Look at the weather outside – the sullen November sky, the frequent piercing showers of rain... Now imagine the muddy, windswept hills of Slivnitsa, Tran and, indeed, this particular part of Western Bulgaria. Think of our ancestors who fought in the sticky mud to defend the Bulgarian Unification. It happened precisely during these November days, in that same gloomy weather of the season.
One of them was Konstantin (Kostadin) Grigorov Halachev, a native of Svishtov. A tall, distinguished man with light-blue eyes, whom many young women and wives would gaze at – only to mourn him later. But let us take things in order. He was born in 1861 near the Danube and graduated from the Svishtov school. He was a wild boy – cheerful and hot-tempered, but with a „good-natured“ character. The life and soul, and the favorite, of the young men's gatherings. In the winter of 1876, after getting into a fight with an Ottoman and without asking his parents for permission, Konstantin crossed the frozen Danube into Wallachia. Just 16 years old, in 1877 he became a volunteer in the Third Volunteer Company. He took part in the famous consecration of the Samara Flag and fought bravely at Shipka and during the attack on the Sheynovo fortified camp. He was wounded in the battles and received the St. George Cross for Bravery.
After the Liberation, he initially tried his hand at trade, but military service irresistibly drew him in and he enrolled in the Military School in Sofia. He distinguished himself as a diligent cadet and an excellent marksman, and because of his heroic and distinguished appearance he became the school's standard-bearer, in the institution where Bulgaria's future military elite was being forged. By then a second lieutenant, Halachev was assigned to the Silistra Company of the Fifth Danube Infantry Regiment. After the Serbian troops invaded, he fought as part of the Tran Detachment against the elite Morava Division. According to researchers of his life, as he tried to lead his soldiers in a decisive attack, he mounted his horse, but at that very moment his stirrup broke. The second lieutenant then said: „This is a sign that I will die today, brothers. Let me at least die heroically for the honor of Bulgarian arms and for the glory of our beloved homeland!“ At that very moment, a heavy bullet pierced him, tearing through his liver and exiting through his back. He died moments later. He was only 24 years old.
Why am I telling you this story? Because most of us know about the Battle of Slivnitsa, but it seems we have somewhat forgotten those who died in the battles near Tran. Many young and brave Bulgarian officers and soldiers fell there as well, and they too must be remembered.
There is another reason, too. In my younger years, I spent some time in the hills around Dragoman and Slivnitsa, and I still remember both the heat and the cold there. A harsh and beautiful landscape that witnessed the birth of Bulgarian courage in our modern history. An era in which the young Bulgarian state did not fret over everything and even won a war that began with just one telegram to the troops: „From tomorrow, 6 a.m., war with Serbia is declared. Take action!“. Short and clear. No political tirades, Facebook battles or evasiveness over everything. Take action! To which one of the commanders of the combat units simply replied: „The heroes are ready“, but that is another subject.
And so, when we look at the sullen November sky, let us remember those who left their bones on the windswept hills of our history, before reaching the age of thirty.
Let us remember.