Greek cavalry in the war of liberation

The Ottoman occupation of the lands inhabited by the Greeks led to mass migration of the population outside the Ottoman Empire and within it. Unwilling to get along with Muslims were looking for places focusing on transport infrastructure - but from the opposite: the farther from the roads, the better. Thus, mountainous regions began to be inhabited, which had never been inhabited before, either in antiquity or in the Byzantine era. The plain basically became the place of life of Muslims, and later of the Jews, and the mountains became the place of life of the Greeks, thus, according to the figurative expression of the historian A. Vakalopoulos, “the mountains saved and preserved the Greek nation” ^[1] . At the same time, in urban centers and lowland regions, two restrictions imposed by the Ottomans for Christians deprived the latter of the right to bear arms and ride ^{[2] [3]} . As regards the carrying of weapons, over time two militarized social strata of the Greek population formed in the mountains - clefts and armolas . The name kleft ( Greek κλέφτης - thief) was given by the Turks and Greeks who have both an expression of contempt and fear for those of the highlanders who chose the path of armed struggle and protect the population from both the Turks and the newly formed Greek nobility. The appearance of robbers on the roads forced the Turks sometimes to cooperate with clefts. So there appeared artholols ( Greek. Αρματολός - carrying weapons), serving in the passes and which were subject to the territory provided to them under control. The transition from clefs to armolas and vice versa was a constant occurrence ^[4] . In addition, mountainous regions appeared where the Ottoman power was only nominal and whose inhabitants, with arms, defended their freedom for three centuries. The most important of these were Mani in the Peloponnese , Suli in Epirus and Sfakya in Crete . However, with regard to the cavalry, both clefts with arthrolols, and Maniots, Suliots and Sphakiotes adhered to the tactics of mountain irregular warfare on foot and did not have a cavalry tradition. By the start of the War of Independence (1821), Greece had populations with experience of irregular land warfare, as well as commercial ships and their crews, whose naval military experience was limited to the struggle against the Barbary pirates. The situation was much worse with the cavalry, which rebelled Greece was forced to recreate from scratch.

The Danube principalities or Moldo-Wallachia ^{[5] [6] [7]} , were at the intersection of interests and clashes of the Ottoman, Russian and Austrian empires . Since the beginning of the 18th century, Constantinople Greek fanariots who distinguished themselves in the service of the Ottoman Empire were appointed rulers or princes of these semi-autonomous principalities ^[4] . These rulers created at their yards garrisons of the so-called " Arnauts " (that is, wearing a fustannella skirt), mainly Greeks or Hellenized Orthodox Albanians. Being in a territory free of Ottoman restrictions, they created quite large cavalry detachments, consisting of several hundred horsemen, as part of these garrisons. Created in Odessa in 1814, the Greek revolutionary organization Filiki Eteria , which set itself the goal of freeing Greece from the Ottoman yoke, created an underground network besides the Greek lands proper and in the Danube principalities, hoping for the support of the emperors and for the participation of their military units in the War of Independence ^[8] . Through the efforts of a heterist and Russian diplomat, G. Leventis , G. Olympios and J. Farmakis led the garrison of the reign of Wallachia John II Karadzhi . It should be noted that with regard to cavalry, the horse detachment of S. Fokianos as part of this garrison totaled up to a thousand horsemen, mainly Greeks and Serbs

The plan of the heterists included the departure of Alexander Ipsilanti, who headed the organization, to the Peloponnese , where it was planned to start an uprising, while G. Olympios and S. Fokianos were to raise an uprising in Wallachia, 10 days before the start of the uprising in the Peloponnese, in order to divert the attention and strength of the Ottoman ^{[ 8]} . “Quite unexpectedly”, on October 24, 1820, Ipsilanti decided to start military operations in the principalities, and informed the local heterosexual leaders about this.

Olympios and Fokianos, he gave the order to arrest the ruler of Wallachia, Alexander Sutsu , form an interim government and ensure the crossing of the Danube ^[8] .

One of the reasons for changing the initial plan of Ipsilanti, the historian D. Fotiadis considers unreasonable information received from Fokianos that the plans of the heterists became known to the Sultan ^[8] .

The change in plan made it necessary to attract the population of Moldavia-Wallachia to the uprising. Olympios attracted for this T. Vladimirirescu , who, like him, served in the Russian army during the Russo-Turkish War of 1806-1812 ^[8] and commanded the Pandurs in the army under the rule of Constantine Ipsilanti ^[9] .

January 17, 1821, taking advantage of the turmoil caused by abuses of the sovereign Alexander Sutsu and the death throes of the latter, Vladimirirescu, accompanied by the fighters of Olympios, arrived in Targovishti and took the first steps ^[8] . After the death of Sutsu, Vladimirirescu with a small detachment of Arnauts went to the villages of Lesser Wallachia to raise an uprising. He was joined by his former associates of the Pandura, who became his main strength.

Since the Turks could not, according to the Russian-Turkish treaty, send troops into Wallachia, they, unsuspecting, entrusted the suppression of the uprising of Vladimiriresku to those who in reality were its organizers - Olympios and J. Farmakis . And then "comedic scenes" began when the real organizers of the uprising pursued Vladimirirescu " ^[10] .

The beginning of hostilities in the Danube principalities

February 16, 1821 at a gathering of heterists in Chisinau , it was decided to start hostilities. Ipsilanti gave the order to Fokianos and Olympios to take Bucharest and Iasi ^[11] .

February 22, 1821 A. Ipsilanti , with a group of associates, crossed Prut , proclaiming the beginning of the Greek Revolution ^[8] .

On February 24, Ipsilanti addressed his compatriots with an appeal, which began with the words “I fight for Faith and the Fatherland” ^[8] . On February 26, in the church of the Holy Trinity in Iasi , the flag of rebellion was sanctified " ^[8] .

On March 1, Ipsilanti left Yass, led, according to various sources, from 800 to 2 thousand rebels and arrived in Fokshany on March 10, where he had several days to organize his army. Ipsilanti organized a cavalry detachment, the command of which was later entrusted to V. Caravias. Significant funds for the organization of this detachment were provided by the ruler of Moldova, Mikhail Sutsu (Jr.) .

The Greek researcher K. Augitidis, who lived for many years in exile in Odessa, referring to the 19th century historian I. Filimon, writes that 180 Cossacks joined the Ipsilanti army, under the command of the Greek V. Moskhulis. Augitidis does not specify if these Cossacks arrived on horseback and with weapons. Given that, following the policy of the Holy Alliance and observing strict neutrality, the Russian Emperor Alexander I forbade any help to the heterists, and closed the border with the Principality not only for the Greeks of Russian citizens, but for the Greeks of other countries, this information alone causes interest ^[12] .

According to various sources, the cavalry forces that Ipsilanti really had or thought he had, totaled up to two thousand horsemen, which in itself was a significant force in numbers for the region and era. Some sources, ignoring the cavalry detachments of the Greeks under foreign flags in previous centuries ( stradiots , etc.), call these forces the first organized Greek cavalry unit from the fall of Byzantium in the 15th century ^[13] .

In general, in the Ipsilanti army there were 3 infantrymen per rider. However, half of the cavalry (the thousand Fokianos) was only nominally under the command of Ipsilanti. The remaining hundreds were whipped up, did not have sufficient training, and did not have trained officers. In addition, Ipsilanti did not have both a general plan of action for his army and a plan of action for the cavalry in particular ^[14]

Of the motley rebels, Ipsilanti singled out and organized a detachment of student volunteers from the Greek communities of Moldova-Wallachia, Odessa and Austria-Hungary. He believed that this youth would become the core and soul of his army and gave this detachment the name of the ancient Theban Holy detachment .

Upon completion of the hasty military training of the detachment and taking the oath, A. Ipsilanti handed the banner to the commander of the Holy detachment, the former colonel of the Russian army, George Kantakuzin, whom Ipsilanti soon removed from command ^[8] .

On March 18, Ipsilanti and his army approached Ploiesti , where he inspected his troops. Here, one of the founders of Filiki Eteria A. Tsakalof ^[8] was appointed adjutant of the Holy detachment. On March 25, Ipsilanti approached Bucharest . But two days earlier, the anathema of Ipsilanti and the revolution was read out in the churches of the city, signed by the Patriarch of Constantinople. Earlier from the actions of Ipsilanti, the Russian Emperor Alexander I disassociated himself. This caused confusion in the motley army of Ipsilanti, who began to lose control of the army, a quarter of which, moreover, was without weapons ^[8] . The army began to decay, not yet making contact with the enemy. Only the Sacred detachment, consisting of “enthusiastic young ideologists”, remained not subject to decomposition. After the Ottoman forces entered, with the permission of Russia, the Danube principalities and a series of battles, Ipsilanti moved to the foothills of the Carpathians.

Betrayal of Vladimirirescu and the transfer of the cavalry detachment of Fokianos to the side of the Turks

Fokianos realized that information about the alleged participation of Russia in the events was only a tactical ruse of the heterists, but subscribed to the appeal of the Greek military leaders to the Russian emperor ^[8] . May 1, Turkish troops, with the permission of Russia, entered the principalities. Bucharest commandant Fokianos and Vladimirirescu remained in the city and both, trying to escape, began their game. Vladimirirescu, through the consul of Austria, was negotiating with the Turks, expecting to become the ruler of Wallachia, and promising them to neutralize Ipsilanti ^[8] . May 8, on the same day, Vladimirirescu and Fokianos raised their flags. With Trikupis writes that the plan of Fokianos was "more satanic than the plan of Vladimirirescu" ^[15] . He decided to exterminate both Ipsilanti and Vladimirirescu. He knew that repentance was not enough and the words needed to be accompanied by actions. Having concluded a “wolf pact” with Vladimirirescu, he continued to play the role of the faithful ally of Ipsilanti. On May 15, as the Turks approached Bucharest, Vladimirirescu fled into the mountains to the location of Olympios. Led by his faithful thousand horsemen, Fokianos also left the city and headed for the Ipsilanti headquarters in Targovisti ^[8] , warning Ipsilanti to beware of Vladimirirescu ^[15] . On the same gent, the Turks entered Bucharest, executing 150 Greeks, Serbs and Bulgarians of the supporters of Ipsilanti at the behest of the Romanian boyars ^[8] . Vladimirirescu continued negotiations with the Turks.

On May 21, Olympios, learning about the turmoil in the camp of Vladimirirescu, arrived in Golesti, where there were 3 thousand Wallachian pandurs. Having publicly accused his former friend of betrayal and, having secured the consent of the pandur, he sent Vladimirirescu to the Ipsilanti camp in Targovisti , under the tribunal ^[8] . Vladimirirescu was sentenced to death, but Caravias and the adjutant Ipsilanti Pole Garnowski executed the sentence in such a way that it became a villainous murder ^[8] .

The fact of the impending attack by Vladimirirescu against the heterists was not disputed by their opponents ^[16] , but a hasty court and murder almost deprived the heterists on the support of the local population during the war on foreign territory. On May 27, the Turks besieged the monastery of Dosceu near Targovishti. Although the victory at the monastery became one of the heroic episodes of the war, captain Dukas escaped from the battlefield brought panic to Targovishti. At this moment, on May 29, Fokianos “took off the mask” of the heterosexual, went to Kehai Bey and obeyed, promising to take Ipsilanti prisoner. At the head of his thousand horsemen and 2 thousand Ottoman horsemen, he rushed to pursue Ipsilanti, overtook his rearguard , and capturing 20 heterists, chopped off their head, in confirmation of allegiance to the Ottomans ^[8] .

The Battle of Dragashani - Karavias cavalry as the culprit of the death of the Holy detachment

In the ensuing battle at Dragashani on June 7 (19), the heterists were defeated and lost hope of a happy outcome for their campaign in the principalities. The battle began and did not develop according to the plans of Ipsilanti. On June 7, 1821, in the absence of Mr. Olympios and in violation of the order, a tipsy V. Karavias led his cavalry detachment against the Ottoman camp near Dragashan , provoking them to battle. According to various sources, the number of horsemen of Karavas did not exceed 800. The Turks soon became convinced of the small number of the Karavis detachment and surrounded it.

The sacred detachment, led by Nikolai Ipsilanti , numbering 375 people, rushed to the rescue, but the unexpected withdrawal of Karavias left the Detachment without the support of the cavalry. Not having time to line up in a square, the Detachment was dissected by the Ottoman cavalry into two parts. The battle was stubborn and bloody: all the centurions, the standard bearer of the Detachment, 25 officers and 180 privates fell on the battlefield, 37 privates were captured and sent to Constantinople , where they were beheaded ^[8] . By the end of the battle, Olympios arrived in time, saving the remaining 133, including Detachment commander Nikolai Ipsilanti and adjutant A. Tsakalof. The banner of the Holy Detachment was saved. The modern English historian Douglas Dakin writes that the survivors of the Holy Squad owe their lives to the courageous counterattack of Olympios ^[11] . In a final order of June 8, 1821, Ipsilanti, referring to his army, mentions with kind words only officers and privates of the Holy Detachment and notes their sacrifice:

“ You are the shadows of the real Hellenes and the Holy Squad, who fell victims of betrayal but for the sake of the well-being of the Fatherland, accept through me the recognition of your only-begotten! Soon the obelisk will be erected to perpetuate your names ... ” ^[8] .

In the same appeal, Ipsilanti betrayed “the curse of the Greeks of his fellow tribesmen who violated the oath and the traitor Savva (Fokianos)”, the first among the persons he cursed ^{[8] [15]} .

The End of Fokianos and his Cavalry Thousand

Fokianos, with a thousand loyal Greek and Serbian horsemen loyal to him, pursued the remnants of the army of Ipsilanti. In the monastery of Cosia, he blocked Captain Diamantis with a few fighters and guaranteed their life. However, immediately after their delivery, he sent them to Constantinople , where their heads were chopped off. After which he besieged an unnamed Serbian archimandrite with 300 fighters in the Kolchi gorge. Heterists fought and broke into Austrian Transylvania. But the Austrians expelled them back to Ottoman territory, where the archimandrite was captured, sent to Bucharest and executed. Kehaya Bey recalled Fokianos to Bucharest, for the "reward of the winners." Fokianos was happy ^[15] . Leaving 400 horsemen for the border guard, on August 6, at the head of 600 horsemen, Fokianos entered Bucharest. On August 7, Fokianos and 27 horsemen arrived at the mansion where Kehai Bey was located. 25 horsemen remained in the courtyard, Fokianos, accompanied by two, went up to Kekhai Bey, but did not reach, being shot along with two associates in the corridor of the mansion ^[8] . Those remaining in the courtyard only managed to sell their lives dearly. During the battle on the streets of the city, the Turks cut off the heads of both the murdered people of Fokianos and the inhabitants of Bucharest. Kekhai Bey, having considered that the number of goals brought to him began to exceed the number of people of Fokianos, ordered to stop the massacre, “not because he was full of blood, but out of economy” ^[8] . The heads of Fokianos and his two associates were sent to Constantinople ^[17]

March 23, the day when the patriarch anathematized Ipsilanti and the revolution, Greek rebels, mostly maniots , entered without a fight in the capital of Messenia, the city of Kalamata . They were led by Petros Mavromikhali ( Petrobey ) and Theodoros Kolokotronis . The Senate of Messenia was formed, led by Mavromikhalis . On behalf of the Senate, Mavromihalis appealed to the Christian governments with a statement that the Greeks would now be free again and would prefer death if they were forced upon the Turkish yoke. In the battles of the following months, the rebels followed the favorite tactics of the Clefts on foot, but thanks to the trophies, the conditions for the creation of cavalry units began to be created. So in the battle of Vasilik on August 25, the rebels captured 800 horses ^[8] . During the capture of Tripolitsa on September 23 ( October 5 ), 1821 , a large number of weapons were taken, but there were few horses, as a result of the famine experienced by the besieged Ottomans.

Among the prisoners was a large number of grooming Christians, among whom was Belgrade Bulgarian Kriste Dagovic . Kriste, according to some sources, he himself sided with the Greeks, according to others - he saved his life by kissing the cross in front of the military leader Nikitaras ^[8] . Kriste led a cavalry detachment from the liberated and volunteers - Serbs and Bulgarians and subsequently, under the name of Hadzihristos, by virtue of his vicissitudes, made a significant contribution to the formation of Greek irregular cavalry, and then, after Egyptian captivity and return to Greece, to the formation of regular cavalry. At the head of his detachment in 1822, Krista took part in the battle of Kurtes ( Corinthia ).

In February 1822, a small cavalry detachment assisted the forces of Odysseus Andrutzos in his unsuccessful siege of the city of Karistos . The siege was ended on February 15, due to intra-Greek political confrontations.

But the stage for the formation of the cavalry of the rebels was the invasion of the Peloponnese in July - August 1822, the Dramali Pasha, whose army of 40 thousand 3/4 was on horseback, although the cavalry as such consisted of 8 thousand blades ^[18] . As a result of the defeat of Dramali Pasha at Dervenakia on July 26 ( August 8 ) - July 28 ( August 10 ), 1822 , in which a small detachment of cavalrymen Hadzihristos took part, a huge number of trophies, including horses, fell into the hands of the rebels.

The legislative date for the birth of the cavalry of the new Greece is April 1, 1822, when, a year after the start of the revolution, the provisional parliament in Corinth adopted the law (Η 'Νόµος) on the establishment of a regular army. Among other things, the law provided for the cavalry corps (unit) in the regular army, which was divided into the Heavy and Light cavalry. This unit was fully consistent with the military dogma that existed then for this kind of troops, according to which the Heavy cavalry was the main striking force on the battlefield, while the Light cavalry was used mainly for cover and reconnaissance. However, with regard to cavalry, the law (Η 'Νόµος) of April 1, 1822 remained unfulfilled for a long time, due to the lack of trained personnel, but also the necessary funds. In 1825, the command of the regular corps (regiment) of the revolutionary Greek army was transferred to the French phyllin , Colonel S. Favier . As part of the army’s regular corps (regiment), a corps (compound) of cavalry (Σώµα Ιππικού) was created in Athens , which consisted of three silt -spearmen (peaks) (Λογχιστών), carabinieri (Καραβινοφόρων) and foot (вΑραν each ^[14] .

In this corps, the Heavy cavalry was represented by silt of spearmen, Light silt of carabinieri.

The commander of the first regular cavalry unit of resurgent Greece was the French epilarchos (Επίλαρχος - major of the cavalry) Reno de Saint-Jean-d'Angeli , who later became the marshal of France. From a material point of view, the position of cavalrymen was more privileged in comparison with soldiers of other branches of the army. In addition to the diet, they were entitled to a monthly amount of 25 pennies, against 20 artillerymen and 16 infantrymen. After the rebellious Greece secured a British loan, the Greek cavalry ordered 500 English cavalry uniforms and weapons for the same number of cavalry in England. New uniforms began to be used since August 1826 ^[14] .

The base of the cavalry was originally Nafplion . Since October 1825, the base of the regular cavalry was transferred to Athens .

In late February and early March 1826, the cavalry took part in the second, and also unsuccessful, siege of Karistos , which was undertaken by the regular regiment of Colonel Favier. The campaign was carried out in adverse weather conditions and in the complete absence of the supply of cavalry from the government. The actions of the cavalry in the campaign were excellent, but were overshadowed by the loss of the battle flag. Hegumen the standard bearer of the cavalry was surrounded by the Turks during the cavalry attack. Not having another means of defense against the Turks surrounding him, the abbot began to beat them with the flagpole, using it as a spear. The standard-bearer was hacked and died on the banner at the position of Likόrrevma. However, despite the heroic death of the standard bearer, the loss of the banner in this campaign caused the right to have their own battle flag for several decades after this episode of Greek cavalry ^[14] . In addition, Major Reno, disappointed with the failure, after resigning the expeditionary force to Central Greece, resigned and returned to France.

The command of the cavalry was taken by the Portuguese phyllin Antonio Almeida . At the head of the regular cavalry and the rank of Colonel Almeida distinguished himself in 1826 near the city of Tripoli , Peloponnese , defeating the column of the regular Egyptian army Ibrahim Pasha . In March 1827, the cavalry of Almeida fought under the command of Karaiskakis in Attica. In October-November 1827, the cavalry detachment of Almeida took part in the unsuccessful expedition of Favier to the island of Chios ^[8] .

Despite the decision to create a regular cavalry corps, throughout the war, in parallel with the regular, irregular cavalry units continued to operate. These units were named after their commanders - Hadzihristos, Hadzimihalisa and others. Having received 200 trophy horses and trophy peaks, Hadzihristos organized a detachment of 200 horsemen, mainly from the Greeks of Macedonians and liberated grooms of Bulgarians and Serbs. In 1824, a detachment of Hajichristos took part in the Greek civil strife on the side of government troops. In 1825, at the beginning of the landing of the Egyptian army on the Peloponnese , a detachment of Hadzihristos took part in the battle of Kremidi ^[19] , which ended in the defeat of the rebels. Having taken part in the defense of Navarin , during the breakthrough of the besieged Hadzihristos was captured and taken to Egypt, where he remained a slave until 1828. He was exchanged for Turkish and Egyptian prisoners, and received the rank of hipparchos (Ίππαρχος - colonel of the cavalry) returned to the cavalry.

Hundred Hadzimihalis - Drosulites

The activity and heroic death of the horse detachment of Hadzimihalis went into another dimension and became a legend. Epiroth Michalis Dalianis , with the beginning of the Greek Revolution, returned to Greece from Trieste , where he lived ^{[20] [21]} . Having brought with him a load of weapons and money, Hadzimihalis organized and maintained his cavalry detachment.

On June 13, 1825, he took part in the Battle of Lernei ^[8] along with I. Makriyannis and K. Mavromihalis . In August 1825, at the head of his 80 riders he took part in the battle of Alonista. In March 1826, together with N. Kriyozotis, Montenegrin Mavrovuniotis and S. Liakopoulos, landed near Beirut , sent by the Greek government to help the emir of Lebanon Bashir . However, when the Greek rebels landed in Lebanon , it turned out that the emir continued to cooperate with the Ottomans ^[22] .

With the battle, the Greek rebels managed to get to the ships and return to Greece. Upon his return, the detachment of Hadzimihalis was sent under Karistos , where he assisted the regular units of Favier with their departure.

In August 1826, Hadzimihalis, at the head of his equestrian detachment. joined the forces of George Karaiskakis ^[8] .

In November, under the command of Karaiskakis, he took part in a campaign in Middle Greece ^[8] , after which he took part in an equestrian attack at the beginning of the Battle of Faleron , during which Karaiskakis was mortally wounded ^[8] .

In January 1828, Hadzimihalis with his hundred cavalrymen was sent by sea to Crete ^[23] . Dalianis, together with 600 foot soldiers and 100 cavalrymen ^[20] , initially landed on the islet of Gramvousa , and two months later headed for Sfakia, the center of the revolution in Crete ^[20] . The inhabitants of Sfakya, like the inhabitants of the Peloponnesian Mani , only nominally recognized the power of the Ottoman. With weapons in their hands, they defended their freedom in a series of Cretan revolts.

Hadzimihalis arrived in Sfakyu on March 4, but the Sphakyots, who fought continuously for 7 years, did not show enthusiasm and advised him to leave so as not to provoke Ottoman. To the words of Hadzimihalis “don’t worry, let 50 thousand Turks come, you will see how we are at war in Rumelia”, the sphakyots replied that the Greek-speaking Cretan Muslims are fighting better than the Turks that Hadzimihalis knew. Hadzimihalis with his fighters and few Cretans took Frangokastello , a 14th-century Venetian fortress, on the coast of the Libyan Sea. Mustafa Naili Pasha , pursuing a cautious policy, said from Chania that his goal was only aliens. Having not received support from the Cretans, Hadzimihalis decided to get ahead of the events. On May 8, he, with his cavalry and few Cretans, attacked the forces of Osman Pasha, who had left Rethymnon to join with Mustafa and won. Osman Pasha went beyond the walls of Rethymnon, and Hadzimihalis returned to Frangokastello.

Mustafa turned to Hadzimihalis, whom he knew from Constantinople, with a letter, demanding surrender. He also wrote a letter to the Sfakiot, informing them that Sfakya was not the goal of his campaign and asked them not to intervene.

Mustafa Naili Pasha fought with the Ottoman-Albanian forces (8,000 foot and 300 horsemen) on May 13, 1828 ^{[20] [24]} .

May 16, he camped in half an hour from Frangokastello. Hadzimihalis had 660 soldiers, his cavalry numbered 60 horsemen. He made a risky decision to fight in front of the fortress. On May 18, he received a letter from the Sfakiot, who advised to leave the fortress and take a position in the mountains. Hadzimihalis replied: “I thank the sphakiotes for pitying us. I advise them to intercept in the gorges the scattered horses of the pasha. ” To the repeated letter of his friend Manuselis, Hadzimihalis replied: "Let him rise to the highest peak and watch us fight." On May 18, Mustafa attacked the bastions erected by Hadzimihalis outside the walls. The bastion of his adjutant K. Argiokastritis was taken by the Ottomans. Of 123 defenders, five remained alive. Seeing this, the defenders of other bastions began to retreat to the fortress, Hadzimihalis with cavalry attacked the Turks, to allow the retreating to leave the walls. At the fortress gate there was a hand-to-hand fight. The gates did not close and the defenders of the fortress began to kill mules and blocked the gates with their carcasses. Hadzimihalis, seeing that he could not enter the fortress, galloped tried to go through the Ottomans, was surrounded, but did not give up. He died in battle, where his horse was killed. The Ottomans brought the severed head of Hadzimihalis to Mustafa, but did not receive the bakshish, since Mustafa wanted to get Hadzimihalis alive. In this battle, 338 Greeks died, among them almost all the cavalrymen of Hadzimihalis ^{[20] [25] [26]} Mustafa lost 800 people ^[20] .

The historian Kokkinos puts the battle at Frangokastello on a par with the other Leonid battles of that war: the Battle of Alaman Athanasius Diak , the Battle of Karpenisi Marcos Botsaris and the Battle of Maniaki Papaflessas ^[8] .

The surviving defenders of the fortress defended for another week. Most of the defenders were from Epirus . Some of them knew the Albanian language and negotiated from the walls with the Albanians of Mustafa. Albanians and Mustafa himself were sympathetic to the "fellow countrymen." On May 25, Mustafa allowed the besieged to leave with weapons in their hands.

Later, Mustafa sent the daughters of Hadzimihalis the papers found with him, and his sword broken in battle, which is now kept in the National Historical Museum .

The events at Frangokastello and the victim of Hadzimihalis and his cavalrymen impressed the Cretans so much that they became a source of stories about visions. Every year, at the end of May, before sunrise and dew, in the area of ​​Frangokastello see shadows that look like people. This optical phenomenon, which lasts up to 10 minutes, is attributed by the Cretans to the battle at Frangokastello, since it coincides with the date of the battle. The phenomenon has received various interpretations ^[27] , but the Cretans believe that these are the souls of the dead. The phenomenon was called Drosulites ( Greek Δροσουλίτες , from Δροσιά - dew) ^[28]

The death of Hadzimihalis and his fighters is reflected in many folk songs of Crete ^[8] .

Involuntary cavalryman

Many participants in the War of Independence became cavalry by coincidence, for a short period or during a few battles. One of the most characteristic examples is the example of the second most important warlord of that war after T. Kolokotronis , the warlord G. Karaiskakis . Monuments to this commander are erected throughout Greece and almost everywhere he is depicted on horseback. But Karaiskakis was not a cavalryman and came from Cleft. This " Achilles of modern Greece", as the poet K. Palamas calls him, was the illegitimate son of the clef Dimitris Karaiskos and the nun of the monastery seduced by him, where this cleft stopped for the night. D. Fotiadis characteristically writes that this seduction was “a blessed hour for Greece” ^[29] . The pregnant nun was expelled from the monastery, gave birth to a son in a cave and lived with him there for many years. This left an imprint on the character of Karaiskakis, but also undermined his health from childhood. Having passed the difficult life path of cleft-arthol, showing his abilities as a military leader in the early years of the Greek Revolution, in the summer of 1826, Karaiskakis became commander-in-chief of the rebel forces of Middle Greece, which by that time was again enslaved by the Turks ^[29] . In October 1826, starting the campaign for the liberation of Central Greece, the Commander-in-Chief Karaiskakis was seriously ill, and the tuberculosis he suffered from for many years was aggravated ^[29] . Karaiskakis went on a campaign on October 25 at the head of 2500 fighters. Since he couldn’t walk along mountain trails, the soldiers carried him on a stretcher. October 28, during the Turkish cavalry raid on a convoy, sick and barely standing. Karaiskakis jumped on his first horse and for the first time in his life led a cavalry attack by a small group of cavalrymen Nikitaras , Panurjas, Sultanis and Dimitrios Kallergis . Having gained victory in a short-term battle and learned the advantages of a cavalry attack, the sick Karaiskakis from now on and until his death led attacks only on horseback ^[29] . Even before the start of the campaign, in August 1826, Karaiskakis asked Kolokotronis to send a detachment of irregular cavalry to help him. Kolokotoronis sent a detachment of Hadzimihalis, who arrived at the location of Karaiskakis in November ^[29] . Immediately upon the arrival of the cavalry, Karaiskakis attempted a false attack - a retreat to provoke the Turks to go beyond the bastions of the town of Dombrena. However, at the entrance of the sortie J. Sultanis, not understanding the maneuver, tried to stop the withdrawal and was surrounded by the Turks. Karaiskakis and P. Kaklamanos with 5 cavalry rushed to save Sultanis, but only managed to recapture the body of the deceased ^[29] . The brilliant victory of Karaiskakis at Arakhov followed, this time without the cavalry feats of the commander in chief. Having completed the campaign, in March 1827 Karaiskakis approached Megara, where in the ensuing battle he led the attack of his few cavalry, in which H. Hadzipetros distinguished himself, in the future one of the most famous cavalry officers of the Kingdom of Greece ^[29] . In April 1827 and before the start of the Battle of Faleron , in one of his unforeseen cavalry attacks, Karaiskakis forgot his saber and beat the Turks with the butt of his gun ^[29] . He died in the course of a cavalry attack provoked and unplanned by him: On the morning of April 22, an exchange of fire unexpectedly began in the Faler floodplains, where the islanders held positions, under the command of the Scotsman D. Urquard . Until now, no answers have been received to questions - why on this day the British were generous with wine for the soldiers, why Urquhart did not stop the tipsy fighters from an unauthorized battle.

Drunken alteration escalated into battle. The Turks threw reinforcements into battle. The islanders rushed to save Nikitaras , but after his injury the Greeks retreated. Karaiskakis arrived on horseback and, with a few cavalry, drove the Turks to the mouth of the Kifissos River. Here Karaiskakis was seriously wounded in the stomach. He stepped off his horse and, turning to Tzavelas, said: “I ask you about one thing, do not let me see a franc doctor (that is, a Western European)” ^[30] .

Karaiskakis was raised to the Spartan goat. Here he was visited by two of his comrades-in-arms, to whom he said the words that later received publicity: “I know the culprit if I survive revenge” ^[31] . The historian Fotiadis writes:

“The conspiracy that led to the murder of Karaiskakis was carried out in the best traditions of the British Empire” ^[8]

Karaiskakis died on the morning of April 23. Subsequently, his remains were reburied at the place where he had wounded off his horse, in front of today's stadium of the Piraeus football club Olympiakos , bearing his name. Immediately after the death of Karaiskakis, the Battle of Faleron followed, in which the rebels led, or rather led from a distance, by the English Cochrane and Church , suffered the greatest defeat throughout the war. The rebel camp collapsed, Middle Greece once again came under Ottoman control, which met British aspirations to prevent the inclusion of Middle Greece in the recreated Greek state ^[4] .

Count John Kapodistrias , the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia and the first official ruler of recreated Greece, landed in Nafplion on January 8, 1828 ^[8] , and on January 9 arrived on the island of Aegina . When familiarizing himself with the affairs of the state, the secretary (minister) of finance, Lidorikis, told Kapodistrias "we have not only money, but also a treasury as such." In turn, Minister of War A. Vlahopoulos said "we have no army, no ammunition, there is nothing about my ministry" ^[8] . At the time Kapodistrias arrived, the rebels held only a few islands, Nafplion, the eastern Peloponnese, Mani, Elefsis and a small region in the west of Central Greece ^[8] .

Army Reorganization

Besides the fact that the army lacked everything necessary, it consisted of many small, motley and undisciplined units. The commanders of these units called themselves "generals" and often did not obey the instructions of the government. One of the first steps of Kapodistrias was the reorganization of this irregular army, which he broke into thousands. "Generals" were lowered to thousandths, which met resistance ^[8] . With the arrival of Kapodistrias, Almeida became an inspector of the regular cavalry and was entrusted with the reorganization of this type of troops. In 1828, the cavalry uniforms were replaced by those of the French at the initiative of the Bavarian Colonel C. Gaideck , who replaced Favier as commander of a corps (regiment) of the regular army. In 1829, the Greek cavalry consisted of 4 silt - two silt spearmen and two silt carabinieri, and was based in the city of Argos . After Almeida became a cavalry inspector, Colonel Hadzihristos (Dagovich), who came from the irregular cavalry, was appointed to the position of cavalry commander. Before his appointment, Hajihristos was captured in Egypt and was redeemed.

Deputy Hadzihristos became Dimitrios Kallergis.

Cavalry Actions in the Last Stage of the War

Unable to prevent the Greek revolution which violated the status established by the Holy Alliance , the Great Powers began to focus on the creation of a small autonomous Greek state similar to the Danube principalities. Moreover, the borders of this state should not go beyond the borders of the Peloponnese . The British Empire was especially diligent in this matter. Sent to consolidate peace in the region, Great Power squadrons obstructed Greek operations on Chios and Crete. At the time Kapodistrias arrived in the country, Middle Greece again came under Ottoman control and its liberation became one of the main political and military tasks of Kapodistrias in order to put European diplomacy before a fait accompli. On April 14/26, 1828, Russia declared war on the Turks , which, according to Kapodistria, became a "guarantee of the fulfillment of our hopes." At the same time, on May 30, Russia granted Greece a loan of 1,500,000 rubles ^[8] , which Kapodistrias used to conquer Central Greece. This aroused the indignation of British diplomacy, which stated that by diverting forces, the Ottoman Kapodistrias continued to work for Russia ^[8] . In the autumn of 1828, despite the British protests, Greek forces launched a campaign to liberate the eastern part of Central Greece ^[8] . On October 28, a thousand Diovuniotis and the cavalry detachment Papazoglu defeated the Ottomans at Levadia . On November 5, the garrison of the city surrendered ^[8] . However, on December 14, Mahmoud Pasha came out from Lamia with 6 thousand foot soldiers and 600 horsemen, which forced Diovuniotis and his thousand to retreat. Only Papazoglu and his 48 horsemen resisted and allowed the inhabitants of the surrounding villages to escape ^[8] .

The coming winter became an ally of the Greeks and on February 8, 1829, Mahmoud Pasha and his army returned to Lamia.

In the west of Central Greece, March 10, 1829, K. Dzavelas and the cavalry of Hadzihristos besieged the coastal fortress of Antirio. After the Greek ships approached the fortress, the Albanian garrison of the fortress surrendered and, having received a “demon” (Greek-Albanian word of honor), was transported by Greek ships to Avlona ^[8] .

On March 15, the infantrymen of Zavelas and the horsemen of Hadzihristu besieged Navpakt , which the Turks surrendered on April 17. Then, on May 2, the Turkish garrison of the city and the Mesolongion fortress decided to surrender. It is noteworthy that the Turks ignored the arrival of the British frigate "Madagascar", who tried to interrupt the change and did not cancel their decision ^[8] . Following the letter of the London Protocol on March 10/22, 1828, the British demanded that the Greek troops return to the Peloponnese. Their diplomatic demarche was reinforced by the protocol of the Great Powers adopted immediately after the start of the Greek forces campaign in Central Greece on November 4/16, 1828, which again limited the future borders of the Greek Peloponnese State ^[8] ..

Meanwhile, and despite the hopes of the Russian emperor Nicholas I to end the war in 1828, the outcome of the war was expected no earlier than the spring of 1829.

The spring campaign of the Russian army was more successful, Dibich crossed the Balakans ^[8] and on August 7/19 he stood in front of Adrianople and accepted the surrender of the Ottoman garrison. In the ensuing Adrianople Peace Treaty , among 16 paragraphs, paragraph 10 dealt with the Greek question, in which the Ottoman Empire recognized the Treaties of London of 1827 and 1829, which meant that the Turks recognized the Greek state ^[8] , which however remained under Ottoman suzerainty ^{[ 8]} .

Kapodistrias entrusted the liberation of eastern Central Greece to Dmitry Ipsilanti , giving him the title of Marshal (!). Until May 1829, D. Ipsilanti liberated almost all of eastern Central Greece, except Thebes and Attica, and conducted military operations on the road connecting Thebes and Chalkida , which was held by the Ottomans. Hadzihristos with his cavalry came to the rescue. Harvesting was of prime importance for the Turks of the Chalkida region, and on June 10, when they began to harvest, 156 cavalrymen of Hadzihristos and 300 foot soldiers began to pursue the Turks in the fields. Although the Turks were 3 times larger, they were scattered and fled. Turkish reinforcements arrived from Euboea. About 100 Turks died in the battle and 16 were captured ^[8] . On June 21, 500 Turks unsuccessfully attacked Greek positions in Mavrovuni. On June 23, the Ipsilanti forces defeated the three-fold Turkish forces. During this battle, the Hajihristos cavalrymen defeated the multiple forces of the Turkish cavalry in cavalry combat ^{[8] [14]} .

In mid-July, a detachment of volunteers from different parts of Ipsilanti and 120 cavalrymen under the command of Kostas Sirpis (Hadzihristos was absent) staged an ambush for the Turks in Mesovuni. After waiting all night without a result, they found in the morning that the Turkish convoy went around Mavrovuni and walked along the plain in Piri. Then 70 cavalrymen of Sirpis, having mounted 50 infantrymen on their horses, rushed to the train on the plain. But 300 Turkish cavalrymen and 600 infantrymen fell upon the attackers. Sirpez's cavalry and infantry lost 60 killed and 70 wounded ^[8] .

A few days later, 500 Greek foot soldiers and Hadzihristos cavalry ambushed in the same place. 30 Greek foot soldiers appeared in front of the Turkish column as bait. Chasing their Turkish convoy was attacked by the Greeks awaiting in ambush and lost about 150 people killed and wounded ^[8] .

However, the Turkish command in eastern Central Greece continuously received instructions on the transfer of forces to the north, against the advancing Russian army. Having received information about the exit of three columns of the Ottoman troops to the north, Ipsilanti blocked their road near the village of Petra. The cavalry is located west of the village of Spalinari, west of Petra ^[8] . Led by Hajichristos and under the general command of Dmitry Ipsilanti , 130 cavalrymen took part in the victorious battle of Peter in September 1829, which became the last battle of the Greek revolution. Greek cavalrymen repulsed all attacks of superior Turkish cavalry forces. On September 14, the Turks signed under all Greek conditions, including territorial concessions in Central Greece, if only they let them through. Neither the Greeks nor the Ottomans knew that everything was over 10 days earlier by the signing of the Adrianople Peace ^[8] . Greek historians write that the battle of Peter had its own symbolism: Alexander Ipsilanti began the War of Independence in 1821, his brother, Dmitry, completed it with the last battle of Peter in 1829.

The Adrianople world caused a sharp turn in British politics. Fearing that autonomous Greece, like the Danube principalities, would be subject to interference not only by the Ottomans, but also by Russians, British diplomacy began to demand independence for the re-emerging Greek state.

Kapodistrias skillfully used the documents signed by the Turks after their defeat at Peter for the approval of Greek control in Central Greece. The British were forced to take this control, while trying to leave Acarnania outside the Greek borders, adjacent to the Ionian Republic under the British protectorate ^[8] . On April 11/23, 1830, the Great Powers handed the new protocol to the Ottomans, who were forced to recognize, unlike previous protocols, independent Greece, with a territory twice the territory indicated by the Adrianople Peace.

At the end of the War of Independence, at the end of 1829, the regular cavalry consisted of 4 silts: two silts of spearmen and two silts of carabinieri. The cavalry was based in the city of Argos and commanded by Dimitrios Kallergis ^[14] . The restoration of the war-ravaged country dictated the need to reduce the army and in February 1831 Kapodistrias launched new reforms in the army, which also affected the cavalry. Under the command of Dimitrios Kallergis, the cavalry took part in the suppression of the rebellion against Kapodistrias in July 1831.

September 27, 1831, the first ruler of Greece, John of Kapodistrias was killed. The country entered a period of political anarchy, as a result of which the regular army was disbanded. According to army historiographers, regular cavalry was disbanded and recreated with King Otto ascending the throne of Greece ^[14] .