Siege of Silistra

Victorious sally by the Turkish garrison of Silistria

Date	March–June, 1854
Location	Silistra
Result	Ottoman victory

Belligerents

Ottoman Empire

Russian Empire

Commanders and leaders

Musa Hulusi Pasha
Omar Pasha

Field Marshal Ivan Paskevich
Prince Mikhail Gorchakov

Strength

18,000

45,000–up to 90,000
266 cannons

The Siege of Silistra took place during the Crimean War. In this action, Russian forces besieged the Ottoman fortress of Silistra. While initially successful, the Russians were forced after several weeks to abandon the siege and retreat due to political pressure.

This battle took place during the Danube campaign of the Crimean War. In the spring of 1854, following the winter lull in campaigning, the Russians determined to advance into Ottoman territory. In the east an army numbering 45,000 under General A. N. Luders crossed the border from Bessarabia into Dobruja to occupy various strong points there. By the beginning of April the Russians were at the site of Trajan's Wall, 30 miles east of Silistra. Meanwhile, the central force under Prince Mikhail Gorchakov had crossed the river and had advanced to lay siege to Silistra itself. At Silistra an Ottoman force of 20,000 was encamped in the town, which was heavily fortified.

In 1854 Silistra was fortified with an inner citadel and a ring of ten outer forts. By May the garrison in the citadel itself numbered 12,000, while outside there was a mobile army maintaining contact and supply routes.

On 5 April the vanguard of the Russian force under General K. A. Schilder arrived at the fortress and commenced building entrenchments. However, they were unable to completely surround the town, and the Ottoman forces were able to keep the garrison supplied. On 22 April Field Marshal Prince Ivan Paskevich, the commander of all Russian forces, arrived to take charge of the siege.

By May, reinforcements arrived to the Ottomans, increasing the number of their troops to 18,000, and the bombardment of the town started in earnest. On 28 May a key outwork, the heavily fortified fort of Arab Tabia, was assaulted and briefly captured, but the attackers were left without support and were ordered to withdraw, losing 700 or 933 men in total, including General Dmitriy Selvan, who was mortally wounded in the assault. Official Ottoman proclamations announced that the Turkish losses were 189 men. Musa Pasha, a Turkish commander, was among the dead.

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