) , war=the Serbian-Turkish Wars (1876-1878) and the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 , image=

, caption=The standard of the Bulgarian Opaltchentsi , active=1877-1878 , ideology= Bulgarian nationalism , leaders= Collective leadership , groups= , headquarters= Sofia Bulgaria , area= Bulgaria , size= 40,300 , partof= , predecessor=

Bulgarian Legion ) , war= National awakening of Bulgaria , image= , caption=The standard of the Bulgarian Legion , active=1862–1868 , ideology= Bulgarian nationalism , leaders= Georgi Sava Rakovski , groups= , headquarters=Belgrade, Serbia , area= , size= , partof ...

, successor= Bulgarian army , allies=

Serbia
, opponents= , battles= Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 Opalchentsi reconstruction

Opalchentsi ( bg, опълченци) were Bulgarian voluntary army units, who took part in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. The people in these units were called ''opalchenets-pobornik'' (опълченец-поборник) roughly meaning "folk-" or "regiment-combatant" . The Bulgarian voluntary army units for the Russo-Turkish War were gathered after the

manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...

Alexander II of Russia Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Poland and Gra ...

, announcing the War. The meeting point of the Bulgarian volunteers in Russia was the city of

Samara Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with ...

. The Bulgarian Opalchentsi were given the Samara flag bearing the images of the Holy Mother and Saints Cyril and Methodius (the flag is kept in the National Museum of Military History in Sofia). The Opalchentsi took an active part in the

Second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

and

Fourth Battle of Shipka Pass The Battle of Shipka Pass consisted of four battles that were fought between the Russian Empire, aided by Bulgarian volunteers known as opalchentsi, and the Ottoman Empire for control over the vital Shipka Pass during the Russo-Turkish War (1877 ...

and after the end of the war went on to form Bulgaria's army.

Structure

Major General Nikolai Stoletov was appointed Chief of the Bulgarian Militia, with his chief of staff being Colonel Efim Rinkiewicz. Other staff officers were also appointed - Colonel Engelhart, Lieutenant Colonel Fyodor De Preradovic and others. The command staff consisted of 136 officers, among which were Bulgarian officers and non-commissioned officers in the Russian Army: *Lieutenant-Colonel Konstantin Kesyakov, *Captain Raicho Nikolov, *Lieutenants Peter Alexiev, Delev,

Petko Stoyanov Petko is a South Slavic (Петко) masculine given name and East Slavic (Петько) surname. It may refer to: Given name * Petko Petkov (disambiguation) *Petko Slaveykov (1827–1895), 19th-century Bulgarian poet, publicist, public figure and ...

, Konstantin Shivarov,

Atanas Uzunov Atanas Uzunov ( bg, Атанас Узунов, born 10 November 1955) is a retired Bulgarian football referee. Born in the city of Plovdiv, his career started in 1979 and ended in the year 2000. During that time he was the first official for 18 ...

, Dimitar Filov,

Danail Nikolaev Danail Tsonev Nikolaev ( bg, Данаил Цонев Николаев; 30 December 1852 – 29 August 1942) was a Bulgarian officer and Minister of War on the eve of the Balkan wars. He was the first person to attain the highest rank in the Bu ...

, Stefan Lyubomski, *Sub-lieutenants Stefan Kissov, Avram Gudzhev, Olympiy Panov and Costa Panitsa. Friendly doctors were appointed, including the Bulgarians Konstantin Bonev, Sava Mirkov, Konstantin Vesenkov, Andrei Bogdanov, Ivan Panov, Yakov Petkovich. The militias were trained by Russian officers. They were armed with the Chassepot rifle, which was bought by the Ministry of Defense and the Moscow Slavic Committee. In terms of numbers and structure, the militia was comparable to a reinforced wartime infantry division. It consisted of 3 militia brigades, each consisting of 2 militia "druzhina" (the equivalent of a battalion) of 5 companies each. Later on, 6 more independent detachments formed later are included. The Bulgarian militia units were commanded by: *1st Militia Brigade, commanded by Colonel Korsakov, *2nd Militia Brigade, commanded by Colonel Leonid Vyazemski, *3rd Militia Brigade, commanded by Colonel Mikhail Tolstoy. Other independent detachments were: *7th Militia druzhina, commanded by Lieutenant-colonel Tizenkhausen, *8th Militia druzhina, commanded by Staff-captain Merchanski, *9th Militia druzhina, commanded by Lieutenant-colonel Lvov, *10th Militia druzhina, commanded by Major Dorshlung, *11th Militia druzhina, commanded by Lieutenant-colonel Gasparevski, *12th Militia druzhina, commanded by Major Kornilovech.

Honours

One of the poems in Ivan Vazov's '' Epic of the Forgotten'', namely " Opalchentsite na Shipka", is dedicated to them.

Opalchenie Peak Opalchenie Peak ( bg, връх Опълчение, vrah Opalchenie, ) is the peak rising to at the south extremity of the ice-covered Vinson Plateau, Sentinel Range in the Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica. It is of low topographic prominence, ju ...

in Vinson Massif, Antarctica is named after the Bulgarian Volunteer Force in the 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War and the Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps in the 1912–1913

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

.Opalchenie Peak.
SCAR

Composite Antarctic Gazetteer The Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica (CGA) of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) is the authoritative international gazetteer containing all Antarctic toponyms published in national gazetteers, plus basic information about t ...

Notes

References

* С. Кисьов. ''„Българското опълчение в Освободителната руско-турска война 1877–1878 г.“'' {{Great Eastern Crisis Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) Military history of Bulgaria Military units and formations of Bulgaria Battle of Shipka Pass

Structure

Honours

See also

Notes

References