled the attack.

The Ottoman army withdrew to the small town of Paraćin.

The Serbs besieged the town, and bombed it with cannons. One grenade smashed Hafiz-paša's leg, after which he retreated back to Niš, where he died from his wounds.

This battle was one of the turning points of the rebellion and marked the beginning of Turkish decline in the Balkans.

ee also

* First Serbian Uprising
* Second Serbian Uprising

External links

* http://www.royalfamily.org/events/index2005.htm