Battle of Vukovar (Napoleonic Age)

The Battle of Vukovar was the only major battle of the Balkan War involving the Austrian Empire. Fought over three days from 19 to 21 July 1852, the battle began as part of an Austrian counteroffensive, led by Field Marshal Ferenc Gyulay, to oust the invading Ottoman army under Field Marshal Omar Pasha. A series of maneuver battles, culminating in a final three-hour fight just outside the city itself, resulted in the capitulation of a large portion of the Austrian army. With the Ottoman army thus poised to invade Austria almost unopposed – the Empire had been given a quota of only about 110,000 men, and thus more had not been mobilized – the Austrian Empire sued for peace in the subsequent Treaty of Vukovar, forcing them out of the war just one year into the conflict. It is regarded as Omar Pasha's greatest tactical victory, and close comparisons have since been drawn by historians to the Ulm Campaign of 1805.