rom Austrian territory. The United
States sent back thousands of Austrian and Macedonian Serbs who
had emigrated there. It is probable, therefore, that the total
strength of the Serbian forces shortly after the war broke out
was at least 280,000, if not a trifle more. To this must be added
the Montenegrin army which, though operating in a separate field,
contributed its share in driving the Austrians back; another 40,000
men of first-class fighting ability and experience.

Finally, there was the third reserve, another 50,000 men, but they
could be used for fighting only in the gravest emergency.

The infantry of the First Ban was armed with excellent Mauser rifles,
caliber 7 mm., model 1899. The Second Ban carried a Mauser, the
old single loader, to which a magazine was fitted in the Serbian
arsenals; while the Third Ban had the old single-loader Berdan
rifle. The machine gun carried was the Maxim, of the same caliber
as the new Mauser.

In artillery the Serbians were perhaps not so well off. Their cannons
had seen a great deal of service in the Balkan wars, and the larger
a piece of artillery the more limited is the number of rounds it
can fire. It is extremely doubtful that there had been time to
replace many of these worn-out pieces.

The field gun was of French make; it was a 3-inch quick firer with
a maximum range for shrapnel of 6,000 yards, a little over 3-1/2
miles. The Second Ban was armed with old De Bange guns of 8 cm.
caliber. The heavy guns, which had done much service outside Adrianople,
were of Creuzot make, and included 24 howitzers of 15 cm. and some
mortars of 24 cm. As for the aviation wing, there was none.

The Serbian army was under the superior command of the Chief of the
General Staff, Voivode (Field Marshal) Putnik. Unlike his younger
colleagues, his military education was entirely a home product;
he had never studied abroad. His father was one of those Serbs
born on Austrian soil; he had emigrated from Hungary to Serbia
in the early forties where he had followed the vocation of
school-teacher. In 1847 the future general was born. After passing
through the elementary schools, young Putnik entered the military
academy at Belgrade. He had already attained a commission when
the war of 1876 with Turkey broke out, through which he served as
a captain of infantry. His next experience was in the unfortunate
war with Bulgaria, in 1885, in which the Serbians were beaten after
a three days' battle.