ISTANBUL'S COASTAL FORTS

The last of the established military forces to be reformed and reorganized by Sultan Selim were those which garrisoned the forts scattered along both sides of the Bosporus, possibly the most heavily defended waterway in the world at that time.

At right, a view of the Fortess of Europe as seen from the Anatolian Shore. It was one of two great fortresses which guarded the approach to Istanbulfrom the south. In the lower left hand corner you can just make out the mosque tower of its companion fortress, the Fortress of Asia. The two fortresses boasted 60 great cannon sited at water level which fired 800-pound stone balls. The drawing is taken from Miss Pardoe's 1850 book "The Beauties of the Bosphoris."

Ali Bey, a Muslim visitor to Istanbul, described the city's defenses in 1807.

"The mouth of the Black Sea is defended by two fortresses one on each side of the channel, as also by two ancient castles in the middle of the bank on the right and left. The tower of Leander, furnished with artillery, is upon an island in the middle; there are also several rustic works and baneries on both sides at the opening of the channel, into the Sea of Marmara."

If an enemy was to fight his way past these defenses a further set of batteries defended the city's inner harbor. While visiting the city Ali Bey took a number of boat trips around the city and described the defenses he observed.

"The second time I embarked, I went to the front of the city, on that side nearest the Sea of Marmara. The point that juts out at the mouth of the port is surrounded by a simple embattled wall. The foot of this wall on the outside is furnished with a line of rustic batteries, constructed under the direction of the ambassadors of France and Spain.

"These batteries, supported by those on the opposite sides of the port, and of the Bosporus, put the Seraglio (Sultan's palace) completely in shelterfrom any insult by sea.

"I perceived only one battery upon the walls of the Seraglio, called The Spanish Battery. It was served by individuals of that nation within the Seraglio, which is a convincing proof of the confidence reposed in them by the Grand Sultan.

"I remarked some ancient Turkish cannon of a colossal size, in the last battery of the Seraglio towards the south; some of which had seven or eight small mouths round the central one; the others, which were more than a foot in diameter, were used to fire stone- balls ready piled up near each piece. These enormous guns are planted on the ground without carriages, with a view to fire level with the surface of the water, so that if any ship be struck by one of these projectiles, it must inevitably sink. However, as they cannot be pointed, it must be difficult for them to strike moving objects. "

On the other side of the harbor Ali Bey described the guns of the artillery barracks.

"The artillery barracks established at this place (Tophane, a suburb of the city), has also a battery of 24 guns mounted on carriages of differentforms, to defend the entrance of the port. I observed an ancient culverin nearly a foot in caliber or interior diameter, and 19 feet in length. It is destined to fire bullets of stone, several of which I saw Iying near it. The barracks are handsome, and enclose a number of gun carriages and covered wagons. "

To improve the defenses of these numerous batteries, Selim added hundreds of new gunners. Those on the Anatolian side were given 500 additional men, bringing their total to 1,000, and they were placed under the command of the Bosporus superintendent (Bogaz Naziri).

The men were given considerably higher salaries than those in the regular army because of the constant attention to duty required of all of them during both winter and summer.

The forts on the Istanbul side were given a somewhat different organization since they were composed entirely of batteries guarding the Black Sea entrance to the Bosporus. Their garrisons were tied entirely to the Nizam-i Jedid being trained at Levend Chiftlik.

A similar set of fortresses and gun emplacements defended the capital from the south at the Dardanelles. A description of the fortifications defending this ape proach to the city was given by Colonel Auguste Sorbier, an aide-de- camp to Prince Eugene in 1807, who visited the city in an attempt to formalize a full military alliance between the French and the Ottoman Empires.

"The forts and batteries at the mouth of the Straits can only protect the fleet's anchorage and are too far away to aid in the defense of the channel. The real obstacle is at the narrowest point between Sestos and Abvdos and three-quarters of a league above and below it. 253 guns and 15 mortars are placed along this stretch in 14 batteries, seven on either side. In addition to this, the old fortresses of Europe and Asia have low batteries on a level with the water with some 60 cannons of two feet in caliber, which must have a terrible effect on ships... A fleet willing to risk the loss of several ships could nevertheless force the passage with the aid of a strong southern wind. Ismail Pacha, who is in command, also plans to construct a barrage of chains and rafts between the fortresses of Europe and Asia. This is the narrowest point, with a width of 1,492 yards."

Selim used French advisors to help modernize and strengthen these positions. Throughout the empire, though especially in Europe, French engineers renovated many of the empire's fortresses and installed new batteries in them.

DANUBIAN FORTRESSES

Another section of important fortresses stretched along the line of the Danube. The Danube constituted the main defensive line against the aggressive designs of the Porte's European neighbors, most notably Austria and Russia. The river itself provided a formidable defensive barrier. On the right (southern) bank of the river, almost throughout its whole length, the land rose scarplike about 300 feet to the Bulgarian plateau, making defense from the south easier. In certain spots, though, the river abandoned the base of the heights, forming valleys upon the shore, Ieaving the river undefended. To defend these valleys the Ottomans constructed more than 20 forts and fortresses which, although they were often not strong, still sufficed to check a landing of enemy troops.

Along with his other attempts to defend his realm, Sultan Selim attempted to repair and restore this defensive line, once again primarily with the help of French engineers. This process was accelerated in 1805 and 1806 as the threat of a new war with Russia grew.

At the conclusion of the War of 1806-1812, Sultan Mahmud II began a feverishly aggressive program of strengthening and modernizing not only the fortresses along the Dardanelles and Bosporus, but those along the Danube line as well. The Ottomans maintained 18 forts and fortifications on the south bank of the Danube as well as five important fortresses on the north shore.

The south bank forts and fortresses were located, west to east, at Orsova, Berza-Palanka, Torentino, Vidin. Arnoul, Lom, Zibron-Palanka, Rahova, Nicopolis, Sistova, Ruschuk, Tutrakan, Silistria, Rasova, Hirsova, Machin, Isaccea and Tulcea, with Vidin, Ruschuk and Silistria being the largest and most important. It is said that Vidin alone mounted more than 200 cannon.

While Machin, Isaccea and Tulcea were more outposts than true fortresses, their important positions guarding the various mouths of the Danube rendered them also militarily significant.

On the north bank the fortresses included Giurgiu, Ibrail, Galatz, the great fortress of Ismail, and Kilya. All of these except Giurgiu, which was located opposite Ruschuk, defended the last few miles of the Danube along the northem edge of the Dobrujia.

While many of these fortresses amounted to little more than fortified towns and villages others, such as Vidin, Ruschuk, Silistria, Ibrail and Ismail were massive, complex fortifications, defended with scores of powerful cannon.

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