Theodoros Kolokotronis

Theodoros  Kolokotronis                                       ΘΕΟΔΩΡΟΣ ΚΟΛΟΚΟΤΡΩΝΗΣ

Born: April 3, 1770                                                             Died: Feb 4, 1843

Section 4, Number 200

Theodoros Kolokotronis, a general during the Greek War of Independence, is the most famous Greek hero of all. (1)

His Life

His clan came from the depths of the Peloponnese. His father was a kleft who, along with other family members, had participated in Orlov’s  ill-fated rebellion against the Ottomans in 1770. The Kolokotronis’ hideout in Arcadia south of Vitina can be visited today; it is a wild and lonely place.

Being a kleft or armatolos (2) was a dangerous, if sometimes lucrative, occupation. His father and two uncles were killed by the Ottomans in 1780 when Theodoros was only 10. Apparently his father was beheaded – a common practice of the Turks for the purposes of terror and trophy displays – a practice the Greeks would continue during the rebellion too.

Kolokotronis was very much a man of his times, -  embodying its faults, excesses, and virtues. He continued in the family business and became a ‘kapos’ or ‘captain’ working mostly for the wealthy Deligiannis clan. All in all, he became quite well off from his various klephtic/armatoli activities.

The Ionian Interlude

In 1805-1806 the Ottomans moved against the klephtic bands and Kolokotronis escaped to the Ionian Islands. In this era, the Ionian Islands had gone quickly from Venetian control, to independence, to French control (1807 -15) and, finally, all to the British by 1815. His sojourn there provided him with quite a learning curve: ideas from the French Revolution and the Enlightenment were circulating, the Ionians themselves were cosmopolitan, and the banks were safe. He was able to join a British regiment under the leadership of Richard Church, another future hero of the Greek revolution. Some say that this is where Kolokotronis began wearing the helmet that became his trademark. I prefer the story that says it was an old Frankish helmet he dug up at Karitaina in Arcadia.

                                      On display at the National History Museum on Stadiou Street

The Ionian islands interlude would have a profound effect on many Greek klephts and Armatoloi. They began to think more clearly in terms of a Greek nationality and in that environment they could clearly see the potential of alliances with European powers. One Historian called the Ionians a “beacon to mainland Greece’. They illuminated what was possible.

The War

Kolokotronis joined the Filiki Etairia in 1818 and returned to fight in 1821 when the revolution broke out. He formed a confederation of irregulars of which he was Commander in Chief. It wasn’t an easy task. He had to contend with troops who, once they won a battle, were more likely to want to return home with their loot than stay in the ranks. Keeping up the numbers of his army was quite a task. He often garnered troops by entering a village and threatening to burn houses or the entire village if the men did not join him! There was no regular pay in those days, just the promise of loot and a belief in freedom. He must have cut quite a figure– fifty years old, tough as nails, his famous helmet on his head  and wearing bits and pieces of British army gear. It was eccentric but no one would ever mistake him for anyone else; his dress became part of his legend.

Kolokotronis was Commander of the Greek forces during the siege of Tripolitsa in Arcadia in the summer of 1821. It was a major victory, marred by the massacre of the Turkish and Jewish population of the town. (In those days, safe passage for the combatants and/or populations of both sides usually meant an exchange of money and promises followed almost immediately by summary execution).  This slaughter was particularly horrendous because the Ottoman population of Arcadia had gathered in the town during the long siege.  Kolokotronis commented later that when he crossed the city after its defeat, his horse’s hooves never touched the ground, so dense were the dead bodies. The killing of the Jews is especially horrifying. They were perceived as allies of the Ottomans and therefore enemies of Greek  Independence.  The massacre in Tripolitsa was a two day horror – the usual time for looting that fighters were offered in lieu of pay.(3)

His next great battle was in August 1822 at the Dervenaki  pass.  There, Kolokotronis utterly destroyed Dramali’s Ottoman army and in December  1822 he took Nauplio.

 

  Nauplio and Civil War

The problem for Kolokotronis was the same for everyone involved in the long Greek War of Independence. Who was in charge or what particular coalition of interests was in charge? Who would govern the bits of Greek territory once they were conquered, and how? There were a lot of players,-  the educated Greeks from beyond the mainland who wanted a strong central government, the local war-lords like Kolokotronis, Mavromichalis, Androutsos and others who felt that fighting on the ground gave them a right to control it. And then there were the island ship-owners to consider and the foreign philhellenes. It was a recipe for confusion. A myriad of short lived alliances and civil war followed.

As for Kolokotronis...

 Having gained Nauplio, he was unwilling to turn it over to the non-combatants trying to form a central government. Those who believed in a strong central government were never happy with Kolokotronis unless he was winning battles. He was always a thorn in their side, so much so that in March 1825 he was imprisoned on Hydra by the government, but released not long after when Ibrahim Pasha’s troops arrived in the Peloponnese from Egypt. This was a frightening turn of events and his fighting skills were needed.  Fresh from prison, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Greek forces in the Peloponnese.

Although Kolokotronis did win skirmishes and victories here and there, he could not end the war; Ibrahim’s forces were too strong. Luckily Navarino intervened in 1827.  There the three big European powers utterly destroyed the Turkish navy, an incident that ended the war, if not the infighting.

The Aftermath

After the war, Kolokotronis became a supporter of Count Ioannis Kapodistrias and the Russian Party.  When he was assassinated, he supported King Othon – but not the regency that had been appointed between 1833-5 until Othon came of age.  In 1833-4, he was charged with treason by the regency, put on trial, and sentenced to death but almost immediately pardoned by Othon, and given the title of Advisor to the Country. Such are the surprising vagaries of war.

Whatever his faults, by the last years of his life, his personality (he had great personal charm), his  intelligence, his adaptability, and, above all,  his unwavering commitment to the Greek cause (God has signed our Liberty and will not go back on His promise.) made him unassailable. To parody a modern phrase: he was simply too big to jail. Not even his own frank memoirs, dictated later to one of the judges at his trial, could diminish him. They are honest, compelling… and, happily, still in print.

His grave is in  Section 4, number 200

Footnotes

(1) I never feel a visit to the First cemetery is complete unless I pay homage to this charismatic leader who became affectionately known to all as The Old Man of the Morea . His monument is not up to the artistic standards of many of the other graves in the First Cemetery, but no matter. He is depicted uncharacteristically bare-headed. The famous helmet is at his feet, hidden by a large Greek flag which is wrapped around his shoulders. As a footnote to this footnote, I have to report that I recently discovered that his 'grave' in the First Cemetery has in fact been a cenotaph since the 1930s when his bones were disinterred and sent with great ceremony to Tripoli in Arcadia. There is something, well, Byzantine about this transfer of revered bones from place to place. Here is a picture of this small casket being paraded down Stadiou Street past his statue: I assume headed for the train station.

(2) Klephts (literally ‘thieves’) were Greeks who had been disenfranchised by the Ottoman invasion and took to the hills from which they raided the Ottomans and often their fellow Greeks too. The Armatoloi (the ‘armed ones’) started out as the Ottoman response: to employ Christian irregulars and send them out to either catch or contain the klephts. The two groups had a lot in common and their interests and titles often merged to the point that they were indistinguishable.

(3)  When his troops told him that one of the Jews had been armed and fought back, he remarked that an armed Jew did not seem natural to him.  Well, that is the way war is now and the way it was then. There is a persistent rumor that Kolokotronis became rich from loot gained in Tripolitsa. I am not sure about the ‘rich’ part, but it would be consistent with the ethos of the times that he would have regarded a portion of war loot as his by rights.