Battle of Bregalnica

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Battle of Bregalnica
Part of Second Balkan War
Date June 30–, 1913 Location Bregalnica, Ottoman Empire (present-day Republic of Macedonia) Result Serbian victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Bulgaria	Kingdom of Serbia Kingdom of Montenegro
Commanders
Gen. Mihail Savov Gen. Vicho Dikov	Field Marshal Radomir Putnik Gen. Petar Bojović Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević Gen. Živojin Mišić
Strength
ca. 130,000 men, guns (100 Infantry Battalions, 6 Cavalry Regiments, 63 Artillery Batteries)	ca. 194,000 men, 235 guns (104 Infantry Battalions, 34 Cavalry Companies, 62 Artillery Batteries) * Montenegrin division ca. 13,000 men, 6 guns and 24 machine guns
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Total 16,620; of whom 3,000 killed

v • d • e Second Balkan War Kilkis-Lahanas - Doiran - Bregalnica - Kalimantsi - Kresna Gorge

The Battle of Bregalnica was fought between the Kingdom of Bulgaria army and the Kingdom of Serbia during the Second Balkan War. Serbian forces came out victorious.

In Bulgarian history, the battles of Bregalnitsa and Kalimantsi are considered as one single battle ending with the defeat of the Serbian forces.

Contents 1 Introduction 2 The Battle 3 After 4 References 5 Notes

[edit] Introduction

The Bulgarian Army (many of the soldiers were from Macedonia) conducted the costliest campaign in the First Balkan War: approaching Constantinople and the symbolically valuable Edirne (Ottoman capital from 1365 until 1453). The majority of Turkish forces were concentrated along this front. While the Bulgarian army was fighting against the main Turkish forces in Thrace, Serbian and Greek troops took the opportunity to occupy much Macedonia populated mostly with Bulgarians which the Bulgarian government was not to surrender. This put Greece and Serbia on guard, being aware that the possibility of war was becoming inevitable, these two countries signed a military convention on June 2, 1913, and made all the necessary preparations for resisting any aggression on Bulgaria's part.

[edit] The Battle

At one o'clock in the morning of June 30, without a previous declaration of hostilities, Bulgarian 4th Army crossed the Bregalnica (a tributary of the Vardar) and attacked the positions of the Serbian 1st Army. A violent battle ensued, lasting for several days. Thanks to the suddenness of their offensive the Bulgarians were temporarily successful, but gradually the Serbs regained the upper hand. By July 1 the Bulgarians were beaten. The losses were very heavy on both sides, and in the end the Bulgarians made a strategic retreat to the east towards the mountains where the Serbs were defeated at the Battle of Kalimantsi.

[edit] After

While the Serbian offensive was soon reversed at Kalimantsi and the Greek army was surrounded in the Kresna Gorge, Bulgaria came under attack by the Romanian Army which invaded northern Bulgaria. Famine reigned at Sofia, and it should also be noted that epidemics of both typhus and cholera decimated Bulgarian and Serbian ranks. A conference was arranged at Bucharest, and the treaty of that name was signed there on August 10, 1913 (see the Treaty of Bucharest, 1913). By the terms of this treaty Serbia retained the whole of northern and central Macedonia, including Monastir and Ohrid, and the famous sanjak of Novi Pazar was divided between Serbia and Montenegro. Some districts of east-central Macedonia, which were previously Bulgarian, were included into the Serbian territory.

[edit] References

• Savo Skoko Vojvoda Radomir Putnik Vol.1; Beogradsko Grafičko-Izdavčki Zavod, 1984.

[edit] Notes

• The numbers of the strength of Serbian Army do not indicate the exact strength of the forces deployed during the Battle of Bregalnica but rather the entire strength of the Serbian Army in Macedonia (the Operational group South, which included the combined 1st and 3rd Armies) at the beginning of hostilities.