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The Battle of Karánsebes (Turkish: Şebeş Muharebesi; German: Rückzug von Karánsebes; Hungarian: Karánsebesi csata; Romanian: Bătălia de la Caransebeș) was a friendly fire incident in the Austrian army, occurring during the night of 21–22 September 1788, during the Austro-Turkish War of 1788–1791.

Some historians have referred to the battle as "history's worst friendly fire incident".|

Different portions of the Austrian army, which were scouting for forces of the Ottoman Empire, fired on one another by mistake, causing self-inflicted casualties and severely disrupting the Austrian baggage train, during the night of 21–22 September 1788. The Ottomans took advantage and captured the city of Karánsebes (now Caransebeș, Romania): On the march thither, the army was seized with a most unaccountable panic, believed themselves to be threatened by the enemy, fell into disorder, and mistook their own troops from the Sclavonian frontiers for enemies. A detailed account of the singular story of this night-march and its consequences does not appear to us to belong to the province of general history; it will, however, be found both authentic and complete in the Austrian Military Magazine of 1831.

Other sources include one from 1843, 60 years after the battle. This has made it difficult for some scholars to draw reliable sources and evidence for the detailed account of the battle. At a minimum, the mere fact of the Ottoman capture of the strategic location, without engaging the Austrians, and with Austrian losses reported in contemporary reports, does suggest some significant friendly fire incident by the Austrian forces.

The traditional narrative of the battle likely contains some exaggerations and embellishments to fill in the gaps in the history. The Austrian army, approximately 100,000 strong, was setting up camp around the town. Their vanguard, a contingent of hussars, crossed the Timiș River to scout for the presence of the Ottoman army. The hussars fled the scene, thinking that the Ottoman army's attack was imminent. Most of the infantry also ran away; the army comprised Austrians, Romanians, Serbs from the Military Frontier, Croats, and Italians from Lombardy, as well as other minorities, many of whom could not understand one another. As the hussars fled through the camps, a corps commander, General of Artillery Colloredo, thought that it was a cavalry charge by the Ottoman army and ordered artillery fire. Meanwhile, the entire camp awoke to the sound of battle. The panic caused by the incident demoralised the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II to the point that he ordered the army to withdraw. They discovered dead and wounded soldiers and easily took Karánsebes.

In determining losses, accounts of this incident do not distinguish between losses that were caused by friendly fire, those that were caused by the Turks, and those that resulted from pillaging by the Austrians or by the local Wallachians. One account states that the Austrian rear guard suffered 150 casualties. Another account states that in the days following the incident, 1,000 wounded men were taken to the fortress at Arad, 60 km (37 mi) north of Timișoara. In his account of the incident, Paul Bernard, author of a 1968 biography of the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, made an uncited claim that the friendly fire incident caused 10,000 casualties. Although tens of thousands of casualties occurred within the Austrians' ranks during the course of the 1788 campaign against the Turks, official Austrian reports state that the vast majority of the casualties were the result of disease, particularly malaria and dysentery.

History of the 1788 campaign of the imperial main army against the Turks (continuation)), Oestreichische militärische Zeitschrift (Austrian military journal), 4 : 58–70 (1831); see especially pp. Rückzug des kaiserlichen Heeres nach Lugos, September 1788." (IX. Retreat of the imperial army to Lugoj, September 1788.), pp.

Quick Facts

• Some historians have referred to the battle as "history's worst friendly fire incident".|
• The Ottomans took advantage and captured the city of Karánsebes (now Caransebeș, Romania):
• Different portions of the Austrian army, which were scouting for forces of the Ottoman Empire, fired on one another by mistake, causing self-inflicted casualties and severely disrupting the Austrian baggage train, during the night of 21–22 September 1788.
• They discovered dead and wounded soldiers and easily took Karánsebes.
• In his account of the incident, Paul Bernard, author of a 1968 biography of the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, made an uncited claim that the friendly fire incident caused 10,000 casualties.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Battle of Karánsebes". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.