Battle of Saint Gotthard (1664) - Battle

Battle

Köprülü's army, which might have numbered 120-150,000, probably included some 60,000 Janissaries and sipahis, 60-90,000 azaps, akıncıs, silidars, tatars and vassals and allegedly 360 gun.

Montecuccoli's army consisted of Austrian, and German forces, Czech infantry, French brigades, approx. 2,000 Croatians, a Piedmontish regiment and few hundred Hungarians.

The Habsburg forces: 5,000 infantry (10 Battalions), 5,900 cavalry (27 escadrons), 10 guns
The Holy Roman forces: 6,200 infantry (6 Battalions), 1,200 cavalry (9 escadrons), 14 guns
The Rhine forces: 600 infantry (2 Battalions), 300 cavalry (4 escadrons)
The French forces: 3,500 infantry (4 Battalions), 1,750 cavalry (10 escadrons)
Other forces: 2,000 Croat cavalry (out of this a regiment), Hungarian foot soldiers in Szentgotthárd, and Esterházy, Batthyány and Nádasdy regiment's, Czech musketeers and the Italian (Piedmontish) infantry regiment (commander Marchese Pio de Savoya).

The Turks renewed their invasion in the spring of 1664. Montecuccoli was still waiting for help to arrive, and this delay was key to the defense of Austria. In July 1664 the Imperial forces were assembled and set out for the River Rába, which separated the Ottoman forces from the Austrian duchy itself. If the Turks were allowed to cross, they would threaten both Vienna and Graz. Montecuccoli intercepted the Turks before they crossed the river but the division of command made effective deployment of troops impossible. On 1 August 1664, Ottoman forces crossed the river near the monastery of Saint Gotthard and beat the Austrians back. Although initially plagued by disunity, Montecuccoli was finally able to convince Coligny and Leopold Wilhelm of Baden-Baden (commander of the Imperial detachment) to mass their forces and attack the Ottoman troops, who were reorganizing in a nearby forest. The attack surprised the Turks, who fled in confusion back to the river, a large number drowning. The confusion caused by the fleeing troops prevented Ahmed Köprülü (Vizier 1661-1676) from sending the rest of his army across the river and he instead retired from the field.

Ottoman casualties were heavy, significantly falling mostly on the elite corps of the army. Köprülü was left with an army of ill-trained irregulars and auxiliaries while Montecuccoli's casualties were light and mostly in the Imperial contingent. Despite the victory, the Austrians were still outnumbered nearly three to one.

In his work The Ottoman Centuries, Lord Kinross reported that the Turks took huge casualties from the French auxiliaries in the Austrian ranks. This was the first Ottoman experience at fighting soldiers using the musket in disciplined ranks. But the Turks, in their conservatism, were slow to adopt new economic, military, and social methods, and thus were becoming at this time gradually outclassed by their European opponents.