Ottoman military reforms

However, estimates of the strength of the Corps vary greatly: by 1790, some 12,000 (2,000 combat) were said to reside in Istanbul alone, yet when summoned for campaign in 1810, only 13,000 assembled.

Despite their backwardness in terms of combat, the Corps possessed immense espirit-de-corps, showing great initiative and often fighting to the death.

While engaged in combat, the Janissaries would at times mock Western soldiers for their tendency to fight in close order formations.

Their older matchlock muskets, despite being slower to fire, were preferred over newer flintlocks, on account of their greater range and accuracy.

By the end of Selim III's reign, however, they experienced a renewal, expanding to some 10,000 salaried Sipahis (not including provincial cavalry or irregular Deli horsemen).

[2] In Iraq, mamluks were used for local law and order whilst Arab troops occupied the forts around Baghdad and they proved adept in combat rebelling the Wahhabi raiders.

The Mamluks spent their entire time dedicated to training and fighting and jealously guarded their military privileges banning anyone from riding a horse in Egypt.

[2] There were also musketeers, janissaries, sipahis and other Ottoman units though these had long since degenerated and the Arabs and Mamluks provided the main forces in Egypt.

[2] When Selim III came to the throne in 1789, an ambitious effort of military reform was launched, geared towards securing the Ottoman Empire.

As a result it was rarely used, apart from its use against Napoléon Bonaparte's expeditionary force at Gaza and Rosetta as well as quelling of the First Serbian Uprising at the battle of Deligrad.

The new ships and guns that made it into service were too few to have much of an influence on the Ottoman army and de Tott returned home.

He did not go, for just days before he was to embark for the Near East he proved himself useful to the Directory by putting down a Parisian mob in the whiff of grapeshot and was kept in France.

The Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829 did not give him time to organize a new army, and the Sultan was forced to fight with these young and undisciplined recruits.

While the reforms in question were mainly implemented to improve the military, the most notable development that arose out of these efforts was a series of schools teaching everything from math to medicine to train new officers.

As early as 1880 he sought, and two years later secured, German assistance, which culminated in the appointment of Lt. Col. Kohler and, finally, Colmar Von der Goltz as military advisors.