site.btaBulgaria Commemorates Battle of Slivnitsa Heros

With wreaths and a military tattoo, servicemen and government ministers marked the 140th anniversary of the Serbo-Bulgarian War at the Heroes of Slivnitsa Memorial in the eponymous town on Friday. 

The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov, Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov, Chief of Defense Admiral Emil Eftimov, Bulgarian Patriarch Daniel, Slivnitsa Mayor Vasko Stoilkov, officers, and other officials.

“This was the first and most important victory won by the Bulgarian army. Our army advanced in three days from the Ottoman border. They marched in columns with three soldiers in a row, the one in the middle resting on a rifle carried on the shoulders of those on the left and right—that’s how they advanced. That was a feat in our military history,” said Slivnitsa Mayor Vasko Stoilkov.

He noted that the local population actively participated in the military actions. “All the men were at the front, the women fed the soldiers, and the children brought them water,” Stoilkov added, emphasizing that he feels proud to be a local.

“Investing in modern technologies would be meaningless if there is no inspiration, desire, and dedication to the military profession. That is why the task of every government and administration is to build the authority of the Bulgarian soldier, the attractiveness of the military profession, because the most important goal is the defense of the homeland,” Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov said in his speech.

Earlier in the day, servicemen laid wreaths and paid tribute to the fallen at the Mother Bulgaria Pantheon of the Fallen in the Serbo-Bulgarian War near the village of Gurgulyat and at the Five Captains Monument in Slivnitsa.

The Battle of Slivnitsa lasted three days and is considered the baptism of fire for the young Bulgarian army. The front line at Slivnitsa was divided into three parts, with 12,000 Bulgarians facing 25,000 Serbs. At 9:00 a.m. on November 5, 1885, the Serbs advanced, but Capt. Georgi Silianov's battery repelled them quickly and without casualties. On the orders of Prince Alexander of Battenberg, the Bulgarians launched a counterattack near the village of Malo Malovo. The Serbian units were forced to retreat. The decisive day of the battle was November 7. The ratio of forces was now 32,000 Bulgarians against 40,000 Serbs.

The Serbian Morava Division, stopped the previous day by Capt. Stefan Kisov and his detachment of nearly 2,000 men, advanced again. Capt. Marin Marinov, commander of the Bdin Regiment, ordered a bayonet attack, leading his soldiers himself and dying in battle. On the right flank near Slivnitsa, the Bulgarians attacked the Tri Ushi heights. Capt. Marin Marinov was also killed there. The Serbs sent new units against Tri Ushi. The Bulgarians from the central section also charged the heights. Although the Serbs had superiority of 89 against 64 Bulgarian companies, all the peaks of Tri Ushi were captured by the Bulgarians. The Slivnitsa position was saved, and in the following days the Bulgarians went on the offensive and entered Serbian territory.

The battle resulted in 1,800 casualties on the Bulgarian side and 2,100 on the Serbian. The victory served to defend the Unification of Bulgaria, which took place in the autumn of 1885.