Omer Lutfi Pasha

He then joined the Ottoman army, eventually rising to a position of command and serving as their broader strategic commander during the Crimean War, which saw Russia soundly defeated both diplomatically and military by a broad coalition of European powers. Latas was behind the Ottoman victories at Oltenița, Cetate, and Eupatoria.

• Name — Omer Lutfi Pasha Serdar-ı Ekrem Ömer Paşa • Native Name — Омер-паша Латас Omer-paša Latas • Other Name — Omar Pasha • Born — 24 September 1806 • Died — 18 April 1871 • Birthplace — Janja Gora, Austrian Empire (now in Croatia) • Place of death — Constantinople, Ottoman Empire • Birth Name — Mihajlo Latas / Михајло Латас • Allegiance — Austrian Empire (until 1823) Ottoman Empire (until 1871) • Branch — Ottoman Empire • Service Years — 1823–1869 • Rank — Field marshal (Mushir) • Commands — Commander of Ottoman Forces in Moldavia & Wallachia • Battles — *Uprising of Dervish Cara • Albanian revolt of 1845 • Bedirhan Bey's revolt • Wallachian Revolution of 1848 • Crimean War • Battle of Oltenitza • Battle of Cetate • Battle of Eupatoria • Herzegovina uprising • Montenegrin–Ottoman War • Battle of Ostrog • Cretan revolt • Spouse — Ida Hanım (divorced without issue) Adviye Hanım (with issue)

• Illustration — Omer Pasha Omer Pasha was born Mihajlo Latas, an ethnic Serb and Orthodox Christian, in Janja Gora, at the time part of the Croatian Military Frontier of the Austrian Empire (Modern Plaški, Lika, Croatia). His father served in the Austrian Army and was appointed lieutenant-governor of the Ogulin district. His uncle was an Orthodox priest. He developed a passion for the military from a young age, and on leaving school in Gospić, attended military school in Zadar, later being accepted as a cadet in his father's regiment. In 1823, he was accused of stealing 180 florins from an Austrian military safe, prompting him to flee across the frontier to Bosnia Eyalet.

• Illustration — Omer Pasha with his officers 1854. Some years after his escape to Bosnia, Latas was offered a position as tutor to the children of a Turkish merchant, on the condition that he converted to Islam and allowed himself to be circumcised. After his conversion, he took on the new name Omar Lufti. Eventually, he moved to Constantinople with the merchant's family, and, by leveraging his value as a former Austrian soldier, negotiated for himself a position as lecturer at the Imperial Ottoman Military Academy. After serving in this position for some time, he was enlisted as aide-de-camp to Wojciech Chrzanowski, who was engaged in the re-organization of the Ottoman Army after the defeat of the Janissaries. In this role, he collaborated with Chrzanowski, who smoothed the way for his introduction into Ottoman high society. He thereby met and married Adviye Hanım, a daughter of Çerkes Hafız Mehmed Pasha, a political move which was integral to his rise in Ottoman military circles. He became writing-master to the Ottoman heir, Abd-ul-Medjid, and on the succession of the latter in 1839 was made a colonel. He was shortly afterwards appointed Military Governor of Constantinople. His only daughter, Saffet Hanım, married Mustafa Celalettin Pasha. • Illustration — Lord Raglan, Omer Pasha and Marshal Pelissier during the Crimean War, 1854–1856, photographed by Roger Fenton. In 1840-41 he led a successful expedition to quell a revolt in Syria, and in 1842 was made Governor of the Tripoli Eyalet (Lebanon). He was involved in the expedition to the Van Eyalet of the Ottoman Empire after the Massacres of Badr Khan in 1846, which saw him soundly defeated and the Emirate of Bohtan brought under direct Ottoman control. Some time following the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, Omar Pasha was given command of the Ottoman forces in Moldavia and Wallachia. There followed his command in Bosnia against Ali-paša Rizvanbegović, who had revolted against the Ottomans and begun to build up an independent power base. Omar commanded from his headquarters during this campaign, marking the beginning of his shift from frontline combat to broader strategic coordination. The campaign saw the respected historical aristocracy of the Muslim faith executed, plundered, and deposed in the interest of centralising Ottoman power in the region. As the Governor of Bosnia, he ordered Ottoman forces in the region to invade the neighbouring Montenegro, a diplomatic blunter which led to Austrian intervention and the withdrawal of the Ottoman representative in Vienna.

When the Crimean War broke out in 1853, his services were rendered as broader strategic commander for the Ottoman forces in the region. In 1853 he successfully led defenses during the Siege of Calafat. Soon after, he defeated a numerically superior Russian force under the indecisive and incompetent Russian General Peter Dannenberg at the Battle of Oltenița. • Illustration — Omar, a Tale of the War, a novel by George W. M. Reynolds published in Reynolds's Miscellany (1855). In January 1854 he successfully persuaded Lord Raglan to keep his word by reinforcing Varna, while the French remained deeply skeptical of Omar's strategy to protect the Turkish army's flank on the Lower Danube. His firm management of the British in Constantinople helped to stabilise the front in Crimea after January 1855, when finally transports arrived to ferry Turkish troops to Crimea. On 17 February 1855, he faced off against roughly Russian troops under the command of Russian Lieutenant-General Stepan Khrulev during the Battle of Eupatoria. This was widely seen as a strategic blunder, although relatively minor. Following this, he took a backseat during the war, mainly overseeing Ottoman positions, coordinating fortifications, and managing troop deployments. Although he had a reputation as a strict and ruthless disciplinarian, he was revered and respected by his men