The band of Hadzhi Dimitar and Stefan Karadzha was established in Romania in 1868.
Many of the members had been participants in the unsuccessful Belgrade-based Second Bulgarian Legion.
Dimitar's band crossed the Danube at Vardim in a sail boat on 5 July and engaged in a battle with an Ottoman pursuing party of a thousand men in the vineyards of Karaisen, near Pavlikeni.
The band managed to give the enemy the slip and reached the territory of Gorna Lipitsa.
A second battle followed there on 7 July, in which the band caused considerable damage to the Ottomans while only losing one member and two others being wounded.
The band proceeded to Vishovgrad, where it also fought on 8 July.
On the next day, not far to the south-southeast, there was a bloody fight in which Karadzha was wounded and captured, and the band was defeated.
The remaining 58 members proceeded to the Balkan Mountains under the leadership of Hadzhi Dimitar, only to be crushed at Buzludzha Peak on 18 July.
After being defeated in this last battle, leader Hadzhi Dimitar, heavily wounded, was carried on a stretcher by his surviving comrades away from Ottoman army, up Mount Kadrafill, 3 km from the village of Svezhen.
There he and his comrades were supported by the local people with water, food and herbs, until his death somewhere around the middle of August 1868.
He was buried beneath the same mountain.
On 6 November 1880, his bones were reburied in the yard of "St.
Peter and St.
Paul" Church in the village of Svezhen.
The funeral service was conducted by the Bishop of Plovdiv Gervassius of Levkia, who made Hadzhi Dimitar a martyr.
After nearly two months, the bones of the hero were requested by and given to his mother, who brought them to his birthplace in Sliven.
His death inspired Hristo Botev's poem "Hadzhi Dimitar" in 1873:
He who falls while fighting to be free
can never die: for him the sky
and earth, the trees and beasts shall keen,
to him the minstrel's song shall rise…
The band of Hadzhi Dimitar and Stefan Karadzha was established in Romania in 1868. Many of the members had been participants in the unsuccessful Belgrade-based Second Bulgarian Legion. Dimitar's band crossed the Danube at Vardim in a sail boat on 5 July and engaged in a battle with an Ottoman pursuing party of a thousand men in the vineyards of Karaisen, near Pavlikeni. The band managed to give the enemy the slip and reached the territory of Gorna Lipitsa. A second battle followed there on 7 July, in which the band caused considerable damage to the Ottomans while only losing one member and two others being wounded. The band proceeded to Vishovgrad, where it also fought on 8 July. On the next day, not far to the south-southeast, there was a bloody fight in which Karadzha was wounded and captured, and the band was defeated. The remaining 58 members proceeded to the Balkan Mountains under the leadership of Hadzhi Dimitar, only to be crushed at Buzludzha Peak on 18 July. After being defeated in this last battle, leader Hadzhi Dimitar, heavily wounded, was carried on a stretcher by his surviving comrades away from Ottoman army, up Mount Kadrafill, 3 km from the village of Svezhen. There he and his comrades were supported by the local people with water, food and herbs, until his death somewhere around the middle of August 1868. He was buried beneath the same mountain. On 6 November 1880, his bones were reburied in the yard of "St.Peter and St.Paul" Church in the village of Svezhen. The funeral service was conducted by the Bishop of Plovdiv Gervassius of Levkia, who made Hadzhi Dimitar a martyr. After nearly two months, the bones of the hero were requested by and given to his mother, who brought them to his birthplace in Sliven. His death inspired Hristo Botev's poem "Hadzhi Dimitar" in 1873:
He who falls while fighting to be free
can never die: for him the sky
and earth, the trees and beasts shall keen,
to him the minstrel's song shall rise…
Hadzhi Dimitar