Battle of Čokešina

In the spring of 1804, the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire and the Dahije ignited, and insurgents besieged larger places and liberated a significant part of Belgrade pashalik.[2] Harambaša Đorđe Ćurčija, brothers Damjan and Gligorije Nedić and Jakov Nenadović met up with a part of the army near the monastery, the majority of the insurgents' forces having been left at the siege of Šabac.The Nedić brothers instead went further towards Lešnica; here they remained at the scene of the upcoming battle against the Turks, with their two faithful lieutenants Damnjan Kotešanin and Panta Damnjanović helping in the command of the 300.[2] At the end, when the haiduks ran out of ammunition in the evening, they made a last-ditch attempt to attack with knives and rifle butts; it was already too late, however, and the Turkish forces overcame them.Vuk Karadžić described the battle in the predgovor ('preface') of his Srpske narodne pjesme ('Serbian folk poems', Vienna, 1841) by citing lyrics of guslar Filip Višnjić's Boj na Čokešini.The heroic death of the two Nedić brothers and their hajduk comrades became a legend, and the German historian Leopold von Ranke went on to call the battle at Čokešina the "Serbian Thermopylae".
Schematic diagram of panorama of Mount Cer, showing position of Čokešina Monastery
Мap of battle
Stone markers on the edge of the forested, overgrown battlefield, indicating the place where the Nedić brothers and comrades met their deaths
Serbian CyrillicThermopylaeLazarus SaturdayMonastery of ČokešinaLoznicahajduksŠabacFirst Serbian UprisingOttoman EmpireDahijeBelgrade pashalikValjevoMatija NenadovićSvileuvaJakov NenadovićBosniaZvornikHarambašaĐorđe ĆurčijaČokešinaNedić brothersMateja NenadovićLešnicasinkholehaiduksVuk KaradžićguslarFilip VišnjićDamnjan NedićhajdukLeopold von RankeMačvanski PrnjavorGlagolitic scriptOttomansĆirković, Sima