The Turk reinforcement was defeated at Érd, 1684 

The battle of Érd took place on 22 July 1684, more exactly on the „palankasz field of Bej Hamza” where the Ottoman army, sent to reinforce the besieged castle of Buda suffered a stunning defeat.

The Allied Christian army was led by Duke Charles de Lorraine (1643-1690), and they began the siege of Buda on 14  July 1684. However, the systematic siege was being hindered by the Serdar’s army that was at Érd (not too far from Buda), under the command of Pasha Mustapha of Aleppo. Thus, Duke Charles decided to eliminate this threat. He set out at the dawn of 22 July 1684, leading 30,000 German and Hungarian cavalrymen. His goal was to scatter the Serdar’s approximately 20,000 Ottoman riders. 

Seeing him come, Mustapha deployed his troops, placing his cannons in the middle, defended by about 500 Janissaries. The units of Pasha Hazinedar Haszán and Pasha Hüszein stood on his right wing at the Danube River while the cavalrymen of Pasha Oszmán took position on the left wing. When his right wing was attacked by the Imperials, the Serdar sent camels among the attackers, hoping to scare off the enemy’s horses. Nevertheless, the Imperials either shot the animals or herded them away so their moves were not blocked by them.

The Ottomans had time to fire their cannons just once before the Christian riders fell on them like a storm. When the first cannon’s fire was heard, the Ottoman troops who were in reserve, standing on a hillock, plundered their own camp and fled. They were under the flag of Pasha Bosnak Oszmán and they ran towards Eszék (Osijek).

The rest of the Ottoman army stood its ground and fought heroically for four hours but they finally suffered a disastrous defeat. The runners were chased by the Hussars of Esterházy János until Lake Velencei. (That is about 27 kilometers as the bird flies.) We know the report of the Transylvanian envoy called Zsarnóczay who told about the chase until Ercsi, along the Danube River. Allegedly, three thousand Ottoman warriors were killed in the fight, the Imperials took the tent of the Serdar, the cannons, their baggage, and lots of treasures.

The army of Serdar Mustapha had suffered a serious defeat for the third time within a month. The first took place on 27 June at Vác, and the next one was on 10 July at Szentendre. The envoy of the Transylvanian prince wrote about the battle as follows:

„The Turks didn’t wait for the Germans to approach their camp. The Turks made two wings and the Germans attacked the left wing, the Polish were just there. The Turk assaulted and quickly pushed the Polish out of position but the Germans relieved them. The Germans began to shoot with their cannons, aiming at the Turks’ right wing, the lines were being loosened by the fire.  The left wing got frightened of being pushed into the River Danube so they fled: they all lost their minds and they were running so fast that they trampled their infantrymen. However, the footmen stayed with their tents, wagons, horses, cattle, sheep, and everything they had in the camp, including their cannons and firearms.

 The Germans didn’t chase the Turks further than their camp, the Hungarians chased and slaughtered them for a mile until the Borderland castle of Ercsi. Even the Duke sent a word after them to return, warning them if they got themselves in peril, he would not send a single German after them to their aid.” The Hungarians were praised very much for their steadiness and according to the Transylvanian envoy: „All the officers and the Duke told a great praise about the Hungarians in public, declaring that they would not be able to make war against the Turks without the Hungarians.”

Duke Charles sent a captive to the Ottoman garrison of Buda who was supposed to report about the defeat. He had the captured flags of the Grand Vizier placed on the Imperial cannons, in well-visible locations near the walls. Despite this, the Ottoman defenders put up a staunch resistance for more than three months. Finally, the Imperial army had to withdraw from the walls of Buda in November. They returned two years later to finish their job, though.

Source: Szibler Gábor

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