Battle of Grocka 1739

Claymore 2026

The Battle of Grocka was fought on 22 July 1739, and was the decisive battle of the Austro-Ottoman War 1737-39. Grocka is on the Danube, south-east of Belgrade, and was part of Habsburg Serbia.

The Austrian Danube flotilla spotted the Ottoman field army at Smederevo, east of Belgrade, on 21 July, along with a strong force near the village of Grocka. After consulting his generals, the Austrian commander, Wallis, decided to take the cavalry to Grocka to dislodge them (a six-hour march), ordering General Neipperg’s detached corps to join them, supported by the infantry. He hoped to dislodge the Ottoman advance guard before their main army arrived and dug in. They travelled along a road parallel to the Danube and entered a narrow defile that opened onto an area with two vineyard-clad hills. The road then passed through the village. The Grand Vizier had anticipated this advance and moved his entire army to Grocka. By 22 July 1739, he had constructed defences on the hills facing the defile and could fire down on the road.

At dawn, the Austrian cavalry charged through the defile, led by the Palffy Cuirassiers and supported by the Savoy Dragoons, under heavy fire from the Ottoman troops, while other Ottoman units tried to cut them off. The cavalry suffered heavy casualties, but the cuirassiers, if not the dragoons, held on until the infantry, 18 companies of Austrian and Bavarian grenadiers, came to their rescue.  One of the wounded was the Earl of Crawford, who was with the Austrian army. While the grenadiers stabilised the position, the Ottomans now occupied the heights above the pass, enabling them to pour fire on the trapped Austrians, including Wallis. Hildburghausen, commanding the supporting infantry, deployed three brigades and attacked the heights, driving the Ottoman forces away. He then brought his artillery forward, enabling the cavalry to withdraw. The infantry held off the Ottomans for the rest of the day, with both sides suffering heavy losses.

Some generals encouraged Wallis to pursue the Ottomans down the Danube, although others argued that their cavalry was useless in this terrain, tired and lacking forage.  However, Wallis, having been in the thick of the fighting, decided the Ottomans were too strong. He therefore ordered the army back to Belgrade, with the cavalry acting as a rearguard. In the subsequent peace negotiations, the Austrians abandoned Belgrade to the Ottomans along with most of their previous gains in Serbia and Wallachia.

The battle will be refought in 28mm, using mostly Front Rank figures for the Austrians. The Ottomans come from a variety of ranges. The rules are Lust for Glory, which we are playtesting for the author Simon Miller. The final rules may be available by the time of Claymore.