Battle of Vratsa

The Battle of Vratsa was an operation by the Western Detachment that captured the town, which had become a centre for forming the Orhaniye Army after the third assault on Pleven.

Following the failed assaults on Pleven and its encirclement, Vratsa gained operational importance. Its Ottoman garrison helped form the Orhaniye Army and maintained communications with north-western Bulgaria and Serbia. To capture it, a Right Flying Detachment under Major General Nikolai Leonov was formed from cavalry units of the Second Guards Cavalry Division and concentrated around Mahalata, identified in the source as present-day Pelovo.

The detachment left Mahalata on 26 October/7 November 1877 and advanced towards Vratsa, driving off Ottoman patrols. It reached the town the next day, when Leonov divided it into two columns. On 28 October/9 November, these outflanked the Ottoman positions and surprised the defenders with a bold attack. Resistance became fragmented, and Ottoman troops retreated in disorder towards Zgorigrad. Leonov's units entered Vratsa at 15:30, and Lieutenant General Iosif Gurko, commander of the Second Guards Cavalry Division, established his headquarters there.