Fourth Battle of Shipka Pass
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| Russo-Turkish War, 1877-1878 |
|---|
| Kizil-Tepe – Simnitza – Svistov – Nikopol – 1st Shipka Pass – 2nd Shipka Pass – Lovcha – 3rd Shipka Pass – Gorni-Dubnik – Kars – Pleven – Tashkessen – 4th Shipka Pass – Plovdiv |
The Fourth Battle of Shipka Pass from January 5–9 was the final battle for Shipka Pass and a crushing Russian victory during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878.
Background
In December, 1877 the fortress of Pleven surrendered to the Russian Army, freeing up a significant amount of Russian reinforcements. General Joseph Vladimirovich Gourko now had an army of up to 6,500 soldiers to move about contending with the Turkish forces. First Gourko forced the Araba Konak Pass and took Sofia. From Sofia, he moved south through the Balkan Mountains to cut off the Turkish army fronting Shipka Pass.The battle
General Radezky, commanding the garrison, made preparations to attack from the pass on January 5 while Gourko brought up two columns under Generals Mikhail Skobelev and Nikolai Mirskii to cut off the Turkish retreat. On January 8, Radezky's attack began but Skobelev was held up by unsuspectedly heavy resistance and Mirskii attacked unsupported, making little progress. On January 9, Mirskii suffered a Turkish counterattack, but Skobelev was able to move forward in support and defeat the Turks. Completely surrounded, the remaining Turks under Vassil Pasha surrendered the same day.Results
The battles for Shipka Pass were over. Russian forces under Gourko were able to crush Suleiman Pasha's army at the Battle of Plovdiv several days later and threaten Constantinople.See also
Sources
- http://www.russianwarrior.com/STMMain.htm?1877_militaryhist.htm&1
- http://members.aol.com/balkandave/shipka.htm
- http://abvg.net/Shipka/
- Compton's Home Library: Battles of the World CD-ROM
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