| Battle of Varvarin | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theFirst Serbian Uprising | |||||||
 Fortress from battle of Varvarin in 1810 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Ottoman Empire | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
 First Serbian Army |  Ottoman Army | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 3,000 men[2][note 1] | 12,000 men[2] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Very heavy[3] | ||||||
TheBattle of Varvarin (Serbian Cyrillic:Варваринска битка) was fought on 5 September 1810 between Serbian Revolutionary forces supported by Russian troops and Ottoman forces nearVarvarin, at the time part of theOttoman Empire, (todaySerbia).[2] During the 10-hour battle, the Turkish army unsuccessfully attacked the Russians and Serbs, but was never able to push them out of their positions, retreating in the evening with heavy casualties.
After their costlydefence of Niš in May 1809, the Ottoman army launched a new expedition in Serbia decided to quell the rebellion.[2]Khurshid Pasha and anOttoman army of 12,000 advanced againstKara George and 3,000 Serbians and Russians to the northwest at Varvarin.[2]
TheRussian detachment sent in support was intercepted by Khurshid Pasha on open ground nearJasika at Varvarin, but the Russiansquare led by Irish-born Russian GeneralJoseph O’Rourke proved impenetrable;[2] the Serbians, who had been held in reserve at the outset of the battle were then let byKarageorge on the exhausted Turks defeating them. Khurshid Pasha withdrew his remaining troops back to the camp behind Varvarin, and on the 13th withdrew throughKruševac toNiš.[4]
Anothervictory at Loznica a month later drove the Turks out of Serbia,[2] but following theBucharest peace treaty of 1812, Russia halted the war against Turkey, and the Serbs were left to face the Ottoman Empire on their own.
A statue to Joseph O'Rourke, as well as a monument to the fallen participants of the battle, was erected in 1910 on the centenary of the victory and unveiled byKing Peter I of Serbia.In 2010 a ceremony took place marking the 200 years of the Battle on the Varvarin, in presence of the Serbian minister of defenseDragan Šutanovac and of the Ambassador of Russia.[5]
