Milosav was born in the
Sanjak of Herzegovina, from where he moved to
Šabac in 1800. He learnt the Turkish language. At Šabac, he set up a grocery store (), for which he was known as "Bakal-Milosav". When the
uprising against the Dahije began and Valjevo
nahiya rebel leader
Jakov Nenadović besieged Šabac, Bakal-Milosav's store burnt down and he joined Nenadović's troops as a volunteer. After the signing of peace treaty with the Šabac Turks, Bakal-Milosav continued to serve in the rebel army, joining priest
Luka Lazarević's unit. He assembled a band (
četa) of volunteers. Since then, he mostly fought under and accompanied Luka in the most daring operations. He distinguished himself in battles, especially around Šabac, Valjevo, Podrinje, and Užice. At Lešnica, Bakal-Milosav constructed a trench in the plain from where he defended the area from Ottoman Bosnian incursions. From 1805, when the rebels
fought for liberation against the Ottoman Empire, Luka Lazarević led several important victories. On Jakov Nenadović and Luka Lazarević began the siege of Šabac, while Karađorđe set off from Belgrade to join them; on the way supreme leader
Karađorđe learnt that
Ottoman Bosnian troops were about to cross the
Drina and thus immediately dispatched Luka. Arriving at
Lešnica on with
Živko Dabić, Luka's unit defeated the Turks at the Ranitovača forest after a day of fighting, with much of enemy troops drowning in the Jadar river. By the Jadar, Bakal-Milosav pierced three swimming Bosnian soldiers with spears. Bakal-Milosav participated at the important
Battle of Mišar (August 1806), fighting against the large Ottoman Bosnian unit under the command of
Mehmed-beg Kulenović "Kulin-kapetan". He reportedly "chopped and restrained Turks as though they were
reed and wouldn't tire even when his horse stopped". In the midst of battle, Luka challenged Kulin-kapetan to a duel; Luka's men shot and killed Kulin-kapetan in a pre-set ambush. For his personal courage at the battle, Karađorđe elevated him to
kapetan (captain) of his own band. For the remainder of the first uprising, Bakal-Milosav fought by the Drina and crossed into Bosnia several times. He fought at Loznica in 1808 against the Ottoman Bosnian army. In October 1810, the Ottoman Bosnian army
besieged Loznica, which was defended in the trenches by
Miloš Pocerac,
Anta Bogićević and Bakal-Milosav. Karađorđe, Jakov and Luka and other generals came to the rescue and lifted the siege and destroyed the Ottoman Bosnian army. The battle of Loznica and Bakal-Milosav entered
epic poetry, performed by
Filip Višnjić. Bakal-Milosav appeared at the lower gate on horseback and untiredly cut down many enemy soldiers, dispersing them, and when his horse was too tired, he took another one and continued fighting. At Novo Selo, the Ottoman Bosnian commander Pejzo Mehmed-aga called Luka to duel, but Bakal-Milosav took his place as he cared for and feared Luka would die. In the duel, on horseback, Pejzo fell Bakal-Milosav's horse and was about to cut him down, when Luka shot and killed him with his flintlock musket. With the Ottoman suppression of the uprising in 1813, Bakal-Milosav either crossed into Austrian-held
Srem, or stayed in the mountains as a
hajduk (brigand). In 1815, he returned and joined the
Second Serbian Uprising under
knez and
vojvoda Miloš Obrenović, and rose the people in
Mačva. Bakal-Milosav was among the commanders that assembled at
Klenje on . He participated at the
Battle of Dublje. Following the peace talks between Miloš and
Marashli Pasha, Bakal-Milosav was sent to Constantinople to as his special diplomat (
tatarin) as he spoke excellent Turkish, to confirm peace. In 1818, Bakal-Milosav was again sent to Constantinople where he managed to free 70 of the prisoners-of-war, captured with
vojvoda Janko Stojićević at Lešnica in 1813. There were 300 prisoners-of-war at first, but most had died by the time Bakal-Milosav had them freed. Prince Miloš offered Bakal-Milosav to work in the government several times but he refused, as he liked to live a life of freedom. He received gifts and pension from Miloš. He was known in his area for settling disputes, complicated trade bills, and energetically sought for respect and unity among locals. He died in 1823, at 53 years of age. He had a son, Đoka, who was an officer (
kaplar) in the Serbian army. Bakal-Milosav was described as tall and shapely, dark-haired, light-skinned, of good character and sociable, and a great hero. He was especially famed for his participation at Mišar and Loznica. ==See also==