The smaller Russian force of about 40,000 led by Rumyantsev was marching towards Cahul, with the Ottoman camp only away, positioned at the right side of the Kagul River. The Russian force arrived on a location on the right bank of the river and thus encamped by 31 July (20 July on Russian calendar). Ivazzade Pasha witnessed the marching of this force, and after doing a reconnaissance on the Russian positions, decided that he would launch his attack the next day at precisely 10 a.m., two hours before noon. But this plan was already hours late compared to Rumyantsev's plan: the Russian force planned to launch its offensive at the Kagul River by 1 a.m. — only an hour after midnight, with 17,000 infantrymen deployed in
squares with
sharpshooters defending their flanks as they would have to fight their way against superior numbers of the enemy especially their cavalry, while the rest have to be put in reserve in case things went against the plan. With this chronological discrepancy in the plans of commanders of both sides, the Russians were sure to achieve the element of surprise against the enemy the moment they launched their attack. The attacks on the Ottoman left flank were inflicted by infantry squares of
Quartermaster General and General-Lieutenant ; from the front — the square of General-in-Chief , and on the Turkish right flank — squares of General-Lieutenant
J. Bruce and General-Lieutenant
N. V. Repnin. P. A. Rumyantsev himself was attached to Olits' division. The reserve consisted of: heavy cavalry of General-Lieutenant
I. P. Saltykov and General-Major (a total of 3,500 sabres), as well as artillery in the brigade of General-Major
P. I. Melissino. When the Ottomans, still on the midst of their preparation on their albeit-late offensive that is not to take place, saw the Russian force on infantry squares marching towards them in 6 columns, which left the Greceni camp and formed up for battle in 5 separate squares, with a small reserve. Early in the morning, they commenced a grand yet disorganized cavalry charge all across the entire length of the battle line. But the Russians backed their infantry squares with light artillery inside the squares which only fired when the soldiers opened lanes to make way for its line of fire. The cavalry was placed at intervals between and behind the squares. The said cannons fired grapeshots to the Ottoman cavalry, inflicting seriously crippling losses to the attackers and were thus driven back with only relatively few remaining to report to their commanders, and thus the Russians continued their fighting march. The Ottomans then tried to flank the Russian force to the rear, but Rumyantsev hurried his reserves to go towards the
entrenchments situated between the marching Russian soldiers and the Ottoman camp thus redirecting the attention of the enemy flanking force on his rear. Fearing to lose his line of retreat, Ivazzade Pasha rushed all available Ottoman units to the entrenchments, only to be torn apart and driven out by constant, devastating and accurate fire of the Russian artillery. As the Russian forces finally arrived and stormed its way to the Ottoman camp by 8 a.m., they finally felt the sheer weight of the massive Ottoman numbers, with huge throngs of
Janissaries (10,000 men) trying to inch its way to the gaps in the infantry squares thereby seriously jeopardizing Rumyantsev's attack. They broke into the square battle order of Generals Plemyannikov and Olits and disrupted it. Rumyantsev brought reserves into battle and pushed the Janissaries back to their original position. General Bauer's troops captured enemy positions and 93 guns on the left flank, and General Bruce's division captured the right flank Turkish fortifications. At this time General Repnin's troops reached the heights south of the enemy camp and opened a rifle and artillery fire on it from the rear. When the massed battery line commanded by Pyotr Melissino, the future
General of the Artillery, opened fire in a massive barrage, the Ottoman forces began taking even more casualties and thus were forced back while demoralized. Thus began the retreat that Ivazzade Pasha could not manage to stop, even going as far as evoking the names of
Muhammad and the present Sultan to implore his troops only to fail, as the retreating Ottomans complained of the devastating Russian firepower as if it was striking like lightning. The routing Ottomans went through a detachment of
Anatolian Kurdish cavalrymen supposedly on its way to assist Ivazzade Pasha, but the detachment instead looted whatever belongings the soldiers on flight carried with them, therefore adding to the chaos the Ottoman army was already in. He had no choice but to join along with whatever was left of his staff in the disorganized retreat. Seeing the Ottomans already fleeing from the battle scene and already exhausted from several hours of non-stop battle, the Russian infantry halted and took a respite on the former Ottoman camp in the deserted tents, while Rumyantsev instead ordered the Russian army's 1,000-strong cavalry detachment to chase the retreating Ottoman force, which they did as far away as and killing many along the way before stopping in the afternoon the same day. == Conclusion ==