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

, caption=The

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

of the Bulgarian Opaltchentsi , active=1877-1878 , ideology=

Bulgarian nationalism Bulgarian irredentism is a term to identify the territory associated with a historical national state and a modern Bulgarian irredentist nationalist movement in the 19th and 20th centuries, which would include most of Macedonia, Thrace and ...

, leaders= Collective leadership , groups= , headquarters=

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

, area=

, 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= , parto ...

, successor=

Bulgarian army The Bulgarian Land Forces ( bg, Сухопътни войски на България, Sukhopŭtni voĭski na Bŭlgariya, lit=Ground Forces of Bulgaria) are the ground warfare branch of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. The Land Forces were establishe ...

, allies=

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

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

Opalchentsi ( bg, опълченци) were

n 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 of Alexander II of Russia, announcing the War. The meeting point of the Bulgarian volunteers in Russia was the city of Samara. The Bulgarian Opalchentsi were given the

Samara flag The Samara Flag ( bg, Самарско знаме, ''Samarsko zname'', russian: Самарское знамя, ''Samarskoye znamya'') is an important military symbol of the Bulgarian Army. The flag, woven by local nuns, was given to the Bulgarian ...

bearing the images of the Holy Mother and

Saints Cyril and Methodius Cyril (born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (815–885) were two brothers and Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs". They are credited wi ...

(the flag is kept in the National Museum of Military History in Sofia). The Opalchentsi took an active part in the Second and Fourth Battle of Shipka Pass and after the end of the war went on to form Bulgaria's

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Structure

Major General

Nikolai Stoletov Nikolai Grigorevich Stoletov (russian: Столетов, Николай Григорьевич; – ) was a general in the Imperial Russian Army. He was the brother of noted physicist Aleksandr Stoletov. Stoletov was born in Vladimir and atten ...

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, Konstantin Shivarov, Atanas Uzunov, Dimitar Filov, Danail Nikolaev, 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 The Chassepot (pronounced ''SHAS-poh''), officially known as ''Fusil modèle 1866'', was a bolt-action military breechloading rifle. It is famous for having been the arm of the French forces in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. It repla ...

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 Ivan Minchov Vazov ( bg, Иван Минчов Вазов; – 22 September 1921) was a Bulgarian poet, novelist and playwright, often referred to as "the Patriarch of Bulgarian literature". He was born in Sopot, a town in the Rose Valley ...

's ''

Epic of the Forgotten ''Epic of the Forgotten'' ( bg, Епопея на забравените; ''Epopeya na zabravenite'') is a cycle of 12 odes composed by Bulgarian writer Ivan Vazov between 1881 and 1884. The poems deal with people and events connected with Bulgar ...

'', namely " Opalchentsite na Shipka", is dedicated to them. Opalchenie Peak in

Vinson Massif Vinson Massif () is a large mountain massif in Antarctica that is long and wide and lies within the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains. It overlooks the Ronne Ice Shelf near the base of the Antarctic Peninsula. The massif is located ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

is named after the Bulgarian Volunteer Force in the 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War and the

Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps The Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps ( bg, Македоно-одринско опълчение, ''Makedono-odrinsko opalchenie'') was a volunteer corps of the Bulgarian Army during the Balkan Wars. It was formed on 23 September 1912 ...

in the 1912–1913 Balkan Wars.Opalchenie Peak.
SCAR Composite Antarctic Gazetteer.

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