Battle of Balkaya

Background

The Battle of Balkaya was fought on September 6, 1200 BC, outside [[Balkara]] during the [[Balkaya War]]. [[Geta]] sought to storm the city, destroy the allied command, and reach [[Constantinople]] by the following evening. The defenders consisted primarily of British troops under [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Wellington]], supported by the [[French Army]] under [[Napoleon Bonaparte|Napoleon]].

The position at Balkara guarded the eastern approaches to Constantinople and included the [[Balkara Citadel]], a fortified complex later associated with the [[Vigil of the Seven Towers]]. Its defense was also politically important to the [[Coalition]], whose leaders feared that a Thracian victory would separate the British garrison from the advancing French army.

Eve of battle

On September 5, Geta established his main position approximately two kilometers from Balkara. At 8:30 p.m., heavy rain began to fall, raising doubts about whether the incendiary projectiles used by his siege engines would ignite. A priest performed sacrifices at the camp and predicted victory. The ceremony was later recorded in the [[Rites of the Red Spear]], a military religious tradition attributed to Geta’s reign.

Inside the British command tent, Wellington organized the defense with the [[Earl of Uxbridge]], [[Rowland Hill]], [[Thomas Picton]], and the Byzantine general [[Ansila]]. Wellington ordered the troops to hold the city until Napoleon’s expected arrival the following evening. Fifteen kilometers to the south, the French army advanced by forced marches. [[Michel Ney|Ney]] and [[Nicolas Soult|Soult]] advised Napoleon to withdraw after an earlier defeat, but he continued toward Balkara.

Deployment

On the morning of September 6, Geta divided his forces into three sectors. [[Langaro]] commanded the center, consisting of 4,000 soldiers and 50 ballistae, with orders to capture Balkara. On the right, [[Sirmo]] deployed 20,000 soldiers, 200 archers, and 30 light ballistae. The left was held by [[Abrupoli]] with 15,000 soldiers, 100 archers, and 30 ballistae.

Geta retained 14,000 men as a reserve under his direct command. [[Pleuratus]] commanded a 14,000-man cavalry force. Meanwhile, [[Moskon]] pursued the French from a position 15 kilometers west of the battlefield. His deputy, [[Zolte]], proposed dividing the pursuing force, but Moskon rejected the plan because he intended to prevent Napoleon from joining Wellington.

The allied defense included troops commanded by [[James Pack|Pack]] and [[Henry Lambert|Lambert]]. The British cavalry was placed under Uxbridge, while the French relief force approached through wooded ground west of the Thracian position.

Battle

At approximately 1:00 p.m., Pack continued to hold the approaches to Balkara while both armies observed troops approaching from the west. A British officer identified the distant French soldiers as “bluecoats,” estimating their distance at four to five miles.

At 1:30 p.m., Geta ordered Sirmo to attack with his 20,000 soldiers. Uxbridge responded by sending [[Edward Somerset|Somerset’s cavalry]] against Langaro’s central force with the cry “SCOTLAND FOREVER!” The cavalry destroyed the Thracian ballistae but was then counterattacked by 500 Thracian horsemen. The British formation, exhausted from the assault, was destroyed. During the fighting, Picton was struck in the head by an arrow and died after falling from his horse.

At 3:30 p.m., Wellington ordered Lambert to withdraw one hundred paces. Pleuratus interpreted the movement as a general retreat and launched his cavalry. Lambert formed 15 infantry squares, which the Thracian cavalry surrounded without finding an opening. Bayonets and musket fire repelled repeated attempts to break the squares. At 4:30 p.m., Geta recalled the cavalry and committed 3,000 infantrymen against the British position.

At 4:40 p.m., Pack withdrew from Balkara. Wellington reportedly responded at 5:00 p.m. with the prayer, “Give me night, or give me Napoleon.” Believing that victory was imminent, Geta ordered a scribe to send a dispatch to [[Gabrovo]] announcing that the war had been won.

At 5:20 p.m., Geta learned that the French army was within three kilometers of the battlefield. He sent 2,000 troops from [[Coson]]’s command to observe the advance and launched a final attack with 14,000 soldiers of the [[Thracian Guard]]. Wellington ordered his remaining brigades to maintain the line, despite Uxbridge’s report that many soldiers had only five rounds of ammunition each.

Napoleon then attacked from the woods against the Thracian left flank. The movement disrupted Geta’s final assault, and the Thracian Guard panicked when [[Marshal Ney’s Cavalry]] charged its exposed position. The collapse developed into a general rout. Geta abandoned the field at 7:35 p.m. At 8:00 p.m., Napoleon and Wellington met to mark the liberation of Balkara.

Casualties and aftermath

The battle ended at approximately 9:30 p.m. Thracian losses were estimated at 25,000 killed or wounded, 9,000 prisoners, and 5,000 deserters. The Coalition reported 5,000 killed, 14,000 wounded, and 5,500 missing. The high number of missing British troops led to the creation of the [[Balkara Roll of the Fallen]], an early effort to identify casualties from the battlefield.

At 11:00 p.m., on the beaches of the [[Troad]], [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] and [[Omar Bradley|Bradley]] celebrated the victory and planned the [[Troad Counter-Offensive]]. The meeting connected the defense of Balkara with the wider Coalition campaign and established the battle as a turning point in the war.