Battle of Suvodol

The battle took place the very next day, on the 10th of June.^[1] The first attack on the trenches was ferocious; Karađorđe's forces were able to take positions early on, but due to the weaknesses of the Serbian forces (such fatigue from the previous night's march), Numan-Beg forces had a strong advantage early on in repelling the attack and quickly suppressed the Serbian troops.^[1] Numan-Beg was aware of his initial advantage and tried to capitalize on it. Numan-Beg ordered a counter-attack against the revolutionaries and forced the Serbian forces back to their cannon lines. Karađorđe arranged his threatened force into an infantry square formation, a highly effective tactic of the Napoleonic Era which provided good defence from cavalry charges. This move saved his troops and allowed them to continue the battle.^[3][1]

However, after 3 hours of intense combat^[1] and with defeat in sight, the Serbian cavalry - under the command of Vojvoda Vule Ilić Kolarac - attacked one of the unprotected Ottoman wings with such force and surprise that it threw the Ottoman forces in disarray as the cavalry began to flank them.^[3][1] Ottoman forces attempted to regroup and attack the revolutionaries; however, they were met with fierce gunfire from the Serbian cannons and infantry. In the midst of the fighting and poor visibility due to the fog, Vojvoda Vule Ilic Kolarac began to yell out in Turkish "our forces have retreated" to fool the Ottomans into retreating. This ploy threw Numan-Beg's forces into even more disarray.^[4] Battered by relentless attacks, the injured Numan-Beg and his forces retreated.^[3]

The retreating Ottoman forces tried to regroup and ambush revolutionaries who were chasing after them. However, they were pushed further into rocky canyons where the Serbian revolutionaries began to shower them with large boulders that were abundant in the area. Those who survived the onslaught retreated towards Peja and Novi Pazar.^[3]

• "The Impact of the First Serbian Uprising on Bosniaks in Sandzak". bosnjaci.rs (in Serbian). 3 March 2021.
• Morison, W. A. (1942). The Revolt of the Serbs Against the Turks 1804–1913. Cambridge University Press. GGKEY:BRSF4PUC0LU.
• Mušović, E (1964). The Battle of Suvodol (in Serbian). Naša prošlost. Archived from the original on 19 August 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2017.