Battle of Valea Albă
The Battle of Valea Albă, also known as the Battle of Războieni or the Battle of Akdere, was an important event in the medieval history of Moldavia. It took place at Războieni, also known as Valea Albă, on 26 July 1476, between the Moldavian army of Stephen the Great and an invading Ottoman army which was commanded personally by Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror.
Background
In 1475 the Ottoman's attempt to bring Moldavia under their control, at winter by using an army of Rumelian local levies, ended disastrously with a defeat in the Battle of Vaslui. During the proper military campaign season, the Ottomans assembled a large army, estimated by contemporary western sources at about 90,000–150,000 soldiers, under the command of Sultan Mehmed II and entered Moldavia in June 1476.Dennis Deletant and Keith Hitchins regard these numbers as accurate, but according to Kármán Gábor, these sources are undoubtedly exaggerated, the fact that the first 100,000-strong army in Ottoman military history was formed during the reign of Selim II and that Ottoman military records kept at the time of the war recorded that the army was close to 30,000 shows that western sources give exaggerated numbers.
Meanwhile, groups of Tartars from the Crimean Khanate were sent to attack Moldavia. According to Dennis Deletant and Keith Hitchins, they were repelled. But according to Shaw Stanford that joint Ottoman and Crimean Tatar forces "occupied Bessarabia and took Akkerman, gaining control of the southern mouth of the Danube. Stephan tried to avoid open battle with the Ottomans by following a scorched-earth policy." In the process the Moldavians forces ended up being dispersed throughout the country, leaving only a small force of about 10,000–12,000 men, led by Stephen himself, to face the main Ottoman attack.
Battle
First of all, Moldavia possessed a geography that was unsuitable for classical forms of warfare. Covered with forests and swamps, it did not allow the application of conventional infantry and cavalry formations, tactics, and techniques. Moreover, the transport and effective use of heavy weapons and equipment—artillery in particular—was extremely difficult. The enemy avoided conventional battles and instead made use of the terrain and popular support, employing unconventional warfare tactics and techniques. The Ottoman army was unable to force the enemy into a decisive pitched battle, nor was there any major city or fortress whose capture could compel the enemy to surrender or seek peace. Moldavia also lacked the resources necessary to sustain a large army. Even worse, the empire’s famed logistical system could provide only limited support in this land, which lacked proper roads and clear routes.After advancing across Moldavian territory for about forty days, Mehmed II was unable to locate Stephen. Had it not been for the supplies provided by the Ottoman fleet on the Danube, the Turkish army would have found itself in a very difficult situation. Stephen, deeming it unwise to confront the Ottoman army directly, instead seized opportunities to ambush and destroy small Ottoman detachments whenever possible.
Finally, on 26 July 1476, Stephen was forced to fight when he found himself surrounded on all sides in the White Valley, near Cetatea Neamțului. Stephen attacked the forces of Hadım Süleyman Pasha, who were advancing as the vanguard. Süleyman Pasha mounted his horse and countered the attack. In this way, Mehmed was able to force his opponent into battle through the deployment of his corps formation. Stephen sought to defeat Süleyman Pasha and compel him to withdraw; however, Mehmed II continuously fed small units into the battlefield. When Mehmed II finally arrived on the field with his main army, Stephen was forced to withdraw to a fortified position.
With the 20,000 men under his command, Stephen anchored his rear against a forested hill at this position. He fortified his front and flanks by digging trenches or entrenchments known as peçine, constructed defensive works from trees and wagons, placed horses in front of these defenses, and positioned his artillery at the very front. The Moldavian army also included auxiliary contingents of selected Polish and Hungarian soldiers.
The Moldavians poured cannon fire, gunfire, arrows, and crossbow bolts onto the Turkish army and defended their position fiercely. Since the ground on which the Turkish troops stood was somewhat lower, many of the cannonballs passed over the soldiers’ heads. Nevertheless, as the area was heavily forested and enclosed on all sides, it was not easy to advance. Under the enemy’s artillery fire, the Janissaries took cover and began lying face down on the ground. Thereupon, Mehmed II reprimanded the Janissary Agha, Mehmed Agha, and then personally charged forward with his shield. Seeing their sultan advance, the Janissaries took heart and rose from where they had taken cover to launch an attack. Mehmed Agha, however, had been unable to achieve this.
When the Janissaries reached a very wide but shallow watercourse, they encountered Moldavian troops positioned on the opposite bank. Mehmed II engaged these forces in combat. He then left the Janissaries, brought up the cavalry units positioned to the rear, and launched another attack against the Moldavian forces holding the river line, driving them back. However, the Ottomans suffered some losses, including Zachia di Longo. Mehmed II then turned toward the hill held personally by Stephen, where Süleyman Pasha was already engaged in combat.
However, the Ottoman troops were unable to break through Stephen’s defensive fortifications. Finally, the forces under the command of Gedik Ahmed Pasha opened a breach on the Moldavian front and charged through it, after which the Janissaries under the command of Mehmed Agha overcame the obstacles before them and attacked the enemy. The sultan moved constantly within the army, running from one side to the other. As darkness fell, the Moldavians were exhausted and began to flee. From that point on, the battle took on a one-sided character: the Turks continued to strike while the Moldavians steadily diminished. In Moldavia, no force remained capable of resisting the occupation by Turkish troops. Stephen managed to escape with only a few men, but many of his commanders were captured and his camp was plundered. Mehmed II ordered the execution of 7,000–8,000 captured prisoners.
Stephen narrowly escaped the fate of Tomašević, who bore the same name.
Here, some exaggerated figures are given regarding the Ottomans. The claim that Mehmed II lost 30,000 soldiers in this battle is certainly an exaggeration; even a figure as high as 3,000 is doubtful. Likewise, it would have been impossible for either Süleyman Pasha or Mehmed II to have dispatched armies numbering one hundred thousand men to Moldavia.
Aftermath
Stephen retreated into the north-western part of Moldavia or even into the Polish Kingdom and began forming another army.The Ottomans captured considerable parts of Moldavian territory but were unable to conquer some of the major Moldavian strongholds such as Suceava, Neamț, and Hotin and were constantly harassed by small-scale Moldavians attacks. Soon they were also confronted with starvation, a situation made worse by an outbreak of the plague.
Meanwhile, anti-Ottoman forces were being assembled in Transylvania under Stephen V Báthory's command. Confronted with this army and with Stephen's counterattack, after failing to conquer Neamț Citadel the Ottomans retreated from major parts of Moldavia in August 1476 to come back again in 1480.