The Battle of Šuplji Kamen (, sr-Cyrl, Борба на Шупљем Камену), fought between the

Serbian Chetnik Organization The Serbian Revolutionary Organization () or Serbian Chetnik Organization (Српска четничка организација / Srpska četnička organizacija) was a paramilitary revolutionary organization with the aim of liberation of Old Se ...

and the

Ottoman army The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

under

Hamdi Pasha Ahmed Hamdi Pasha was a Kurdish Ottoman minister of the Marine, Secretary General of the Society for the Elevation of Kurdistan from 1918-1920 and a General officer of the Ottoman Army. A graduate of the Ottoman Military College, he rose to the ...

, took place on 27 May 1904.

Prelude

On 25 April, two bands ('' četa'') of some 20 fighters under the voivodes

Anđelko Aleksić Anđelko Aleksić ( sr-cyr, Анђелко Алексић; 1876 – Četirce, Ottoman Empire, 27 May 1904) was a Serbs in North Macedonia, Macedonian Serb Chetnik commander (''voivode''). He and Đorđe Cvetković led the first two armed bands of ...

and

Đorđe Cvetković Đorđe Cvetković ( sr-cyr, Ђорђе Цветковић; 1903–d. 27 May 1904), known by the ''nom de guerre'' Drimkolski (Дримколски), was a Serbian Chetnik Organization, Serbian Chetnik ''vojvoda'' (commander) of the ''četa'' (ba ...

swore an oath in a ceremony of the Serbian Committee (

Milorad Gođevac Milorad Gođevac ( sr-cyr, Милорад Гођевац, 1 March 1860 – 21 September 1933) was the organizer of the Serbian Chetnik Organization, a medical doctor by profession. Life Born in Valjevo, Principality of Serbia, he finished t ...

, Vasa Jovanović,

Žika Rafajlović Živojin Rafajlović ( sr-cyr, Живојин Рафајловић, 1871 – 1953), known as Žika (Жика) was co-founder of the Serbian Chetnik Organization, politician, state deputy, a member of the Democrats. He was the Ban of Vardar durin ...

Luka Ćelović Luka Ćelović also known as Luka Ćelović-Trebinjac ( sr-cyr, Лука Ћеловић; 18 October 1854 – 15 August 1929) was a Serbian businessman, merchant and rentier. At the beginning of the 20th century, he was one of the richest and in ...

and General

Jovan Atanacković Jovan Atanacković ( sr-cyr, Јован Атанацковић, 24 March 1848 – 9 August 1921) was a Serbian general, Minister of Defence, and president of the Central Board of Belgrade of the Serbian Chetnik Organization. Life Born in N ...

), with ''prota'' Nikola Stefanović holding the prayers. The Committee had prepared the formation of the first bands for a number of months. The Chetniks were sent for

Poreče Poreče, Porečie or Porečje or Poreč (), is a region in North Macedonia which includes the Makedonski Brod Municipality, and the western part of the Prilep Municipality Prilep ( ) is a municipality in the south of North Macedonia. ''Prilep ...

, and on 8 May they headed out from

Vranje Vranje ( sr-Cyrl, Врање, ) is a city in Southern Serbia and the administrative center of the Pčinja District. According to the 2022 census, the city itself has a population of 55,214 while the city administrative area has 74,381 inhabitan ...

to Buštranje, which was then divided between Serbia and the

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 ...

History

The Chetniks were escorted by

Vasilije Trbić Vasilije Trbić ( sr-Cyrl, Василије Трбић; 1881 – 1962) was a Serbian Chetnik commander in Macedonia who became a politician in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, first representing the People's Radical Party (NRS) in ...

, who told them that the best way was to go through the Kozjak and then down to the

Vardar The Vardar (; , , ) or Axios (, ) is the longest river in North Macedonia and a major river in Greece, where it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . The maximum depth of ...

. The two voivodes, however, wanted the fastest route, through the

Kumanovo Kumanovo ( ; , sq-definite, Kumanova; also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is the second-largest city in North Macedonia after the capital Skopje and the seat of Kumanovo Municipality, the List of municipalities in the Republic ...

plains and then to Četirac. They managed to enter Turkish territory but were subsequently exposed in the plain Albanian and Turkish villages, and the Ottomans closed in on them from all sides, while they decided to stay on the Šuplji Kamen, which gave them little defence instead of meeting the army on the plains; in broad daylight, the Ottoman military easily poured bombs over the hill and killed all 24 of the Chetniks on 27 May. According to Serbian state documents, the death toll was 24 Chetniks, a ''zaptı'' (

Ottoman gendarmerie The Ottoman Gendarmerie (), also known as ''zaptı'' or ''subaşı'', was a security forces, security force and public order organization (a precursor to law enforcement) in the 19th-century Ottoman Empire. The first official gendarmerie organiza ...

), and three Ottoman soldiers. Serbian deputy Ristić, according to the document, named Žika Rafajlović as the organizer of the band, and that "such adventures and thoughtless treacherous actions should be stopped".

List of the dead

* Vojvoda

of Midinaca * Krsta Mihailović of Brezna near

Tetovo Tetovo (, ; , sq-definite, Tetova) is a city in the northwestern part of North Macedonia, built on the foothills of Šar Mountain and divided by the Pena (river), Pena River. The municipality of Tetovo covers an area of at above sea level, wit ...

* Marko Veljković of Bukovljana near

Labuništa Labuništa (; ) is a village in the municipality of Struga, North Macedonia. Name Labuništa is an old name dating back to the time of the arrival of Slavic peoples to the Balkans. The origins of the name Labuništa are Greco-Latin from the topon ...

in Drimkol * Manojlo Anastasijević of Elovec near

* Micko Kuzmanović of Midinaca * Milan Drndarević of

Prilep Prilep ( ) is the List of cities in North Macedonia, fourth-largest city in North Macedonia. According to 2021 census, it had a population of 63,308. Name The name of Prilep appeared first as ''Πρίλαπος'' in Greek (''Prilapos'') in 1 ...

* Milutin Stojković of

Jagodina Jagodina ( sr-cyrl, Јагодина, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Pomoravlje District in central Serbia. It is situated on the banks of the Belica (river), Belica River, in the geographical region of � ...

* Stevan Šutović of Kuča * Koce Arizanović of Poreče * Jovan Radosavljević of Ibarskog

Kolašin Kolašin (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Колашин, ) is a town in northern Montenegro. It has a population of 2,989 (2003 census). Kolašin is the centre of Kolašin Municipality (population 9,949) and an unofficial centre of Morača region, nam ...

* Toma Vasiljević of Dragačeva * Spira Pelivan of Tetovo * Đorđe Jeleković of Vranje * Spasa Janković of Vranje * Proka Stojanović of Poreče * Stojan Novaković of Poreče * Bilan Čoković of

Gostivar Gostivar ( ; sq-definite, Gostivari) is a city in North Macedonia, located in the upper Polog valley region. It is the seat of one of the larger municipalities in the country with a population of 59,770, and the town also covers . Gostivar has ...

* Gruja Stevković of Gostivar * Mihajlo Kocić of

Valjevo Valjevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Ваљево, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Kolubara District in western Serbia. According to the 2022 census, the city itself has a population of 56,145 while the city admini ...

* Đoše Kocević of Margara near

Vojvoda Anđelko Aleksić.jpg, Vojvoda

, from

Midinci Midinci (, ) is a village in the municipality of Kičevo, North Macedonia. It used to be part of the former Zajas Municipality Zajas (, ) is a former municipality located in what is now western North Macedonia, created in a 1996 territorial re ...

Manojlo Anastasijević-Bego.jpg, Manojlo Anastasijević-Bego, from Elovec near

Chetnik Krsta Mihailović.jpg, Krsta Mihailović, from

Brezno Brezno (; 1927–1948: ; or ; ) is a town in central Slovakia with a population of around 21,000. Etymology The name is derived from the Slovak word "breza" for birch. Geography Brezno is located within the Geomorphological division of Slovak ...

near Tetovo

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of Suplji Kamen Suplji Kamen Military history of North Macedonia 1904 in the Ottoman Empire 1904 in Serbia Conflicts in 1904 Chetniks of the Macedonian Struggle May 1904 in Europe Events during the Macedonian Struggle