During the Austro-Turkish War, an army of roughly 100,000 Austrian troops set up camp near Karánsebes, in modern-day Romania. A vanguard unit of Hussars crossed a nearby river to scout for Ottoman forces. Finding no Turks, they instead encountered local Romani traders selling barrels of schnapps.
The thirsty soldiers bought the alcohol and began an impromptu party. Soon after, a detachment of infantry crossed the river and demanded a share of the booze. The Hussars refused, building makeshift barricades around the barrels to defend their prize.
Argument turned to brawling, and eventually, a nervous soldier fired a shot. Chaos immediately erupted. In the ensuing darkness and confusion, a soldier yelled out Turci!
Turci! believing the Ottomans were attacking. The Hussars panicked and fled back across the river toward the main camp.
The Austrian army was a multi-ethnic force made up of recruits speaking German, Hungarian, Romanian, Serbian, and Czech, which created a fatal communication breakdown. Austrian officers began shouting Halt! Halt!
in German to restore order. However, non-German soldiers misheard the desperate cries as Allah! Allah!
, assuming the enemy was raiding their camp. Soldiers fired blindly into the dark at their own retreating cavalry, while panicked artillery officers opened fire on shadows, shelling their own troops. Emperor Joseph II was swept up in the retreat and knocked off his horse into a creek.
The army completely routed itself and fled the field. When the actual Ottoman forces arrived two days later, they found thousands of dead and wounded Austrian soldiers lying on the battlefield, allowing them to take Karánsebes without firing a single shot.