Southern Moldova

 Day three of my Moldovan trip. I hired a car and headed off to southern Moldova. My primary reason was to visit the site of the Battle of Kagul, fought on 1 August 1770 between the Russians and Ottomans. It was probably the largest battle in the 18th century, but little known in Western Europe. 

The Russian army, commanded by Field Marshal Rumiantsev, was around 40,000 strong. They faced an Ottoman army, commanded by İvazzade Halil Pasha, with around 150,000 troops, although I suspect this number included non-combatants. The Russians advanced in five, possibly six squares, and fought off the Ottoman cavalry. However, the Janissaries broke into two Russian squares before the reserves pushed them back. As the Ottoman forces retreated, they lost around 20,000 men, and more later in a chaotic crossing of the Danube.

There are several 18th-century maps of the battlefield, which, although not to scale, give the impression of rugged terrain. While it's certainly not flat, as one drawing of the battle has it, I would describe it as rolling hills. The battle is named after the river, but most of the smaller rivers in this region are now dry due to agricultural practices. And of course, 200,000 men take up a lot of space, so you can pick and choose when it comes to terrain.

A panoramic view from one of the hills on the Russian right.

The battlefield is marked by a large, if rather weather-worn, monument. Which, without even a noticeboard, will mean very little to visitors. It is just outside the town of Vulcanesti.

In the town, there is a small local history museum. They have paintings and display boards about the battle, along with some equipment found on the site. It also contains a significant amount of information about World War II, including original pictures, letters home, and more. This area was part of the Soviet Union at the start of the war.

This is meant to portray the assault on the Ottoman camp.
 

Lots of WW2 kit and photos like this. I'll need to do some translation when I get home.

There is a World War II memorial in the town, in a typical Soviet style.

I drove down to the Prut River. It was a bend in the river that the Battle of Larga was fought a few weeks before Kagul. It is challenging to pick the exact spot, as the Larga River wasn't marked on my map and is likely to be dry anyway. The Russians dispersed a mainly Tatar army.

The Prut River is behind the trees.

My last stop was the modern university city of Cahul (Kagul). It was the village of Frumoasa when the battle was fought. They have a fine bust of Suvorov, which is odd as his primary victories were in modern Romania and in the next war. They should have honoured Rumiantsev, who won both of the local battles and was Suvorov's mentor. 

They have an aviation monument overlooking the city with an early MiG fighter - MiG-15, at a guess.

And, no Moldovan town would be complete without a T34 WW2 memorial.