Floating Bridge Activities in the Ottoman-Russian War of 1768-1774

Abstract

On the eve of the Ottoman-Russian War of 1768-1774, there was a belief that the Ottomans were losing their bridge-building skills as they had not fought in the Danube region for nearly 30 years. This study principally aims to test whether this was really true. The method for testing it lies in the secondary aim of the study: to holistically reveal the floating bridge activities carried out by the Ottoman Empire on the Danube River and beyond during the war. Within the scope of these two aims, the Ottoman chronicles and archive sources were examined. As a result of the review, it was observed that the Ottomans assigned a bridge official called an “emin” to organize this work, and this official organized widespread activities in order to bring raw and finished materials, as well as skilled and unskilled personnel from near and distant environments to bridge sites. Bridge activities were carried out in Isaccea, Silistra and Tutrakan on the Danube, as well as on the Dniester, Pruth and Oltu rivers beyond the Danube. Despite some problems and the lack of engineering experience in bridging activities, the Ottomans appear to have performed floating bridging activities in this period at an appropriate level.