Wayback Wednesday: Night Attack at Târgoviște 1462

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The Night Attack Targoviste Image One
Artist: Theodor Aman
The Battle With Torches
Image Credit: Wikipedia & Wikimedia

Five hundred, fifty-eight years ago, today…

The Night Attack at Târgoviște (Romanian: Atacul de noapte de la Târgoviște, Turkish: Tirgovişte Baskını) was a battle fought between forces of Vlad III Țepeș (Vlad the Impaler or Vlad Dracula), Prince of Wallachia and Sultan Mehmed II (Mehmed the Conqueror) of the Ottoman Empire on […] June 17, 1462.

Vlad the Impaler Image Two
Anonymous Artist
Vlad III
Image Credit: Wikipedia & Wikimedia

The conflict initially started with Vlad‘s refusal to pay the jizya (tax on non-Muslims subjects charged at 2.5%) to the sultan and [it] intensified when Vlad invaded Bulgaria. In response, Mehmed raised a great army with the objective to conquer Wallachia and annex it to his empire. The two leaders fought a series of skirmishes, the most notable one being the Night Attack where Vlad attacked the Turkish camp in the night in an attempt to kill Mehmed. The assassination attempt failed and Mehmed marched to the Wallachian capital of Târgoviște, where he found a few men with cannons. After leaving the capital, Mehmed discovered 23,844 impaled Turks whom Vlad had killed during his invasion of Bulgaria. The number is mentioned by Vlad himself in a letter to Matthias Corvinus (Matthias I). The sultan, and his troops, then sailed to Brăila and burned it to the ground before retreating to Adrianople. Both sides claimed victory in the campaign and Mehmed’s forces returned home with many captured slaves, horses and cattle.

Additional Reading & Sources:
The Night Attack on Targoviste (Burn Pit Website)
The Night Attack on Targoviste (Weapons and Warfare Website)
Night Attack at Târgoviște (Wikipedia)
Ottoman War (Wikipedia)
Submission of Wallachia (Wikipedia)

Battle of Targoviste Part I

Battle of Targoviste Part II

23 thoughts on “Wayback Wednesday: Night Attack at Târgoviște 1462

    charliecountryboy said:
    June 19, 2020 at 3:13 PM

    Fascinating it must have been quite a task impaling all those people. I know some say he was the inspiration for Dracula and probably overshadows his tactical ability? 😉

      The Hinoeuma responded:
      June 19, 2020 at 3:59 PM

      I can’t imagine impaling 23,000+ people. And, how that translates into a man that is immortal, can’t be in the sun, bites people for blood and flies like a bat…I haven’t a clue. Stoker had quite the imagination.

      Vlad was, by all accounts, a brutal man. He eventually met a horrible fate. He was eventually taken out and his head was sent back to Mehmed. And, Mehmed was no better…vicious warlords, the lot of them.

        charliecountryboy said:
        June 19, 2020 at 4:07 PM

        I guess they were just the Tories of their day 😂😉

          The Hinoeuma responded:
          June 19, 2020 at 6:59 PM

          I have no idea what that means…

            charliecountryboy said:
            June 20, 2020 at 1:56 AM

            Haha… the Tories are the Conservative Party led by Boris the Barbarian 😉

              The Hinoeuma responded:
              June 20, 2020 at 2:29 AM

              Hm. We don’t have a Conservative Party. We have Democrat Retards and Republican Retards…opposite wings of a big, ugly bird. Our choices in November (assuming elections aren’t suspended indefinitely) are Creepy, Grabby Joe Biden from the Alzheimer Party and Twitter McTrump from the Roy Cohn Gangster Party. Yay for us…

                charliecountryboy said:
                June 20, 2020 at 2:33 AM

                Haha, yeah we had Boris or Corbin. So, guys do want an entertaining asshole or just an asshole? They went for entertaining 🥴🥴

                  The Hinoeuma responded:
                  June 20, 2020 at 6:26 PM

                  Only marginally better, I suppose.

                  I keep hearing about a Nigel Farage. What is his deal?

                    charliecountryboy said:
                    June 21, 2020 at 6:00 AM

                    He campaigned to get us out of Europe as a Euro MP and started a political party UKIP. Now we are out of Europe I guess he’s surplus to requirement lol.

                      The Hinoeuma responded:
                      June 21, 2020 at 3:09 PM

                      “Thank you for your service. Here is your parting gift…a retirement check. See you…well…never.” 😄

                      charliecountryboy said:
                      June 21, 2020 at 3:12 PM

                      Well, not everyone liked him, Donald Trump did 😉

                      The Hinoeuma responded:
                      June 21, 2020 at 3:26 PM

                      Trump will like anyone that acts like a gangster.

                      charliecountryboy said:
                      June 21, 2020 at 3:53 PM

                      Ah well, Nigel portrayed himself as a man of the people, liked to be filmed in a pub drinking a pint or two 😂

                      The Hinoeuma responded:
                      June 22, 2020 at 1:05 AM

                      Right. Because they SO love the unwashed masses…

    badfinger20 (Max) said:
    June 20, 2020 at 12:23 AM

    23,844? Really? All impaled? What did they do just give up? Who in the world counted all of them?

      The Hinoeuma responded:
      June 20, 2020 at 12:55 AM

      You’re asking the same questions I would. Imagine the dude with that clipboard. “Well, shit! I counted this back row, twice.”

      Yes. That is a LOT of impaling. I suspect that it was mostly bodies that were impaled but, they died by other means.

        badfinger20 (Max) said:
        June 20, 2020 at 12:58 AM

        LOL yep…I would love to be beside the guy going…3, 9, 23, 43…just to mess with him…then you would probably add one more impaled…me.

          The Hinoeuma responded:
          June 20, 2020 at 2:08 AM

          LMAO! “He just wouldn’t shut up, so…”

          Or…Vlad showed back up, said “Thank you for counting,” and impaled him, too. LOL!

            badfinger20 (Max) said:
            June 20, 2020 at 2:23 AM

            LOL. Yea I wouldn’t have lasted long in those days.

              The Hinoeuma responded:
              June 20, 2020 at 1:47 PM

              No one lasted long in those days. Fifteenth century? Hell, there were black plague outbreaks all over the place, never mind warring power struggles. You died young and, usually, bloody.

                badfinger20 (Max) said:
                June 20, 2020 at 1:55 PM

                Impaled would not be my ideal means of dying.

    bereavedandbeingasingleparent said:
    June 20, 2020 at 4:54 AM

    I remember son telling me about this gruesome piece of history. I had night for days after that.

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