9-11-1683. The breaking of the Siege of Vienna, the ride of the winged Hussars

Siege of vienna

Sabaton-Winged HussarsGreat Song about it




If you don’t like stories that rhyme, just stop here and read the wiki. A bit drier but better details, raw numbers and less…artistic license.


Vienna, 1683


Starving soldiers staring out, from the crumbling breastworks,
All across a bloody field, stood the cannons of the Turks,
Janissaries in their caps, stretching in an endless line,
Sappers dig beneath the earth, to breach the ancient walls with mines,

Ottomans aligned against, defenders of the Holy League,
Running out of all supplies, two months now they’d been besieged,
To take the jewel on the Black Sea, was the Grand Vizier’s desire,
Failed in 1529, this time brought, foul cannon fire,

In Vienna, it was 1683,
And the odds about as grim as they could be,
Protected by her walls for centuries and more,
Threatened to fall as dragon’s breath into them tore,
And the besieged had eaten through the beef and horse,
Down to the dogs and cats and rats for their main course,

A plea to heaven,
On Nine Eleven,


One hundred fifty thousand Turks, against the city were arrayed,
Her defenders, weak and hungry, were outnumbered and afraid,
Amongst the thunder of gunpowder, two Empires risk it all,
All of Christendom at stake, if they break, the rest, surely fall,

60 days besieged had gone, under bursting cannon flame,
Cries for help sent out above, but still no relief had came,
With each skirmish claiming more, Viennese died by the score,
Far away their cries were heard, Pole and Cossack rode for war,

Out of the mountains and down through the hills,
Well the Hussars they rode, wings echoed through the rills,
Though outnumbered now they came,
Armed with gun and lance and sword,
18,000 mounted men, towards Vienna and the horde,

In Vienna, it was 1683,
And the odds about as grim as they could be,
That September brave defenders found relief,
When the Turkmen broke into a full retreat,
The Vizier strangled later with a silken cloth,
For failing to withstand brave Sobieski’s wroth,

As sieges go, this one stands out in history,
Broke in Vienna, in September,
So let every man remember,
What occurred in SIxteen Eighty Three, A.D.


Fascinating story, the whole thing

So the Viennese had counter sappers that would dig their own tunnels, to try to cut off the tunnels of the advancing ottoman sappers. And when two tunnels met they would battle in the dark.

The whole story is a fascinating one.
The besieged city was on the verge of surrender
They had almost run out of food,

First they ate the cows,
Then the pigs and the sheep,
Then the horses, then the cats,
Then the rats within the keep.