Duke Petar Bojović
Misevici, Nova Varoš, July 4, 1858 -
Belgrade, January 19, 1945
Petar Bojović was born on July 4, 1858 in Miševići, into a family originating from Vasojevići. He completed elementary school in Ivanjica. He started high school in Užice and finished in Belgrade. He entered the Artillery School in 1875 as a member of the 12th grade and graduated first in his class. In the First Balkan War, he was the Chief of Staff of the First Army from October 1912. He distinguished himself during the Battles of Kumanovo and Bitola, after which he was awarded the rank of general. In the Second Balkan War, he was the Chief of Staff of the First Army, which won the victory at Bregalnica, and after the war, he was the commander of the “New Regions” troops in Kosovo and Macedonia. In the First World War, he was the commander of the First Army.
He participated in the Battle of Cer, and after the liberation of Šabac, with this unit he crossed the Sava River and penetrated into Srem. After being wounded, he was replaced and Živojin Mišić was appointed commander of the First Army. From November 1914 to November 1915, he was available, when due to the Triple Offensive, he was reactivated again and reappointed as commander of the “New Regions” troops. When the decision was made to withdraw the troops to Albania, in December 1915, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Supreme Command, replacing the ill Duke Radomir Putnik. In the operations in Kajmakčalan, he led the offensive of the Serbian army, which, with Allied help, defeated the Bulgarian units near Gorničevo and captured Kajmakčalan and Bitola. He remained in the position of Chief of Staff of the Supreme Command until June 19, 1918, when he resigned due to disagreements with the Entente generals. He again assumed the position of commander of the First Army and immediately demonstrated his commanding talent, and on September 13, 1918, he was promoted to the rank of duke. By his order …
The First Army broke through the Salonika Front and defeated the enemy, driving them towards the Vardar and Veles. With the breakthrough into the Vardar valley, and then a heavy defeat at Kumanovo, the Bulgarian army was definitively defeated, which was soon followed by the formal capitulation of Bulgaria. Advancing along the South Morava valley, this army liberated Vranje and Leskovac, and on 11 October, the main body of the German Eleventh Army was knocked out of action near Niš.
In the further advance of the First Army led by Petar Bojović, almost all of Serbia, including Belgrade, was liberated on November 1, 1918. After the end of the war, he became the commander of the First Army District and remained in that position until December 1920. In 1921, he was appointed Chief of the General Staff, replacing the deceased Duke Živojin Mišić, and in 1922 he retired from active service. At the very beginning of the April War, he was appointed deputy to the Supreme Commander of the Royal Yugoslav Army, the young King Peter II. Due to his age, he did not participate in subsequent war events. After the end of World War II, Duke Petar Bojović was beaten by partisans. He died on January 19, 1945, in his home in Belgrade. He was buried on January 20, 1945, at the New Cemetery in Belgrade, in the family grave in plot number 6 (grave 68-II).
