Siege of Bender (1738)

In 1738, under the leadership of Burkhard Christoph von Münnich, the Russian Empire organized the Bender Expedition. This initiative aimed to conclude the ongoing wars with the Ottoman Empire, which had not yielded the desired results. The Russians besieged Bender, but their efforts to capture the city and its surrounding key forts were unsuccessful. During their attempt to cross the Dniester River's right side, they encountered well-fortified positions and a formidable Ottoman force numbering 60,000 on the river's opposite bank. Ottoman forces discovered the Russians' attempt to construct mobile bridges for a covert crossing and then attacked them. Consequently, despite strenuous efforts, the Russians were unable to reach the opposite bank of the Dniester River by mid-July 1738 and were constantly harassed by Ottomans and Crimeans.^[1][2]