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| Battle of Leskovac | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Serbian Despotate 1451,part of theOttoman wars in Europe | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Serbian Despotate | Ottoman Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Nikola Skobaljić | Unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
TheBattle of Leskovac took place on September 24, 1454, during theOttoman invasion ofSerbia. Two Serbian armies were set up to defend theDespotate, the first commanded byNikola Skobaljić inDubočica, nearLeskovac, and the second on the banks of theSitnica River inKosovo.
An initial invading Ottoman force heading fromSofia cut off Skobaljić's army from Serbia's north. DespotĐurađ Branković suggested that Skobaljić either surrender, or hide from the Ottoman army untilJohn Hunyadi was able to reinforce or liberate the trapped half of the Serbian army, which would render the Ottomans to pillage and raze the rich southern part of the despotate with no resistance. The young voivode disobeyed the despot, and the invading Ottoman army coming from Macedonia was met by Skobaljić near Banja. The Serbs scored a decisive victory against the Ottoman army, employing guerrilla tactics.
Skobaljić continued his resistance against the Ottomans, operating in Southern Serbia and the Leskovac area, and scored another victory against the armies of the Sultan in theBattle of Kruševac with the help of John Hunyadi. The failure of his generals to beat the small army of Skobaljić renderedMehmed II to deal with the Serbian voivode personally.[1] He reinforced his armies and finally confronted Skobaljić on November 16, 1454, defeating his army at Tripolje (nearNovo Brdo), where Voivode Nikola was captured and executed via impalement.[2]