The village of Ravnje is geographically located in Mačva, and administratively it is part of AP Vojvodina, as it is part of the City of Sremska Mitrovica.
Namely, after the liberation in the Second World War, the Main People's Liberation Committee of Vojvodina made a decision on April 6, 1945 on defining the territory of Vojvodina, by which some areas, including the northern parts of Mačva along the Sava River, became part of Vojvodina. Thus, Vojvodina, which was "taken away" from the parts of Srem and Banat that belonged to the City of Belgrade (Zemun, Surčin, Batajnica, Ovča, Borča...) in return received atars of seven villages in Mačva: Salaš Noćajski, Noćaj, Radenković, Ravnje, Zasavica 1, Zasavica 2 and Mačvanska Mitrovica.
The missing sculpture
The village is important for Serbian history because the famous Battle of Ravnje took place here in August 1813, which marked the collapse of the First Serbian Uprising.
On the 200th anniversary of the battle, a display of trenches with a board with a map and a description of the battle was made next to the road in the direction of Zasavica.
That's when the three-meter-high wooden sculpture of Zeka Buljubaša, Jovan Gligorijević, was installed.
Photo: Private archiveThe missing monument
She apparently disappeared in the meantime, since I did not find her at the location during my tour of the village. All that remains is the brick plinth on which there used to be a wooden sculpture of the famous military leader.
On the other side of the road there is an old oak tree known as the "Zeke Buljubaša Bush". It was placed under protection as a memorial natural monument in 1979. That tree is one of the rarely preserved oak trees in this part of our country. It is believed to be over 250 years old.
Although the oak tree was badly damaged, as a result of which its life was significantly shortened, its great age, beautiful growth and still preserved vitality give a great feature to that village, considering that it is a rarely preserved natural monument, very well known and loved by the people, to which many legends and folk tales are attached.
In the center of Ravnje village, in the middle of the intersection, there is another monument to Zeka Buljubaša. It is about a pillar on top of which there is a bust of this hero. The monument was erected in 1925 and, in addition to Zeke Buljubaša and his "golac" hajkus, it is also dedicated to those who died in the wars of 1912-1918.
Historians often call this battle the "Serbian Thermopylae".
This is how it was.
The Bosnian vizier Derendelia and Sulejman Pasha Skopljak, commander of the Turkish cavalry, grouped most of the Turkish forces from Bosnia here, and persistently tried to break the Serbian defenses and penetrate towards Šabac. The Turks had numerous cavalry and artillery, and they were joined by French artillerymen and engineers who trained the Turks in handling the new French cannons and digging mines for blowing up the insurgent fortifications.
The initial skirmishes with the Turks turned into bloody battles day and night with the arrival of the main Turkish forces. They lasted continuously for 17 days. Along with the rumble of Turkish artillery, the attacks of Turkish cavalry and infantry alternated from day to day. On several occasions, the Turks managed to penetrate into certain parts of the trenches, but the insurgents managed to push them out again. Then, at the persuasion of the French engineering officers, the Turks began to dig ditches in order to get as close as possible to the trench. The insurgent elders held a meeting and decided to leave Ravnje.
Zeka Buljubaš, and all (about 800) of his "golacs" (hajduks) died bravely protecting the retreat of the insurgent army from Ravnje. Since then, the expression "Zasavica — a real butchery" has remained in the people's minds.
Karađorđe established a defensive line in the west, which runs along the line Cer-Kitog-Ravnje on Zasavica. It also establishes Šabačko polje.
During August 1813, the insurgent forces in Mačva, led by Prota Mateja Nenadović, Stojan Čupić, Zeka Buljubaša and others, successfully held back the Turkish incursions that went along the Sava.
The insurgents dug a series of small trenches there and welcomed the Turkish army. When Miloš Obrenović arrived there with the mining army and Petronije Šišo with his men, the insurgents built and well fortified a huge trench between Sava and Zasavica in Ravnje, which in its extended line had 560 steps.
3000 rebels
Zeka Buljubaša and his bandits settled on the right wing of the ditch, and next to him was Petronije Šišo. Duke Sima Katić - Prekodrinac was the first to find himself on this trench. After him came dukes Miloš Obrenović with the Rudnicians, Proto Matej with the Valjevci, Luka Lazarević, Stojan Čupić with the Mačvani and Zeka Buljubaša with his golaci from Parašnica.
Thus, about 3.000 insurgents gathered on Ravnje with about five cannons, while the Turkish army numbered about 15.000 men led by Vizier Ali-pasha Derendelia and his deputy Suleiman-pasha Skopljak, commander of the Turkish cavalry.
Suleiman Pasha Skopljak led the cavalry in the attack on the trench, but was wounded in the arm. Sources say that Miloš Obrenović personally wounded him from the holster.
In order to overcome the obstacle around the trenches in the form of a trench, the Turkish commanders gave the infantry brandy, to encourage them to charge and the dead to fill the trench, and the rest of the infantry would enter the trench over the dead. The Turks also, with the help of French engineers, excavated approximate trenches. Vuk Karadžić states that the Turks got so close to the trench that they could fight with the Serbs with sabers, scimitars and grab their flags with hooks.
On the seventeenth day of the fight, September 17, 1813, Zeka Buljubaša and his golads and the famous megdanji Petronije Šišo and his uskos entered the scene. They protected the retreat of Serbian leaders and other surviving insurgents. As long as they had gunpowder, they defended the chain with rifles, and when they ran out of ammunition, they took out their knives and attacked the Turks. They fought the Turks, and in that hand-to-hand fight, all the Golacians perished together with their commander, Zeko Buljubaš.
How the Serbian dukes saved themselves
Because of this confusion with the Turks, the Serbian dukes escaped with the remaining army. Miloš Obrenović barely escaped the Turks by knocking down the bridge on Modran behind him, Proto Mateja saved himself by getting hold of someone else's horse, while Duke Čupić swam across Zasavica with a saber in his mouth and reached Šabac via Preseka and Noćaj.
After arriving in Šabac, Duke Miloš Obrenović harshly attacked commander Sima Marković, who had 10.000 men under his command in Šabac, and for inexplicable reasons did not come to the aid of the insurgents in Ravnje, as well as those from Loznica and Lešnica before.
The next day, September 18, 1813, the Turks headed towards Mitrovica and crossed Modran and down the Sava towards Šabac. After this defeat came the days when the living envied the dead, because the Turks carried out unprecedented terror on the remaining insurgents and the population.
The Battle of Ravnje was screened in the series Vuk Karadzic in episode 5.
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