Battle Of Lepanto Research Paper

Throughout history, there have been few enemies that have clashed more times than the Christians and Muslims in the sixteenth century. The Christians of Europe were made up mostly of Spanish, Venetian, and Papal forces battle against their Muslims foes hailing from the Ottoman Empire. These two adversaries displayed very distinct battle tactics, however, both sides played a role in one of the most bloodies naval battles in history on October 7th 1571 at the Battle of Lepanto. Through the course of history, it appeared that the Ottomans were always on the offensive, whether they were charging the doors of Rhodes or Malta, or battling at the gates of Birgu, the Ottomans always seemed to be charging forward. On the contrary, due to this aggressive
and coarse fighting style, the Christians were mostly kept to the defense fighting strong until the last man. The Christians were a sporadic group, lacking in unity and collaboration.
They failed to trust each other on the field of battle and were very quick to second guess each other’s decisions. This indecision, along with the lack of cohesiveness caused many operational failures whether it pertained to movement and maneuver or sustainment. As previously mentioned, due to the bellicose fighting style of the Ottomans the Christians were mainly forced to fight on the defensive, which after a prolonged period of time can have a very negative effect on an army. For example, during the battle at Malta, the Christians failed to defend the St. Elmo stronghold after a long grueling battle. The battle was long and gruesome; the Christians pounded the attacking Ottomans with cannons, arquebuses or small firearm, while taking shelter behind small makeshift barricades. As the battle raged on, Christian leader La Valette constantly sent requests for reinforcements, supplies, or any aid available to help defend St. Elmo from the Muslims. The siege of Malta finally broke in 1565 when the Christians pushed back the Muslims and successfully defended Malta from Muslim control. The siege that lasted for three months led to at least 7000 dead for the Christians, compared to almost 20,000 dead Muslims. While these numbers may seem tactically in favor of the Christians, the loss of St. Elmo could have been prevented with better strategy and sustainment on behalf of the
Christians. The Ottoman fighting style during land based warfare consisted heavily upon trench based warfare. This provided cover for their troops a they maneuvered to the front lines or to strategic attack points. These trenches also provided suitable locations for Muslim artillery to be protected as it reined death upon their enemies. The Muslim method of fighting also included the use of miners that would dig down in order to collapse the walls of a besieged fortress, much like their success at Famagusta.
Through the strategically differences between the Muslims and the Christians, they did however share on trait in common.
Both sides were very stubborn; neither side would surrender until they had made every attempt possible to be victorious. Christian leader Marco Antonio Bragadin displayed examples of this tactic in Famgusta while battling the Muslims to the bitter end. Bragadin refused to surrender until all of the food was gone and until practically all of his soldiers were dead, even then Bragadin chose death rather than convert to Islam, making him a martyr in the eyes of the Christians. For the Ottomans, resilience was seen at Rhodes as Suleiman and his men fought to a stalemate with the Christians after battling heavy storms while refusing to retreat from the
fight. Previously mentioned, the Muslim style of fighting was rough and tough, well unified and loyal to their Sultan, these Muslim troops were ready to do battle with the Christians as they charged on the offensive often. Always on the hunt to expand the Ottoman Empire, the Sultan demanded a victory with every engagement, as he would not accept defeat or surrender, as his main goal was to capture Rome. The Ottoman’s power and wealth assisted in their ability to grow and rebuild their forces quickly to regroup and redeploy into battle. The Ottomans would be the raiders of the Mediterranean coats for years as they attacked and laid siege to strongholds as they pleased. Throughout their existence, The Christians and Muslims waged many battles, but none were more critical than the battle of Lepanto. Don Juan, who sailed under his flagship, the Real, led the Holy League, which consisted of all the major Catholic states brought together by Pope Pius. The Ottoman leader, Ali Pasha sailed under his flagship, Sultana. Don Juan was the half brother of King Phillip and desired nothing more than wealth fame, and a crown he could call his. Despite protest from his advisors, Don Juan decided to seek out the Ottoman force regardless of the fact that the campaigning season was over. King Phillip wrote Don Juan calling off his attack and requested that he retire for the season and instructed him not to engage the Ottomans. However, this letter did not reach Don Juan in time and the Ottoman war council opted to meet the Christian fleet in full force.
While preparing for war, Don Juan was advised to split his fleet into three squadrons. “The center, commanded in the Real and closely supported by Venir and Colonna, consisted of sixty two galleys. On the left wing, the Venetian Agostino Babarigo with fifty seven galleys, on the right Doria with fifty three” (Crowley 257). Supporting the main squadrons was a fourth squad composed of reserve galleys headed by Spanish seaman Alvaro Bazan, with instructions to fill and support any break in the Christian lines. Ali Pasha formed his fleet into a crescent shape, as the symbol of Islam it served as a morale boost while at the same time providing strategic value. The crescent shape allowed for Pasha to outflank and then encircle the Christians, allowing them to break up their ranks and sink each ship one by one. However, on the day of the battle, rough winds and choppy currents caused either side to break formation often, in addition causing Pasha to abandon his crescent formation. Christian galleys were very slow, and far less maneuverable than Ottoman galleys, however what the Christian galleys lacked in maneuverability, they gained back with fire power. “Christian galleys possessed twice the number of artillery pieces” (259). Another initiative that Don Juan would execute was the firing of cannons at point blank range in order to maximize damage to the Ottoman ships. On October 7th, 1571, the two sides met to do battle. Led by his heavily fortified ships known as galleasses, Don Juan intended to blow a hole in Pasha’s line in order to spit them. Pasha on the other hand, planned to outflank the Christians by using the Greek shore to maneuver past Don Juan’s formation. The Ottomans were successful in flanking the Christians, however, right before Pasha could complete his maneuver, Barbarigo threw his own ship in the way of the advancing Ottomans, thus protecting the Christian’s left flank. The Real and the Sultana then collided and became entangled in each others ropes, thus a fierce battle ensued consisting of men from both sides attempting to board the opposite ship. Venier came forth to reinforce Don Juan and with the help of Bazan’s reinforcements the Christians killed Ali Pasha and sunk his right hand man’s ship. Had it not been for Don Juan’s galleasses and Bazan’s reinforcements, the Christians may very well have lost that battle. Don Juan’s tactical decision to fire point blank at Ottoman ships allowed for increased damage and kill ratio throughout the battle. Contrary, had the Ottomans been able to complete their flanking maneuver of the Christians, the battle could have very well swayed in the Ottoman’s favor. At the conclusion of the battle 40,000 men were killed, 25,000 of which were Muslim. A total of 12,000 Christian slaves were liberated and 137 Muslim ships were captured. The Christian victory however, was short lived as the Muslims quickly rebuilt their fleet and resumed their reign of terror all along the Mediterranean coast. This 16th century battle remains one of the bloodiest naval battles in history. Out of the many battles that the Christians and Muslims fought against each other in, the battle of Lepanto remains supreme, and will remain a focal point in history.