Antonije Orešković

[12] In July 1859, after returning from the war (which was fought in the north of today's Italy), Antonije was imbued with pan-Slavic ideas and began working on a conspiracy against the Habsburgs, not only seeking supporters among his fellow Serbs, but also among neighboring Croats.

[14] Orešković was transferred to Moravia, and he came to Vienna as a captain, where he met philologist Vuk Karadžić, who soon introduced him to Velimir Mihailo Teodorović, and became good friends thereafter.

[14] The Austrian authorities invited Ante Orešković to Zagreb in 1862, but he refused to go there because he knew that his anti-Habsburg activities among the border guards were already well-known to them.

[11] In April 1862, at the invitation of Mihailo Obrenović, Prince of Serbia, Orešković left the military[15][16][17] in Austria and joined the Serbian army, where he received the rank of infantry major.

Prince Mihailo brought him to the Serbian capital Belgrade, to prepare Serbia for the liberation wars against the Turkish occupier with his rich military experience.

[25] Even before moving to Serbia, Captain Orešković provided a connection in 1858 to Prince Miloš Teodorović Obrenović with the naval[26] steamship captain[27][28] Francesco-Fran P. Franasović, a Dalmatian Serb[29][30] (originally from Korčula[31][32] and Brač[32]), and at that time, according to his professional formation, a line inspector (branch in Orsha) of the Austrian First Danube Steamship Company[33] from where he delivered evidence to the Serbian prince because he had his own private intelligence network in the Djerdap area.

Garašanin's military-diplomatic strategy with Austrian foes,[34] after the armed incident near Čukur Fountain (and the later bombing of Belgrade), which in 1862 led to the partial withdrawal of the Turks from the Principality of Serbia, was Orašković's first successful engagement.

Orešković's task was to organize the recruitment of border guards, their transfer to Serbia, and then their inclusion in a Volunteer Corps (pus) stationed in Valjevo.