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With the
signing of the treaty of Berlin
(13 July 1878) the dream of the “Greater Bulgaria” vanished. The new
Principality of Bulgaria was only 37.5 per cent of the size of the state
envisaged with the treaty of San Stefano (3 March 1878) and was confined in a
small area between the Balkan mountains and the Danube; the country south of
the Balkans was to form an autonomous province called Eastern Rumelia, under
the direct control of the Sultan, while Macedonia returned under Ottoman rule
and the valley of the Morava river was assigned to Serbia. The Russian Army
should leave Bulgaria
within 9 months. On 29 April 1879 the Grand National Assembly elected as
Prince of Bulgaria Alexander of Battenberg, who entered in Sofia in July, after having taken the oath
to the new constitution, approved on 16 April at Tarnovo.
In 1879 the organisation of the
Bulgarian army was arranged by the Temporarily
authorized general basis, trainings and organization of the Territorial Army
of the Principality of Bulgaria, approved on 14 May 1879 by the Russian
Imperial Commissar and modified on 19 August by the Princely Edict N° 19, and
by the Provisional status for the
Bulgarian Army issued on 17 December. According with the latter document,
the Supreme Commander of the Bulgarian Army was the Prince (§ 1), while the
executive administration of the military forces of the country was assigned
to the Military Minister (§ 2). The direct control of the artillery and of
all the artillery establishments, as well as the direction of the particular
occupations and the training of the artillery units was assigned to the head
of the artillery (§ 32), who was subordinated to the Military Minister (§
33). Artillery units were recruited only with youths coming from the district
where they were raised (§ 16).
The
composition of the artillery (§§ 20-22) in peacetime was as follows :
– 6 foot batteries,
identified by a number according with their seniority and by the name of the
town where they were garrisoned, with 293 men each;
– 1 mountain
battery with 268 men;
– 1 horse
battery with 155 men;
– 1 siege
company with 320 men,
– the local
artillery park with 100 men.
Every battery
had 8 guns with 2-3 two-wheeled ammunition wagons each. Lower ranks were
armed with revolver Smith & Wesson and Russian model sabres, non
commissioned officers carried swords instead of sabres.
The new
situation imposed a lot of changes to the Bulgarian army. Since two of the
existing batteries were garrisoned in the territory of the Eastern
Rumelia, the first problem was to redeploy them inside the
Principality. Therefore in 1879 5th Plovdivska and 6th
Slivenska batteries were moved respectively to Pleven
and Shumen
and renamed 5th Plevenska and 6th Shumenska batteries.
The other 6 batteries stood in their previous garrisons, but after the
arrival of the new Prince in Sofia,
according with the Edict N° 28/10 August 1879 the battery of the capital was
renamed after him, becoming 1st His Highness’ (horse artillery)
battery. At that time all the battery were on war establishment, with 8 guns
and 3 ammunition wagons, horsed and fully equipped.
Since the
batteries were concentrated in a narrow area, the existence of two assistants
for the head of the artillery became unnecessary, so on 20 May 1879 with the
Order on the Territorial Army N° 33 the post of brigade commander was abolished
and the batteries returned under the direct control to the head of artillery.
In meantime
the presence of Bulgarian troops increased continuously. On 11 May 1879 some
of the graduated of the first class of the Sofia
Military School
were enlisted in artillery : 12 ensigns joined the Bulgarian Army and 2 the
Militia of the Eastern Rumelia, 2 non
commissioned officers were added on 5 June, after having passed an exam in
the same school. In addition 42 Bulgarians were sent to Russia to
study in technical artillery schools. The same months was called up the third
class of compulsory levy. In the same year for the first time a group of
Bulgarian artillery officers were sent to Sankt Petersburg to continue their studies at the Mihailovskaya Artillery Academy : lt. Petar Gruev, lt. Konstantin
Nikiforov and 2nd lt. Simeon Vankov. They graduated in 1883.
Coming back to
Russia, the Occupation
Army left in Bulgaria
192 guns, distributed as follows :
– 148 field
guns, half 4 pdr bronze and 9 pdr bronze and steel Russian guns M. 1867, and
half 9 cm
and 8 cm
Krupp, captured during the war against Turkey, mainly old M. 1867 with a
little number of long range guns;
– 20 mountains
guns, half 3 pdr Russian guns M. 1867, half 6 cm Broadwell and 4.5 cm Whitworth Turkish
guns;
– 24 fortress
guns, 24 pdr long and short guns and 6 inch mortars M. 1867.
– in addition 5
Nobel six barrels and ten barrels machine guns.
All guns were
breech-loaders, with Broadwell obturating ring to restrain the escape of gas,
the only exception being the Whitworth mountain guns that were
muzzle-loaders. Being rigidly attached to the carriage, they recoiled with it
and had to be run back by hand to the firing position and re-laid after each
shot. They were filled with charges composed by grainy black powder that
produced thick smoke, allowing enemy observers to locate their position. In
Russian guns the sighs were not graduated according
with the range, but were marked in lines (2.54 mm) that did not
correspond directly to the distance expressed in meters, making more complex
the adjustment. On the contrary in 3 pdr mountain guns the sights were
graduated according with the range expressed in sagene (2.13 m), the measure of
length at that time used by the Russian artillery. Turkish guns had sight and
firing tables written in Arabic characters and Bulgarian aimers had to learn
to identify them, looking forward to their translation. Nevertheless most of
the captured guns were almost unserviceable, being damaged and without every
kind of accessories : sights, harnesses, firing tools.
Also the
ammunition came from Russian depots, that had delivered 51,861 common shells,
23,180 canister shells (an early model of shrapnel),
12,339 sharoha (a kind of shell with spherical
solid head that continued to fly after the burst of the proper shell),
18,262 shrapnel and 6,976 case shots for field guns; 4,970 cast iron bombs,
7,625 prolonged cast iron bombs and 5,551 case shots for fortress guns. Only
a little number of rounds was available for the mortars. Percussion shells
were effective only within a narrow area (4-20 m) against uncovered
animated targets at medium range (1800 m for 9 pdr guns). Time fuzes for
shrapnel and canister shell were usually graduated up to 7 ½ seconds, that
allowed a range of just 1800
m, only a little number were graduated up to 10
seconds, for a range of 3200
m (9 pdr) or 2400 m (4 pdr). Krupp ammunition for long
range guns was more effective, but only a few rounds were available.
The structure
of the Bulgarian artillery was radically altered in 1880. On 19 June with Decree N° 75 the six numbered batteries
were grouped into an artillery regiment with headquarters in Shumen. The artillery depot, the laboratory
and the siege company were similarly put under the control of a single
office, the direction of the local artillery establishments, with
headquarters in Ruse.
As their commanders were appointed two senior battery commanders, with the
same rank of a battalion commander, major Leonov and cpt. Barannikov respectively.
The staff of the artillery regiment should be temporarily composed by an
adjutant and a clerk.
On 25 August
1880 with Decree N° 95 another unit was raised with the denomination of
“Sofiyski artillery division”. It was composed by three batteries : 1st
His Highness’ (horse artillery) battery taken from the artillery regiment,
another horse artillery battery that had not succeeded in going back to Russia and
was quartered at Radomir and the mountain artillery battery, that was later
rearmed with 4 pdr guns. The division headquarters and two batteries were
placed at Samokov, while 3rd battery remained at Dupnitza. As
division commander was appointed maj. Frost. The artillery regiment was
reorganized raising another battery that take the number 4th,
while old 3rd Tarnovska and 4th Rusenska battery were
renamed 1st and 3rd respectively. In addition from then
on the batteries were identified only with their number, loosing their local
appellation. The quick-firing battery was disbanded and its machine guns were
stored in the artillery depot at Ruse.
As a result of
these alterations, in 1880 the Bulgarian artillery was composed by 9
batteries with 48 – 9 pdr guns assigned to the artillery regiment in Shumen and 24 – 4 pdr
guns with the artillery division in Samokov. In peacetime the staff of the
artillery regiment was fixed in 10 men and 5 horses, while the artillery
batteries had 157 men and 57 horses each. In addition there were the siege
artillery company in Ruse
and the local artillery establishments. According with gen. Panteley Tsenov,
who at that time was serving in 5th battery, the composition of
the artillery was different : 1st, 2nd and 3rd
batteries of the artillery regiment and two battery of the artillery division
were armed with 4 pdr guns, the rest with 9 pdr guns. It seems nevertheless
not correct, since the number of the 4 pdr guns received by the Bulgarian
Army did not exceed 24 pieces that were enough to arm only 3 batteries.
On 30 May 1880
seven of the graduated of the second class of the Sofia Military
School were enlisted in
artillery.
In 1881 with the Order on artillery N°
52/1881 the Bulgarian senior officers were appointed section commanders and
junior officers as their assistants, to familiarize them with the conduction of
an artillery unit both administratively and in line service. The same year in
September, 16 Bulgarian officers who had graduated in Russia, at the Elisavetgrad Cavalry Cadet School, were enlisted in artillery. Among them
there was also Dimitar Pernikliynski, who would fill important post
during the Balkan Wars and World War.
In 1882 the Bulgarian artillery began to
rearm its unit with long range guns. On April the Direction of the artillery
sent Russian lt.col. Nikolaj Lavrentievich Reshetin, who had been attached to
the Bulgarian Army on 4 October 1881 with the title of “officer for special
purpose” assigned to the Staff of the artillery, to inspect the weapons of
the regiment and to reorganize the instruction of the recruits. By his
request on 10 August with Order on artillery N° 150 an independent 9 cm long range battery was
raised in Shumen, with men and horses coming from the artillery regiment,
ammunitions and guns from Ruse and harnesses from Razgrad. At the end of
August a comparative test of firing was done in the presence of Prince
Alexander to show the superiority of the Krupp guns over the 4 pdr guns of
the same calibre. The result was so persuasive, that the rearmament of the
batteries with long range guns was decided, in spite of the opposition of
most of the Russian officers. On 30 August lt.col. Reshetin was appointed
commander of the battery that was transferred to Nikopol. The same year the siege artillery
company in Ruse
was renamed siege park, where periodically sent groups of officers and men taken
from the artillery units to be trained with fortress guns.
In 1883 lt.col. Reshetin was appointed
head of artillery with cpt. Konstantin Nikiforov as assistant to carry out
the planned rearmament of the batteries. The second long range battery, this
time armed with 8 cm
Krupp guns, was raised in May with Order N° 212 at Ruse, where was assigned
to the siege park. Since the operational Krupp guns available in Bulgaria were
not enough, at the end of June a group of junior adjutants of the Artillery
Inspection was sent to Nikolaev to receive the Turkish war trophies stored
there. As a whole the Russian depots delivered 40 – 8 cm and 9 cm Krupp field guns, 6 – 12 cm L/25 Turkish fortress
guns without ammunition and a little number of 24 pdr long and short guns. Lt.
Tzenov was charged to receive and store them in Nikopol.
On 25 July
with Order on artillery N° 250 the structure of the Bulgarian artillery was
again altered, raising with the existing batteries and a new one, two
artillery regiments, composed as follows :
– 1st
artillery regiment with headquarters at Sofia : the 1st division
with 1st His Highness’, 2nd, and 3rd
batteries was composed by the Sofiyski artillery division, with two batteries
rearmed with 75mm Krupp long range guns and one with 87mm guns taken from the
9 cm
independent battery; the 2nd division by two batteries (5th
and 6th) of the former artillery regiment, renumbered 4th
and 5th and the 9
cm battery from Nikopol, renumbered 6th,
all rearmed with 9 pdr steel guns;
– 2nd
artillery regiment with headquarters in Sofia : the 1st division
was composed by the 4th battery of the former regiment rearmed
with 87mm Krupp guns, a new battery with 75mm Krupp guns and the 8 cm battery from Ruse,
renumbered 7th, 8th and 9th; the 2nd
division by the 1st, 2nd and 3rd batteries
of the former regiment, renumbered 10th, 11th and 12th
and armed with 9 pdr bronze guns.
The regiments
and the local artillery establishments were administratively under the direct
control of the Military Minister, while as for the line service, the
instruction and the technical matters they were subordinated to the head of
the artillery, who was then renamed Artillery Inspector. The regimental
commanders were in charge of the inspection of the materials, the drill and
the line activities, but also of the economic administration of their
regiments. The battery commander had to take care that guns and equipment
were kept in good working order. The post of division commander was only honorary
and was not even envisaged by the establishment, therefore the senior battery
commanders were appointed to that charge.
The batteries
were composed by 8 guns with 3 ammunition wagons each (2 for the Krupp
batteries), but only 4 guns with 1 ammunition wagon each were fully equipped
with horse teams in peacetime, while the rest of the material was stored in
the regimental park to be employed in the event of the mobilization. Since
there were no original Krupp ammunition wagons for the long range guns, some
Russian wagons were adjusted in the workshop of the artillery arsenal of Ruse in order to carry
their projectiles. Every regiment had also a field forge.
Two Russian
officers were appointed as commanders of the artillery regiments, lt.col.
Nikolay Vladimirovich Stoyanov, the former the commander of the Sofiyski
artillery division, and lt.col. Leonid Osipovich Musnitzkiy, the former
commander of the artillery regiment.
With the same
order the siege park was assigned to the local artillery establishment and from
then on no group of artillerists was sent to be trained with fortress guns as
before.
In May 1884
a proving ground was established in Sofia for the artillery practice of the
Bulgarian artillerists. The commander of 1st artillery regiment
was appointed as its head and 3 officers with high artillery education, one
Russian and two Bulgarian, cpt. Petar Gruev and cpt. Konstantin Nikiforov,
were chosen as instructors. A 75mm Krupp battery of the regiment was provided
to the proving ground the artillery practice, and to have a little number of
guns permanently at its disposal 2 supernumerary 87mm long range guns were
delivered by the artillery depot in Ruse.
Its activity should cover not only the firing practice, but also the tactical
education, the theory of firing, the laboratory works and every kinds of
drills related with the line service : mounted instruction (individual and
with pair), service of the piece, fire discipline and conduct of fire with
the gun and the battery. The first course was already organized in the summer
of the same year and lasted three and a half months, from 1 June to 15
October; 6 officers followed the course, 5 coming from 1st
artillery regiment and 1 from the local artillery establishments.
In 1885 with Order N° 75 the designation
of the artillery batteries was changed : they were no longer numbered
consecutively from 1st to 12th, but were renumbered
within the two regiments from 1st to 6th.
The structure
of the Militia of the Eastern Rumelia was first fixed with Order 30 on 6
February 1879, when it was composed by the units of the Bulgarian army
garrisoned within its borders :
Filipopolska and Slivenska Brigades with 1 cavalry squadron each and 6
and 3 infantry battalions respectively. In addition 5th Plovdivska
and 6th Slivenska batteries were temporarily attached to them.
Later they were transferred beyond the Balkans mountains, in the territory of
the Principality. In place of them only a training half-battery was allowed.
It was raised on 2 May 1879 with order N° 88 and was attached to the
instruction battalion of Plovdiv
that was composed also by 2 infantry companies, 1 half-squadron and a
technical company. The half-battery was composed by an artillery section
armed with 4 – 9 pdr bronze guns with only 70 rounds of ammunition, and a
pyrotechnical (armoury) section. The head of the latter was lt. Atanas
Petrov. In addition there were 2 artillery depots at Plovdiv
and Stara Zagora.
All ranks carried revolver Smith & Wesson and Russian model sabres.
Although the number of the infantry battalions was increased to 12, no
additional artillery units were raised before the Unification.
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