First Battle of the Jiu Valley

First Battle of the Jiu Valley
	Part of the Battle of the Southern Carpathians of the Romanian Campaign of World War I
Date	23 October–1 November 1916
Location	Jiu Valley, Romania
Result	Romanian victory
Belligerents
Romania	German Empire; Austria-Hungary
Commanders and leaders
Ion Dragalina (DOW); Nicolae Petala; Ioan Culcer	Paul von Kneußl
Units involved
1st Army 1st Infantry Division (reinforced during the battle);	Cavalry Corps Schmettow; 11th Bavarian Infantry Division; 144th Austro-Hungarian Infantry Brigade; Württemberg Mountain Battalion
Casualties and losses
Unknown total; 9 guns captured on 24 October but recovered on the 28th	3,210 combat casualties 1,500+ killed; 1,600+ captured; 90% of Erwin Rommel's company sick; 8 guns and two howitzer batteries captured; 14 machine guns captured

The First Battle of the Jiu Valley was a military engagement during World War I fought between Romanian forces on one side and Central Powers forces (Germany and Austria-Hungary) on the other. The German offensive, although initially successful, was checked within days and subsequently repulsed by a Romanian counterattack. This was the most conspicuous Romanian victory during the 1916 campaign, given that it was achieved against forces which were superior in artillery and - initially - in numbers as well.