Battle of Bregalnica

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Bregalnica
partof=Second Balkan War


caption=
date=June 30–, 1913
place=Bregalnica, Ottoman Empire (present-day Republic of Macedonia)
result=Decisive Serbian and Montenegrin victory
combatant1=flagicon|Bulgaria|1878 Kingdom of Bulgaria
combatant2=flagicon|Serbia|1882 Kingdom of Serbia
flagicon|Montenegro|1910 Kingdom of Montenegro
commander1=flagicon|Bulgaria|1878 Gen. Mihail Savov
flagicon|Bulgaria|1878 Gen. Vicho Dikov
commander2=flagicon|Serbia|1882 Field Marshal Radomir Putnik
flagicon|Serbia|1882 Gen. Petar Bojović
flagicon|Serbia|1882 Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević
flagicon|Serbia|1882 Gen. Živojin Mišić
strength1=ca. 130,000 men, guns (100 Infantry Battalions, 6 Cavalry Regiments, 63 Artillery Batteries)
strength2=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
casualties1=Unknown
casualties2=Total 16,620; of whom 3,000 killed

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.

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.

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 severaldays. 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.

After

While the Serbian counteroffensive was soon stopped at the Battle of 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. However, the Bulgarians failed to achieve their war goal of expelling the Serbian army from the territories in Macedonia they claimed, so this battle proved decisive for the outcome of the war. 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.

References

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

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.