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Osman Nuri Pasha (; 1832 – 5 April 1900), also known as Gazi Osman Pasha, was an Ottoman field marshal and the hero of the Siege of Plevna in 1877. Although unsuccessful in defending the city, he was awarded the title ''Gazi'' ("warrior" or "veteran") as a result of that siege. In addition to his Adjutancy title, Osman received the Order of the Medjidie and the Imtiyaz Medal for his services to the Empire. ==Life== Osman Nuri was born into the prominent Yağcıoğulları family of the city of Tokat in Central Anatolia. His father was a civil worker who, soon after Osman's birth, was appointed to a position in the Ottoman capital, so the family moved to İstanbul. Osman attended the Beşiktaş Military High School and then graduated from the Ottoman Military College in 1852 as a lieutenant, entering the cavalry arm at the beginning of the Crimean War, He fought in Crimea, where his bravery secured him a promotion as first lieutenant. After the end of the war, Osman was appointed to the general staff and, a year later, had risen to the rank of captain. In 1859 he was appointed as a military representative in the forming of the cadastral and census map of the Ottoman Empire, a job he fulfilled for the next two years. In 1861, Osman was sent to Lebanon where a rebellion had been started by Yusuf Ekrem in Syria. In 1866 he was dispatched to another troubled area of the Empire, Crete, which was engulfed in a massive revolt. His efforts there were noticed by Serdar-ı Ekrem Omar Pasha, so he was promoted to colonel and was awarded with the Order of the Medjidie, third grade. His next appointment was Yemen, in 1868, where he was promoted to the rank of major general, but also caught a disease which forced him to return to Istanbul in 1871. After a few months of rest, he was placed in charge of the Third Army in Rumelia. In 1873 he became a lieutenant general and returned for a short while to Istanbul, before being sent to Iskodra and later to Bosnia. His appointment there didn't last long because he couldn't get along with the local governor, Derviş Pasha, so he was moved to the Fourth Army. In 1876, the Principality of Serbia proclaimed its independence and declared war on the Ottoman Empire. Osman Pasha, who had at that time his headquarters at Vidin, defeated the Serbian army, but in April 1877 Russia declared war on the Ottomans. The Russian troops crossed the Danube into Bulgaria and Osman, with his army of 15.000 men and 174 cannons, was tasked with protecting the important fortress of Nikopol. Before he could get there, the city fell on 16 July after the battle of Nikopol. Osman knew that the Russian's next objective would be to cross the Balkans, the last important natural obstacle before Istanbul itself, but they could not risk that if they had a strong enemy force behind them. So he moved his army 20 miles south of Nikopol, at Plevna, a small town surrounded by hills and ravines. The first Russian attack was easily repulsed on 20 July. After that, Osman set about preparing for the next attack. He took advantage of the natural landscape and built a strong network of forts, multiple trench lines and redoubts that enabled him to fully use his superior armament (his troops had Krupp breech-loading artillery, long range Peabody-Martini rifles and Winchester repeaters, which severely outgunned and outranged the Russians). He also received 5.000 soldiers as reinforcements. On 30 July the Russians attacked again only to lose over 7.000 soldiers (almost a third of the attacking force). By now, with the Russian forces severely depleted and demoralized, Osman Pasha could have launched a counterattack that would have endangered the whole Russian army south of the Danube, but he chose to obey his orders and instead defended Plevna. The Russians were quick to recover. Grand Duke Nicholas, commander of the Russian troops, sent an urgent telegram to Prince Carol of the United Principalities asking for Romanian support. The Romanian army sent 40.000 soldiers with 112 guns, modern Krupp pieces equal to those of the Ottomans, and Carol was named commander of the joint Russian-Romanian troops around Plevna. By now, the Allied army numbered 80.000 soldiers against an Ottoman force of around 40.000. Against Carol's wishes, the Allies launched another large scale attack on Plevna on 11 September. After two days of fighting, even if the Allies had managed to dislodge the Ottomans from a few of the redoubts, almost all of them were recaptured, with the exception of Grivitza 1, taken by the Romanian soldiers. The Allies could not withstand such severe casualties so they settled for a siege and fully surrounded Plevna. Osman Pasha asked for permission to withdraw before the encirclement was complete, but he was denied. By December, with food and ammunition running low and his troops suffering from starvation, cold and disease, Osman knew he could not hold on throughout the winter and that no help from outside was available. Instead of surrendering, he chose to try and break through the siege lines. On 9 December, the Ottoman army smashed into a Russian sector and, for a while, it seemed that they had managed to open a way out. But the Russians recovered and, after bitter hand-to-hand fighting, closed the breach driving the Ottomans back. But the besieged army could not return to Plevna because, while they were busy with the Russians, the Romanian army had stormed the defenses protecting their rear, making a return to the fortifications impossible. Furthermore, Osman was wounded in the leg by a bullet and his troops panicked, thinking that he had died. With his army caught between the Allies, Osman Pasha had no choice but to capitulate, so he surrendered his sword to the Romanian colonel Mihail Cerchez. In 1878, after the peace treaty, he returned from Russian captivity and received a hero's welcome in Istanbul, being named "Gazi" (Victorious) and elevated to the rank of marshal. He would go on serving as war minister on four occasions before dying in on 14 April 1900. On 4–5 April 1900, he died in Istanbul. He was buried next to the Mosque of Fatih Sultan Mehmet as he requested. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Osman Nuri Pasha」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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