Petko Ilić

Petko Ilić
Petko Ilić in Bitola, during the Young Turk Revolution (1908)
Nickname(s)	Musa, Moma Vojvoda, Vojvoda Nagorički
Born	July, 1885 Staro Nagoričane, Ottoman Empire (now R. Macedonia)
Died	March 17, 1912 (aged 25–26)
Allegiance	Serbian Chetnik Organization (1903–1908)
Years of service	1903–08
Rank	Voivode (Vojvoda)

Petko Ilić (Serbian Cyrillic: Петко Илић, July, 1886 – March 17, 1912) was a Serbian Chetnik commander active in Macedonia.

Ilić was born in Staro Nagoričane. He became a vojvoda in 1906.

Petko Ilić was born in July, 1886, in Staro Nagoričane, a Serbian village that is primarily known for its Church of St. George built in 1071 and reconstructed between 1313 and 1318 by Serbian king Stefan Milutin. At the time of Petko Ilić's birth that Christian territory was still under the long occupation of the Ottoman Empire. His inheritance, from generations of Serbian ancestors, was hate of Turkish tyranny and the example of many forefathers who fought against it futilely. When he was six-years old he saw his family members dragged from home in chains by Turkish soldiers and Bashi-bazouks, lashed and imprisoned, on a charge of treason. As a youngster of 16 in 1903 he joined what he though was a Serbian četa (band of freedom fighters), led by Valko Mandarčev, a Bulgarian pretending to be a Serb sympathizer. In the winter of 1904 Mandarčev's cheta met the komitadji of Bobi Stojcev, an IMRO commander, near Poreč, they were disarmed and liquidated. Petko Ilić, 17 at the time, was somehow spared and sent to Bulgaria's capital Sofia to be indoctrinated.

From Bulgaria Ilić managed to escape and make his way to Vranje in the spring of 1905. There he joined the četa of Anđel Đorđević. Even that četa was ambushed when they crossed the frontier and were suddenly surrounded by Turkish troops. After fierce fighting, most of the četa members were killed with only Petko Ilić and two others left. They bravely confronted the attacking Turks by launching at them with bayonets fixed to the muzzle of their rifles in hand-to-hand combat. When it became evident that the Turks were about to overpower them, Petko decided to explode a bomb. The explosion took the lives of more than a dozen. However, Petko, who was thrown several feet away, was unconscious but not mortally wounded. The remaining Turks didn't bother to bury none of the corpses, and left for their garrison. After Ilic came around, he managed to muster enough strength to find his way back to Serbian territory, though wounded.