Part 28 - The Seres Uprising

Part 28 - The Seres Uprising

The Seres Uprising Revolutionary District (now occupied by Greece), with the City of Seres as its center, covered the territory extending from Mesta River to the east, the Bulgarian border to the north, the Struma River to the west and the Aegean Sea to the south. Immediately before the 1903 Ilinden National Uprising, the Seres Uprising Revolutionary District supported a population of 429,382 people of whom 245, 582 were Macedonians and the rest were Muslims, Ottomans, Vlachs and others. (Vanche Stojchev. “Military History of Macedonia”. Military academy. Skopje, 2004. Page 362) The Seres Uprising Revolutionary District, being geographically positioned between a number of mountains, rivers and gorges, was not only of strategic importance to both the Ottomans and the Macedonians but because of its poorly developed road networks it made it ideal for organizing a revolutionary movement. Unfortunately because of the 1878 Kreshna Uprising this District gained special significance in the Ottoman defense strategy and was well guarded. Besides being militarily well guarded, this District was also placed under constant Ottoman watch for revolutionary activities. In terms of defense in the first half of 1903, just before the August 2nd, 1903 Macedonian National Ilinden Uprising, stationed in the Seres vicinity alone were parts of the 9th Infantry Division and the entire 18th Brigade. The 33rd Infantry Brigade was stationed in Goma Dzumaja and forward battalions were stationed in Melnik, Drama, Demir Hisar, Nevrokop and other cities. There were also smaller units ranging from 30 to 40 and from 100 to 150 Ottomans soldiers deployed in the various villages in Seres District. All in all there were over 5,000 Ottoman soldiers stationed in this District alone. How this massive Ottoman military presence was deployed largely depended on the geographic position of the cities and villages and on the perceived threat from the revolutionaries. To keep itself clandestine as much as possible, Seres Uprising Revolutionary District took the name “the fourth Uprising District - Pirin”. But in spite of its large Macedonian population and all efforts by the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization to bring this Revolutionary District in line with the others, there was not much success. This was also reflected by the fact that only one delegate attended the Solun Congress. Lazar Dimitrov, representing the Seres Uprising Revolutionary District, was well aware of the situation in his District when he voted against an early uprising. But given that many of the delegates voted for an early Uprising, Dimitrov accepted the decision and complied with the wishes of the majority. Towards the end of January 1903, Gotse Delchev paid the District a visit and met with Jane Sandanski, Pejo Javorov, Taskata Serski and others in the village Kara Koj, Nevrokop Region, to assess the situation. Unfortunately before his work was done Delchev was killed and his death brought further deterioration to the District’s ability to organize the people and to participate in the National Uprising. Gotse Delchev’s death was viewed as suspicious and there was contention between the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (MRO) and the Bulgarian sponsored Vrhovist leadership. The two factions were accusing one another of betrayal and of having Delchev murdered. The presence of a large number of Bulgarian sponsored Vrhovists did not help the situation. Discord between the MRO and the Bulgarian sponsored Vrhovists always existed but nowhere more than in the Seres District where there was a gaping divide between the ideologies of the two groups. In fact at one point just before the Uprising, there was so much tension that there was serious danger of an armed conflict breaking out between the two groups. Because this district was already suspected of being involved in revolutionary activities and due to earlier revolutionary incidents in Gorna Dzumaja and Solun (assassinations), the people in Seres were placed under extreme scrutiny.

So to avoid placing the civilian population in peril, Yane Sandanski, the only revolutionary leader in the District with authority to make decisions and influence the population, decided to follow Gotse Delchev’s idea and not participate in the National Uprising, at least not en masse. Unfortunately since that decision had already been made during the Solun Congress, to avoid making the situation even more difficult for the civilian population, Sandanski gave in to Vrhovist pressures and joined forces with the Bulgarian sponsored bands. All in all there were 850 Vrhovists; 134 were under the command of Colonel Anastas Jankov, 300 were under the command of Jordan Stojanov and Petar Drvingov. All were under the command of General Ivan Tsonchev. Because of the problems experienced, the District remained inactive, that is, until August 15th, 1903 when Vrhovist Lieutenant Jordan Stojanov’s Cheta clashed with an Ottoman unit on the slopes of Belasitsa Mountain. On August 19, 1903 another battle broke out on Etipitsa Hill in Bansko Region near Lake Eltepen. Here Lieutenant Jordan Stojanov’s Cheta combined with Boris Strezov’s Cheta to form the Belitsa detachment and fought the Ottomans under Lieutenant Petar Drvingov’s command. On August 22, 1903 Yane Sandanski held the long overdue Seres District Congress in Belemeto, Pirin Mountain. Here it was decided that the Seres Revolutionary District would continue to participate in the Uprising but in a limited way and through the use of diversionary partisan style actions. The first target chosen to be attacked was the Dedeagatch to Solun rail line. During this Congress, which lasted three days, it was decided to start the Uprising in Seres District much later than in the other districts. The date chosen was the Krstovden Holy Day, September 14, 1903, 43 days after the Ilinden Uprising in Bitola District. The reason for the delay was because the Seres District was not ready to enter the Uprising with all that Ottoman military build up in its District. The thinking was that if Seres remained peaceful, the Ottomans would surely redeploy the Seres District massive force elsewhere where it was needed. Counting on the Ottomans to disperse their troops to other Districts that had already commenced the Uprising, the people of Seres would rise up and have a better chance of liberating themselves. At least that was the plan. On August 28, 1903, in order to make use of all available forces, Yane Sandanski summoned Lieutenant Jordan Stojanov to bring the Vrhovist Chetas to the village Pirin, Melnik Region, where he intended to incorporate the Vrhovists with Mihail Tsakov’s and his own Cheta. Many were not happy with Sandanski’s decision but accepted the idea and cooperated as long as the aim was to liberate Seres and Macedonia. On August 31, 1903 more Chetas arrived, both Vrhovist and MRO, and met in the region between Nevrokop and Melnik. Included among the Vrhovist leadership were General Ivan Tsonchev and Colonel Anastas Jankov as well as a couple of Russian journalists named Petar Orlovetz and Romoald Przhevalski. The concentration of armed insurgents unfortunately attracted the attention of the Ottomans who dispatched two military battalions to engage them. A vicious battle broke out near the village Pirin as the combined Chetas took joint action for the first time and defeated the Ottoman attack. Afterwards Sandanski met with Tsonchev and explained to the Vrhovist that he could not have frontal confrontations with the Ottomans at this time and ordered him to take his Chetas to a region near Lake Braznitsa and wait until the official announcement of the Uprising in Seres Region was made. General Tsonchev accepted Sandanski’s recommendation and withdrew his Chetas. After the Vrhovist withdrawal, Sandanski went to Breznitsa and met with Tsonchev and the other Vrhovist representatives in hopes of reaching a consensus on how to deploy the troops during the Uprising. While Tsonchev wanted an all out war simultaneously deploying every available resource, Sandanski wanted to divide up the Chetas by region and conduct long term partisan style diversionary actions.

Unfortunately no consensus could be reached other than to begin the Uprising on Krstovden, September 14, 1903. A vote was taken and, by majority, Tsonchev’s plan was accepted and a General Headquarters was established. Tsonchev and Dimitar Stefanov, as well as others from both sides, were appointed to lead the Uprising. Unhappy with the outcome, Sandanski and his insurgents

returned to Seres and Drama to begin preparations for the Uprising and to conduct partisan style diversionary actions. Vrhovists General Tsonchev, Colonel Jankov, Lieutenant Colonel Stefan Nikolov, Lieutenants Drvingov and Sarakinov, along with their Vrhovist Chetas, waited until September 15th, 1903 before initiating frontal attacks against the Ottomans. They restricted their campaigns close to the Bulgarian border, mainly in the Gorna Dzumaja and Razlog Regions, and when confronted by sizable Ottoman forces the Vrhovists retreated inside the Bulgarian border leaving the villagers open to Ottoman reprisal. As planned, Sandanski divided up his insurgents into smaller Chetas and placing one under Vojvoda Mircho Kiprev’s command. Unfortunately on September 15, 1903, while patrolling the Drama region, this Cheta fell into an Ottoman ambush. While most insurgents escaped with their lives, Vojvoda Kiprev was killed. Command of the Cheta fell to Vojvoda Ivan Anastasov-Grcheto. On September 16, 1903 the same Cheta ran into another column of Ottoman soldiers, this time near the village Kalapot. Another battle broke out but, unprepared to fight a frontal attack against a numerically superior enemy, the insurgents retreated into the woods leaving behind four of their own dead. By mid September 1903 most Revolutionary Districts had fallen to the enemy and the Ottomans had no problem responding to the late Uprising in Seres with a formidable counter attack, thus putting an end to the short lived Uprising in that District. Having failed to drive the Ottomans out of Seres, the Vrhovists continued their campaign in the District but focused their actions more on spreading Bulgarian propaganda and less on attacking the Ottoman army. From a military perspective, the short lived Uprising in the Seres Revolutionary District was unsuccessful mainly due to the District’s inability to become organized under the constant watchful eye of the Ottomans but also due to the conditions of the Uprising’s late start. By mid September 1903, free from campaigning in other districts, the Ottomans had more than enough resources to respond to the Seres Uprising, something the insurgents did not count on. From a moral and political perspective, the Uprising was a success because, in spite of all odds, the Seres Revolutionary District, mainly due to Sandanki’s good leadership, was able to muster enough will to begin the Uprising thus entering the annals of history as a District that struggled to not only free itself but to free all of Macedonia.