Mašo Vrbica ( sr-Cyrl, Машо Врбица; 1833 in Vrba – 10 May 1898 in

Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. ...

) was a Montenegrin '' vojvoda'' and military commander.

Biography

He graduated from the

Mikhailovskaya Artillery Military Academy Russia has a number of military academies of different specialties. This article primarily lists institutions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation rather than those of the Soviet Armed Forces. Russian institutions designated as an "acad ...

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. After his return to Montenegro, he was appointed as a captain in the Njeguši militia, which was part of the Montenegrin army. He commanded a unit at the

Battle of Grahovac The Battle of Grahovac took place in the eponymous village of Grahovac from 11 to 13 May 1858, when the Montenegrin Grand Duke Mirko Petrović-Njegoš led the army of Principality of Montenegro against the Ottomans, ending in a decisive Monte ...

in 1858, and with the cannon captured there organized the artillery for Montenegrin army. During the Montenegrin-Ottoman War of 1861-1862, he commanded the artillery. Between the wars he joined the nationalist "

United Serbian Youth The United Serb Youth ( sr, Уједињена омладина српска, Ujedinjena omladina srpska), also known as ''Omladina'' ("the Youth"), was a diverse progressive Serbian political, cultural and national movement active between 1866 an ...

" where he met such men as Vladimir Jovanović,

Svetozar Miletić Svetozar Miletić ( sr-cyr, Светозар Милетић; 22 February 1826 – 4 February 1901) was a Serbian lawyer, journalist, author and politician who served as the mayor of Novi Sad between 1861 and 1862 and again from 1867 to 1868. ...

Nikola Pašić Nikola Pašić ( sr-Cyrl, Никола Пашић, ; 18 December 1845 – 10 December 1926) was a Serbian and Yugoslav politician and diplomat who was a leading political figure for almost 40 years. He was the leader of the People's Radical ...

, Nikola Petrovic, Marko Popovic Miljanov, and

Valtazar Bogišić Valtazar Bogišić ( sr-Cyrl, Валтазар Богишић; 20 December 1834 – 24 April 1908), also known as Baltazar Bogišić, was a Serbian jurist and a pioneer in sociology. In the domain of private law his most notable research was on ...

. In 1875 Vrbica was given the title of '' vojvoda''. He was a liaison of Montenegro to the Serbian Supreme Command during the

Serbo-Turkish War (1876–78) The term Serbian-Turkish War or Serbian-Ottoman War may refer to: * Serbian-Turkish War (1371) * Serbian-Turkish War (1389) * Serbian-Turkish War (1804-1813) * Serbian-Turkish War (1815) * Serbian-Turkish War (1876-1877) * Serbian-Turkish War ...

, during which he commanded Montenegrin dragoons in the battles of Aleksinac and Deligrad (20–21 October 1876). He was appointed Montenegrin Minister of Internal Affairs in 1877. He commanded the Montenegrin forces in the attack on

Nikšić Nikšić ( cnr, Никшић, italic=no, sr-cyrl, Никшић, italic=no; ), is the second largest city in Montenegro, with a total population of 56,970 located in the west of the country, in the centre of the spacious Nikšić field at the foot ...

. Strategically, he took Trebješka Glava, where he placed the artillery that supported the attack on the town. After the fall of Nikšić, his main effort was in clearing out the Ottoman troops in the area. He took three battalions and on 16 September captured the fort at Bilek, on 25 September he captured the fortifications at Dugskogo Pass. In November 1877 he laid siege to

Stari Bar Stari Bar ( cyrl, Стари Бар; sq, Tivar i Vjetër, lit. "Old Bar") is a small town in Montenegro. It is located inland, a few miles from the new city of Bar, resting on Londša hill, at the foot of Mount Rumija. According to the 2003 ce ...

, taking the coastal port and eventually the town in January 1878. Vrbica headed several large construction works in Montenegro, notably the bridge over the

Zeta Zeta (, ; uppercase Ζ, lowercase ζ; grc, ζῆτα, el, ζήτα, label= Demotic Greek, classical or ''zē̂ta''; ''zíta'') is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 7. It was derived f ...

Danilovgrad Danilovgrad ( cnr, Даниловград) is a town in central Montenegro. It has a population of 6,852 (2011 census). It is situated in the Danilovgrad Municipality which lies along the main route between Montenegro's two largest cities, Podgori ...

, the road from

Rijeka Crnojevića Rijeka Crnojevića (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Ријека Црнојевића, lit. "River of Crnojević") is a town in Montenegro on the eponymous Rijeka Crnojevića river, near the coast of Skadar lake. History The Ottomans captured Žablja ...

Podgorica Podgorica (Cyrillic: Подгорица, ; lit. 'under the hill') is the capital and largest city of Montenegro. The city was formerly known as Titograd (Cyrillic: Титоград, ) between 1946 and 1992—in the period that Montenegro form ...

and the water supply in

Cetinje Cetinje (, ) is a town in Montenegro. It is the former royal capital (''prijestonica'' / приjестоница) of Montenegro and is the location of several national institutions, including the official residence of the president of Montenegro ...

. On 16 May 1881, he was awarded the Russian Military

Order of St. George The Order of Saint George (russian: Орден Святого Георгия, Orden Svyatogo Georgiya) is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. Originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) a ...

. Vrbica came into conflict with Prince Nikola, and defected to

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

with his son Labud, who was married to Danica, the daughter of the Austro-Hungarian envoy to Montenegro, Theodor von Milinković. With the help of Milinković, Mašo Vrbica was awarded an estate near

and a state pension. He remarried and spent his final years there. Prince Nikola denied him the right to be buried in

Njeguši Njeguši ( cnr, Његуши) is a village in the Cetinje Municipality of southern Montenegro, located on the slopes of Mount Lovćen, within the Lovćen national park. It is part of the territory of Njeguši tribe. Demographics According to th ...

. Vrbica died and was buried near Banja Luka in 1898. His remains were transferred and reburied by the St Petka Church in Vrba, Njeguši on 17 November 2007.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vrbica, Maso 1833 births 1898 deaths People of the Principality of Montenegro 19th-century Serbian people Serbian military leaders Military personnel from Cetinje Serbs of Montenegro