The Battle of Nevestino was a major battle of the Russo-Turkish War of 1805 that took place in late May 1805 in Nevestino, Bulgaria. The Russian general Fyodor Buxhoewden defeated a far larger Turk army under Orgeneral Hafiz Hassan and inflicted 85% losses on the Turks, winning a crucial victory.
Background[]
The Ottoman Empire lost control of its Orthodox Christian provinces of Moldova & Bessarabia and Wallachia to the Russian Empire in earlier 1805 during the Russo-Turkish War of 1805. The Russian army then advanced into Bulgaria, General Fyodor Buxhoewden's force of 5,000 troops marching on the Ottoman capital of Istanbul to pressure Sultan Selim III of Turkey into making peace. The Russians made camp west of Burgas, so Ottoman orgeneral Hafiz Hassan and 15,960 Ottoman troops marched north to Nevestino to attack the Russians in their camp.
Battle[]
The Ottoman army was nearly 16,000 troops, over three times the size of the Russian army, but made almost entirely out of Orta (mob), who were rabble called up for the sake of self-defense. The Russian army launched a devastating attack on the Ottoman center, tearing through their ranks and routing them. Hassan suffered 13,680 losses, while only 1,800 Russians were lost.