The siege and battle of Belgrade in 1456 is one of the most decisive conflicts in the Balkans during the period of Ottoman expansion. After the Fall of the City, the Turks, under Mohammed II the Conqueror, intended to extend their rule over the whole of the Aimos peninsula. Their opponents were Ioannis Uniadis and George Kastriotis, while later Vlad Dracul was added.
In 1455, Mohammed decided to capture the heavily fortified Belgrade. the current capital of Serbia was then under Hungarian rule. The Hungarian recruit Ioannis Uniadis , having been informed of the intentions of the Turks, strengthened the fortified city at his own expense.
Uniadis also reinforced the garrison with Hungarian soldiers under the command of his son-in-law Michael Silagy and his eldest son Laszlo. At the same time he began to assemble an army and a fleet of 200 ships to transport him across the Danube River.
Uniadis had with him the Franciscan monk John of Capistrano who preached a crusade against the infidel Turks. The result of his preaching was to gather a strong, numerical force, which, however, consisted mainly of poorly armed and untrained peasants.
But the core of the army was the famous "Black Mercenaries" , men mainly Germans and Bohemians, experienced in all matters of war, well equipped and excellently trained. In total Uniadis gathered 25-30,000 men.
The Turks are coming
In the meantime Muhammad moved with a huge army towards Belgrade. The Turkish force numbered, depending on the source, 60 -160,000 men. On July 4, 1456, the Turks began the siege of Belgrade, whose garrison numbered around 7,000 soldiers . The Turks, in addition to their overwhelming numerical superiority, also had about 300 cannons, but also 200 boats with which they would block the city from the Danube side.
The Turks deployed with the troops of the European possessions on the right, the janissaries in the center and the Anatolian troops on the left, on the narrow strip of land between the two rivers. Also, a Turkish corps patrolled the area of the Savos River, to the west, while Turkish horsemen patrolled east of the Danube.
Uniadis was informed of the arrival of the Turks and immediately moved against them. Along the way Capistrano stirred up other men so that when they reached Belgrade they had at least 50,000 men, the majority of them peasants. In the meantime the defenders in the city held out relying on the strong fortifications.
Reinforcements are coming
On July 14, 1456 Uniadis arrived in Belgrade with his ships. In the ensuing naval battle on the great river, the Hungarians were victorious, destroying or capturing 27 Turkish vessels. This defeat allowed the Hungarian general to break the blockade of the city and bring reinforcements and food into the city.
But Muhammad did not resign. After all, after intensive bombardment of the walls, they had collapsed in many places. On July 21, Muhammad ordered a general attack. The fanciful Turkish verses rushed in with yakhes. But the defenders resisted heroically. The battle continued all night and continued all day.
Despite this, the thousands of Turks managed to enter the city with the defenders confined to the castle. All seemed lost but Uniadis ordered his men to throw whatever wood and other flammable materials were available on the Turks who were huddled under the castle walls.
Then they lit them. The flames separated the janissaries who had advanced further than the other Turks from the main body. Thus the Christians found an opportunity and slaughtered them . In this fierce conflict, one of the defenders, Titus Dugovic, he rushed at a Turkish standard-bearer and knocked him down from the walls, finding death himself, not tolerating the sight of the Turkish flag. However, newer historians question this story, and even the existence of Dugovic.
Counterattack
The Turkish raid was repulsed with heavy losses for the attackers. Immediately the Christians counterattacked. The peasants who made up a large part of the army of Uniades, with religious zeal, led also by Capistranus, poured out against the Turks without orders.
Uniades followed his men and the conflict turned into a fierce hand-to-hand fight. Uniades attacked the Turkish cannons and Capistranos, singing hymns, led his "crusaders" to the rear of the Turks, moving towards Savo. Surprised by the impetuous counterattack of their opponents, the Turks were crushed and fled.
Mohammed's guard – 5,000 elite janissaries – tried in vain to stop the panic. But when the regular bodies of Uniadis attacked them, they too were crushed. Muhammad killed a Hungarian officer with his sword but was hit by an arrow and fell unconscious. After this the Turks retreated and as soon as night fell they retreated. The phalanx was led by 140 carriages full of wounded.
The battle in Belgrade was a proud victory for Uniades, but also his Swan Song, as he died three days after the battle. The Turks had at least 15,000 dead, and they lost all their boats and over 300 guns. The losses of the Christians were significant.
Hero of the battle, Titus Dugovic.