The Disaster of Karánsebes

The Battle of Karánsebes in 1788 might be the most embarrassing military disaster you've never

heard of. A scouting party finds local merchants selling schnapps. They start drinking.

Another regiment arrives, wants in on the alcohol. The scouts refuse. An argument erupts.

Someone fires a warning shot. In the darkness and confusion, drunk soldiers start

yelling the Turks are attacking. Panic spreads like wildfire. Regiments begin firing

at each other, convinced they're fighting the enemy. By dawn, 10,000 Austrian casualties

lay scattered across the field. The enemy hadn't even arrived. The actual Ottoman

army arrived two days later to find the aftermath of this self-inflicted catastrophe.