From July 15 to July 30.
The 15th July, the day from which may be dated the commencement of the
active siege of Vienna, was distinguished by an accident which might
well have brought that operation to a close by the destruction of the
city. At two o’clock P. M., some time after the Turkish batteries
had opened, a fire broke out in the Scottish Convent, which, after
destroying that establishment, rapidly spread to the Renngasse and
the neighbourhood of the Imperial arsenal, which contained some 1800
barrels of powder. Two windows of this building were actually at one
moment on fire. The exertions, however, of the Commandant and the
citizens were proportionate to the emergency, the windows were built
up with great haste, and under a heat which made the operation very
difficult. This immediate danger averted, a propitious change of wind
assisted the final extinction, but several palaces and other extensive
buildings had been destroyed, and for three days the smouldering ruins
threatened danger and demanded attention. Nothing certain was ever
known of the origin of the fire. At a period of so much alarm and
excitement, it was scarcely possible that under this uncertainty the
public would be satisfied to ascribe it to any of the many accidents
which may give rise to a conflagration in a besieged town. Popular
suspicion fell upon the Hungarian malecontents, and many acts of
cruelty were the result of this surmise. Men wearing the Hungarian
dress were massacred in the streets, but others also fell victims
to the spirit of frantic and undiscriminating cruelty which panic
generally engenders. A poor half-witted man, whose eccentricities had
often afforded amusement at the tables of the wealthy Viennese, chose
in his folly to discharge a pistol in the direction of the fire: he was
seized by the populace and torn to pieces. Even an Imperial officer,
in whose residence some rocket sticks were discovered, was flung into
prison after terrible maltreatment. It required great exertion on the
part of the authorities to repress this phrenzy, and to bring back the
population to that regular discharge of duties on which rested the sole
chance of salvation to the entire community. On this same day, the
15th, the trenches were opened against the Burg and Löbel bastions, and
many Christian prisoners were compelled to labour in them. On the part
of the town the palisades were completed along the counterscarp, the
ditches were furnished with traverses, and with the necessary passages
of communication, and on the bastions arrangements effected for placing
in battery about 300 pieces of cannon. Countermines were now also
commenced, in conducting which the Venetian Bartholomeo Camuccini and
a Captain Hafner specially distinguished themselves, being the only
persons in the city skilled in this branch of engineering.
On the 16th the Commandant Stahremberg, who with unwearied activity
visited every quarter of the defences, was wounded in the head by the
explosion of a shell. His exertions were scarcely interrupted by this
accident, for before he was sufficiently recovered to walk, he caused
himself to be carried in a chair to every quarter which required his
presence. The stone seat is shown to this day, high up in the spire
of St. Stephen’s, from which for many an anxious hour he overlooked
the camp of the Turks, and watched the movements of their corps and
the progress of their engineers. The fire of the Turks was henceforth
sustained with scarcely any interruption, and it has been calculated
that during the siege upwards of 100,000 shells were thrown into the
city. If this calculation approach the truth, it is difficult to
account for the smallness of the amount of damage they are known to
have produced. The buildings indeed of Vienna were then, as now, of
very solid construction, and all the usual precautions against vertical
fire, the placing of beams, earth, &c., on the roofs and upper stories,
had been resorted to. The chronicles of the transaction have however
recorded several instances of the inefficiency of the Turkish missiles.
It is said that one of the first shells which fell in the city, near
St. Michael’s, was extinguished by a child of three years old before
it could burst; another which fell into a full congregation at St.
Stephen’s, did no injury beyond carrying off the foot of an old woman;
a third fell upon an open barrel of powder, and did no mischief. The
fragments of these missiles were occasionally collected, and after
being, according to a custom of the day, blessed by a priest, were
redischarged at the enemy. The various contrivances of the besiegers
for incendiary purposes,—arrows wrapped with combustible materials,
fireballs, &c.,—proved equally ineffective. To meet indeed this
particular danger, the wooden shingles with which the houses were
generally roofed were removed; a theatre, magnificent and costly, but
constructed with wood, which then stood on the Burg Place, was pulled
down; and, to deaden the rebound of shot or shell, the pavement was
every where taken up. The vaults of the great churches were in general
found to supply the best and safest magazines for powder: windows, and
superfluous entrances of the churches so used were walled up. All wells
were placed under strict superintendence, and every precaution taken
for a due supply of water for extinction of fire.
Up to this moment the insular suburb, Leopoldstadt, had remained the
only quarter of the suburbs still uninjured and free from the presence
of the enemy. General Schulz occupied it with a detachment of cavalry,
and was directed to hold it as long as possible. As early, however, as
the 16th July, the Princes of Wallachia and Moldavia had thrown two
bridges over the arms of the Danube on either side of this suburb, and
the Imperialists, from want of artillery, had been unable to interrupt
this operation. Early on the 27th the Turks crossed the stream in
great numbers, favoured by the lowness of the water at this season;
and after a conflict of several hours, General Schulz was compelled
to yield to numbers, and to withdraw his troops to the left bank of
the Danube. The great bridge of the Danube was now broken up, and
Leopoldstadt fully abandoned to the enemy. The city was now invested
on all sides; every communication and every channel of supply cut off.
The lot of Leopoldstadt was a severe one. The authorities had given the
inhabitants a premature and inconsiderate assurance that the island
would be permanently held and defended by the Imperial troops; and,
relying on this prospect, they had forborne to remove their property to
any place of safety. It thus happened that not only the buildings, but
nearly every object they contained, formed part of the funeral pile
which, wherever the Turkish force set foot, was lighted to give token
of their occupation. Among the more sumptuous of the edifices destroyed
was the Imperial villa called the Old Favorita (now the Augarten).
The Turks opened trenches immediately on the island, and established
batteries both on the Danube bank and near the church of the Brothers
of Mercy, from which they much annoyed the lower part of the city, and
especially the Convent of St. Lawrence. Every possible measure was
adopted for the defence of this quarter of the city; the Rothenthurm
gate was closed and barricaded, flanking works were constructed, and
the windows of adjacent buildings built up, loopholes only for musketry
being left. On the 2nd August the Turks made all their preparations for
an assault on this side. They sent from Closterneuburg and Nussdorf
all their boats down the small arm of the Danube, which, being caught
in their descent by the piers of the bridge which had been removed,
so clustered together as to form in themselves a sort of bridge. In
the course of the night, however, the boatmen of the city contrived
to set the vessels again afloat. This important service was performed
under a heavy fire from the island, and cost a good many lives in
its execution. On the side of the Burg, meanwhile, the works of the
besiegers above and below ground, the battery and the mine, were
rapidly pushed forward. The approaches, when inspected after the siege,
excited the admiration of the German engineers, for the skill and
labour which had been bestowed on them. The trenches were twice the
height of a man in depth, and near the city were roofed with timber and
sods. Apartments were excavated for the principal officers, and those
for the Vizier and pachas sumptuously carpeted and cushioned.
To check this dangerous progress a sally took place from the town
on the 19th of July, the first of the siege, under command of Guido
Count von Stahremberg, nephew and aide-de-camp to the Commandant, and
Samson von Stambach, by which some of the trenches were filled up,
and several of the enemy killed or taken. The latter were immediately
exchanged, on which occasion the Grand Vizier presented the drummer
who attended the flag of truce with three ducats. These sallies were
often repeated, and gave occasion to the students particularly to
distinguish themselves by their gallantry and intelligence. Many herds
of cattle were captured in some of them, and driven into the city,
affording, under the circumstances of blockade and hourly increasing
scarcity, a most welcome aid to its resources. The principal object
of the Turkish fire was the Burg, which was riddled with shot-holes:
next to this, St. Stephen’s tower, and the houses from the Carinthian
to the Mölk bastion. The further ravelin of the Löbel bastion was so
smashed with shot that no one could show himself upon it and live, and
the besieged were advised to withdraw its armament, and distribute the
pieces elsewhere.
On the 23rd of July took place the first assault. Two mines which had
been carried under the counterscarp of the Burg and the Löbel bastion
were exploded at the same instant, burying 15 of the garrison in the
ruins, and tearing up twenty palisades. The Turks rushed over the
ruins to the assault, but were quickly and completely repulsed. The
second assault, July 25, was directed against the face of the Burg
ravelin. It followed as usual the explosion of a mine, and was led by
the Janissaries, who, after three successive repulses, retired with
a loss of 200 men. The besieged, however, had to lament the loss of
some valuable officers, among them of their chief engineer, Rimpler,
who died within two days of wounds received in this affair. He is
said to have been one of the greatest engineers of his day: he had
distinguished himself at the siege of Philipsburg, under the Margrave
Herman of Baden, and had written works on subjects of his profession
which still retain their value. On the 27th, an assault took place, in
the course of which some of the Janissaries surmounted the palisades,
but only to perish in the ditch. The Turks lost 300 men. On the side of
the besieged, the Major, Baron von Gallenfeld, perished by a poisoned
arrow. On the 20th there came in a Turkish flag of truce, bearing a
request on the part of the Vizier for an armistice for the purpose of
burying his dead, and also a summons fraught with the usual threats
of vengeance and extermination. Stahremberg replied, that in the city
they were enjoying excellent health, and having no dead to bury could
not listen to the proposal for an armistice; as to surrender, they had
made up their minds on that head, and were prepared to defend the city
while they lived. A proclamation was now issued offering a reward
of 100 ducats to any one who would swim the Danube with letters for
the Duke of Lorraine: for the moment, however, no candidate presented
himself. July 20th a mine was exploded under the Löbel bastion, 20 of
the garrison perished, but no assault ensued, and the besieged had
leisure to repair the damage. On the 29th the palisades of the Burg
gate ravelin were shattered by a mine. By this time the underground
operations of the Turks had so far advanced as to give them access
to the ditch. Although every attempt of the Turks to pass the ditch
was repulsed in hand-to-hand fight, yet the known progress of their
engineering operations gave reason for expecting an early and general
assault of a more formidable nature than the former, and the watchful
Stahremberg neglected no preparation to meet it. The arsenals furnished
forth at his order quantities of the devices for laming an advancing
enemy, known by various names in various services; in our military
language, caltrops; these were distributed at the expected points of
attack, and additional lines of palisades were fixed in the inner
defences. The sound of bells from church or convent was forbidden,
with the single exception of the great bell of St. Stephen, reserved
for signal of assault upon the walls, at which the forces, regular
and irregular, of the garrison were instructed to hasten to their
respective posts. From early in the month of August the Turks scarcely
allowed a day to pass without the explosion of one or more mines. On
the 3rd, after several severe checks, they succeeded in effecting
a lodgment on the crown of the counterscarp of the Löbel bastion,
from which, though several Janissaries perished by the springing of
a countermine, it was found impossible to expel them. They followed
up this advantage by measures for filling up the ditch, which were,
however, continually foiled by the diligence of the garrison in
removing the materials. On the 6th a Turkish mine blew up a Colonel
Leslie and his pages. On the 8th, a sally commanded by General Souches
did much mischief to the approaches of the besiegers. On the 9th and
10th similar operations were conducted with still greater effect, and
the enemy was dislodged from the counterscarp. On the last occasion
three soldiers of the garrison were blown into the air and descended in
safety to the earth complaining of nothing but severe thirst. At midday
of the 12th, the salient angle of the Burg ravelin was blown up with
an explosion which shook half the city. An assault followed, which,
after two hours’ desperate fighting, ended in the retreat of the Turks
with a loss of 2500 men. The damage was quickly made good. On the 16th,
the Turks, after three repulses, succeeded in effecting and maintaining
a lodgment in the ditch facing the Löbel bastion, which enabled them to
establish near and destructive batteries on the counterscarp against
the Burg and the Löbel bastion.
The two commanders, Stahremberg and the Vizier, were alike
indefatigable in their personal superintendence of their respective
operations. The latter was carried every third day in a litter, made
shot proof by plates of iron, into the approaches, inspecting the
works, punishing the idle, and menacing the timid with his drawn sabre.
He had also in the trenches his own peculiar posts sunk deep in the
ground, and made bomb proof with planks and sand-bags. His favourite
position, however, for general observation and direction was the
tower of the church of St. Ulric, from which he overlooked the city,
as Stahremberg did the camp from his memorable stone chair in the
sculptured spire of St. Stephen.
Towards the middle of August an envoy from the Sultan reached the camp,
charged ostensibly with the conveyance of rich presents of honour to
the Vizier, furs and jewelled aigrettes, but secretly commissioned
to ascertain and report upon the progress of the siege. He remained
a fortnight, and returned with a most unfavourable report. On the
15th August the Imperial Ambassador, Caprara, arrived in the Turkish
camp after a long compulsory detention at Pesth. He was escorted by a
Tschauch, or officer of the body guard, and 300 men. He fell in on his
dismal march with many of his unhappy countrymen, a few only of whom
he was able, at an exorbitant price, to ransom from hopeless slavery.
Among these was a girl ten years of age, of noble birth and singular
beauty, whose name however has not reached us. On his arrival in the
camp, the Vizier, by special order of the Sultan, released him at Tuln,
into the hands of the Imperialists. It has been said that he brought a
proposal from the Vizier to abandon the siege of Vienna, and negotiate
a peace on the sole condition of the surrender of the fortress of
Raab. If this report be founded, as Wagner in his Historia Leopoldi
Magni supposes, it would show how far the projects of the Vizier had
been checked by the noble resistance of the garrison. If this or any
proposal was intrusted to Caprara, it remained unanswered.