Serbian Army (revolutionary)


The Serbian Army was the military force of Revolutionary Serbia, active during the First Serbian Uprising fighting against the Ottoman Empire. Established at first as a peasant army against the oppressive Dahije who had wrested the Pashalik of Belgrade from the Sultan, it became a resistance movement to the Ottomans which managed to create an independent state, restoring Serbian statehood in the Central Balkans after centuries of Ottoman rule. Distinguished community leaders, the Serbian Free Corps veterans and hajduks mustered a militia which transformed into an army with decisive victories and relations with Austria and Russia.

Background

The rebel army had precursors in the Serbian Free Corps employed by the Habsburg Monarchy in the Austro-Turkish War (1788–1791), and the "national militia" employed by Hadji Mustafa Pasha, the Vizier of Belgrade, against the problematic Janissaries and the rebel leader Osman Pazvantoğlu of the Sanjak of Vidin.
The leading janissaries, called the Dahije, wrested the Pashalik of Belgrade from the Sultan, renewed terror and abolished the Serbs' self-governing rights. The economic hardships, evil administration, violence and "Slaughter of the Knezes" led to the uprising against the Dahije in 1804. Fighting legally from the Sultan's perspective at first, as the Dahije were renegades, the turning point came at Ivankovac where the Serbian troops had a major victory against Ottoman troops. Now, the Serbs fought for national liberation and restoration of the Serbian state. There were various plans of restoring a Serbian state in the 18th century, with either Habsburg or Russian support, but these had ultimately failed. The cult of the medieval Serbian state was strong in the Serbian Church and among the farmers and shepherds, who kept the tradition through the monasteries and epic poetry.
While Serbs had revolted earlier, they were decisive under Karađorđe's strong leadership and managed to organize themselves, in their own interest, not relying on external powers.

Organization

Command

The Serbian rebel army was commanded by Karađorđe, the most able of the vojvoda in Šumadija. He was a veteran of the Serbian Free Corps and Mustafa Pasha's militia, and upon his return from Koča's Frontier hajduks from various nahiyah confided in him. Šumadija was a forested region inhabited mostly by refugees and hajduks. Karađorđe was described as physically strong, decisive, violent, heroic and fearsome. He had considerable experience from his Austrian service and understood how only a regular trained army could manage against the Ottomans.
In the beginning of the uprising braver locals gathered around their starešina, gradually expanding with rebels joining of good will or through pressure. The first bands gathered around leaders such as Karađorđe, Stanoje Glavaš and Janko Katić in Šumadija, Jakov Nenadović in Kolubara and Milenko Stojković in Pomoravlje. When the uprising expanded the gathering of troops was through the knez, who often also was the starešina, or another notable or merchant, such as Milan Obrenović, Mladen Milovanović, Teodosije Marićević and others. Archpriest Matija Nenadović described the starešina as coming from "the wealthiest of Serbs, who was a knez, merchant, priest, kmet or otherwise wealthy, having a good patrimony, zadruga, plenty of livestock, mills and other income" and who could gather men and arm them. The first starešine of the not yet organized army were recognized by the commoners in distinguished individuals in their midst, however, as the battles continued and the rebels became better organized, distinction through battle singled out people fit for leadership.

Structure and personnel

The army was made up of local rebels, commoners belonging to the rayah, without wages but had some structure resembling a standing army. In the beginning, the rebel army was a militia with armed civilians, with the troop size depending on liberated territories. In the initial years all abled men were required to join as soldiers. Every soldier took care of his own equipment and weapons, while the government was responsible for food when he was forced to fight on another front far from home. The supply train transferred soldiers to other fronts as the uprising required.
The military organization was territorial, divided into units of desetina, četa and bataljon, formed according to the local administrative divisions of knežina or nahija which gave their names to the individual units. There were three combat arms, the infantry, cavalry and artillery.
Senior ranks were the kaplar, fendrek, kapetan or buljubaša, podvojvoda and vojvoda, in the beginning of the First Serbian Uprising. The ranks were initially given from within the army until the strengthening of central power when commander-in-chief Karađorđe with or without the Governing Council appointed them. At the end of the uprising, the officer ranks included kapetan, poručnik, potporučnik, praporčik, vahtmajstor, estandarfirer, unteroficir and barabančik.
A "regular battalion" was established in 1808 in Belgrade, alongside an artillery battery, and the national army adopted some military occupation specialties. The transformation into a regular army was however not initially viewed enthusiastically by those soldiers who wanted to stay close to their home, but Karađorđe managed to silence dissent. The establishment of the regular battalion and artillery battery were the beginning of a modern army, with a contemporary system of military organization and "European-styled" training. The regular battalion was well-equipped under the circumstances, mostly due to Russian support; all members wore Russian uniform and were trained by Russian officers. In 1809 Karađorđe ordered the establishment of a rota or kompanija of 250 younger men from zadruga families in each nahija, commanded by a captain. The regular army was now divided into two formations, infantry and cavalry, while the artillery formed a special corps. There were plans in 1808 to establish an engineering corps. By the summer of 1812 there were six regular battalions numbering 4308 soldiers. Prior to the Ottoman invasion of 1813, the army numbered 12,000 in garrisons of towns and trenches and 41,500 soldiers at home were called upon.
There were also troops known as the momci and bećari, both which had wages and could be seen as part of the standing army, the former being a kind of private army of the voivodes and the latter being mercenaries mostly from outside Ottoman territories, though some local impoverished peasants joined them. The momci had wages but no uniforms nor a fixed active duty. The bećari were mostly infantry, some cavalry, tasked with border security or served as crews in fortified camps and trenches, notably in the garrisons of Belgrade, Deligrad, Šabac and other towns, and they too, served as bodyguards for chiefs. Their monthly wage was 15 groschen and they also had the right to partake in the division of loot.

Supplies and volunteers

There were volunteers from other regions who joined to fight the Ottomans for patriotic reasons. Army officers from south Hungary and the Military Frontier crossed into Serbia and served as volunteers. Rebel bands from Old Herzegovina and Brda raided across Bosnia and Stari Vlah in 1806, then joined up with the Serbian army in Topola and participated in the successful siege of Belgrade.
During the initial phase, Serb traders from Habsburg Syrmia, Banat and Bačka supplied the rebel army with arms and ammunition, while a significant number of officers and soldiers arrived from the Slavonian Military Frontier. Wallachian lord Constantine Ypsilantis provided arms and supplies and a small unit after initial success in 1804. In 1807, some 800 Bulgarians joined the Serbian troops after Karađorđe had armed 5,000 anti-Ottoman rebels the year before. In 1807, 515 Austrian soldiers deserted to Serbia, of which 188 belonged to regular regiments and were esteemed in their Military Frontier units. Stratimirović informed the Austrian court in 1807 that the rebel army had greatly expanded, also noting that some rebels were focused on looting weapons, military equipment and coins.

Training

The first foot drill began in 1804 by the troops besieging Belgrade. The army trained in the nahija and camps, with Karađorđe being known to have personally watched over exercises in Topola, the most important centre for training and military reserve from where units were dispatched. The military training was conducted initially according to Austrian routines as the first instructors either came from the Military Frontier or were local veterans of the Free Corps. In the leadership, Free Corps veterans included Karađorđe, Sima Marković, Miloje Todorović, among others. Austrian influence was evident also in the names of officer ranks. With the Russian-Serbian alliance and arrival of Russian troops in 1807, the training was conducted according to Russian routines. For a period following this, there were two military training divisions in Serbia, one in the east, where the rebels fought alongside the Russians and had many of their officers among their ranks, and one in the west, where there were Austrian instructors and proximity to Austrian borders, however, by the end, the Russian principle prevailed. The first regulations of training were implemented with the establishment of the regular battalion in 1808, while the second regulations came in 1813 and included pictures of uniforms, further regulations were written the same year in the Military Code by the captain of regular troops Jakov Jakšić according to Russian principle.

Law

War spoils are important motivation in all wars, and the rebels used the Byzantine principles for the soldier's right to loot and were morally justified in looting "Turk" feudal lords. Most of the loot ended up in the hands of the starešina, often through incorrect division. Due to this, although only formally, point 10 in Karađorđe's Law Code includes fines to the chief if he steals his soldier's rightful loot. There were instances where chiefs freed individuals from conscription in exchange for unpaid work, and this was also regulated with fines and temporary exclusion from the government. Letting soldiers go home in exchange for gifts and bribes were seen as treason.

Operation

First Serbian Uprising

The first uprising spanned from 1804 to 1813, for 3,520 days. There were 210 larger battles, skirmishes or lesser clashes. The total highest number of Serbian personnel ranges between 49–55,000 according to reliable estimates. The Serbian Army had 38,808 losses, while the Ottoman Army had 101,557 losses. The total number of commanders in the first uprising is undetermined; older historiography numbers 69, 89, 110, 112 ; newer historiography number 156–175. Army captain Andra J. Milojević estimated in 1904 that 38 commanders fell during the uprising, while M. Nedeljković estimated 27. Most commanders fled Serbia upon quelling of the uprising, while at most 30 vojvoda remained.

Second Serbian Uprising

The second uprising was active for less than 100 days. Notably, 7–9 commanders fell.

Equipment

The army was equipped with flintlocks, muskets, yatagans, sabres.

Units

Nahija and knežina units

Special units

  • Regular battalion, established in 1808, trained by Russian officers.
  • Artillery battery, established in 1808.
  • *Artillery under topčibaša Tomo Milinović
  • Momci
  • *Karađorđe's momci, 40 men and four buljubaša, under vojvoda Petar Jokić.
  • Bećari
  • *Belgrade city bećari under vojvoda Miloje Petrović
  • Belgrade Police, under Ilija Novokršteni

Volunteer units