In the siege of Belgrade a Habsburg Austrian army led by Feldmarschall Ernst Gideon von Laudon besieged an Ottoman Turkish force under Osman Pasha in the fortress of Belgrade. After a three-week leaguer, the Austrians forced the surrender of the fortress. During the campaign which was part of the Austro-Turkish War, the Austrian army was greatly hampered by illness. Austria held the city until 1791 when it handed Belgrade back to the Ottomans according to the terms of the peace treaty. Several Austrian soldiers who distinguished themselves during the siege later held important commands in the subsequent French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Belgrade is the capital of modern Serbia.
Siege of Belgrade in 1789
Gideon von Laudon
Belgrade's ancient castle
Turkish Janissary musketeer
Ernst Gideon von Laudon, since 1759 Freiherr von Laudon, was a Baltic German-born Austrian military officer and one of the most successful opponents of the Prussian king Frederick the Great.
Ernst Gideon von Laudon
Ernst Gideon's wife: Klara von Hagen
Laudon in victory pose at the Battle of Kunersdorf, 1878 portrait by Siegmund L'Allemand
Marble bust by Giuseppe Ceracchi