The grand vizier, Kara Mustapha, charged with the humiliation of the
empire and Leopold its master, advanced towards the capital of the
states of that prince with terrible preparations. Very unlike what we
have seen in the former siege, at the approach of the enemy’s legions
the emperor quitted Vienna, with two empresses, his mother-in-law and
his wife, with the archdukes and archduchesses, and sixty thousand
inhabitants. The country round exhibited nothing but fugitives,
equipages, carts laden with goods, the laggard of all which became the
prey of the Tartars, who pillaged, ravaged, burnt, slaughtered, and
led them away into slavery. On the 7th of July, 1683, the city was
invested, and all Europe tremblingly watched the issue of this famous
enterprise.
Vienna, bathed by the Danube on the north, was fortified by twelve
great bastions in the remainder of its inclosure. The curtains were
covered by good half-moons, without any other outworks; the ditch
was partly filled with water, and partly dry, and the counterscarp
was much neglected. The side of the city which was bathed by the
river had no defence but strong walls, flanked by large towers, the
whole well terraced. In a plain of three leagues, environed by a
circle of mountains, the vizier fixed his camp, which he had the
audacity to leave undefended, except with lines of circumvallation
and countervallation. Everything was in abundance in the camp--money,
munitions of war, and provisions of all sorts. The different quarters
boasted pachas as magnificent as kings, and this magnificence was
effaced by that of the vizier; to use the phrase of an historian, “he
swam in luxury.” The court of a grand vizier generally consists of
two thousand officers and domestics; Mustapha had double that number.
His park, that is to say, the inclosure of his tents, was as large as
the besieged city. The richest stuffs, gold and precious stones, were
there contrasted with the polished steel of arms. There were baths,
gardens, fountains, and rare animals, as well for the convenience as
the amusement of the general, whose effeminacy and frivolity did not in
the least relax the operations of the siege. His artillery, composed of
three hundred pieces of cannon, was not the less formidable; and the
bravery of the Janissaries was not at all enervated by the example of
their leader.
The count de Staremberg, a man perfect in the art of war, the governor
of Vienna, had set fire to the faubourgs, and to save the citizens, he
had destroyed their buildings. He had a garrison estimated at sixteen
thousand men, but which in reality consisted of about eleven thousand
at most. The citizens and the university were armed; the students
mounted guard, and had a physician for their major. Staremberg’s
second in command was the count de Capliers, the emperor’s
commissary-general, one of those men whom knowledge, vigilance, and
activity point out as fit for the highest posts.
The approaches to Vienna were easy. The trenches were opened on the
14th of July, in the faubourg of St. Ulric, at fifty paces from the
counterscarp; the attack was directed against the bastion of the
court, and that of Lebb. Two days only advanced the works as far as
the counterscarp, where the ditch was dry. The duke of Lorraine, who
had posted himself in the isle of Leopoldstadt, using every exertion
to preserve there a communication with the city, then found himself
obliged to retreat by the bridges he had thrown over the Danube, and
which he broke down behind him. The country houses, of which the island
was full, then lodged the Turks. This proceeding has been considered a
great mistake; but if it was one, the duke thoroughly repaired it by
his behaviour during the whole siege. With an army which never amounted
to thirty thousand men, he covered Hungary, Moravia, Silesia, and
Bohemia; he protected Vienna; he checked Tekeli; and he stopped the
progress of more than forty thousand Turks and Tartars, who scoured and
devastated the country.
But he could not prevent the infidels from carrying on the siege with
vigour. With the Turks, there were daily mounds raised, works advanced,
new batteries, and a fire which augmented every instant; with the
Austrians, it was, in an equal degree, a display of the most intrepid
valour and firm resistance. Staremberg, who at the first approaches
had been wounded by a fragment of stone struck off from the curtain
by a ball, though only half-cured, animated the whole defence by his
looks, his actions, and his humanity. He treated all his soldiers like
brothers; he praised and recompensed all distinguished actions; and,
not content with being with them during the day, he passed the night
upon a mattress in the _corps de garde_ of the emperor’s palace, which
adjoined a bastion of the court comprised in the attack. By the 22nd
of July, the besiegers were at the palisade, which was only defended
by the sword. They were so near, that they grappled each other across
the pikes in death-struggles. The count de Daun, a general officer
of distinguished merit, had scythes fastened to long poles, which
destroyed a vast number of the infidels, but which could not diminish
the presumptuous confidence which animated them. So certain were
they of victory, that they came forward to make bravadoes similar to
those of which we read in ancient wars. A champion of extraordinary
stature advanced with a threatening air, insulting with both voice and
sabre. A Christian soldier, unable to endure this affront, sprang out
to encounter him: he at first was wounded, but quickly wounded and
disarmed his enemy, cut off his head with his own scimitar, and found
fifty gold pieces stitched up in his vest. One would suppose that this
brave fellow would be rewarded; not so: he remained a private soldier,
and his name, which the Romans would have consecrated in the _fasti_ of
history, is not even known to us. The besieged, who beheld the action
from the top of the ramparts, drew a good augury from it; it redoubled
their constancy and courage.
The enemy did not obtain possession of the counterscarp before the 7th
of August, after twenty-three days’ fighting, with a great effusion of
blood on both sides. The count de Serini, nephew of the famous Serini
whom Leopold had brought to the scaffold, had retarded the taking of
this work by a thousand actions of bravery. There was no sortie in
which he was not conspicuous. His ardour on one occasion prevented his
feeling that he had received an arrow in his shoulder. The Turks had
come to the descent of the ditch; no people equal them in turning up
the ground. The depth of their work was astonishing: the earth they
threw out was carried to the height of nine feet, surmounted by planks
and posts in the form of floors, beneath which they worked in safety.
Their trenches differ from those of Europeans in shape: they are
cuttings in the form of a crescent, which cover one another, preserving
a communication like the scales of fish, which conceal a labyrinth from
whence they fire without inconveniencing those who are in front, and
whence it is almost impossible to dislodge them. When the Janissaries
had once entered them, they scarcely ever left them. Their fire became
progressively more active, whilst that of the besieged relaxed: the
latter began to husband their powder, and grenades were short. The
baron de Kielmansegge invented a powder-mill and clay grenades, which
proved of great service. Industry employed all its resources; but
the hope of holding out much longer began to diminish. The enemy’s
mines, the continual attacks, the diminishing garrison, the nearly
exhausted munitions and provisions, everything conspired to create
the greatest anxiety; and not content with so many real evils, they
invented imaginary ones. A report was spread that traitors were working
subterranean passages by which to introduce the infidels. Every one was
commanded to keep watch in his cellar; and this increase of fatigue
completed the weakness of the defenders of Vienna, by robbing them of
their necessary rest. Others spoke confidently of incendiaries hired
to second the Turks. A young man found in a church which had just been
set fire to, although most likely innocent, was torn to pieces by the
people. But the Turkish artillery was more to be dreaded than all these
phantoms. The inhabitants were incessantly employed in extinguishing
the fires which the bombs and red-hot balls kindled in the city, whilst
the outworks were falling in one continued crash. The half-moon had
already suffered greatly; the ramparts presented in all parts vast
breaches; and, but for the invincible courage of the inhabitants and
the soldiers, Vienna must have been taken.
In this extremity, Leopold turned his eyes towards Poland. John
Sobieski, the terror of the Ottomans, and perhaps the only sovereign
of his age who was a great captain, was supplicated to come to the
assistance of the empire and the whole Christian world. This monarch
instantly responded to the summons by marching thither at the head of
twenty-five thousand men. He traversed two hundred leagues of country,
and on the 5th of September he crossed the bridge of Tuln with his
army, five leagues above Vienna. The Polish cavalry was remarkable for
its horses, uniform, and noble bearing. It might be said that they
were equipped at the expense of the infantry: among the latter, there
was one battalion extremely ill-clothed. Prince Lubomirski advised
the king, for the honour of the country, to order them to pass in
the night. Sobieski judged otherwise; and when that troop was on the
bridge, he said to the spectators,--“Look well at them; that is an
invincible troop of men, who have taken an oath never to wear any
clothes but those of the enemy. In the last war they were all clothed
in the Turkish fashion.” “If these words did not clothe them, they
cuirassed them,” pleasantly observes the Abbé Cayer, whose account we
follow.
The Poles, after crossing the bridge, extended themselves to the right,
exposed during twenty-four hours to being cut to pieces, if Kara
Mustapha had taken due advantage of their position. On the 7th, all
the German troops joined their allies, and the army was then found to
amount to about seventy-four thousand men. There were four sovereign
princes among them,--John Sobieski of Poland, Maximilian Emanuel,
elector of Bavaria, John George III., elector of Saxony, and Charles
V., duke of Lorraine; and twenty-six princes of sovereign houses.
Vienna was driven to bay. The Turks and diseases carried off, as if
in concert, both officers and soldiers. Almost all the leaders had
disappeared; the warrior, exhausted by fatigue and want of good food,
dragged himself to the breach; and he whom the fire of the enemy
spared, expired with languor and debility. The people, who had at
first undertaken the labours of the siege with such eagerness, now
dreamt of no other defence but prayer. They filled the churches, into
which bombs and cannon-balls constantly brought terror and death. On
the 22nd of August, it appeared certain that they could not hold out
more than three days, if the Turks gave a general assault. From that
melancholy period, one mine seemed to precipitate itself upon another.
The half-moon was taken; breaches of from eighteen to twenty toises
laid open the two bastions and the curtain; soldiers served instead
of walls. A mine was advancing under the emperor’s palace, already
beaten to pieces with bombs, and close to the bastion of the court.
Other mines, like snakes, were winding about in all directions; several
were discovered; but the Austrian miners were timid, and could not be
persuaded to go under ground when once they had heard the enemy at work
there. The artillery was no longer able to respond, most of the cannons
being either broken or dismounted. Staremberg scarcely preserved a ray
of hope, or rather, he did not longer dare to hope; and the general who
at the commencement of the siege had said, “I will only surrender the
place with the last drop of my blood,” wrote to the duke of Lorraine
in this critical moment: “No more time to be lost, monseigneur--no
more time to be lost.” Even the most rapid activity would have been of
no avail, but for the stupid inaction of the grand vizier, who, for
the sake of the riches with which he thought Vienna filled, waited
in the expectation of its surrendering by capitulation. Such was his
blindness, that he was ignorant of the preparations of the Christians
when they were upon the point of overwhelming him.
When about to march, Sobieski gave out the following order of battle,
written with his own hand: “The _corps de bataille_ shall be composed
of the imperial troops, to whom we will join the regiment of cavalry
of the Marshal De la Cour, the Chevalier Lubomirski, and four or five
squadrons of our gendarmes, in the place of whom some dragoons or other
German troops shall be given. This corps shall be commanded by M. the
duke of Lorraine.
“The Polish army will occupy the right wing, which will be commanded by
the grand-general Jublonowski, and the other generals of that nation.
“The troops of MM. the electors of Bavaria and Saxony shall form the
left wing, to whom we will give also some squadrons of our gendarmes
and of our other Polish cavalry, in the place of whom they will give us
some dragoons or some infantry.
“The cannons shall be divided; and in case MM. the electors have not
enough, M. the duke of Lorraine will furnish them with some.
“The troops of the circles of the empire will extend along the Danube,
with the left wing falling back a little on their right; and that for
two reasons: the first, to alarm the enemy with the fear of being
charged in flank; and the second, to be within reach of throwing
succours into the city, in case we should not be able to drive the
enemy as soon as we could wish. M. the prince of Waldeck will command
this corps.
“The first line will consist entirely of infantry, with cannons,
followed closely by a line of cavalry. If these two lines were
mixed, they would doubtless embarrass each other in the passages of
the defiles, woods, and mountains. But as soon as they shall be on
the plain, the cavalry will take its posts in the intervals of the
battalions, which will be arranged with this view, particularly our
gendarmes, who will charge first.
“If we were to put all our armies in three lines only, it would require
more than a German league and a half, which would not be to our
advantage; and we should be obliged to cross the little river Vien,
which must be our right wing: it is for this reason we must make four
lines; and this fourth shall serve as a body of reserve.
“For the greater security of the infantry against the first charge of
the Turkish cavalry, which is always impetuous, it will be desirable to
employ _spanchéraistres_, or _chevaux de frise_, but very light, for
convenience of carriage, and at every halt place them in front of the
battalions.
“I beg all the messieurs the generals, that as fast as the armies shall
descend from the last mountain, as they shall enter the plain, every
one will take its post as it is set down in this present order.”
There were but five leagues between them and the Turks, from whom they
were separated by that chain of mountains which surrounded the vast
plain on which they were encamped. Two routes presented themselves: one
by the more elevated part; the other, by the side where the summit,
sinking, became more practicable. The first was fixed upon: it was
true it was the more difficult, but it was the shorter. On the 9th
of September all the troops moved forward. The Germans, after many
attempts to bring up their cannon, gave the matter up in despair, and
left them in the plain. The Poles had more spirit and perseverance. By
manual strength and address they contrived to get over twenty-eight
pieces, and these alone were used on the day of battle. This march,
bristling with difficulties, lasted three days. At length they
approached the last mountain, called Calemberg. There was yet plenty
of time for the vizier to repair his faults: he had only to take
possession of this height, and mark the defiles, and he would have
stopped the Christian army. But he did not do so; and it was at this
moment that the Janissaries, indignant at so many blunders, exclaimed:
“Come on, come on, ye infidels! The sight of your hats alone will put
us to flight.”
This summit of Calemberg, still left free, discovered to the
Christians, an hour before nightfall, both the innumerable hosts
of the Turks and Tartars, and the smoking ruins of Vienna. Signals
incontinently informed the besieged of the succour at hand. We must
have suffered all the dangers and miseries of a long siege, and have
felt ourselves, our wives, and our children doomed to the sword of a
victor, or slavery in a barbarous country, to have an idea of the joy
the city experienced. Sobieski, after having examined all the positions
of the vizier, said to the German generals, “That man is very badly
encamped; he is an ignorant fellow: we shall beat him.” The cannon, on
both sides, played the prelude to the grand scene of the morrow. It was
the 12th of September. Two hours before dawn, the king, the duke of
Lorraine, and several other generals, performed a religious duty, very
little practised in our time,--they received the communion; whilst the
Mussulmans were crying to the only and solitary God of Abraham, _Allah!
Allah!_
At sunrise, the Christian army descended with slow and measured steps,
closing their ranks, rolling their cannon before them, and halting at
every thirty or forty paces to fire and reload. This front widened,
and took more depth as the space became greater. The Turks were in
the greatest astonishment. The khan of the Tartars drew the vizier’s
attention to the lances ornamented with banderoles of the Polish
gendarmerie, and said, “The king is at their head!”--and terror seized
upon the heart of Kara Mustapha. Immediately, after having commanded
the Tartars to put all their captives to death, to the amount of thirty
thousand, he ordered half of his army to march towards the mountain,
whilst the other half approached the walls of the city, to give a
general assault. But the besieged had resumed their courage. The hope,
and even the certainty of victory, had rendered them invincible.
The Christians continued to descend, and the Turks moved upwards. The
action commenced. The first line of the Imperialists, all infantry,
charged with so much impetuosity, that it gave place for a line of
cavalry, which took part in the intervals of the battalions. The king,
the princes, and the generals gained the head, and fought, sometimes
with the cavalry and sometimes with the infantry. The two other lines
urged the first on warmly, protected by the fire of the artillery,
which was incessant and very near. The field of the first shock,
between the plain and the mountain, was intersected with vineyards,
heights, and small valleys. The enemy having left their cannon at
the beginning of the vineyards, suffered greatly from those of the
Christians. The combatants, spread over this unequal ground, fought
with inveteracy up to mid-day. At length the infidels, taken in flank,
and driven from hill to hill, retired into the plain, lining their camp.
During the heat of the _mêlée_, all the bodies of the Christian army
having fought sometimes on the heights, and sometimes in the valleys,
they had necessarily doubled over each other, and deranged the order
of battle. A short time was given to re-establish it; and the plain
became the theatre of a triumph which posterity will always feel
difficulty in believing. Seventy thousand men boldly attacked more
than two hundred thousand! In the Turkish army, the pacha of Diarbeker
commanded the right wing, the pacha of Buda the left. The vizier was
in the centre, having by his side the aga of the Janissaries and the
general of the Spahis. The two armies remained motionless for some
time, the Christians in silence, whilst the Turks and Tartars emulated
the clarions with their cries. At length Sobieski gave the signal,
and, sabre in hand, the Polish cavalry charged straight upon the
vizier in the centre. They broke through the front ranks, they even
pierced through the numerous squadrons which surrounded Mustapha. The
Spahis disputed the victory; but all the others,--the Wallachians, the
Moldavians, the Transylvanians, the Tartars, and even the Janissaries,
fought without spirit. In vain the Ottoman general endeavoured to
revive confidence: they despised him and disregarded his words. He
addressed himself to the pacha of Buda, and to other chiefs, but their
only reply was desponding silence. “And thou!” cried he then to the
Tartar prince, “wilt not thou assist me?” The khan saw no safety but in
flight. The Spahis were making their last efforts: the Polish cavalry
opened and dispersed them. The vizier then turned his back, and spread
consternation by his flight. The discouragement extended to the wings,
which all the bodies of the Christian army pressed at once. Terror
deprived of both reflection and strength this immense multitude of
men, who ought, in an open plain like that they fought on, to have
completely enveloped and crushed their enemy. But all dispersed, and
all disappeared, as if by magic; that vast camp, which the eye could
not measure, resembled a frightful desert. Night stopped the victorious
progress of the Christians, who remained upon the field of battle
till daybreak. At six o’clock in the morning, the enemy’s camp was
given up to the soldiery, whose cupidity was at first suspended by a
horrible spectacle; mothers lay stretched about in all directions, with
their throats cut, many of them with their infants still clinging to
their breasts. These women were not like those who follow Christian
armies--courtesans, as fatal to health as to morals; these were wives,
whom the Turks preferred sacrificing thus to exposing them to becoming
the victims of unbridled conquerors. They had spared a great part of
the children. Live or six hundred of these little innocent victims of
war were collected by the bishop of Newstadt, and were fed and brought
up in the Christian religion. The Germans and the Poles were greatly
enriched by the spoils of the Mussulmans. It was upon this occasion
the king wrote to the queen, his wife: “The grand vizier has made me
his heir, and I have found in his tents to the value of many millions
of ducats. So you will not have to say of me as the Tartar wives say
when they see their husbands return empty-handed: ‘You are not men, you
come home without booty.’” Thus, without much bloodshed, the valour
and skill of John Sobieski saved Vienna, the empire, and religion. In
fact, if Vienna had been taken, as at Constantinople, churches would
have been changed into mosques, and nobody can say where Mahometanism,
which already was spread over so much of the globe, might have ended.
Staremberg came, immediately after the victory, to salute the preserver
and liberator of Vienna, into which city the hero entered over ruins,
but amidst the acclamations of the people. His horse could scarcely
pierce through the crowd who prostrated themselves before him, who
would kiss his feet, calling him their father, their avenger, the
greatest of monarchs. Leopold seemed to be forgotten--they only saw
Sobieski.
But, alas for the gratitude of peoples! Poland, whose king thus
successfully interfered between Mahometanism and Christianity, to the
shame of the European powers is no longer a nation! The great error of
its constitution, which made the monarchy elective, created feuds, of
which three powerful neighbouring countries took advantage. Poland was,
by degrees, partitioned amongst them, and Austria, which owed it so
much, was one of the most eager and greedy of the plunderers.