Today in Hungarian history:
30 October 1686 The Imperial army takes back Siklós castle from the bravely fighting small Ottoman garrison...
According to the research of Szibler Gábor, I improved my article on the history of Siklós castle with the details of this siege...
The Ottomans kept a strong guard in the castle, so its recapture became possible only after the liberation of Buda Castle. At that time, only 300 Turks were guarding it. After taking Pécs castle, Count Lajos (Louis) of Baden sent General Siegmund Schärffenberg to occupy Siklós castle.
The castle consisted of an outer and an inner castle, and it was not among the strongest forts but the small Ottoman garrison desperately defended it. The Christian army was much larger, they arrived on 25 October in Siklós. The defenders refused to surrender, they replied with cannon fire when Schärffenberg demanded it.
Siegmund Schärffenberg saw that he could take Siklós castle only by artillery fire but his officers despised the strength of the castle and persuaded him to launch a general assault at once. They were wrong, the assault on 26 October was a disaster because the Turks had fortified the town of Siklós, too, by building a double palisade wall.
Also, there was a swamp protecting it, and small earthen bastions made the besiegers’ job more difficult.
(...)
Read the rest of the siege on my page:
https://www.hungarianottomanwars.com/ottoman-occupied-lands/siklos/
