171 
T U R 
was no longer doubtful. Cowardice and treason were, 
however, at work. No sooner had the enemy’s cavalry per¬ 
ceived the retreat of their infantry, than they advanced on 
both flanks of the sacred battalion, and had nearly sur¬ 
rounded it, when the infamous Karavia, who had been sta¬ 
tioned on the left with the Arnaut cavalry, instead of ad¬ 
vancing to their support, turned suddenly round and fled, 
throwing the corps of Nicolas Ipsilanti, brother to the prince, 
into a disorder which ended in their joining the fugitives. 
It was in vain that he attempted to rally his men. The 
effect of this cowardly act, was to strike a panic into nearly 
the whole of the troops, nor could all the efforts of Alexan¬ 
der prevent them from re-crossing the Oltau, thus leaving 
the sacred band, as a halocaust to the enemy. Animated by 
the spirit which taught their ancestors to perish at Ther- 
mopyle, these youthful heroes preferred a glorious death to 
flight or dishonour. The result of a conflict sustained by a 
handful of young men totally unaccustomed to war, very 
badly armed, and exposed on an open plain to fifteen hun¬ 
dred cavalry, may be readily conceived. It ended in the 
destruction of nearly four hundred Greek youths, at once the 
flower and hope of their country; but a much greater num¬ 
ber of the infidels covered the field of battle with their dead 
bodies. The heroism displayed on this occasion, will bear 
an advantageous comparison with the best days of Grecian 
history, and is by far the most brilliant trait of the contest. 
As an example of true patriotism, it has had a most salutary 
effect on the people of Greece: nor will the column which 
records the names of those who fell at Dragachan, be a ste¬ 
rile lesson for posterity. 
Bereft of all farther hope, Ipsilanti bent his way towards 
Transylvania, having first issued an address, wherein he 
thanked those who had remained faithful to their oath, and 
paid a well merited tribute of praise to the manes of the 
sacred band, while the traitors Karavia, Sava, Douka, 
Varlo, and Mano, were denounced to the vengeance of the 
laws and the execration of Greece. 
Proceeding to Trieste, with the intention of joining his 
countrymen in the Morea, where the patriot banner was 
already displayed, a mandate from the Austrian cabinet 
ordered the arrest of Ipsilanti, who was forthwith conducted 
under a strong escort to the castle of Mongatz, in Hungary. 
Thus ended the short, though memorable campaign in 
Wallachia and Moldavia: its failure may be ascribed as much 
to the total want of resources, in money and munitions of 
war, as to the base treachery and selfish cabals of Ipsilanti’s 
lieutenants, and to the pusillanimity and indiscipline of 
troops collected under every imaginable disadvantage. As 
a diversion, however, this attempt produced all the results 
that were expected from it, in drawing the attention and 
forces of the Turks to the North. 
With respect to the origin of Ipsilanti’s enterprise, it is 
still involved in considerable mystery. Whatever part the 
agents of the Russian cabinet may have had in stimulating 
this officer to come forward, no person who had watched 
the uniform policy of Russia, could feel the smallest sur¬ 
prise at the Emperor’s disavowal of any participation in his 
proceedings. If he took the field without any other assur¬ 
ances of support, except what could be derived from four or 
five hundred followers, against whom an overwhelming force 
could at any time be sent, Ipsilanti must have added mad¬ 
ness to folly, and there is nothing connected either with his 
public or private character, to justify such an imputation. 
On the cruelty and injustice of his arrest, by a power of 
which he was not the subject, and without even the shadow 
of any charge, there can be but one sentiment. 
Previously to the rising in Moldavia, a certain number of 
the ecclesiastics and municipal magistrates called Primates, 
as also some chiefs among the Klepthis, had been entrusted 
with the secret plans laid down by the Hetaerists in the 
Morea and other points of the confederation. A new set of 
emissaries had, however, arisen just before the insurrection: 
these were styled Apostles by their employers, but known to 
KEY. 
the lower classes under the denomination of philosophers* 
and were sent from Russia to stir up the people. Enthu¬ 
siastic in the highest degree, these men, whose appearance 
in this part of Greece coincided with the first rumours of 
Ipsilanti’s movements, went about circulating reports that 
the sultan had declared his resolution of transporting all the 
Greeks into Asia Minor, and establishing Turkish colonies, 
drawn from that portion of the empire, in their place ; that 
Prince Alexander was abetted and supported by Russia, and 
that he was marching at the head of a large force upon Con¬ 
stantinople. Some of them affected to imitate the language 
and gestures of the old Grecian orators, and a ludicrous 
scene occurred at Spezzia, where an apostle who had pro¬ 
posed Demosthenes as his model, mounted a rostrum and 
very freely indulged in such reproaches as that great master 
of his art used not unlrequently to address his countrymen : 
but the Spezziots, less accustomed to such harangues, and 
by no means so gifted with patience as the Athenians, pulled 
the modern censor from his pedestal, and rewarded his 
frankness with a sound drubbing. On the whole, however, 
these emissaries produced a great effect; their reports were 
greedily swallowed by the people, while the Greeks, influ¬ 
enced by their characteristic ardor, neither lost a moment in 
deliberation, nor in waiting for more correct information of 
what was passing elsewhere, but rushed at once into the 
enterprise. 
The first people who appeared in the field were the inha¬ 
bitants of Sudena, a large village near Calavrita in the 
northern part of Arcadia. In order to conceal their design 
for a short time, they had recourse to a stratagem, which was 
subsequently repeated in another place: by giving out that 
the object of their armed bands was to plunder travellers, 
well knowing that the Turks are seldom in a hurry to sup¬ 
press such excesses. But the Ottoman authorities had al¬ 
ready taken the alarm, and were consulting at Tripolizza, 
on the best measures to be adopted. Among other plans, 
they resolved to invite the Greek bishops and primates to 
that city, under pretence of public business, and then to 
detain them as hostages: this measure was to be accompa¬ 
nied by another—that of carrying the order for disarming 
the people into effect. 
The first design succeeded in part; the second failed. The 
governor of Patrass having summoned the Christian inha¬ 
bitants to deliver up their arms, met with a flat refusal: he 
then turned the cannon of the castle against the town, and 
easily made himself master of it, but the archbishop Ger- 
manos, descending from the mountains next day, at the head 
of nearly four thousand peasants, regained possession of the 
place, and obliged the Turks to shut themselves up in the 
citadel. This event was followed by a general and simul¬ 
taneous rising throughout every town and village of the 
Peninsula, while the people of Hydra, Spezzia, and Ipsara also 
displayed the standard of independence, and prepared their 
numerous vessels to cruize against Turkish commerce, with 
the greatest expedition. In the beginning of these troubles, 
and before intelligence of passing events had reached Syria, 
Egypt, and the most distant points of the empire, many rich 
prizes fell into their hands. Samos, and indeed most of the 
other islands in the Archipelago, followed the example of 
Hydra, and declared themselves free. The presence of Ot¬ 
toman garrisons, which were reinforced from the coast of 
Asia Minor, alone contributed to keep Lesbos, Rhodes, and 
Scio in subjection. Ten thousand Syrian troops were also 
■transported into Cyprus, in time to render the plan of libe¬ 
rating it abortive, and ten thousand Christians perished: 
The universal character of the revolt in the Peloponnesus 
struck the infidels with such a panic, that they saw no other 
alternative but that of throwing themselves into the nearest 
fortified places. At Calavrita and Calamata, the Turkish 
Agas capitulated and delivered themselves up to the insur¬ 
gents: while in Elis, the Mussulmen resident at Gastouni 
and Lala, carried on a brisk warfare with the Greek inha¬ 
bitants. The Laliots, however, abandoned their town after 
setting 
