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Battle of Tahtalu/Užice
Part of Ottoman-Hungarian Wars
Uzice Fortress
Date 1458, Autumn Location Serbia, Užice Result Ottoman victory There was no power left to protect Serbia from the Ottomans.
Belligerents
Ottoman Empire	Kingdom of Hungary
Commanders and leaders
Mahmud Pasha Mehmed II (strategic coordinator)	Matthias Corvinus(Uncertain, doubtful?)
Strength
Unknown	Unknown

The Battle of Tahtalu/Užice was a land battle that took place between the forces of the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in 1458.

Background

Following turmoil in the Serbian Despotate after the deaths of the Serbian rulers Đurađ Branković on 24 December 1456 and his successor Lazar Branković (who swore allegiance to Mehmed II in 1457) on 20 February 1458, Mehmed decided to send an army under the command of the Grand Vizier Mahmud Pasha to Serbia while he was campaigning in the Peloponnese. Mahmud Pasha added Güzelcehisar, Sivricehisar (Ostrvica), Böğürdelen (Šabac), and Rudnik to Ottoman lands. The Ottoman army would continue its conquests and capture Güvercinlik (Golubac) in mid-August. Mahmud then conducted a raid north of the Danube into the Kingdom of Hungary. Following this, the Grand Vizier came to Skopje and met with Mehmed II, who had returned from the Peloponnese Expedition.

Battle

During the meeting between Mahmud Pasha and the Sultan, reports were received about a Hungarian army (led by Matthias Corvinus according to some Ottoman sources) assembling near the Danube to launch an offensive on Ottoman lands. The Hungarians waited until the onset of autumn (when a part of the Ottoman forces would annually disband following the end of the summer campaign season) to launch their offensive, a tactic commonly employed by John Hunyadi. The Pasha and Mehmed the Conqueror ensured that some units were kept under arms instead of being disbanded in case the Hungarian army attacked before winter set in after the Ottomans withdrew.

During autumn, the Hungarian army under the command of Corvinus crossed the Danube near Belgrade and entered Ottoman lands in Serbia. The Ottoman troops in the region were ordered to report on the invading army's activities and location. The invaders soon marched on the Ottoman castle of Tahtalu (near Drvengrad) in the Mokra Gora - Užice region and began to plunder the surrounding areas.

In the course of their plundering, the Hungarian troops spread out over a large area, not expecting the presence of Ottoman troops in the region. This caused them to lose contact with each other, which enabled the local Ottoman forces to ambush them. The Hungarian army suffered heavy casualties and was forced to retreat back to Hungary. Following the victory, during which a significant number of Hungarian troops and commanders had been captured as prisoners, the local Ottoman troops were disbanded as was customary. Mehmed and Veli Mahmud Pasha then returned to Edirne in December 1458.

Aftermath

The Battle of Tahtalu, although not a military engagement directly won by the main Ottoman army, was a significant development in the history of the Despotate of Serbia, as it paved the way for the Despotate's annexation by the Ottoman Empire the following year. Since Helena, the Despotess of Serbia and the widow of Lazar Branković, did not want the Orthodox Serbian people to be under the command of Catholic Hungarians, she handed Smederevo Castle to the Ottomans in 1459, bringing the Serbian Despotate to an end.

References

1. İnalcık, Halil. Kuruluş dönemi Osmanlı Sultanları (in Turkish). p. 170.
2. ^ Tansel, Selahattin (1953). Osmanlı Kaynaklarına Göre Fatih Sultan Mehmed'in Askerî Faaliyetleri [Mehmed the Conqueror's Political and Military Activity per Ottoman Sources] (in Turkish). Türk Tarih Kurumu. pp. 130–132. ISBN 9789751610812.
3. Stavrides, Theoharis (2021). The Sultan of Vezirs: The Life and Times of the Ottoman Grand Vezir Mahmud Pasha Angelovic (1453-1474). p. s.123–125.
4. İnalcık, Halil (2021). Kuruluş Dönemi Osmanlı Sultanları. p. 195.
5. ^ Setton, Kenneth M. (1989). A History of the Crusades Volume VI. University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 323–325. ISBN 0-299-10740-X.
6. Freely, John (2009). The Grand Turk: Sultan Mehmed II. The Overlook Press. ISBN 978-1-590-20449-8. ...but Mahmut Pasha advised him to keep his men under arms because he had learned that the Hungarians were preparing to attack them. News then arrived that a Hungarian force had attacked an Ottoman fortress at Tahtalu, where they were routed by the Turkish defenders. Only then did Mehmet demobilise his army, after which he returned to Edirne to spend the winter at Edirne Sarayı... The fall of Smederova led all the smaller fortresses of northern Serbia to surrender as well. By the end of 1459 all of Serbia was under Mehmet's control
7. ^ Aşıkpaşazade, Ahmed (2003). Yavuz, Kemal (ed.). Osmanoğulları'nın Tarihi [Aşıkpaşazade's History of the Ottomans] (in Turkish). K Kitaplığı. pp. 228–229. ISBN 975-296-043-X.
8. "MEHMED II". TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (in Turkish). Retrieved 2023-09-16.

• 1450s in the Ottoman Empire
• Conflicts in 1458
• 15th century in the Ottoman Empire
• Military history of Serbia
• Battles involving Hungary
• 15th century in Hungary
• Battles involving the Ottoman Empire
• Battles of Mehmed the Conqueror
• Battles of the Ottoman–Hungarian Wars
• 1458 in Europe