Long Turkish War - The Battle Of Buda In 1686

The Battle of Buda (1686) was fought between the Holy League and the Ottoman Empire, as part of the follow-up campaign in Hungary after the Battle of Vienna. The Holy League took Buda after a long siege.

After the unsuccessful second siege of Vienna by the Turks in 1683, which started the Great Turkish War, an imperial counteroffensive started for the re-conquest of Hungary, so that the Hungarian capital Buda could be freed from the Turks.

In 1541, Buda was conquered by the Turks in the Siege of Buda, and was under Turkish rule for the next 145 years. Following the Turkish defeat at the Battle of Vienna in 1683, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I saw the opportunity for a counterstrike. With the aid of Pope Innocent XI, the Holy League was formed on 5 March 1684, with King Sobieski of Poland, Emperor Leopold I, and the Republic of Venice agreeing to an alliance against the Turks.

In the spring of 1684, an army of about 38,000 men marched under Charles V, Duke of Lorraine, to free the city of Buda from the Turks.

After the main army crossed the Danube at Esztergom on 13 June, the front of the imperial army under the command of Maximilian Lorenz von Starhemberg and the cavalry general Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden arrived at the castle town of Visegrád on 15 June.

On 16 June, the town of Esztergom was taken by storm by the imperial troops in spite of its strong walls, after a gate was destroyed by cannons. The majority of the Turkish occupation troops were killed and the city was plundered. Only a few Turks managed to withdraw to the castle on the rock above the city. After a siege of one-and-a-half days, the remaining Turkish garrison capitulated on 18 June.

On 27 June, the imperial army met a strong Turkish army of 17,000 men at Vác under the command of the Grand Vizier Kara İbrahim Pasha who would eventually drive out the Habsburgs. Although the Turks had entrenched themselves at a favorable position, Karl V opened the fight with cannon fire. The centre of the imperial troops was led there by Maximilian Lorenz von Starhemberg and after a rather short fight knew that the Turkish troops were defeated. Vác fell to the imperial army the same day.

On 30 June, the imperial main army entered the city of Pest, to which the Turks had set fire shortly before. After the army crossed the Danube at Vác, it began the siege of Buda, which was defended by approximately 10,000 Turks. The imperial army, consisting of 34,000 men, began the bombardment of Buda's fortress with 200 cannons on 14 July 1684, the anniversary of the beginning of the siege of Vienna. Field Marshal Graf Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg was assigned to conduct the siege.

On 19 July, the imperial troops took control of the lower part of the town of Buda. However, since too few troops were available to occupy it, Ernst Rüdiger ordered the houses in that part of the town burnt down.

Throughout July and August, the imperial army made several attempts to attack the fortress, but all were repelled by the Turkish defenders.

At the beginning of September, an imperial general reported that the number of the soldiers fit for service had shrunk from 34,000 to 12,500, and morale was low. On 11 September, an imperial auxiliary corps reached Buda, providing new momentum to the campaign.

On 22 September, a Turkish relief army arrived, and immediately attacked the besieging forces. The imperial army managed to repel them, but was unable to defeat them. The Turkish relief army then engaged the imperial army in repeated nuisance attacks, which, coupled with losses caused by the Turkish city garrison, caused a plunge in morale. Ernst Rüdiger, who was severely wounded and facing sustained criticism from his army, had to be replaced in command of the siege. The final blow was a spell of poor weather conditions throughout October, and the decision was made to withdraw.