Battle of Kalimanci

Battle of Kalimanci
	Part of the Second Balkan War
Date	18-19 July 1913 (N.S.); (5-6 July in O.S.)
Location	Kalimanci (present-day North Macedonia)41°58′24.21″N 22°36′52.52″E / 41.9733917°N 22.6145889°E / 41.9733917; 22.6145889
Result	Bulgarian victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Bulgaria	Kingdom of Serbia; Kingdom of Montenegro
Commanders and leaders
Mihail Savov; Vicho Dikov; Georgi Todorov	Božidar Janković
Units involved
4th Army; 5th Army	3rd Army
Strength
2 armies	Serbia:; 1 army; Montenegro:; 1 division
Casualties and losses
2,400 killed ; 4,620 wounded	Serbia:; 2,500 killed; 4,850 wounded; Montenegro:; 107 killed; 570 wounded

The Battle of Kalimanci (Bulgarian: Битка при Калиманци, Serbian: Битка код Калиманаца) was fought between the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Bulgaria during the Second Balkan War. The battle started on the 18th and ended on the 19th of July 1913.^[1] The Bulgarian Army stopped the Serbian Army from pushing them out of Macedonia and joining up with the Greek Army downstream of the river Struma.^[4] The battle ended in an important Bulgarian defensive victory.^[3]

Background

At the Battle of Bregalnica, fought 30 June – 8 July 1913, the Bulgarian army was decisively defeated by the Serbian Army.^[5]

Battle

On 13 July 1913, General Mihail Savov assumed control of the 4th and 5th Bulgarian armies.^[1] The Bulgarians then entrenched themselves into strong defensive-positions around the village of Kalimanci, near the Bregalnica River in the northeastern part of Macedonia.^[1]

On 18 July, the Serbian 3rd Army attacked, closing in on the Bulgarian positions.^[1] The Serbs threw hand grenades at their enemies in an attempt to dislodge the Bulgarians, who were sheltered 40 feet away.^[1] The Bulgarians held firm, and on several occasions they allowed the Serbs to advance. When the Serbs were within 200 yards of their trenches, they charged with fixed bayonets and threw them back.^[1] The Bulgarian artillery was also very successful in breaking up the Serb attacks.^[1] The Bulgarian lines held, an invasion of their homeland was repelled, and their morale grew substantially.^[1]

If the Serbs had broken through the Bulgarian defences, they might have doomed the 2nd Bulgarian Army and driven the Bulgarians entirely out of Macedonia.^[1] This defensive victory, along with the successes of the 1st and 3rd armies in the north, protected western Bulgaria from a Serbian invasion.^[3] Although this victory boosted the Bulgarians, the situation was critical in the south, with the Greek Army defeating the Bulgarians in numerous skirmishes.^[3]

Citations

^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Hall (2000), p. 120.
^ Tucker (2019), p. 102.
^ a b c d Hall (2000), p. 121.
^ Black (2016), p. 155.
^ Hall (2000), p. 111.

References

Hall, R. (2000). The Balkan Wars 1912-1913. Prelude to the First World War. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-22946-4.
Black, Jeremy (2016). Maps of War: Mapping Conflict Through the Centuries. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84486-463-8.
Tucker, Spencer C. (2019). World War I: A Country-by-Country Guide [2 volumes]. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-44086-369-1.

[FOOTNOTEHall2000120-1] ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Hall (2000), p. 120.

[FOOTNOTETucker2019102-2] Tucker (2019), p. 102.

[FOOTNOTEHall2000121-3] Hall (2000), p. 121.

[FOOTNOTEBlack2016155-4] Black (2016), p. 155.

[FOOTNOTEHall2000111-5] Hall (2000), p. 111.

v t e Balkan Wars
Background	Nationalism in the Ottoman Empire Albanian Bulgarian Greek Serbian Congress of Berlin Annexation of Eastern Rumelia Serbo-Bulgarian War Greco-Turkish War of 1897 Cretan State IMRO & Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising Macedonian Struggle Young Turk Revolution Bosnian Crisis Bulgarian Independence 31 March Incident Goudi coup Italo-Turkish War Albanian revolt of 1912 Balkan League
First Balkan War
Battles	Sarantaporo Kardzhali Pente Pigadia Sorovich Kumanovo Kirk Kilisse Scutari Lule Burgas Yenidje Adrianople Prilep Himara Monastir First Çatalca Kaliakra Merhamli Driskos Elli Korytsa Lemnos Bulair Şarköy Bizani Second Çatalca
Diplomacy and politics	London Conference Albanian Independence 1913 Ottoman coup d'état Treaty of London
Second Balkan War
Battles	Kilkis–Lachanas Doiran Bregalnica Knjaževac Kalimanci Kresna Gorge Southern Dobruja Romanian landings in Bulgaria Vidin Pirot
Diplomacy and politics	Greek–Serbian Alliance Provisional Government of Western Thrace Treaty of Bucharest Treaty of Constantinople Treaty of Athens
Other	1913 Romanian Army cholera outbreak
General
Aftermath	Autonomy of Northern Epirus Greco-Turkish crisis of 1914 Sarajevo Assassination and World War I Ottoman–Bulgarian alliance Balkans campaign of WWI Serbian campaign Macedonian front
Atrocities	Carnegie Commission Massacres of Albanians Bulgarians deportation program Massacres of Civilians Initial phase of the Greek genocide Places burned down
Participants	Bulgaria Ferdinand I Ivan Geshov Stoyan Danev Mihail Savov Ivan Fichev Vasil Kutinchev Nikola Ivanov Radko Dimitriev Stiliyan Kovachev Georgi Todorov Greece George I Constantine I Eleftherios Venizelos Panagiotis Danglis Pavlos Kountouriotis Konstantinos Sapountzakis Viktor Dousmanis Montenegro Nicholas I Crown Prince Danilo Janko Vukotić Ottoman Empire Mehmed V Nazim Pasha Zeki Pasha Esad Pasha Kölemen Abdullah Pasha Ali Rıza Pasha Hasan Tahsin Pasha Enver Bey Ahmed Izzet Pasha Romania Carol I Crown Prince Ferdinand Alexandru Averescu Serbia Peter I Crown Prince Alexander Radomir Putnik Petar Bojović Stepa Stepanović Božidar Janković Other Balkan states: Albania (Ismail Kemal)
Category