The decisive battle in the defense of Shipchensky Pass, August 11, 1877.

Exactly 146 years ago, on August 11, 1877 (August 23 according to the new style), the decisive battle for the defense of Shipchen Pass during the Russo-Turkish War of Liberation took place. Suleiman Pasha's 30-strong army tries to overcome the resistance of 6500 Russian soldiers and Bulgarian militiamen and continue its advance in Northern Bulgaria. The moment is critical - a possible breakthrough would hand the initiative into the hands of the enemy, which is why gen. Stoletov decides to fight to the last man. Suleiman Pasha, for his part, is sure of success and the night before he sent a message to the Sultan with the assurance that he would crush the enemy in the morning.

In the early dawn of August 11, the Ottomans opened artillery fire, Bulgarians and Russians fiercely defended their positions, besides bullets and stones flying at the enemy. "The attacks are ending, they are becoming more and more frequent and fiercer," writes militiaman Stefan Kisov in his memoirs. The Ottoman general wrote in a report to headquarters that he had never seen such a cruel and bloody battle. At the decisive hour, when the forces of the defenders are running out of help, the 16th rifle battalion of Gen. Radetsky. The Shipchen position was held at the cost of more than 3300 casualties.

In Bulgarian history, the Shipchen battles remain forever a symbol of courage and indomitable fighting spirit, a battle in which the Bulgarians made a huge contribution to the conquest of their own freedom.

Text: Mihail Simov, PhD