Environs de Belgrade.

Fine detailed manuscript plan of the Siege of Belgrade of 1717, during the Austro-Venetian-Ottoman War of 1714-18. It shows the fortifications of Belgrade, the lines of investment of the Austrian army, and the Austrian camp.

On 21st May 1717, Prince Eugene advanced on Belgrade with about 70,000 men, reinforced by 6,000 Bavarian and other Austrian troops stationed in the Banat, in total about 100,000 men, while the Ottoman defenders in Belgrade numbered some 30,000 men. In addition, he was supported by the Danube flotilla, consisting of about fifty boats of various types and ten naval vessels armed with light artillery.

The siege began in June; Eugene encircled the city, with his main siege force placed between the rivers Sava and Danube, where the main assault was intended, with his troops beginning siege trenches. However, a Ottoman relief force was sent, allegedly of some 200,000 men, arriving at the end of July, and requiring the Austrians to construct new trenches to protect their rear. Instead of attacking, the Ottomans dug their own trenches, bottling up the Austrians who were in turn besieged; their situation became critical, their strength greatly reduced by casualties and dysentery.

Fortune swung in favour of the Austrians when a mortar shell exploded in Belgrade, destroying a magazine and killing some 3,000 Ottomans. Seizing the opportunity, Eugene decided on a bold attack to attempt to break out of the siege: a last throw of the dice. Initially the Austrians fared well, but a gap opened in the centre of their line, into which Ottoman troops poured. The situation was saved only by a last ditch counterattack by the Austrian cavalry, which broke the Ottoman army. The battle was won; Ottoman casualties were estimated at 20,000 dead, but in the rout they lost a considerable amount of materiel: artillery, wagons, ammunition and so on.

When the scale of the victory became apparent, the Ottoman defenders surrendered Belgrade in return for free passage. The twin successes are one of the high points of Eugene's glittering military career.

Manuscript hand-coloured plan, size : 66.8 cm x 49.7 cm.