Originally Posted by
Dzihadovic
An account of the attack on Sarajevo.
The fighting for Sarajevo in late August illustrated well the characteristics of the struggle and difficulties that were encountered. On 19 August towards 5 a.m., taking advantage of the thick fog which enveloped the town, a strong Austrian force approached from the direction of Radova to the north. At the same time, another unit crept stealthily towards the castle, which was protected by a three-metre-hgih wall on its northern flank. Suddenly the fog lifted and the attackers found themselves horribly exposed. By late morning, a full battle was under way with an entire Austrian brigade pinned down by artillery fire. As more guns came into action the entire advance ground to a half. Oberst Lemaic, who commanded the brigade that had advanced furthest, suddenly found himself under a hail of fire from Winchester, Martini-Henry and Snyder rifles. These began to take a frightful toll of his Hungarian unites, who found themselves in a firefight of such intensity that after about forty minutes, they began to run out of ammunition.
Only a spirited bayonet charge in the best tradition of 1866 prevented the Austro-Hungarian position from being overrun by insurgents who, noticing the slackening Austrian fire, had crept to within fifty yards of Lemaic's men. The cry of 'Hurrah!' and 'Zivio Austria!' from the Croats accompanied the charge which drove the Bosnians back to the Broska stream. But with no ammunition the Austrians could not exploit this until reinforcements arrived.
While the insurgents withdrew into the castle, Lemaic brought up nine fresh companies to storm the position. But at 300 pace, a fire of such ferocity poured from every loophole, parapet and rampart that the attack was brought to a standstill. The insurgents' artillery continued to rain shells down upon Lemaic's men, who were unsupported by any Austro-Hungarian artillery because it was still making its way across the rough terrain from Radova several miles away. With no artillery there was not the remotest chance of a frontal attack succeeding. Lemaic's brigade was paralysed. By midday the entire Austrian attack had ground to a halt.
A second column under General Muller was advancing from the west. By 9 a.m. it had seized the Sarajevo cemetery and so-called Kosarsko Hill without a struggle. From here the Austrian mountain artillery batteries finally came into play but the range (two miles) was too far for these light-calibre guns to make much impact. The insurgents counter-attacked Kosarsko Hill. The Graz House regiment Nr 27 only succeeded in driving their opponents from every garden and building beyond the hill after a fierce hand-to-hand struggle lasting more than two hours. While this fight ensued, Muller's force was also incapable of any progress.
A third force under FML Tegetthoff was under even greater strain. After a desperate fight along the Miljacka river, the Austrians forced the insurgents back towards the Sarajevo citadel but the insurgents held on tenaciously, making use of the walls and fortifications. Tegetthoff's men were also hopelessly pinned down. After seven hours of fighting, three Austro-Hungarin columns, made up of some of the finest troops in the Imperial and Royal Army, were still struggling to make any progress against a supposedly 'rabble' force.
By midday, 52 guns arrived. They were placed in a rough semicircle to the north-east of the town near Pasino Brdo and were deployed against the castle and the northern and western suburbs of Sarajevo. As a half-battalion advanced, the guns loaded with shrapnel supposed the attack effectively. The companies of the Hungarian regiment Nr 52 fixed bayonets and charged and reached the outer wall of the western suburbs. Supported by the regiments third battalion, the proceeded to clear the streets in bitter house-to-house fighting. Barricades were erected across every little street by the insurgents and from every house there poured a destructive fire as the Imperial troops inched forward. Even after the Asustro-Hungarians had advanced a few yards, hidden marksmen opened fire from behind them.
Progress was slow. It took the tough young Hungarian men in Infantry regiment Nr 38 two hours to advance 500 metres. As the troops reached the outskirts of the Muslim quarters, men literally sprang from the roofs brandishing knives and daggers. No quarter was either asked or given in there gruesome encounters. Every insurgent had to be killed for any advance to make progress.
This was especially the case when some Austrians approached the Cekricia mosque in the heart of the Muslim district. Five attempts to storm the building failed. Only when the Styrians of the 27th arrived did the mosque finally fall. As a section of the 27th moved into the Serbian quarter, a hail of bullets fell on them from the minaret of the mosque. Even as they took the 'Konak', the Turkish governor's palace, shots rang out from behind them. In every part of the city, even as flames engulfed the wooden houses, no weakening in the enemy's will to resist could be discerned.
Meanwhile to the north, where the battle had begun, Oberst Lemaic remained pinned down unable to move forward despite the dramatic events to the west and south of the city. It would be another six hours before the castle fell. In nearly twelve hours of uninterrupted fighting, more than 14,000 Austro-Hungarian troops had fought against nearly 6,000 insurgents. The Austrians had sustained over 3,000 casualties, while half the insurgents lay dead or dying on the streets of the town. It was a day after the Emperor's birthday. By 5 p.m. the Imperial flag flew from the castle and the cries of 'Hurrah!' rang round every street. The surviving insurgents, pursued by a few companies of infantry, fled towards Pale. The band of the 46th regiment struck up the Haydn anthem 'Gott erhalte' and its solemn chords filled the corpse-stren streets while a small audience of women and children gazed on in bemusement.
Gyula Andrássy had in the beginning boasted that Bosnia could be swiftly occupied by 'two infantry companies and a military band'.
