SPAIN AND THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
Military clash of the two Mediterranean Empires of the Modern Age
The tense firing infantry weapons.
As shooting weapons, the Christians used arquebuses and the Turks, mostly, the compound bow.
This was used since many centuries ago by the Asian, Chinese, Hun, Mongol, and Turkmen peoples. The bow was short and sinuous in shape. When drawn by the archer, it took the shape of the convex arc with which is familiar to us. The increased tension produced by forcing back both ends of the bow, which were previously facing forwards, propelled the arrow with precision, power and a longer range of more than 130 ms.
The arcabusses and this was the same until the post-Napoleonic era with the muskets, had an efective range of less than 80 or 90 ms. So that in shooting the Turks had a qualitative and quantitative advantage. In addition, due to its shooting speed and the possibility of using piercing or poisoned arrows.
The only reason that justified the use of the arquebus, as a modern weapon, was that the archer’s training was constant, almost daily and intense. Asian nomads, tending their herds, had a lot of free time. And that the learning of the charge and the aim of the arquebus was much easier and permanent.
The deployments of the fleets.
The allied fleet occupied a linear front of more than 4 nautical miles. As usual, it had a main, central body, two wings and a reserve.
In the central body was the Royal, flanked to starboard by the pontifical captain, commanded by Marco Antonio Colonna and to port by the Venetian captain of Sebastián Veniero. At their sides sailed the other 61 galleys of the main body. This meant that there was no depth in his formation and that he could not, by himself, reiterate his effort against the enemy, being the main body of battle.
To starboard of the center sailed Juan Andrea Doria in command of 54 galleys and to his port side, the wing of Agustín Barbarigo, with 53 galleys.
The reserve, commanded by the Spaniard Álvaro de Bazán, sailed astern of the center and numbered 30 galleys. She will have a decisive role in the crises of the battle. The Christians, unlike the Turks, maintained a strong reserve in the hands of a capable and determined leader. Which is advisable, since it can resolve compromising situations and is one of the means of command to achieve the decision.
The 6 Venetian galleasses sailed ahead of the galley line, two for each corps.
La Real raised the blue banner of the Holy League, decorated with the crucified Christ, the Virgin of Guadalupe and the coats of arms of Spain, Venice and the Pope.
For the purposes of combat capability deployed at Lepanto, the two fleets were nearly evenly matched.
The Turks had 275 ships, including galleys and auxiliary galliots, compared to 208 Christian galleys. That difference was made up for by the larger Alliance artillery, with 1,215 guns compared to 750 Turkish pieces. And, the human forces were almost the same: 34 thousand Turkish soldiers and 31 thousand of the League; and 13,000 sailors and 45,000 Turkish rowers and 12,000 and 43,000, respectively, from the Alliance.
Of Spain’s 20,000 soldiers, just over 8,000 were native Spaniards and the others were Germans and Italians in the service of Spain.
The Turkish fleet had the same layout as the allied one. At first, she sailed in a crescent formation, bringing her wings forward for a threatening and unlikely overrun from the Christian wings. But, they rectified and adopted the linear deployment.
The Turkish center was directed by the Sultana of Ali Pachá and had another 87 galleys. Its port wing was led by Uluch Ali and had 61 galleys and 32 galliots. The starboard wing, commanded by Mohamed Sirocco, had 55 galleys. And, the reserve, weaker than the Christian one, led by Amarat Dragut, had only 8 galleys and 23 galliots. Her insignificance made her ineffective for solo action, and she would likely be incorporated into the main body.
The fight.
Around 11, the wind changed and began to blow from the west. The Turks had to lower sail and row their ships. The Christians hoisted sails and let their oarsmen rest.
The galleasses were advanced, aided by some galleys, and deployed half a nautical mile ahead of their fleet.
Around noon, the Turkish fleet reached the line of galleasses, which opened fire on it with their various guns. The Turks sailed undaunted towards the Christian galley line, unaffected by the fire directed at them. And, they were right in their tactic.
They were soon out of reach of the galleasses. With their fire they managed to sink two Turkish galleys. And they caused damage to still others, slightly disturbed the deployment of the Turkish line and supposedly caused more damage to Turkish morale. Some beautiful and unverifiable conjectures!
But, more than a fifth of the allied artillery remained stopped and useless for combat, there in the line of galleasses.
Already the fleets were facing each other, both sailing rapidly towards the encounter. The Turks opened fire somewhat early with their cannons, with the Christians out of range. And these waited until the Ottomans were within range and caused them unspecified damage.
Finally, both fleets rammed each other. The rams stuck into the enemy ships, the artillery shelled at point-blank range and the marksmen of both sides fired on their embarked enemies.
The spur of the Sultana penetrated to the fourth row of rowers of the Real. Both ships being hooked and forming a floating combat platform of more than 100 ms long and about 10 ms wide. At first, the Real received partial support from the two allied captains located on her sides. But, the Sultana received it from 6 galleys from her combat group. In this, the tactics of the Turk worked better.
For the rest of the line of fleets, the battle scheme was the same. The shooters caused casualties to their enemies and the infantry tried again and again to board and conquer the ship of their immediate rival.
A crisis.
Mohamed Sirocco managed to outrun Barbarigo‘s wing. Thanks to the greater expertise of its pilots, familiar with those Turkish coasts. So they girded to the maximum, to those, sliding.
A hard and bloody fight ensued. Barbarigo received an arrow in the eye, from which he would die shortly after. And, he relinquished command of the ship to his nephew, who would also pass away.
Álvaro de Bazán‘s reserve then intervened, cornered the Turks and attacked them convergently. Thus, he the decided partial combat for the Christians. Mohamed Sirocco was found dying in a corner of his galley and, to spare him suffering, he was finished off.
Second crisis.
Álvaro de Bazán, true fixer and achiever of the glorious day, regrouped his force and went to support the main body, where the fight was at its peak.
And, he attacked the Sultana and his combat group from the starboard side. The Partau Pachá galley and 2 more galleys also intervened at that time.
The soldiers of the embarked Tercios then launched into the third and final assault of the Sultana. And they snatched the green and embroidered banner of Ali Pachá. He himself perished fighting with his bow against the assailants. It was said that as a result of several shots from an arquebus.
The powerful and long cry of «Victoriaaa» (Victory) in the Sultana and the death of the admiral of the fleet, acted by spreading «shock waves» throughout the Turkish main body. With the cohesion, motivation and command of the central flotilla undone, it was time for the captains of their galleys.
Many captains tried to flee to Lepanto, to save what could be saved. Some were cut short by the Christian galleys. The rest gradually surrendered throughout the central body.
It was the exploitation of success.
Third crisis.
In the Christian right sector, Uluch Ali had managed to envelop Juan Andrea Doria‘s flotilla. He had tried to refuse his flank to the Turks. But, he only managed to isolate himself from the main battle.
Several Turkish galleys attacked him from the rear. Ten Venetian galleys, two of the Pope and two of auxiliary minions, were stormed and taken by the Turks. They put all the combatants and sailors to the sword, freeing the Turkish galley slaves.
In that, Álvaro de Bazán appeared to help Doria. Uluch Ali was now, in turn, surrounded by the remaining ships of Doria and by the mass of galleys from the Christian reserve. In addition, in the distance appeared a reinforcement of the central body, which had already defeated the Turks in its sector and which came to the aid.
Uluch Ali chose to cast off the 8 captured galleys, which he had in tow, and flee to Lepanto. Bazán tried direct pursuit, without the overflowing, but gave up. Because his rowers, sailors and his soldiers were exhausted with the interventions made that day.
By 4 in the afternoon it was all over.
Results.
The victorious Christian fleet had captured 130 enemy ships in different states of preservation (117 galleys and 13 galliots). Another 94 Turkish galleys had sunk and 33 ships managed to escape to Lepanto. Here, Uluch Ali set them on fire, to prevent them from being captured by the Christians.
Of Juan de Austria‘s fleet, 12 or 15 galleys had sunk and almost twice as many were so damaged (including the Royal one), that they were scrapped when they reached a safe port.
The resulting casualties were very high, as was normal in combat between galleys. Where, once started, it was almost impossible to get away and retire. And, between Christians and Turks, mercy did not exist.
The Christians had 10,000 dead, of which 2,500 were later as a result of wounds and many by poisoned arrows and 21,000 wounded.
The Turks had 30 thousand dead and 8 thousand prisoners. There is talk of drowning, without more. And 15,000 Christian galley slaves were freed.
It gives an idea of the precision of the data that we use the unit of thousands.
That night, with their most damaged prizes and own ships in tow, the Allied fleet docked at Petala.
Significance of the battle.
The Christians won a major tactical and operational victory at Lepanto. The dissolution of the Holy League in 1573 left strategic victory in Turkish hands. Because they ran out of explicit and determined rivals.
On March 7, 1573, the Venetians made a separate peace with the Turks, without considering their allies. Just a month later, the deal was made public.
In Naples, where he was then, Don Juan of Austria lowered the blue banner of the League and hoisted the flag of Spain.
Cyprus was not recaptured by the Venetians. A nation formed by a group of merchants, whose interest was material gain.
The Turks did not take long to recover from the blow received. Around 2 years after Lepanto, the fleet had been remade. A previous attempt, in a hurry and with little sense, using green wood, failed miserably.
4 years latter, they invaded and occupied Tunisia. By 10 years latter, they were already at war against Persia, at the other end of the Ottoman Empire. The interest of the Sublime Porte was no longer in the Mediterranean.
But, they continued their insidious work by land, to occupy territories in the southeast of the Germanic Roman Empire. Stopped only for their two failed attacks on Vienna.
It is worth by now, assessing the effort of Spain in the triumph of the Holy League. We saw that Spain contributed 80% of the men. The ability and skill of Álvaro de Bazán and his flotilla of Spanish galleys changed the fighting fortunes of both christians wings in the battle.
And, his intervention in the central body led to the final stake of the Tercios. That they were supported by Bazán’s flank attack on the Sultana’s combat group. And the infantry of the Tercios was the elite force of the League.
For all these reasons, we can give at least 90% to Spain’s contribution to the League’s military effort.
Spanish Intention.
As always, «our thoughts went to the destruction of Ottoman pride and arrogance», according to Cervantes.