| Battle of Tabanovce | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theMacedonian Struggle | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Serbian Chetnik Organization |  Ottoman Empire Kumanovo garrison | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Vladimir Kovačević | Turić | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 27 | 112 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 11 dead and two lightly wounded | c. 60 dead and wounded | ||||||
  Location of Tabanovce in North Macedonia | |||||||
TheBattle of Tabanovce (Serbian:Borba na Tabanovcu,Serbian Cyrillic:Борба на Табановцу) was fought between theSerbian Chetnik Organization, a Serbian rebel faction, and anOttoman garrison fromKumanovo. It took place on 27 March 1905.
TheChetnik band heading forPoreče, numbering 27 men, descended at dawn on 27 March (O.S. 14 March) into the village ofTabanovce.[1] They carried a load of 101 rifles and 30,000 rounds of ammunition.[2] It was commanded by sergeantVladimir Kovačević,[3] the nephew of the Herzegovinian revolutionary Stojan Kovačević.[4] The band included, among others, sergeant Veselin Veselinović, lieutenantDragomir Protić (Kovačević's deputy), sublieutenant Dragomir Vasiljević,Stojan Koruba, and Stojan Ristić-Giljanče.[5] The unit's most experienced fighters were Veselin Veselinović, Stojan Koruba and Stojan Ristić-Giljanče.[6] Immediately upon arriving, Kovačević divided the band, sending a group of six under Veselinović to a house at the opposite end of the village, while the others were placed in two neighboring houses.[7] A Turkish informant saw Veselinović's group and informed theKumanovo garrison, who already in the early afternoon began searching the houses.[8] Vasiljević was seriously wounded, while Vitko Vranjanac was shot dead; Stojan promptly reacted and ran through the yard, killing two soldiers, then took Vasiljević to safety.[9] Theaskeri surrounded Veselinović's house, and thereformed Ottoman officer Turić informed the besieged that they had been abandoned by their comrades, who had fled before the army, and that he guaranteed them their lives if they surrendered; as resistance in these circumstances would be futile, so they surrendered.[10] Around 15:00, Kovačević's groups and theOttoman army clashed.[11] Protić and Vasiljević were killed right away when they attempted to break out.[12] The battle lasted until late at night, with the Ottoman army eventually retreating as they typically avoided nightly engagements with the guerillas.[13] The Ottomans hadc. 60 dead and wounded, while the Chetniks had 11 dead (Dragomir Protić, Dragomir Vasiljević, Veselin Veselinković, Sava Jovanović, Trajko Đorđević, Radoš Radulović, Sava Stevanović, David Bošnjanin, Trajče Kumanovac, Stojan Kumanovac and Nikola Jablaničanin) and two lightly wounded.[14] Only one man managed to escape the encirclement --Stojan Koruba.
After the fights in Tabanovce,Savatije Milošević,Lazar Kujundžić andAksentije Bacetović–Baceta left their offices as organizers of the action, wanting to feel the Chetnik lifestyle "from within" as voivodes. Baceta was to replace the then Chief of Upper Staff,Ilija Jovanović. Baceta and Savatije, by mid-April, had moved 107 freedom-fighters across the border.[15]