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SERVIA. 



to Servian rebels, the arrest of Servians by the 

 Bulgarian authorities, and the massing of un- 

 disciplined volunteers on the border and their 

 attacks on Servian troops and people. M. 

 Garaschanin sent a circular to the foreign rep- 

 resentatives, alleging the Bulgarian attack at 

 Vlassina as the cause for crossing the frontier, 

 and declaring there was no intention of preju- 

 dicing the sovereign rights of the Sultan. 



After some desultory fighting, on the even- 

 ing of Nov. 14, the Servians occupied the town 

 of Tsaribrod, three miles over the frontier, at 

 the entrance of the Dragoman Pass, where the 

 Bulgarians were posted. The Bulgarian min- 

 istry, in a circular to the foreign representa- 

 tives, denied that the troops had violated Ser- 

 vian territory and attacked the Servian post at 

 Vlassina, and asserted that the aggression pro- 

 ceeded from the Servians, who made an attack 

 upon a Bulgarian patrolling party at Rogitza. 

 The Bulgarian troops were not sent to the front- 

 ier, it was said, until the Servian diversion 

 against Bulgaria occurred, and were then post- 

 ed at some distance from the frontier line and 

 maintained themselves strictly on the defensive. 

 The Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs 

 asked the Servian representative if he was 

 aware of the invasion of Bulgarian territory 

 on the morning of the 14th. The telegram 

 from the Servian Premier, announcing that war 

 was declared and that hostilities would begin 

 at six o'clock in the morning, did not reach the 

 hands of M. Zanoff until noon. Prince Alex- 

 ander sent an appeal to the Porte for assist- 

 ance, announcing that he had assumed the de- 

 fense of the boundary of the Turkish Empire 

 until a Turkish army should be sent into Bul- 

 garia. The Porte answered that he had pro- 

 voked Servia by breaking the Berlin Treaty, 

 and as a contumacious vassal could not expect 

 succor ; but if he restored the status quo, his 

 request would be taken into consideration. 

 Troops were sent from Sofia and forwarded 

 from Eastern Roumelia by forced marches; 

 the prince went to the front to take command. 



When the Servians crossed the frontier they 

 encountered resistance at Bewskedol and capt- 

 ured the position, with a loss of eleven killed 

 and twenty wounded. At Trn, Klissura, Tnari- 

 brod, and on the road to Kostendil, there was 

 sharp fighting. The King of Servia assumed 

 the chief command. 



The Bulgarian army before the Roumelian 

 revolution was well prepared for war. The 

 Russian officers had in seven years developed 

 an admirably disciplined army ; but their re- 

 call deprived it of the entire general staff, the 

 Minister of War, the staff- officers, and four 

 fifths of the captains. Only sub-lieutenants 

 were left to command battalions, and lieuten- 

 ants and a few young captains to command 

 regiments and direct strategical movements. 

 Major Gutcheff was the chief in command 

 under the prince. Alexander formed a new 

 niinistry of war and a new general staff. With- 

 in two weeks after the declaration of the Bul- 



garian union, the army was on the Turkish 

 frontier, ready for action, and a new army of 

 militia and volunteers had sprung up. Tlie 

 defensive preparations on the Servian frontier 

 were not begun in earnest until the invasion 

 actually took place, and when the Servian dec- 

 laration of war took the country by surprise, 

 the regiments in Roumelia marched forty miles 

 a day to reach the seat of war. The railroad 

 was of slight assistance, because most of the 

 locomotives were in Turkish territory at the 

 time of the revolution. 



Simultaneously with the movement upon 

 Tsaribrod the Morava division of the Servian 

 army, under Col. Topalovich, advanced upon 

 Trn and occupied several villages and the 

 heights before the town. At Tsaribrod one 

 Bulgarian battalion holding the bridge over 

 the Nishava sustained the attack of six Servian 

 battalions supported by artillery and cavalry, 

 until compelled to retire with a loss of thirty- 

 four men. Gol. Michtovich then occupied 

 Tsaribrod with the Drina division. The King, 

 who led 42,000 men into the Sofia district, 

 transferred his headquarters to Tsaribrod. 



The frontier was crossed in four places, the 

 object of the movement being to turn the 

 Dragoman Pass and capture Sofia by a coup 

 de main. The King commanded the main 

 army, while the Timok army corps, which en- 

 tered the Widdin district, was commanded by 

 Gen. Leschjanin. The Bulgarians there re- 

 tired to strong positions, and unexpected re- 

 sistance on the other wing defeated King 

 Milan's plan. The Timok division under Col. 

 Djunich carried the Bulgarian positions on the 

 road to Kula, one after the other. On the 15th, 

 Kula, otherwise called Adlie, ten miles beyond 

 the frontier line, was captured after a severe 

 engagement in which the Servians lost 50 

 killed and 200 wounded. During the two days 

 350 Bulgarians were taken prisoners. Gen. 

 Leschjanin advanced with all his troops, and 

 on the 16th encountered the main body of the 

 Widdin division between Adlie and Widdin. 

 The Bulgarians fell back upon Widdin in dis- 

 order, leaving many dead and wounded on the 

 field, and 1,000 prisoners in the hands of the 

 enemy. These victories were followed up 

 nntil the Bulgarians were cleared from the 

 country before Widdin, and their line of com- 

 munication with Lorn and Sofia cut off. Wid- 

 din was then regularly besieged. 



On the 15th the Morava division attacked 

 the Bulgarian intrenchments at Trn. The Bul- 

 garians fought valiantly, and repelled two as- 

 saults ; but the day was decided by the artil- 

 lery-fire of the Servians, and on the following 

 morning they held the last of the Bulgarian 

 fortifications. Many prisoners were taken, en- 

 tire battalions of Bulgarian irregulars laying 

 down their arms. The Drina and Shumadja 

 divisions operated against the Dragoman Pass. 

 The Bulgarians, intrenched in the villages along 

 the road, fought stubbornly, but were dis 

 lodged. After a desperate engagement, in 



