First Battle of Plevna

First Attack of Plevna
	Part of Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) and Siege of Plevna
	; First attack of Plevna, July 20, 1877, by the author L.G. Beskrovny
Date	July 19–20, 1877
Location	Plevna, Ottoman Empire (nowadays Pleven, Bulgaria)
Result	Ottoman victory (see Aftermath)
Belligerents
Ottoman Empire	Russian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Osman Pasha	Lt. Gen. Yuri Schilder-Schuldner; Maj. Gen. Knorring †; Rgt. Col. Rosenbaum †
Units involved
Unknown	5th division of the IX. corps
Strength
8,000 or 13,000	7,500 infantry
Casualties and losses
12–2,000 Turks killed; 30 wounded; (See Casualties...)	3,000+ deaths:; 74 officers killed; 2,771 men killed; (See Casualties...)

The first battle of Plevna (or "defence of Plevna", a made-up title by the author Frederick William von Herbert) was the first assault that happened during the siege of Plevna in July 1877. On July 18th, 1877, 1,500 Russian cavalries were reconnoitering around the town of Plevna in the Ottoman Empire. They, the Russian cavalries, did clash when the Turkish skirmishes were small, and the Russians thought that the town itself was minorly defended. They report this to the lieutenant general Schilder-Schuldner. He sent his whole infantry, estimated to be 7,500, to occupy the town of Plevna, which took place on July 20th 1877.