Baceta
Birth nameAksentije Bacetić
Nickname(s)Baceta, Rujanac
Born27 February 1860
Užice, Principality of Serbia
Died16 June 1905 (aged 45)
Beljakovce, Ottoman Empire
Allegiance Serbian Chetnik Organization (1904–05)
Years of service1904–05
Rank
  • vojvoda (Commander)
  • šef Gorskog štaba (Chief of Mountainous Headquarters)

Aksentije Bacetić (Serbian Cyrillic: Аксентије Бацетић, 27 February 1860 – 16 June 1905), known as Baceta (Бацета), was a Serbian secret agent and Chetnik commander in Macedonia. His surname has been spelled Bacetović.

Early life

Bacetić was born in the village of Kriva Reka near Užice,[1] in the Principality of Serbia. He had red hair.[1] As a youngster he joined the ranks of the People's Radical Party. He participated in the Timok Rebellion in 1882, after which he fled to the Principality of Bulgaria. He then went to the Russian Empire where he enrolled in the NCO school finished with the rank of junker. He returned to Serbia where his sub-commander rank was recognized.

He translated works from Bulgarian into Serbian.[2]

Secret agent

Bacetić worked as a double agent in Bulgaria, giving the Serbian command information on Bulgarian troop placements during the Serbo-Bulgarian War (1885). He was caught and sentenced to death, but the Serbian side insisted on prison during the peace treaty talks, and he was given 101 years of imprisonment. He managed to escape from prison and returned to Serbia, and was then sent to carry out espionage in Austria-Hungary. He was accused of being a Bulgarian spy and was expelled from service. After the May Coup (1903), he started to work with old crafts in Old Serbia and Macedonia.

Serbian Chetnik Organization

Bacetić subsequently built relations with and joined the Serbian Chetnik Organization, becoming one of the board members, organizing operations in Macedonia. He "fanatically" led the Chetnik movement.[1]

After the fight in Tabanovce (March 27, 1905), Savatije Milošević, Lazar Kujundžić and Baceta left their offices as organizers of the action, wanting to feel the Chetnik lifestyle "from within" as voivodes. Baceta was to replace the then Chief of Upper Staff, Ilija Jovanović. Baceta and Savatije, by mid-April, had moved 107 fighters across the border.[3] The Chetniks defeated a local Ottoman army contingent at the Fight on Čelopek (April 16, 1905). The victory enraged the Ottomans,[4] who began manhunting the rebels. The rebels were forced to retreat across the border, and were dispersed.[5] Čiča Pavle and Bacetović were surrounded by the Ottoman army near the village of Beljakovce on 16 June, and all in their bands were killed.[6][7]

Annotations

  • His surname has also been spelled "Bacetović".[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Đurić & Mijović 1993, p. 90
    Снажна рука Аксентија Бацетовића- Бацете Рујанца. Риђ као Саватије, са малом брадом, тајанствен, са гласом и очима пророка и секташа, Бацета је фанатично водио сада покрет четнички. Његова прошлост цела је била једна велика драматична авантура. Био је сељак из Криве Ријеке ужичке, у Београду је учио реалку, у Москви постао јункер. После Зајечарске буне као официрски приправник вратио се у Србију да ступи у војску. Његово ужичко порекло начинило га је сумњивим. Краљ Милан мрзео је проту Милана Ђурића и мислио је да је сваки Ужичанин бунтовник и непријатељ династије. Бацета је морао да оде из земље. Александар Батенберг, кнез Бугарске и Шарк Румели валиси примио га је одмах. Био је руски ђак. Рат 1885 избрисао је код њега сва сећања на неправду и прогонство. Када му нису хтели да уваже оставку на службу он је отпочео да шаље тајно извештаје о бугарским војним припремама ...
  2. ↑ Milutin R. Stepanović (1913). Srbi i Bugari u prošlosti i sadašnjosti. preštampala Delniška tiskarna. p. 96. Аксентије Бацетић-Рујанац
  3. ↑ Ilić, Vladimir (March 5, 2003). "Ubistvo popa Taška". Glas Javnosti.
  4. ↑ Драгиша Васић; Гојко Тешић; Александар Јерков; Вук Крњевић (1990). Dva meseca u jugoslovenskom Sibiru: Utisci iz Rusije ; Putopisi, eseji, kritike, članci. Просвета. ISBN 9788607004904. То је било после победе на Челопеку због коje Турци беху побеснели.
  5. ↑ Jovanović 1937, "Потерна одељења турске војске открила су их у Никуљану. После одржане славне борбе на Челопеку, у којој су Турци имали преко две стотине које мртвих које рањених, они су св морали вратити преко границе. Њихов ...".
  6. ↑ Trifunović 1933, pp. 24–28.
  7. ↑ Ilić 2006, pp. 61–64.

Sources

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