WATCH &LISTEN TO STEFANOS CHIOS, WHO READS 2 LETTERS FROM KARAISKAKI - LOL
a rare collection of letters written by Georgios Karaiskakis, the revolutionary hero and a top general in Greece's 1821 war of independence against Ottoman rule, is being put up for auction by the P. Vergos auction house next week on Wednesday, November 21. The collection includes seven letters addressed to a committee of refugees from Psara on the island of Aegina, one to the Greek Command and one to the British general Richard Church.
One of the letters includes an account of the victorious battle of Arachova that had just been won by the Greeks on November 24, 1826 in what would be one of the key moments of the Greek revolution. In his account, Karaiskakis describes arriving in Arachova on the 18th of the same month and waging a five-hour battle that trapped the Turkish forces on a barren, rocky slope without food, water and supplies, where they remained under siege for seven days before they attempted a charge earlier that morning.
He then recounts how Greek forces took up their positions and slew approximately 1,300 of the enemy, naming several leaders of the Turkish forces (whose heads would be sent on in a second letter) that were killed. He also reports taking some important captives and how Greek troops shared a wealth of spoils and loot, including a thousand horses.
His letter to the Greek Command on March 4, 1826 betrays his bitterness at being sidelined by the leaders of the Greek revolution while that to Church on April 18, 1827 is among the last he ever wrote since he died of wounds sustained in battle just five days later. Letters by Karaiskakis are extremely rare and very few have been put up for auction to date. (AMNA)
Posts
