Vladimir Kovačević (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: Владимир Ковачевић; 1871-1905) was a Serbian

voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

during the fight to end

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

control of

Old Serbia Old Serbia () is a Serbian historiographical term that is used to describe the territory that according to the dominant school of Serbian historiography in the late 19th century formed the core of the Serbian Empire in 1346–71. The term does ...

and Macedonia. Kovačević was involved in the Fight in Tabanovce against an enemy force that outnumbered his significantly. A Serbian '' Cheta'' in Poreč, with a strength of 27 men, descended at dawn of 27 March 1905 in the village of Tabanovce. The squad carried a load of 101 rifles and 30,000 rounds of ammunition. The leader was Vladimir Kovačević. At about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Kovačević's group was ambushed by Turkish troops. From the start of the conflict lieutenant Dragomir Protić was killed along with another fighter ( sub-lieutenant Dragomir Vasiljević) while attempting to break out from the Turkish

encirclement Encirclement is a military term for the situation when a force or target is isolated and surrounded by enemy forces. The situation is highly dangerous for the encircled force. At the military strategy, strategic level, it cannot receive Milit ...

. Vladimir Kovačević fought bravely throughout the skirmish with the Ottoman Turks. He showed his heroism by throwing several hand grenades at the Turks and their Albanian auxiliaries forcing them to withdraw from the area before nightfall. Turks always avoided entanglements with Serbian Chetas at night. The next day when fighting resumed there but a few Serbs holding their positions until all were decimated, including Vladimir Kovačević. He is commemorated in the Government calendar of the

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynast ...

(''Drzavni kalendar Kraljevine Srbije'') in 1911. Only one member of the ''cheta'' --

Stojan Koruba Stojan Simonović ( sr-cyr, Стојан Симоновић, 1872–1937), known by his ''nom de guerre'' Koruba (Коруба), was a Serbian Chetnik. Early life Simonović was born into a poor family in Šaprance, at the time part of the Ottom ...

—managed to extricate himself from the fighting and survive.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovačević, Vladimir 1871 births 1905 deaths Date of birth missing Place of birth missing Chetniks Serbian military leaders Serbian revolutionaries Revolutionaries from the Ottoman Empire

See also

References