The following is the Bulgarian order of battle at the beginning of the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

as of October 8, 1912. After its mobilization the field army counted for 366,209 menМинистерство на войната (1937), p. 566 and represented half the field forces of the

Balkan League The League of the Balkans was a quadruple alliance formed by a series of bilateral treaties concluded in 1912 between the Eastern Orthodox kingdoms of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro, and directed against the Ottoman Empire, which at the ...

. Its greater part was deployed in the main theater of the war in

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...

Hall (2000),p. 22 but the army also contributed to the allied war effort in Macedonia. This

order of battle In modern use, the order of battle of an armed force participating in a military operation or campaign shows the hierarchical organization, command structure, strength, disposition of personnel, and equipment of units and formations of the arme ...

includes all combat units, including

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

and

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

units, but not medical,

supply Supply may refer to: *The amount of a resource that is available **Supply (economics), the amount of a product which is available to customers **Materiel, the goods and equipment for a military unit to fulfill its mission *Supply, as in confidenc ...

signal In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The '' IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing' ...

and border guard units.

GHQ

The nominal commander in chief of the Bulgarian Army was

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...

Ferdinand I but

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

its control and leadership were in the hands of his deputy Lieutenant-General

Mihail Savov Mihail Georgiev Savov ( bg, Михаил Савов) (14 November 1857 in Stara Zagora - 21 July 1928 in Saint-Vallier-de-Thiey, France) was a Bulgarian general, twice Minister of Defence (1891–1894 and 1903–1907), second in command of the Bul ...

. The Chief of the General Staff was

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Ivan Fichev Ivan Fichev ( bg, Иван Фичев) (born on 15 April 1860 in Tarnovo, died on 13 November 1931 in Sofia) was a Bulgarian general, Minister of Defense, military historian and academician. Biography Ivan Fichev was born in 1860 in Tırnova (n ...

with

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

Stefan Nerezov as his Deputy Chief.

Thracian Theater

First Army

First Army was commanded by lieutenant-general

Vasil Kutinchev Vasil Ivanov Kutinchev ( bg, Васил Иванов Кутинчев) (born 25 February 1859 in Rusçuk; died 30 March 1941) was a Bulgarian officer. He began his military career in 1879 after graduating from the Military School in Sofia . On 13 ...

. * 1st Sofia Infantry Division ( Major-General Toshev) ** ''1st Brigade'' (Colonel Zheliavski) *** 1st "Sofia" Infantry Regiment *** 6th "Turnovo" Infantry Regiment ** ''2nd Brigade'' (Major-General Popov) *** 37th Infantry Regiment *** 38th Infantry Regiment **4th QF FARQuick-firing field artillery regiment (QF FAR), mountain artillery regiment (MAR). **4th FAR **1st Pioneer Battalion * 3rd Balkan Infantry Division ( Major-General Sarafov) ** ''1st Brigade'' (Colonel Paskalev) *** 11th "Sliven" Infantry Regiment *** 24th "Black Sea" Infantry Regiment ** ''2nd Brigade'' (Colonel Ribarov) *** 29th "Yambol" Infantry Regiment *** 32nd "Zagora" Infantry Regiment ** ''3rd Brigade'' (Major-General Tepavicharov) *** 41st Infantry Regiment *** 42nd Infantry Regiment **6th QF FAR **6th FAR **3rd Pioneer Battalion * 10th Infantry Division ( Major-General Bradistilov) ** ''1st Brigade'' (Colonel Petev) *** 16th "Lovech" Infantry Regiment *** 25th "Dragoman" Infantry Regiment ** ''2nd Brigade'' (Colonel Atanas Petrov) *** 47th Infantry Regiment *** 48th Infantry Regiment **10th FAR **10th Pioneer Battalion

Second Army

Second Army was commanded by lieutenant-general

Nikola Ivanov Nikola Ivanov ( bg, Никола Иванов) (2 March 1861, Kalofer – 10 September 1940, Sofia) was a Bulgarian general and a minister of defence of the Kingdom of Bulgaria. One of the first graduate of the General Staff Military Academy ...

. * 8th Tundzha Infantry Division ( Major-General Kirkov) ** ''1st Brigade'' (Colonel

Marchin Marchin (; wa, Mårcin) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Marchin had a total population of 5,114. The total area is 30.00 km² which gives a population density of 170 inhabitant ...

) *** 10th "Rhodope" Infantry Regiment *** 30th "Sheinovo" Infantry Regiment ** ''2nd Brigade'' (Colonel Kardzhiev) *** 12th "Balkan" Infantry Regiment *** 23rd "Shipka" Infantry Regiment ** ''3rd Brigade'' (Colonel Pachev) *** 51st Infantry Regiment *** 52nd Infantry Regiment **8th QF FAR **8th FAR **8th Pioneer Battalion * 9th Pleven Infantry Division ( Major-General Sirakov) ** ''1st Brigade'' (Colonel Evrov) *** 4th "Pleven" Infantry Regiment *** 17th "Dorostol" Infantry Regiment ** ''2nd Brigade'' (Colonel Popov) *** 33rd "Svishtov" Infantry Regiment *** 34th "Troyan" Infantry Regiment ** ''3rd Brigade'' (Colonel Grancharov) *** 53rd Infantry Regiment *** 54th Infantry Regiment **9th QF FAR **9th FAR **9th Pioneer Battalion * Haskovo Detachment ( Colonel

Delov Oleg Leonidovich Delov (russian: Олег Леонидович Делов; born 25 May 1963) is a former Russian professional football coach and a former player. He made his professional debut in the Soviet Second League The Soviet Second Le ...

) ** ''2/2nd Brigade'' *** 28th "Stremski" Infantry Regiment *** 40th Infantry Regiment **3rd FAR * Mixed Cavalry Brigade (Colonel Tanev) ** 3rd Cavalry Regiment ** 6th Cavalry Regiment

Third Army

Third Army was commanded by lieutenant-general

Radko Dimitriev Radko Dimitriev ( bg, Радко Димитриев) (24 September 1859 in Gradets – 18 October 1918 near Pyatigorsk) was a Bulgarian general, Head of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Army from 1 January 1904 to 28 March 1907, as well ...

. * 4th Preslav Infantry Division ( Major-General Boyadzhiev) ** ''1st Brigade'' (Colonel

Todorov Todorov ( bg, Тодоров), feminine Todorova ( bg, Тодорова) is a Bulgarian surname. Notable people with the name include: Athletes * Antoaneta Todorova (born 1963), Bulgarian javelin thrower * Daniela Todorova (born 1980), Bulgarian Pa ...

) *** 7th "Preslav" Infantry Regiment *** 19th "Shumen" Infantry Regiment ** ''2nd Brigade'' (Colonel Enchev) *** 8th "Primorski" Infantry Regiment *** 31st "Varna" Infantry Regiment ** ''3rd Brigade'' (Major-General Tserkovkski) *** 43rd Infantry Regiment *** 44th Infantry Regiment **5th QF FAR **5th FAR **4th Pioneer Battalion * 5th Danube Infantry Division ( Major-General Hristov) ** ''1st Brigade'' (Colonel Abadzhiev) *** 2nd "Iskar" Infantry Regiment *** 5th "Danube" Infantry Regiment ** ''2nd Brigade'' (Colonel Sofroniev) *** 18th "Etarski" Infantry Regiment *** 20th "Dobruja" Infantry Regiment ** ''3rd Brigade'' (Colonel Ivanov) *** 45th Infantry Regiment *** 46th Infantry Regiment **1st QF FAR **1st FAR **5th Pioneers Battalion * 6th Bdin Infantry Division ( Major-General Tenev) ** ''1st Brigade'' (Colonel Kantardzhiev) *** 3rd "Bdin" Infantry Regiment *** 15th "Lom" Infantry Regiment ** ''2nd Brigade'' (Colonel Pakov) *** 35th "Vratsa" Infantry Regiment *** 36th "Kozloduy" Infantry Regiment **2nd FAR **6th Pioneer Battalion

Cavalry

The single Bulgarian cavalry division served independently on the Thracian Theater: *Cavalry Division ( Major-General Nazlamov) ** ''1st Brigade'' (Colonel Salabashev) *** 1st Cavalry Regiment *** 2nd Cavalry Regiment ** ''2nd Brigade'' (Colonel Danailov) *** 4th Cavalry Regiment *** 7th Cavalry Regiment *** 10th Cavalry Regiment

Western Theater

Second Allied Army

Second Allied Army was commanded by General

Stepa Stepanović Stepan "Stepa" Stepanović ( sr-cyr, Степан Степа Степановић, ; – 29 April 1929) was a Serbian military commander who fought in the Serbo-Turkish War, the Serbo-Bulgarian War, the First Balkan War, the Second Balk ...

. * 7th Rila Infantry Division (Major-General

) ** ''1st Brigade'' (Colonel Mitov) *** 13th "Rila" Infantry Regiment *** 28th "Pernik" Infantry Regiment ** ''2nd Brigade'' (Colonel Chilingirov) *** 14th "Macedonian" Infantry Regiment *** 22nd "Thracian" Infantry Regiment ** ''3rd Brigade'' (Colonel Georgiev) *** 49th Infantry Regiment *** 50th Infantry Regiment **7th QF FAR **7th FAR **2nd MAR** **5th Cavalry Regiment **7th Pioneer Battalion

Rhodope Detachment

The detachment was commanded by

Stiliyan Kovachev Stiliyan Kovachev ( bg, Стилиян Ковачев) (born on 26 February 1860 in Yanbolu (Yambol), died on 11 July 1939 in Sofia) was a Bulgarians, Bulgarian general. During the First Balkan War he commanded the Rodopi Detachment and later 4t ...

. * 2nd Thracian Infantry Division (Major-General

Kovachev Kovachev ( bg, Ковачев; also transliteration, transliterated ''Kovačev'') is a Bulgarian surname originating from the word ''Kovach'', meaning blacksmith. Notable people with the surname include: *Andrey Kovatchev *Bogomil Petrov Kovachev *B ...

) ** ''1st Brigade'' (Colonel Geshov) *** 9th "Plovdiv" Infantry Regiment *** 21st "Srednogorian" Infantry Regiment ** ''3rd Brigade'' (Colonel Mitov) *** 27th "Chepinski" Infantry Regiment *** 39th Infantry Regiment **3rd QF FAR **3rd MAR **1st MAR

Unit strengths

The basic Bulgarian infantry division consisted of three infantry brigades, each of two infantry regiments, with each regiment containing four infantry battalions.Erickson (2003), p.67. Additionally these divisions contained two artillery regiments, a cavalry regiment and an engineer battalion. Their full battle strength consisted of 24 infantry battalions while their total strength made them the equivalent of an

army corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

.Erickson (2003), p.68. Due to tactical necessities the 1st and 6th divisions each gave one brigade for the formation of a new 10th division and fought during the war with a battle strength of 16 battalions.

Notes

;Footnotes ;Citations

References

* * * {{cite book , title=Defeat in Detail: The Ottoman Army in the Balkans, 1912–1913 , last=Erickson , first=Edward J. , year=2003 , publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group , isbn=0-275-97888-5 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3fYuy5iUi_sC

External links

Orders of Battle
First Balkan War Military history of Bulgaria Balkan Wars orders of battle