Summary:
This text examines a series of military defeats suffered by Montenegro in the mid-19th century during its conflicts with the Ottoman Empire. Drawing on contemporary reports from Ragusa, Vienna, and official Ottoman telegrams, it outlines the key battles at Fundina, Berane, Sagratz, Zagarac, Plav, Muradja, and Rijeka between 1862 and 1877. The accounts reveal how Ottoman commanders—including Osman Pasha, Omer Pasha, Dilaver Pasha, Hussein Pasha, Suleiman Pasha, and Abdi Pasha—conducted coordinated offensives against Montenegrin forces, who were often outnumbered, poorly supplied, and hampered by internal disorganization.
The reports describe several Montenegrin collapses, including retreats under pressure, loss of fortified positions, high casualties, and logistical shortages. Notably, the defeats at Zagarac and Plav produced particularly devastating losses, with senior Montenegrin commanders struggling to maintain discipline among fleeing troops. The texts also highlight internal tensions in Montenegro’s leadership, rumors of Prince Nicholas preparing to flee, and public demoralization amplified by a lack of ammunition and food.
The Ottoman victories had broader political significance. They strengthened the Porte’s authority in the region, undermined Montenegrin resistance, and demonstrated Ottoman military resilience at a time when European powers monitored Balkan instability closely. The fall of key positions, consolidation of Ottoman armies from Herzegovina and Albania, and the re-establishment of control over contested borderlands ultimately forced Montenegro into negotiations. The narrative concludes with descriptions of the severe fate of mutilated prisoners and indications of shifting regional power dynamics, illustrating how these defeats shaped both local societies and the geopolitical environment of the Balkans.
The Montenegrins loose the battles of Fundina, Berane and Sagratz in 1862
“On Thursday (8th), the Turkic troops, united with the mountain dwellers of Scutari, numbering 8,000 men in total, set out in four columns, two of which were in reserve. The first attack column, under the command of Liva Osman Pasha, headed towards Fundina; the second column, under the command of Dilaver Pasha, entered the road from Verebitza at Koutsch on Thursday morning, where it encountered 3,000 Montenegrins entrenched in a strong position. After two hours of fighting, the Montenegrins gave up the fight and fled.
“Since the Vassovichs offered submission, Hussein Pasha sent six Christians to them to inform them of his conditions. The following day, May 29, 3,000 Montenegrins from Moratza, Rovza, and Pratanvich attacked Berane, which was occupied by 2,000 irregulars. Hussein Pasha sent them reinforcements. As a result, the Montenegrins were forced to take the defensive; they retreated and, in disarray and pursued by our troops, captured the mountains. We had 27 dead and 40 wounded; the enemy left 57 dead on the battlefield, apart from one flag.
The Montenegrins, suffering considerable losses, retreated from the village of Sagratz and from their fortified positions on the surrounding mountain heights. The soldiers pursued the fleeing troops for an hour on their way to Cetinie”.1
The Montenegrins are defeated Zagarac in 1862
“Ragusa, July 24: The Montenegrins are under severe pressure. They are now even conscripting twelve-year-old boys into military service. Omer Pasha has now consolidated the Bjelopaulo vitsch line as the base for his operations. The Turks attacked on the 21st at Sagarak, where the Montenegrins put up a vigorous fight.
Turkey, regarding the storming of the heights of Zagarac by the Turkish troops, the Danube newspaper from Ragusa reports on August 4th. The Montenegrin force commanded by Mirko numbered around 8000 men, of whom, however, only a third were truly battle-ready. Prince Nicholas was initially present at the battlefield but was soon forcibly forced to flee to safety in Cevo, accompanied by a detachment of the Perjaniks.
Mirko, who held out until the very end, had great difficulty halting the retreating troops before the Turkish attack simply by his command. He is even said to have killed about 20 of the fleeing men, partly himself and partly with the help of his bravest comrades, in order to force the rest to resist for a time, until finally, in the evening, he felt compelled to surrender the trancheia to the Turks and retreat with his men to Oraniso and Velestova.
The one from the The Montenegrins’ losses on this occasion are estimated at 2,000 men, including more than 500 dead. The Turks are said to have lost only 500 men in total. The Montenegrins discouragement was exacerbated by a severe shortage of food and ammunition.
Mirko, however, persisted with all his tenacity in pressing the continuation of the fight, while, according to a widespread rumor, the Prince had already moved all his valuable possessions across the border and made all preparations to flee to Corfu immediately should the feared eventuality arise.
Vienna, July 8th. The project to connect Montenegro with the Adriatic Sea has been suggested several times by Russia and other parties, particularly during the border adjustment of Montenegro four years ago. It was argued that the Montenegrins, as soon as they possessed a seaport, would become a trading people and cease their raids into the neighboring Turkish provinces. Those who said at that time that the Montenegrins, if they had a point on the sea, would add piracy to their land-based plundering, seem to us to have been far more correct.”2
Montenegrins loose at Plav in 1862
“1862: Ragusa, July 13. Omer Pasha telegraphed the following to the Turkish ambassador in Vienna: Turkish operations were interrupted for several days following the voluntary resignation of Abdi Pasha, who was replaced by Kaimakam Muschir Abdi Pasha, who received his military training in Vienna.
After this general’s arrival at the camp, a forced reconnaissance was carried out on July 5. On July 6, the Montenegrin position south of the village of Plava was captured by Turkish artillery. Towards evening, 15,000 Montenegrins stormed the hastily erected Turkish entrenchments. All their fierce attacks were broken by the energetic resistance of the Turks.
On Monday, there was a lull, and Abdi Pasha arrived with the rest of the army. On the 8th, the Turks attacked their opponents on the ridge of Plava, which is defended by walls and three towers and forms a position important as the key to the road from Cetinje and the connecting line of…
The Turks dominated between Jenikoi and Oralucca near Ostrog. The Montenegrins withstood the first assault but were routed on all sides during the second. The Turks captured a gun carriage with accessories, except for the light cannon barrel, which the Montenegrins took. They also captured four artillery ammunition boxes, a flag of the Peri Aniken, Mirko’s tent, and a large quantity of yataghans and rifles.
The Montenegrins lost Senator Petro Philippiou, four captains, three standard-bearers, and 600 other dead. On the Turkish side, 103 men were killed and 263 were wounded, including 18 officers. Dervish Pasha advanced from his side after defeating the Montenegrins twice. On the 8th, he advanced through the defile from Ostrog to the village of Pavia, which lies a quarter of an hour from Ostrog.
On the 7th, he attacked the Montenegrins in their fortified position at Ostrog. His soldiers drove the enemy from their fortifications and bivouacked the troops. The Montenegrins, intimidated by their earlier defeats, only skirmished from a distance. On the 12th, Abdi Pasha also advanced on the right bank of the Cetta River via Orialucca, defeated a Montenegrin force, and achieved the unification of the two Turkish operational armies: the one from the north in Herzegovina and the one that had advanced from the south, from Albania, into the heart of Montenegro.
It is reported that the Turks held an anti-Christian demonstration on the island of Kandia to commemorate the anniversary of the current Sultan’s accession to the throne, and the Christians staged a counter-demonstration. Further details are not yet known; only that no bloody clashes occurred between Christians and Turks”.3
Montenegrins loose the Battle of Muradja in 1877 against Suleiman Pasha
“According to a report by Suleiman Pasha, his losses in the fighting against the Montenegrins from 17th to 24th Yuri amounted to 1500 dead and wounded. The Montenegrins lost twice as many. As Mehemet Ali Pasha reported in a telegram on Sunday, the Montenegrins were defeated in the vicinity of Muradja, and the latter town was shelled.
A telegram from the Chief of Staff, which will not pass under any circumstances: The fighting in the Duga Pass continues and Niksic has not yet been provisioned. This fact characterizes the situation in that region and casts the Turkish victory at Krstac on the 4th in a very modest light.
However, there is hardly any doubt that the Montenegrin army has been irreparably shaken by the bloody fighting since the 4th, so that the advance of the Turkish superior force as far as Niksic would not be improbable. However, the losses that it has apparently suffered and will suffer are likely to result in a pause rather than an advance into Montenegro.
The unification of Suleiman’s corps with the forces of Mehemed Ali of Novi Bazar operating from the north and the army of Ali Saib advancing from Albania in the heart of Montenegro is, for the time being, only a project. The success of the fighting in the Duga Pass is limited to the Provisioning of some blockhouses. A sortie by the Turkish garrison of Nozdren in the Montenegrins’ rear is said to have caused them some damage.”4
Montenegrins loose at Rijeka against Osman Pasha
“In Montenegro, the struggle seems to be over. The resistance was stubborn and bloody, although hardly as stubborn and bloody as the reputation of the Black Mountains led one to expect. But Omer Pasha has completely triumphed, so completely that for the first time a Montenegrin chieftain has allowed himself to expressly acknowledge the Sultan’s supremacy.
The result certainly has a significance that is not merely local. For the Porte itself, as well as for its provinces contemplating rebellion, the lesson will not be lost that where there is energy, there is also success, and above all, Serbia will think twice and three times before it, relying entirely on its own strength, begins open combat against the sovereign power.
That, incidentally, France did not want to prevent the catastrophe that has now occurred, and Russia could not prevent it, will provide telling insights into the situation. The treaty concluded between the Turks and Montenegrins comprises 14 points, of which three are already known.
The others stipulate the opening of a trade route to Cettinje and the maintenance of the border demarcation decided in 1859, the cession of Grahovo to the Montenegrins, the exchange of deserters, the establishment of trade relations between Montenegro and the Turkish provinces bordering it.
Here in the port of Gravosa, the Turkish steamer Lutsie anchored a few days ago to embark the English Consul General from Iași, Mr. Churchich, who is on an extraordinary mission to Omer Pasha. This steamer, entrusted with the task, came from Ragusa Vecchia and carried wounded Turkish soldiers being transported to Constantinople.
Among them were 10 mutilated Nizams, the remains of 60 prisoners taken by the Montenegrins at Duga. The sight of these unfortunate men was horrific. All had their lips, noses, ears, and other body parts cut off; furthermore, their right arms had been severed or shattered with the handles of their yataghans. A report from Ragusa dated July 28th states that Prince Nicholas of Montenegro, as a result of the losses suffered, sent a peace envoy to Omer Pasha.
Turkey: The Sultan paid a return visit to the Italian princes, who had been received in Constantinople just as the Prince of Wales had been recently, at the Legation Hotel in Pera. The Italian colony staged a large demonstration.
From Scutari, Albania, on August 27th, Omer Pasha sent the following telegram to the Turkish delegation in Vienna: On August 24th, our troops attacked the Montenegrin position on the Rieka Mountains, which was considered impregnable. A battalion of Jägers and Zeibeks formed the assault column. The enemy could not withstand this attack and was driven out of his quadruple entrenchments.
The following day, August 25th, we attacked the enemy’s left flank, covering Nieka. All Montenegrin combatants were concentrated on this point. The battle was fierce and ended with the capture of Rieka by the imperial troops. Part of Nieka had been set on fire by its own inhabitants. At the same location, the army advanced along the road. from Cettinje before and yesterday, August 26th, she visited the heights of Cettinje from where the inhabitants were seen fleeing into the nothingness of Lovie after they had set fire to their houses.”
Sources
Balkan Academia 