The Importance of the Cannon in the Defense of Plevna

The 93 War (the Ottoman-Russian War of 1877-1878) between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire was fought on two main fronts, the Balkan and the Caucasus. It started in April 1877 and lasted for nine months until January 1878 and the Russian siege on Plevna within the Bulgarian borders lasted for five months. Although the Russians had an advantage over the Turks in terms of troops and weapons, they didn t achieve their desired success after trying to seize the city three times.The successful defense of Plevna by the Ottomans arose from the military capability of Ghazi Osman Pasha, the ability of the Turkish soldiers and perfectly prepared ground fortifications. But aside these and other effects, the type of cannons used by both sides and the handling of the batteries played an important role in combat. The Russians used long barreled cannons made out of bronze on the ground with extremely low power, which overheated very quickly and thus became unusable and were not suitable for high angled shots. The Turkish side however used steel howitzers that could make high angled shoots from a short distance