Janissary Handguns?

With the 500 year anniversary of the Battle of Mohács looming what better time to add some more firepower to my collection of early 16th century janissaries. In a previous post, which you can read here: https://camisado1500s.blogspot.com/2020/05/early-16th-century-janissaries.html, I discussed some of the issues encountered whilst trying to represent how these famed infantry may have looked in the early 16th century. When it comes to their gunpowder weapons it seems there are further issues as the janissaries in the early 16th century carried two different types of hand held firearm. Before we get to the figures I thought it would be interesting to have a look at how handguns were key to the Janissary corps in this period.

The Hungarian defeat at Mohács has always fascinated me and in my search for more information on the battle I recently read "The Battle of Mohács, 1526" which is an interdisciplinary study of the battle and the battlefield edited by Norbert Pap. Roughly speaking a third of the book did not really interest me, especially the section that deals with the overall landscape of the battlefield, a third was interesting but did not relate directly to the kind of thing we focus on as wargamers, whilst a third was packed full of fascinating details on the composition of the armies and the accounts of the battle. I would not recommend buying a copy as it is published by Brill and as such very expensive but if you can get a library copy I would highly recommend it. What also provided lots of useful information was "On the Verge of a New Era. The Armies of Europe at the Time of the Battle of Mohács" which can be downloaded for free from here: https://www.academia.edu/91840792/On_the_Verge_of_a_New_Era_The_Armies_of_Europe_at_the_Time_of_the_Battle_of_Moh%C3%A1cs.
Most of the information that follows has come from these two books.

Janissary Handguns

By the 1526 campaign that ended with the defeat of the Hungarian army at Mohács the Janissary corps of the Ottoman army had fully adopted firearms as part of their arsenal and were skilled in their use. The defeat of the Safavid's at the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514 was largely due to the Ottoman artillery and their deployment of thousands of janissaries armed with gunpowder weapons. As the Ottoman household troops, or Kapikulu Corps, were extremely well organised surviving records provide a wealth of information as to how many gunpowder weapons were taken on particular campaigns. Pál Fodor in his chapter "The Military Organization and army of the Ottoman Empire (1500–1530)" from "On the Verge of a New Era. The Armies of Europe at the Time of the Battle of Mohács" states that for the 1522 siege of Rhodes the Janissaries took "1,000 long-barrelled handguns (with 1,000 stands and 150,000 balls), 4,500 short barrelled handguns (with 4,800,000 balls), powder horns for 2,160 short-barrelled and 1,008 long-barrelled handguns". For Mohács in 1526 the household took "4,000 handguns (only 1,000 of good quality), 60 long-barrelled handguns, 3,000,000 balls for handguns, 4,000 powder horns, 105.8 tonnes of gunpowder for cannons, 7.7 tonnes of gunpowder for matchlock guns, 30,000 field cannonballs". Clearly the Janissaries used a variety of firearms with the majority being smaller handguns whilst also using heavier long barrelled guns, some of which required stands to be fired from, probably to fit onto warwagons or to snipe at the walls during sieges. 

From the inventories listed above it is clear that the handguns used by the Janissary corps were standardised in some way. Norbert Pap, Pál Fodor, and Máté Kitanic's chapter on Ottoman Turkish Handguns in "The Battle of Mohács, 1526" explains that a central gunsmith's workshop was established by Bayezid II at the beginning of the 16th century with the help of western European craftsmen. Until the mid-16th century this workshop was at the Ottoman palace in Istanbul when it was then moved to a dedicated gun workshop that had its own harbour. The workshop supplied all of the Janissary corps guns, including those who garrisoned various fortresses throughout the empire. The two types of infantry guns were the shorter handgun or harci tüfek which had a barrel somewhere between 88-92cm long and the longer handgun or has tüfek which had a barrel 110-115cm long. The chapter on Ottoman Turkish Handguns states "According to the usual tactics, the task of the cavalry was to lure the enemy in front of the artillery and the janissaries in the centre by executing very precise manoeuvres. The field guns fired first, followed by the janissaries firing volleys, with the larger longer-barrelled handguns in the front rank, and then, as the enemy came closer, the smaller, shorter-barrelled guns from the rear ranks". There was also the larger metris tüfeği with a barrel around 130-160cm in length which could be used from warwagons or field positions. Unfortunately it seems very few of these handguns from the first half of the sixteenth century have survived with most of those now in Istanbul dating from the later 16th century through to the 18th century.

Whilst the records of the Kapikulu corps give us a very clear indication of the Ottoman commitment to gunpowder surviving accounts of the Battle of Mohács, both Christian and Muslim, give a similar indication of the importance they played in the battle. English translations of these accounts can be found in the chapter on Ottoman Turkish Handguns referred to above. Knowing they were heavily outnumbered by the Ottoman army the Hungarians attempted to attack the Sultan's force before it was fully deployed. Despite the unexpected nature of the Hungarian attack the Ottoman's still managed to execute their tactic of luring the Christian heavy cavalry into the range of their guns which wrought havoc on the heavily armoured horsemen. 

The contemporary Ottoman chronicler Kemalpaşazâde wrote: "The wicked king who appeared on the battlefield, clad from head to foot in steel, with the devilish and evil-natured wretches with him, whose rising dust clouds covered east and west and with the world conquering banner of the clear-minded pasha in his sights, he rushed straight to the centre of the invincible army, and, ignoring the shower of cannonballs and gun bullets, he charged with his cavalry, which poured like a torrent, unafraid. His whole mass rushed at once upon the janissaries... When he came close to the gun carriages, the handgunners, emitting a cloud of smoke, threw their bullets skywards as if it were hailing, and thus withered the flowers of the evil enemy's life...The shower of bullets, falling like hail on the enemy, against which neither helmet, nor armour, nor shield could serve as protection, tore the leaves and fruit from the tree of the evildoer's useless life; their fearful masses were scattered like a scattering of stubble, and the grain of their perishable life was let loose to the winds of destruction".

The campaign diary of 1526,which records the day to day events leading up to the battle stated: "The evildoer king and the rest of his desperate army attacked the felicitous ruler and the Anatolian army. Three or four times in all the Janissary corps, with gun fire, stopped, beat and drove back the despicable infidels. At last, by the grace of God the most high and the Prophet, and with the help of the hidden saints, the people of Islam, aroused and rallying their strength, turned back the wicked, and when they had no strength to attack again, they cut them down like dogs. It was a battle and slaughter so fierce that it cannot be described".

A slightly later account by Celâlzâde Mustafa Çelebi, the Tabakātü’l-Memâlik, from the late 1550s or early 1560s implies how well trained the janissary handgunners were, firing their guns in disciplined volleys which the charging Hungarians had to evade. This the Hungarians did successfully only to then be attacked from behind once they had ridden around the gun carriages: "Now the Muslims fired the zarbuzans (light or medium Ottoman guns), and the gunners fired their handguns row by row, filling the air with smoke and shaking the earth with thunder. The cries of the Muslims "Allahu Akbar!" and "Allah, Allah!" reached the highest sky, and the infidels, who were destined for hellfire, made the world noisy with their wonderful shouts. As soon as the damned infidels reached this place, they saw the gun carriages and the matchlockmen stood before them like a fort that could not be breached; they therefore, out of necessity, evaded the gun carriages, and at the sixth sub-provinces troops on the left of the pasha's sancak, near which the line of carriages ended, they rushed the Rumelian troops, the army retreating on two sides to give way to the miserable infidels. As soon as they had penetrated into the space between the battle line and the camp baggage, the warriors of faith took the miserable infidels from two sides in the back, and a very hard fight ensued".

İbrahim Peçevi's 17th century account of the battle tells a similar tale of how one of the Hungarian commanders, Pál Tomori, archbishop of Kalocsa, attempted to penetrate the Ottoman warwagons and guns "This damned infidel put a few thousand of the accursed enemy in line, and they were arrayed and came like a herd of swine, all wounded by arrows. There was no obstacle before them; heedless of the chained cannonballs of the zarbzens (light or medium Ottoman guns) standing before the battle-lines of the grand vizier, of his own soldiers fallen by gun bullets, and of the cadavers of the horses, he cut in front of the zarbzens, and at the end, perhaps where the ranks of the infantry were, he found at last a gap and a breach, through which he penetrated, and cut the army of Islam in two and separated them...". Peçevi's account also describes the difficulty the Hungarian King, Louis II, had in trying to break the lines of janissaries "From this side, the evildoer king himself attacked the Anatolian army with his troops but the latter relied on the battle line of janissaries. The janissary ghazis poured down upon them with their guns, and the followers and selected soldiers of the accursed fell into the dust of destruction at that place".

Christian sources from the Hungarian army paint an equally harrowing picture of the heavy cavalry's destruction in the face of the Ottoman firepower. The scholar and chronicler István Brodarics, who was present at the battle and managed to escape wrote "A true account of the battle of the Hungarians with the Turks at Mohács" in which he describes the Hungarian attack which pushed back the Ottoman cavalry, the sipahis, and how they were lured in front of the Ottoman guns "When the signal of battle was given, those who were in the front ranks bravely charged the enemy, firing all our guns, but to the slight detriment of the enemy. The battle was much fiercer than our numbers would indicate; more of the enemy fell than of our own, until at length, fighting with terrible violence, the enemy began to retreat, either to be worn down by our charge, or to draw us before the guns. And already András Báthori is flying to the king, that the enemy is turning back , that victory is ours, that it is our turn to advance, and that we should support our own men who are pursuing the routed enemy". 

Brodarics continues to describe how, when the king advanced the Ottomans opened fire with their guns causing some of the Hungarian cavalry to flee "So we ran through the trenches and bushes, but when we reached the place where the battle had been fought a little while before, you could see the bodies of many of our men lying strewn across the field, and of still more of the enemy, and some of them half dead and barely panting. Meanwhile, while our men were confronting the enemy and bravely taking up the fight, and the king's column was at the same time galloping forward as fast as armoured men can gallop, the right wing began to sway, and from this wing many were running, frightened, I think by the cannons which the enemy then began to fire for the first time, and this running and the thick impact of the cannon-balls, which were now flying round our heads, who were standing by the king's side, filled everyone with no little fear". The devastating impact of the guns of the heavy cavalry was reported in a letter from a Czech noble which stated "When the knights in armour arrived, the Turks fired with handguns a few more shots at them: they fired straight into the king's men, causing great damage".

Whilst these accounts illustrate how effective the Ottoman cannons and handguns were against the Hungarian cavalry it seems they played and equally decisive role in the destruction of the infantry once the cavalry had fled. It is sobering to think that as far as we know none of the infantry in the Hungarian army survived the battle. As the surviving cavalry attempted to escape a core of Czech and landsknecht infantry formed a square from which they effectively held off the surrounding Ottoman horsemen. This stalemate was resolved when the janissary handgunners were redeployed to fire into the square thus breaking the infantry who were then slaughtered. A couple of weeks after the battle, on 15 September 1526, the Venetian diplomat Agostino da Mula wrote "Although six or eight thousand Bohemians and landsknechts retreated in a square, and were not broken by the Turkish cavalry, a good banderium of handgunners attacked them and they were killed instantly, as were the others".

Early 16th century janissary handgunners.

28mm Janissary handgunners.

Early 16th century janissaries with handguns.

So from the above it is clear that the janissaries made very effective use of two types of handgun, three if you include the larger metris tüfeği which seemed to be something akin to the hook- or wall-guns that western European armies used from fixed positions. The question is how do we show these in 28mm? A few manufacturers make janissaries with firearms for the 17th century but I feel these always look out of place in an early 16th century army. The other issue is that while we have the approximate lengths of the two standardised infantry handguns that were used it is unclear exactly what they looked like.

Based on the above I decided to mix some old Essex Miniatures handgunners that carry quite short handguns with janissary figures from The Assault Group who I have armed with 28mm handguns and calivers also from The Assault Group. I had previously painted up a unit of twelve janissaries like this and whilst I wasn't keen on doing this again I couldn't think of an alternative. The Assault Group figures have all had the plumes from their caps, known as the "ak börk", removed as I feel this makes them more suitable for the battlefield instead of the parade ground. It would have been great to have had some teams using the larger metris tüfeği guns from stands but at present no manufacturers make anything that is really suitable. I suppose some of the warwagons, as shown below, have larger guns in them and for now these will have to stand in for the heavier guns.

So are these figures accurate? Probably not but at least they are clearly armed with shorter handguns which don't look like muskets. I would have liked to have more clearly demarcated between the two types of infantry handgun, the "harci tüfek" and the "has tüfek" and perhaps in the future if I find a suitable handgun miniature for the slightly longer "has tüfek" I will add some janissaries armed with these to the collection. The majority of the firearms were the shorter barrelled handguns and it is these that I have tried to represent with the figures available.

In the three photos above you can see the new miniatures in their uniformed blocks of twelve whilst the photos below show the new figures with the janissary archers, warwagons and Ottoman lighter guns or "zarbuzans/zarbzens" as the sources call them. Now I need to think of a way to attempt to do justice to the Battle of Mohács on the tabletop!

"Three or four times in all the Janissary corps, with gun fire, stopped, beat and drove back the despicable infidels"

"When the knights in armour arrived, the Turks fired with handguns a few more shots at them: they fired straight into the king's men, causing great damage"

28mm Ottoman janissaries and warwagons.

"Now the Muslims fired the zarbuzans, and the gunners fired their handguns row by row, filling the air with smoke and shaking the earth with thunder.

"As soon as the damned infidels reached this place, they saw the gun carriages and the matchlockmen stood before them like a fort that could not be breached"

The janissary handgunners and archers ready to rain arrows and shot on the enemy.

The fortified position of the Janissary corps.

"the infidels suffered a defeat of such magnitude that it cannot even be described", the Siege of Žrnov, April-May 1515

Last weekend one of my re-enactment friends, Phil, joined me for an off season catch up and a wargame. We thought it would be fun to refight a clash that took place just south of Belgrade in 1515. Much of what we know about the clash that took place outside Žrnov is taken from a letter written by Prince Suleiman, before he was Sultan, and can be found in the appendix to this article about one of the battles protagonists, Yahyapaşaoğlu Bali Bey, https://www.academia.edu/40391429/Wolf_on_the_Border_Yahyapa%C5%9Fao%C4%9Flu_Bali_Bey_1527_. I would recommend giving it a read as it really helps to capture the flavour of this period and the clashes that took place along the border between the Kingdom of Hungary and the Ottoman Empire.

We wanted the game to look like a big battle yet not take all day so the scenario we played did not have many units but we used lots of figures to represent each unit. This gave a suitably large scale look but meant we could finish our game in under three hours. As you will see things did not go the way of the historical battle!

"They shot it with their cannons from several places and opened gaps". The walls of Žrnov have been battered by the Hungarian artillery.

 "the depraved infidels marched against the fortress called Havale and surrounded it". The Hungarian camp before the walls of Žrnov known to the Ottomans as Havale.

The Ottoman garrison of Žrnov look out from the walls of the fortress hoping to see the arrival of a relief army.

The Siege of Žrnov, April-May 1515

The location of Serbia's "Monument to the Unknown Hero" on the top of the Avala Mountain, lying to the south of Belgrade, was once the site of the medieval fortress of Žrnov. It first fell to the Ottomans in 1442 but having been returned to the Serbs following the Peace of Szeged, in 1444, it was then recaptured in 1458. Being so close to Belgrade the Ottomans had used the fort as a counter to the city and it had become a stronghold from which they could disrupt communications with Šabac, which lay downstream from Belgrade on the Sava river.

Following the Hungarian defeat at the battle of Mohacs in 1526 John Zápolya would become a contender to the Hungarian throne (see https://camisado1500s.blogspot.com/2021/08/tarcal-1527.html and https://camisado1500s.blogspot.com/2024/02/szina-1528.html) but prior to this he was key to the defence of Hungary's contested border with the Ottomans. Zápolya was made voevode of Transylvania by the Hungarian King, Vladislaus, in November 1510. It was in this role with the aid of some of the local nobility and bans, these being the military governors of the Hungarian Kingdom's outlying territories, that Zápolya led an army to besiege Žrnov in the spring of 1515. In his excellent "From Nicopolis to Mohács: A History of Ottoman-Hungarian Warfare, 1389-1526", Tamás Pálosfalvi states "At the end of April the voevode, István Bátori, the bans of Belgrade (Imre Török and Mihály Paksi), that of Šabac (Gáspár Paksi), and some of the southern lords such as the Jakšić and the Szakolyi entered Ottoman territory “with a good number of troops,” and laid siege to the castle of Žrnov". 

It seems Zápolya thought that the regional Ottoman forces were engaged in a campaign in Bosnia, indeed some of them had launched an attack to the south west which would result in the Ottomans occupying the castles of Bočac and Kotor in May 1515, and because of this he paid little regard to the idea that they would attempt to relieve Žrnov. Zápolya and his army were thus caught by surprise when the Ottoman Sanjakbey of Semendire, Yahyapaşaoğlu Bali Bey, led an army drawn from troops in Rumelia to relieve the fortress. Zápolya and his forces bombarded the walls of Žrnov and the defenders of the fortress feared it would fall to an assault. In a letter that no lesser a figure than Suleiman the Magnificent himself, at the time Prince Suleiman as he was not yet Sultan, wrote to the pashas of the imperial council based on Yahyapaşaoğlu Bali Bey’s reports Suleiman stated (translated to English):

"The sancakbeyis were just about to have the sipahi and akıncı troops march to Semendire when the depraved infidels marched against the fortress called Havale (Žrnov) and surrounded it. They shot it with their cannons from several places and opened gaps. Before the other sancakbeyis could join Bali Bey, the servants of your eminences, sancakbeyis Mesih of Vidin, Ahmed of Alacahisar, Kasım of Prizren and Hacı of İzvornik arrived there and held a council. They planned to await the other beys and together they would take up the fight against the infidels. However, the defenders of Havale then sent a messenger down from the aforenamed fortress and informed the beys that if they did not arrive there by the next day, then – since they had no more men and they had no strength to fight – an assault would be launched against the fortress."

With no time to spare Yahyapaşaoğlu Bali Bey could not await the arrival of further reinforcements and so an assault was made on the Hungarian siege lines. The Ottoman infantry attacked the Hungarian infantry and siege guns whilst the Sanjakbey's cavalry attacked the Hungarian cavalry who counter charged out of the Hungarian camp. Prince Suleiman's report describes the action, although I think we can take the "20,000 armored cavalry" from the Hungarian camp as an exaggeration: 

"The sancakbeyis, the servants of your eminences, disregarding the dearth of people of Islam and the multitude of infidels and asking incessantly for divine mercy and for the help of the holy spirit of his holiness the prophet – may his name be glorified! – and knowing that the exalted support and superior power of the padishah, the refuge of the world, were with them, placed alongside the close relatives of the aforenamed Bali Bey, the servants of your eminences, the ziamet-holder Bali and Rüstem, the azab ağası and beşlü ağası and in addition the most valiant and brave soldiers of Semendire, who as infantrymen attacked the foot soldiers standing alongside the cannons of the infidels positioned below the fortress and dispersed them. The sancakbeyis arrived in their tracks and assailed the camp of the infidels. As they began to fight, around 20,000 armoured cavalry rushed out from the camp of the infidels and an enormous battle took place from morning until afternoon. The infidel cavalry could not hold out, again withdrew to the camp and for a while fought from there. Finally, the multitude of flags bearing the sign of divine assistance and the deterrent spectacle of the heroes who enjoyed the abundant and miraculous support of the saints threw fear into the cavalry and the infantry of the infidels and unable to resist the effort of the fighters for the faith, they surrendered their camp."

Prince Suleiman's report continues to describe how the defeated Hungarians were chased back to Belgrade with many being killed, becoming "the food of the steely, shining sword" whilst others were captured and imprisoned. The brothers Mihály and Gáspár Paksi, being the bans of Belgrade and Szabács, were both killed whilst 600-700 wagons and all the Hungarian artillery and siege equipment was captured. Zápolya, who Suleiman describes as "The accursed known as the ban of Transylvania" managed to escape the disaster:

"Then through the mercy and support of God in the prosperous days of his majesty the sovereign, the army of the infidels scattered and much of it became the food of the steely, shining sword, while those infidels who escaped the saber were placed in shackles and locked in the fortress. The infidels left behind 600–700 camp wagons, all of their shields, cannons, flags, and tents as well as their other military equipment and instruments and, defeated and hopeless, took to their heels. Our fighters for the faith raised the flag of victorious Islam and assailed the infidels all the way until Belgrade, taking the heads of the ban of Belgrade Mihály Paksi and the ban of Szabács. The accursed known as the ban of Transylvania managed to escape with a few thousand infidels and gathering all his strength fled to the fortress of Belgrade. During the prosperous time of his majesty the padishah –the shadow of Allah on earth – the infidels suffered a defeat of such magnitude that it cannot even be described."

Once Belgrade fell to the Ottomans in 1521 (https://camisado1500s.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-siege-of-belgrade-1521.html) Žrnov would loose its strategic importance. Yahyapaşaoğlu Bali Bey and his akinji would play a key role in the Battle of Mohacs in 1526, whilst John Zápolya, who did not fight at Mohacs, would become king of eastern Hungary after his clashes with Ferdinand of Hapsburg following that same fateful Hungarian defeat in 1526.

A view of the table with the walls of Žrnov at the top and the camp of John Zápolya on the left with his army deployed in front. On the right is the Rumelian army of Yahyapaşaoğlu Bali Bey.

A view of the Hungarian army deployed below the siege guns.

John Zápolya hastily leads the Hungarian army out the camp to the face the Ottoman threat.

Scenario

Phil is much more a re-enactor and fan of late medieval history than a wargamer so the game was played out as a straightforward battle with victory going to the first player to halve the opponents army. If this happened to both players on the same turn then the game would be a draw.

We used a modified version of Lion Rampant for the rules but with much bigger units as described above. Although the figure count was higher each cavalry unit still counted as 6 figures and each infantry unit as 12 figures. The battle took place in front of the Hungarian camp and siege lines. Following the description of events in Prince Suleiman's letter each player had to deploy their infantry forces opposing one another beneath the Hungarian guns and the cavalry forces in front of the Hungarian Camp facing one another.

The Armies

John Zápolya, voevode of Transylvania, and the Hungarian besieging army

1 Unit of Gendarmes (Includes retinue leader John Zápolya, voevode of Transylvania)

1 Unit of Men at Arms (Under command of István Bátori, Count of Temesvár)

2 Units of Hussars

1 Unit of Balkan Cavalry

1 Unit of Pavise Infantry with crossbows

2 Units of Pavise Infantry with arquebuses

Yahyapaşaoğlu Bali Bey, Sanjakbey of Semendire, and the Ottoman relief army

1 Unit of Delis (Includes retinue leader Yahyapaşaoğlu Bali Bey, Sanjakbey of Semendire)

3 Units of Sipahis

3 Units of Akinji

1 Unit of Voynuks

1 Unit of Azab Infantry

1 Unit of Azab Archers

This was a fairly quick game so there are as many photos of the initial set up as of the battle itself! As always the captions below the photos are a good way to follow the action and a brief write up of events also follows.

John Zápolya, the "accursed known as the ban of Transylvania" and his gendarmes take up position behind the hussars.

Another unit of hussars emerges from the camp.

István Bátori (Stephen VII Báthory) prepares his men at arms.

The Ottoman akinji and sipahis arrive in front of the Hungarian camp.

"The sancakbeyis arrived in their tracks and assailed the camp of the infidels."

The two forces face each other below the walls of Žrnov.

Yahyapaşaoğlu Bali Bey, Sanjakbey of Semendire, takes up position behind the Rumelian sipahis and voynuk infantry.

The Ottoman infantry and cavalry prepare to attack.

Bali Bey's army moves first, charging the Hungarians.

István Bátori, Count of Temesvár, leads a thunderous charge into the akinji on the Ottoman left flank and scatters them.

At Zápolya's command the Hungarians begin to push forward.

"As they began to fight, around 20,000 armoured cavalry rushed out from the camp of the infidels and an enormous battle took place from morning until afternoon."

A wall of Hungarian infantry advances. They are well protected from the Ottoman arrows by their pavises.

To the sound of booming drums the Rumelian army of the Sanjakbey of Semendire, Yahyapaşaoğlu Bali Bey, emerged before the walls of the beleaguered fortress of Žrnov. The alarm sounded in the Hungarian camp and John Zápolya's army quickly prepared for battle as it became clear that the camp was under attack. Some of the akinji of Bali Bey's army rode forward trying to draw the Hungarian cavalry from out of their fortified camp so they could be defeated in the open. Initially the akinji succeeded and a unit of hussars were drawn out and quickly defeated. Eager to avenge their countrymen the men at arms under István Bátori, Count of Temesvár, then gave chase. The speed of the men at arms took the akinji by surprise and they were caught by the armoured cavalry as they attempted to evade them. István Bátori's men rode straight through the foremost unit of akinji, sending them in flight from the battlefield.

István Bátori and his men were now surrounded by Ottoman cavalry and it looked as if they would be quickly overwhelmed. Under Bátori's wolf’s teeth and dragon banner his men at arms held firm and took the fight to the centre of Bali Bey's left flank. In the series of fierce cavalry melees that followed some of Bátori's men fell but they succeeded in driving all of Bali Beys akinji from the field. The left flank of the Ottoman army had been broken by the heroic charge of one unit of men at arms!

Bali Bey's forces continue to advance.

The skirmishing attacks of the akinji have broken one of the units of hussars. To avenge them István Bátori charges into the attacking akinji...

...who fail to evade him and are defeated. Bátori's cavalry then crash into yet more akinji causing chaos on the Ottoman left flank.

Bali Bey's left flank crumbles as István Bátori's men at arms charge into the Ottoman lines. 

Closer to the castle walls the voynuks are subjected to a rain of bolts from the Hungarian infantry. The morale of the voynuks fails and they flee the battlefield.

The rest of the Ottoman infantry then face a hail of shot and bolts from the Hungarian lines.

Zápolya's infantry push forward as the Ottomans start to be driven back.

István Bátori and his men regroup having defeated three units of akinji.

Whilst a vicious cavalry battle raged on the Ottoman left flank the Hungarians advanced on Bali Bey's infantry on the Ottoman right. Under the cover of their pavises the Hungarian infantry, protecting their gun battery which continued to bombard the walls of Žrnov, advanced to within range of the voynuks and azabs who faced them. Coming under a withering rain of crossbow bolts the heavily armoured voynuks advanced on Zápolya's infantry confident that they could reach them and drive them from the field. 

As the voynuks advanced they suffered more casualties despite their armour. The voynuks nerve failed and they fled. At the same time, having initially had some morale issues themselves, the Hungarian arquebusiers advanced to within range of the azabs and opened fire. The azabs fell back attempting to avoid the hail of shot but this only encouraged the Hungarians to advance. The azabs were driven from the field and the Ottoman right flank collapsed. In the centre of the Ottoman lines Bali Bey, surrounded by his sipahis and delis realised all was lost. His troops were still fresh but so was the Hungarian centre. John Zápolya, the "accursed known as the ban of Transylvania", and his gendarmes had yet to even leave the cover of their camp. The relief of Žrnov had failed and Bali Bey withdrew, leaving the garrison to it fate. 

Thanks to the heroic charge of István Bátori the Hungarian army did not become "the food of the steely, shining sword" and did not suffer "a defeat of such magnitude that it cannot even be described"!

Things are not looking good for Bali Bey and his Rumelian army!

The Ottoman infantry continue to be driven back by bolts and shot from the Hungarian infantry...

...and the whole of the Ottoman attack has been stalled.

Having lost too many of his men in the attack Bali Bey breaks off his attempt to relieve Žrnov. He abandon's the field leaving the garrison of Žrnov to their fate.

This game made for a fun morning and, much to Phil's amusement, a total defeat for my Ottomans! Phil lost one unit of men at arms whilst all my akinji and my best infantry were quickly sent fleeing from the field. My plan had been to avoid the Hungarian infantry and draw the Hungarian cavalry out into a fight where my skirmishers and sipahis, all armed with bows, would be able to defeat them. I did not count on István Bátori's men at arms charging in and completely destroying my left flank as my akinji kept failing to evade! Phil was also quick to realise that he could advance the Hungarian infantry and slowly degrade my opposing infantry with his crossbowmen and arquebusiers.

We felt the plan to use big units but a low unit count to fight a quicker game worked really well. The table looked suitably dramatic whilst the game was manageable although had my army not crumbled so quickly it could have gone on for a bit longer. Of course Phil and I felt we had to bring a touch of re-enactment to the wargame and as Phil has a pavise and crossbow we couldn't refight this battle without a photo of the "generals" taking up position in the Hungarian infantry line!

The "generals" take up position behind a pavise and prepare to defend themselves with spear and crossbow!

John Corvinus and the relief of Jajce, November 1501

This weekend my friend Tom visited and we continued our Ottoman Hungarian series of games with another battle set around the beleaguered town of Jajce. Last year we played a game based on one of the town's dramatic rescues from its besiegers that took place in 1502, https://camisado1500s.blogspot.com/2024/04/because-without-that-nothing-is-done.html. For this game we jumped back a year to 1501 for what turned out to be a far more savage tabletop clash!

John Corvinus and the 1501 relief of Jajce

In the late 15th century the town of Jajce, former capital of the Kingdom of Bosnia, played a key role in the defence of Hungary's southern border. Lying at the confluence of the Pliva and Vrbas rivers, in modern day Bosnia-Herzegovina, it was one of a chain of forts that ran from Klis through Knin, Jajce, Srebrenik, Šabac, Zemun, Belgrade, Szentlászlóvár, Orșova and Severin. During the early decades of the 16th century Jajce would come under repeated Ottoman attack with one such attack taking place in September 1501 when the Sanjak-bey of Bosnia, İskender Pasha Mihaloğlu, besieged the town with 12,000 men. The relief attempt fell to the Ban of Croatia, Ban being the Hungarian title for the military governors of the Kingdom's outlying territories. In the autumn of 1501 this position was held by the illegitimate son of Matthias Corvinus, John Corvinus.

Being only 17 when his father died in April 1490 John Corvinus had been duped into relinquishing any possible claim he had to his father's crown on the understanding that he would be made King of Bosnia. Far from being given a Royal title John Corvinus was then pursued by an army led by his father's commanders, Stephen Báthory and Pál Kinizsi, who with the support of John's step mother, Beatrice of Naples, were determined to destroy any claim the young Corvinus had to the Hungarian throne. On 4 July 1490 John Corvinus and his supporters were caught by the army of Báthory and Kinizsi and defeated at the Battle of Bonefield or Bonehill. Following his defeat Corvinus paid homage to the new Hungarian King, Vladislaus II, and by the 1490s was assisting him in the defence of Hungary's southern border as Ban of Croatia. 

In order to face the Ottomans besieging Jajce Corvinus led an army comprised of royal troops under Emerik Cobor, two hundred heavy cavalry, two detachments of infantry sent by Palatine Petar Gereb and contingents of troops from the Croatian noblemen of the Karlovići, Frankopan and Zrinski families. Corvinus led this army towards Jajce reaching the beleaguered town at the start of November 1501. The late 19th early 20th century Croatian Historian Vjekoslav Klaić described the ensuing battle as follows in his "History of the Croats" (translated from Croatian)

"The Turks, however, camped under the city, went to meet the ban and suddenly fell upon him. Surprised by the Turkish onslaught, the ban deployed his troops in a quadrangle and engaged in battle, prepared to either win or die. The battle lasted several hours, and ended with a Christian victory. The Turks were forced to flee, and took refuge in the nearby mountains and gorges. But the ban's troops pursued them, and either killed and captured them, or drove them into a river, where they drowned. Then the ban attacked the Turkish camp, and seized everything he found in it; he sent heavy cannons from it to the city of Jajce. Up to 4,000 Turks were killed in the battle; but there were also about 1,000 dead and wounded from the ban's army."

A view of the table. The Hungarian relief army under John Corvinus, Ban of Croatia, is in the foreground with the Bosnian Ottoman infantry deployed in front of their siege works in the middle of the photo. The Ottoman cavalry under İskender Pasha Mihaloğlu, Sanjak-bey of Bosnia, will attack from one of the sides of the table from turn one onwards. The Ottoman guns that the Hungarians need to reach can be seen on an earthwork in the top centre of the photo, behind the Ottoman infantry.

The Scenario

The game was played across the length of the table as shown in the photo above. At the start of the game the Hungarian army deployed in a square at one end of the table with the infantry in the centre and cavalry in the front and on the wings. At the other end of the table, in front of their siege lines, the Ottoman infantry were deployed. The Ottoman cavalry did not start on the table. As always we used our heavily modified version of Lion Rampant to play the game with each army being divided into two retinues. One of cavalry and one of infantry.

The Ottoman cavalry could enter from turn one. On the first turn they arrived the Ottoman player diced for which side of the table they would arrive from, 1-3 being the Hungarian right and 4-6 the Hungarian left. The Ottoman cavalry could then arrive via move activations from the side of the table that was rolled. The Ottoman cavalry could only enter via the central 48" of the table edge.

Activation Fails

Each turn both players took 5 cards from a deck. Any King, Queen or Jack cards from the 5 they took could be used to get a reroll on an activation fail for that turn for either of their retinues. At the end of the turn all unused cards were put in a discard pile. Once the deck ran out a fresh deck was used for the reroll cards. Any blunders automatically ended the retinue's turn and the King, Queen or Jack cards could not be used to reroll these.

Victory

The Bosnian Ottoman player would win as soon as both of the Hungarian commanders, John Corvinus and Emerik Cobor were killed or routed. The Hungarian player would win as soon as they could move a unit into contact with the Ottoman guns (see the photo below) and they remained in that position for a full turn.

The Bosnian Ottoman siege lines. The Hungarians must reach the Ottoman guns shown above to achieve victory.

War wagons protect the Ottoman guns from sallies by the defenders.

A view from the walls of Jajce as the Hungarian and Croatian relief column arrives behind the Ottoman siege lines.

The Armies

Tom chose to take control of the Hungarians and Croatians under John Corvinus so I took control of the forces of the the Sanjak-bey of Bosnia.

John Corvinus, Ban of Croatia, and the Hungarian relief army

The Cavalry under John Corvinus, Ban of Croatia

2 Units of Men at Arms (One contains John Corvinus, Ban of Croatia - retinue leader)

4 Units of Hussars

4 Units of Balkan Cavalry

The Hungarian Infantry under Emerik Cobor

1 Unit of Foot Knights (Contains Emerik Cobor - retinue leader)

2 Units of Pavise Infantry with Crossbows

2 Units of Pavise Infantry with Arquebuses

2 Units of Balkan Archers

1 Unit of Halberdiers

İskender Pasha Mihaloğlu, Sanjak-bey of Bosnia, and the army of Ottoman Bosnia

İskender Pasha Mihaloğlu, Sanjak-bey of Bosnia, and the Bosnian Ottoman cavalry

2 Units of Delis (One contains İskender Pasha Mihaloğlu, the Sanjak-bey of Bosnia - retinue leader) 

4 Units of Akinji

6 Units of Sipahis

The Bosnian Ottoman infantry

1 Unit of Dismounted Sipahis (contains the retinue leader)

2 Units of Voynuks

1 Unit of Azabs with Handguns

3 Units of Azab Archers

3 Units of Azab Infantry

This was an epic table top clash that took all day to game. A brief write up follows and as always the captions under the photos are a good way to follow the action.

As Corvinus's forces close in on the besieged town the Ottoman infantry begin to skirmish with the Hungarian light cavalry.

The Ottoman cavalry emerge from the woodland onto the Hungarian left.

A fierce cavalry melee develops with Ottoman sipahis and akinji fighting Hungarian and Croatian hussars and light horse.

John Corvinus, under his raven banner, looks on as his hussars attack the Bosnian Ottoman horse.

On the Hungarian right flank the light cavalry skirmish with the Ottoman infantry.

The cavalry melee continues...

...with both sides taking heavy casualties in the running battle.

Hussars and sipahis come to blows on the Hungarian left flank.

Despite coming under sustained attack Corvinus's relief column continues to advance.

The Hussars and sipahis engage in a fight to the death.

An overview of the field as the battle develops.

As John Corvinus neared the walls of Jajce he saw the Ottomans deployed ahead and formed his army into a square. His light cavalry rode at the head of the relief column and were met by skirmishing attacks from the infantry positioned around the Ottoman siege works. These brief skirmishes at the head of the column were merely a sideshow to the main Ottoman attack which immediately came out of the woodland on the relief column's left flank.

A cavalry melee developed as the akinji and sipahis battled against Hungarian and Croatian hussars and light cavalry. The hussars were particularly fearless leading repeated charges into the sipahis and driving them back from the relief column. Amidst the dust and the chaos of the fighting it was hard to see which side held the advantage.

A unit of hussars charge into a unit of Bosnian sipahis.

Whilst Corvinus's left is heavily engaged on his right his cavalry surge forward in an attempt to break into the Ottoman siege lines.

For a moment it looks like the Hungarian cavalry on the right will make it through.

The Hungarian infantry hold the centre of the battlefield as fighting rages around them.

John Corvinus looks on, yet to commit his men at arms to the fighting.

On the Hungarian right the Frankopan men at arms along with hussars and light cavalry have been driven back.

As the Hungarian infantry send a hail of shot and crossbow bolts into the Ottoman cavalry...

...John Corvinus leads his men at arms in a charge into the remaining sipahis.

Supported by more hussars Corvinus and his men at arms engage with the Ottoman cavalry and a fierce melee ensues. 

With the cavalry battle in full swing on the Hungarian left flank the cavalry on the Hungarian right made a push for the siege lines around Jajce in an attempt to capture the Ottoman siege guns. For a moment it looked like the momentum of their attack would allow them to break through but as they raced forward the Ottoman infantry brought many of them down with handguns and bows whilst redeploying to block any path to the guns. In the face of this the cavalry's morale waivered and the Hungarian horsemen reeled back.

At the same time the Hungarian and Croatian infantry under the command of Emerik Cobor moved forward to support their left flank, their arquebuses and crossbows helping to drive back the mass of Ottoman horsemen. Up until now John Corvinus, surrounded by his men at arms under his raven banner, had been watching the fight develop but now he added the weight of his heavy horse to the cavalry melee and charged in to drive back the sipahis.

A view from the Ottoman siege works as the battle continues.

The Ottoman artillery crews panic as it looks like the Hungarians may break through.

Croatian men at arms of the Frankopan family are fired at by Ottoman handgunners.

The defenders of Jajce look on from the town walls.

There is fighting all across the battlefield.

The Hungarian infantry maintain their discipline and hold firm despite the chaotic fighting taking place all around.

With their infantry looking on the Frankopan men at arms repeatedly attack the Ottoman siege lines...

...only to be driven back each time.

John Corvinus has been in the thick of the fighting on the Ottoman left flank...

...but he is finally unhorsed and killed in the swirling cavalry fight.

The defenders of the walls of Jajce and the Ottoman gunners in the siege works looked on as a pitched battle developed outside the besieged town. The Ottomans continued to push their cavalry attack with unit after unit of sipahis riding into the fray only to be brought down by the Hungarian men at arms and hussars or the shot and crossbow bolts of the Hungarian and Croatian infantry. In the centre the men at arms of the Frankopan family made charge after charge against the Ottoman siege lines but they took heavy losses and could not break the Ottoman infantry.

As the battle hung in the balance the Hungarians suffered a major blow. In the thick of the fight John Corvinus was brought down. As his raven banner fell some of the Hungarian and Croatian horse fled but the infantry remained steadfast and held their ground.

 

Ottoman reinforcements arrive from along the siege lines as their cavalry begin to flee.

Corvinus may be dead but the Hungarian infantry have maintained their discipline and held fast.

With many of the Ottoman horsemen fleeing , İskender Pasha Mihaloğlu arrives with his delis bodyguards and attempts to rally his troops.

The voynuks, supported by irregular infantry, attack the Hungarian infantry.

Voynuks crash into the Hungarian and Croatian pavise infantry...

...but the voynuks are driven back as are the azabs who follow them into the fight.

In command of the royal Hungarian contingent of the relief force Emerik Cobor enters the melee.

With most of their cavalry killed or having fled the Hungarian and Croatian infantry grimly held their ground. They poured crossbow bolts and arquebus shot into the Ottomans driving off many of the akinji and sipahis. It was now that the Bosnian Ottoman infantry went on the offensive and charged into the ranks of Hungarians and Croatians but still the Kingdom of Hungary's men stood firm, driving back the Ottomans and their Balkan auxiliaries.

Furious at their stubborn defence the Sanjak-bey of Bosnia, İskender Pasha Mihaloğlu, led his fierce delis in a charge against the Hungarian infantry but he too was driven back. If they could maintain their discipline and fend off the Ottoman charges, which were getting weaker and weaker, it looked as though Emerik Cobor and his pavise armed troops would be able to break through the siege lines.

An infantry battle has now developed in front on the beleaguered town.

In the bottom left a unit of akinji attacks the pavisiers from the rear... 

...whilst İskender Pasha Mihaloğlu leads his delis to attack them from the front.

Emerik Cobor engages in one on one combat with the captain of the Ottoman infantry and kills him in the brief duel.

Moments later the Sanjak-bey of Bosnia, İskender Pasha Mihaloğlu, is also slain as his delis charge another unit of Hungarian infantry and are driven off in a bloody fight.

As the fighting continued Emerik Cobor led his mean from the front. With a personal bodyguard of dismounted men at arms he drove the Ottoman infantry back. Cobor engaged in personal combat with the captain of the Ottoman infantry and a cheer went up from the Hungarian ranks as the Ottoman captain was slain by Cobor. Enraged by this İskender Pasha Mihaloğlu led his delis in another charge, only to be brought down and killed in the bloody fighting. Now it was Ottoman morale that severely faltered and for a moment the fighting seemed to pause as both sides had fought themselves to a standstill.

The pause was only momentary and as the fighting continued Ottoman numbers counted against the Hungarian and Croatian infantry, many of them being cut down as they attempted to break through to Jajce. Despite his heroism Emerik Cobor was slain as the dismounted sipahis ,whose captain Cobor had killed minutes earlier, took their revenge. The relief army of John Corvinus had failed to relieve Jajce. It had been a Prryhic victory for the Bosnian Ottomans with their Sanjak-bey having been killed and their army sustaining terrible casualties in the battle.

Despite the loss of the Ottoman leadership it is too late for the relief column. A unit of dismounted Bosnian sipahis defeat a unit of Hungarian infantry...

...before reaching Emerik Cobor. In vengeance for the death of their captain the sipahis kill Cobor. It has been an extremely bloody battle with high casualties on both sides but the Bosnian Ottomans have won a Pyrrhic victory.

This was a close game that hung in the balance for most of the day as our two armies traded blows. The Ottoman cavalry attack looked spectacular on the field, this being the first time I have used all of the sipahis on the table. Tom, as ever, was a great opponent with his infantry defiantly holding the centre of the field against my Ottomans. No matter what was thrown at them it seemed they would never break. The write up doesn't mention it but Tom rolled an incredible amount of double 1's for his activations, with some really bad consequences, and we joked that this may have just cost him the game. It was so close otherwise.

Whilst Tom and I will focus on another theatre for our next game we are certainly not done with Jajce yet. There is still Petar Berislavić's relief of the town in the snows of January 1518 to game, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relief_of_Jajce_(1518), as well as the heroic relief of the town by Christoph Frankopan in 1525, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christoph_Frankopan. If these prove to be half as dramatic as this game they will be worth doing!