Macedonian Struggle for Independence - Part XXIV, by Risto Stefov

The Kostur Uprising Revolutionary District (now occupied by Greece) covered the south-western part of Macedonia which roughly corresponded to the administrative Kostur Caza with borders following the flow of the Bistritsa and Devol Rivers to the edges of the Gramos, Smolikina and Sarakina Mountains. The Kostur Caza was supported by a population of about 75,000 people of whom 51,000 were Macedonians and the rest were Albanians, Vlachs and Ottomans.

Revolutionary activities in the Kostur Uprising Revolutionary district increased significantly with Gotse Delchev's visit in late 1901. His extended visit and tour of the region, which lasted well into 1902, helped the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (MRO) establish revolutionary committees in almost all of the Christian populated villages.

The top leadership positions in the Kostur Uprising Revolutionary District were filled entirely with Kostur Region locals, which included the famous vojvodi Vasil Chakalarov, Pando Kljashev and Lazar Pop Trajkov, all well known to Delchev from his school days in Solun. Because of urgent circumstances, the Kostur Uprising Revolutionary District leadership wanted to begin the Uprising early and made such requests to other Regional Revolutionary Organizations.

The failed Uprising attempt in Zagoricheni by Anastas Jankov alerted the Ottoman authorities that something was happening in that region so the immediate reaction was to clamp down on the population and destroy the MRO. So rather than waiting for the Ottomans to pick them off one by one, the Kostur Revolutionary leaders requested that the Uprising begin as soon as possible. At the time there were only 1,800 Ottoman soldiers stationed in and around Kostur so it would have been a great opportunity to liberate Kostur before more troops were brought in.

In the meantime, because of the Uprising attempt at Zagoricheni, the Ottomans became aware that something was developing so they increased their searches, arrests and murders of people. Violence became an everyday occurrence with grave consequences not only for the ordinary Macedonian people but also for the future of the Uprising. All this weighed heavily in the hearts and minds of the revolutionaries, particularly on Chakalarov and Kljashev, so at the Smilevo Congress, which took place in May 1903, they not only supported an early Uprising, they demanded it.

At the Smilevo Congress it was decided that the leaders to organize and lead the Uprising in the Kostur Revolutionary District, among others, would be Vasil Chakalarov, Pando Kljashev, Lazar Pop Trajkov, Manol Rosov, Ivan Popov and Mihail Nikolov.

Immediately after the Smilevo Congress, Kostur Revolutionary District representatives organized a number of meetings that took place in the villages Dmbeni, Blatse and Ppli where the general situation was discussed and decisions were made on how to proceed with preparations for the Uprising. It was decided to divide the Kostur Uprising Revolutionary District into 5 sub-regions, each lead by a vojvoda who in turn would report to the Regional Headquarters. As soon as the vojvoda's were appointed, preparations for recruitment, training and arming of insurgents followed. People were also placed in charge of acquiring food, clothing, medical supplies and other provisions in support of the Uprising.

While the insurgents were secretly preparing for the Uprising, the Ottomans continued to reinforce their forces and stepped up their provocation, abuse and torture of the general population. In their search for weapons, the Ottomans burned down the village Smrdesh along with the bomb making factory and grenade manufacturing workshop. A little later the villages Statitsa, Kolomnati and other surrounding villages were raided and over 100 rifles were confiscated.

So instead of waiting for General Headquarters to give a date for the Uprising, while the Ottomans were destroying Kostur Region village by village, the local Kostur Region leadership decided to retaliate. After the burning of Smrdesh, on May 31st, 1903, Chakalarov took the offensive and attacked the Ottomans near Lokma, delivering a devastating blow. Being left alone for a while, the insurgents continued with their preparations and around mid-July 1903, Chakalarov, Kljashev and Popov felt confident to take their Chetas on a tour of the various Kostur Region villages.

When news of the Uprising start date reached the Kostur Regional Headquarters, all 80 Kostur Region villages were informed in a matter of 4 to 5 hours, indicating that the Kostur Uprising Revolutionary District was ready for action. Unfortunately so were the Ottomans who had found out about the impending attacks, particularly about the one on the city of Kostur.

When the insurgents discovered that the Ottomans knew of their plans to attack the city, they quickly changed their tactics and began attacking smaller Ottoman installations. The first attack, carried out by Popov's Cheta, began in Aposkep and Zhupanoshte during the night of August 2nd, 1903 and escalated during the liberation of Klisura.

The town of Klisura, with a population of 3,400 inhabitants, is located on the Klisura Mountain curve 1,170 meters above sea level. Geographically and from a military point of view, Klisura is located in an ideal place bridging Kostur with the surrounding villages. Another good reason for the insurgents wanting to liberate Klisura was to gain control of the road that links Kostur to the central part of Macedonia which also happened to pass through Klisura. The road from Kostur leads to the east via the village Mavrovo, to the north around Nered Mountain and to the south around Snezhnik Mountain. All these branches which interconnect Kostur to Vrbeni, Kajlari, Banitsa, Bitola and Solun must pass through Klisura, which makes this town of great strategic importance not just for the insurgents but also for the Ottomans. That is precisely why both sides were prepared to fight over it at any cost.

Given the strategic importance of Klisura, the Kostur Uprising Revolutionary District leadership decided to concentrate its efforts on liberating this town as soon as possible, before the Ottomans had a chance to bolster their defenses. The first attack took place on August 4th, 1903 under Nikola Andreev's own initiative. At the time there were only 300 Ottoman soldiers stationed there and Andreev, with his Cheta of 150 insurgents, decided to surprise the Ottomans. Unfortunately it was he who was surprised as the attack was expected and quickly ended in disaster with 6 insurgents dead and the rest barely escaping with their lives.

Fearing more attacks to come the Ottomans made preparations to bolster their defenses, particularly near the roads, by bringing reinforcements from other garrisons.

Having learned their lesson, the insurgent leadership began preparations for a second attack on Klisura scheduled to commence before the Ottoman reinforcements arrived. After developing a plan, all available insurgents in the Kostur Uprising Revolutionary District, numbering about 600, were ordered to amass, concentrate and regroup. The insurgent force was then divided into two columns and each column was given its responsibility. The column responsible for the liberation of the northern region of Kostur District, lead by Chakalarov, Kljashev and Rozov, which included the Zagorichani and Bobishta Chetas, was tasked with attacking the Zagorichani-Bobishta-Klisura line, while part of the same force was separated and assigned to protect the Lehovo-Klisura line. The column responsible for the liberation of the southern region of Kostur, lead by Popov and comprised of eight smaller Chetas, was tasked with carrying out its attacks from Kumanichevo into Klisura. But as the plan was ready to be put into action, information gathered by the intelligence service indicated that a large Ottoman force of undetermined size was about to be dispatched from inside Kostur towards Klisura. Based on this information the insurgents had to change their plans and immediately intervene. To slow down the Ottoman advance, it was decided that the closest Cheta from Visheni lead by Joto Rashejkov and Naum Trpovski's Cheta be dispatched to set an ambush by the road near the village Visheni. But with help from the people of Visheni, the Macedonian Chetas not only stopped the Ottoman advance but in their surprise attack they sent the Ottomans fleeing in panic.

Then at dawn, August 4th, 1903, a massive battle began which pitted 2,000 Ottoman soldiers against 700 Macedonian insurgents. It was an extraordinary battle that lasted over twelve hours, employing the best military tactics and weaponry by both sides. While the Ottomans utilized their artillery and cavalry, the Macedonians more than matched them with their determination, decisiveness, sharp shooting and use of hand grenades. With their determination, accurate aim and superior maneuverability, the Macedonians eventually took the upper hand and drove the massive Ottoman force to retreat to Lerin. On August 5th, 1903 the insurgents came out victorious thus liberating Klisura from the Ottomans. What was also amazing about this battle is that while the Ottomans sustained 26 casualties, the insurgents sustained no casualties. Klisura remained liberated and free until August 28th, 1903 when its liberators retreated without a fight and the Ottomans returned to reclaim it.

In other parts of Kostur Region, meanwhile, the Ottomans began their penetration on August 13th, 1903 with a massive force of 6,000 soldiers. To avoid detection the Ottoman force crossed Kostur Lake with ships, departing from Kostur and landing in Mavrovo at the rear of the insurgents. The first to spot the Ottoman invasion was Ivan Popov's Cheta which did its best to slow the penetration, but without much success. A battle broke out but being vastly outnumbered the insurgents had little choice but to flee to Vicho Mountain to save themselves. The Ottomans persistently pursued the fleeing Cheta but on their way ran into Chakalarov's Cheta. Another battle broke out and lasted several hours, but unfortunately still outnumbered the combined Macedonian Chetas decided they were no match for the Ottomans and withdrew. In their haste the insurgents left all their provisions behind but not without poisoning them first. Unaware of the poisoning, the Ottomans took advantage of the free food and 250 of them ended up sick.

On August 21st, 1903 the Ottomans launched a massive cleanup operation against the Kostur Uprising Revolutionary District with a force of 15,000 soldiers. The force consisted of three separate columns originating from Kostur, Sorovich and Lerin and initiated simultaneous attacks indiscriminately killing people and burning villages. By the time the Ottomans finished they had burned 23 Macedonian villages and killed 600 people.

To stop the indignant attacks on the villages and the civilian population, the insurgent leadership decided it was time to open new offensives. They regrouped their immediate forces and split them into two groups. Lead by Pop Trajkov, Popov, Nikolov and Razov, the first group of 620 was dispatched towards Lerin Region. The second group consisting of 450 insurgents lead by Chakalarov and Kljashev was dispatched to head south to attack the Ottoman detachment of 2,000 soldiers stationed in Aposkep. In the meantime a much smaller insurgence force, lead by Dimitar Pandzhurov, was left in Kostur Region to regroup the remaining insurgents and, to the best of its ability, protect the population.

When Chakalarov and Kljashev began their attacks on Aposkep it was a total surprise to the Ottoman commander Ethem Pasha in Kostur, who was under the impression that the insurgency in Kostur Region was defeated. Witnessing a large force of insurgents at its doorstep, which was no more than six kilometers from the outskirts of the city of Kostur, panic began to grip the Ottomans turning what could have been a victory into defeat. More Ottomans were dispatched to the battle and they too were defeated. Victorious, the insurgents again divided their forces into two new groups. One group, consisting of 120 insurgents lead by Chakalarov, set its sights on liberating Smrdesh, Dmbeni, Kosinets and Nestram. The other group, consisting of 330 insurgents lead by Kljashev, returned to Kolomnati where it was split into several smaller Chetas and assigned to protect the various villages in the region.

Chakalarov's Cheta fought several battles with both the Ottoman army and the Bashi-Bazouks in the region but eventually returned to Kolomnati and with Kljashev continued to score victories against the Ottomans.

To be continued.

You can contact the author at rstefov@hotmail.com