Battle of Skuleni

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Battle of Sculeni
Part of Greek War of Independence
Date June 29, 1821 Location Sculeni, Moldavia Result Ottoman Victory
Belligerents
Greek rebels	Ottoman Empire
Commanders
George Catakouzenos Giorgakis Olympios	Sultan Mahmud II
Strength
500 soldiers	5000 soldiers
Casualties and losses
375 soldiers

The Battle of Skuleni (or the Battle of Sculeni) was fought on June 29, 1821 in Sculeni, Moldavia between the Ottoman forces of Sultan Mahmud II and Greek Filiki Eteria forces led by Prince George Catakouzenos.^[1] It came as a result of Ottoman reprisals for Alexander Ypsilantis' expedition in the two Danubian Principalities, and followed in the aftermath of the Dragashani Battle (as a prelude to the Greek War of Independence). When the Ottomans crossed the Bahlui River in Iaşi on June 25, 1821, Lieutenant Catakouzenos and his forces, originally stationed on the Russian frontier, crossed the Prut River.^[2]

The Ottomans possessed a military that outnumbered the Greeks at approximately ten to one.^[3] Catacouzenos imitated the retreat of Ypsilantis to the Austrian Empire after Dragashani, by fleeing to Russia. However, his forces, made up of around 500 young Greek soldiers (Edwin Emerson places the number at 400 soldiers^[4]), wanted to stay and fight against the Ottoman Empire. During the battle, approximately one-fourth of the Greek army fled by swimming across the Prut. The remaining soldiers continued to fight until they were either killed by the Ottomans or by the stream itself. The Russians, positioned on the opposite bank of the river, applauded the bravery of the Greeks. Giorgakis Olympios, a military leader who commanded an army in Wallachia, was garrisoned in the Moldavian Secu Monastery; Giorgakis fought until the Ottomans stormed the monastery and forced him to light powder kegs from which he perished in the explosion. However, Giorgakis had a Macedonian comrade by the name of Yiannis Pharmakis, who continued the fight for a fortnight longer. In the end, on October 4, 1821, Pharmakis surrendered on the promise that his life would be spared. The promise was not kept by the Ottomans, and Pharmakis was ultimately decapitated in Istanbul.^[5] After the battle, all Greek uprisings in the Danubian Principalities and other northern areas subject to the Ottoman Empire ceased.^[6]

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Emerson, Edwin. A History of the Nineteenth Century, Year by Year. P. E. Collier and Son, 1901 (New York Public Library).
• Miller, William. The Ottoman Empire and Its Successors, 1801-1927. Routledge, 1966.
• Phillips, Walter Alison. The War of Greek Independence, 1821 to 1833. Smith, Elder and Company, 1897 (University of Michigan).

v • d • e Greek War of Independence
Ottoman Greece: Armatoloi/Klephts  · Maniots  · Souliotes  · Orlov Revolt  · Lambros Katsonis  · Ali Pasha
Greek Enlightenment: Cosmas of Aetolia  · Adamantios Korais  · Rigas Feraios  · Filiki Etaireia
Events		Personalities
Land operations • Battle of Dragashani • Battle of Skuleni • Siege of Tripoli • Battle of Alamana • Battle of Gravia • Battle of Vassilika • Battle of Valtesi • Battle of Doliana • Chios Massacre • Battle at Dervenakia • Battle of Peta • First Siege of Messolonghi • Battle of Karpenisi • Battle of Kamatero • Battle of Sphacteria • Battle of Maniaki • Battle of the Lerna Mills • Third Siege of Messolonghi • Ottoman-Egyptian Invasion of Mani • Battle of Arachova • Battle of Phaleron • Battle of Petra Naval conflicts • Naval Battle of Spetses • Naval Battle of Samos • Destruction of Psara • Battle of Gerontas • Naval Battle of Souda • Battle of Navarino	Greek Regional Councils • Messenian Senate • Peloponnesian Senate • Senate of W. Continental Greece • Areopagus of E. Continental Greece • Provisional Regime of Crete • Administration of Samos Greek National Assemblies • First National Assembly • Second National Assembly • National Assembly at Epidaurus • Third National Assembly • Fourth National Assembly • Fifth National Assembly International Conferences, Treaties and Protocols • Congress of Laibach • Congress of Verona • Protocol of St Petersburg • Treaty of London • Conference of Poros • Treaty of Adrianople • London Conference • Treaty of Constantinople	Greece • Theodoros Kolokotronis • Petros Mavromichalis • Athanasios Diakos • Nikitaras • Ioannis Kapodistrias • Ioannis Kolettis • Papaflessas • Odysseas Androutsos • Demetrios Ypsilantis • Georgios Karaiskakis • Laskarina Bouboulina • Markos Botsaris • Alexandros Mavrokordatos • Manto Mavrogenous • Andreas Miaoulis • Nikolis Apostolis • Antonios Kriezis • Iakovos Tombazis • Konstantinos Kanaris Philhellenes • Lord Byron • Charles Fabvier • Thomas Gordon • Karl Norman • Jean-Gabriel Eynard • Santorre di Santa Rosa • Carl von Heideck • Richard Church • Lord Cochrane	Moldavia and Wallachia • Alexandros Ypsilantis • Tudor Vladimirescu • Dimitrie Macedonski • Giorgakis Olympios • Yiannis Pharmakis Ottoman Empire • Sultan Mahmud II • Hursid Pasha • Kara-Ali Pasha • Omer Vryonis • Mahmud Dramali Pasha • Mehmed Hüsrev Pasha • Reşid Mehmed Pasha • Yussuf Pasha Vilayet of Egypt • Ibrahim Pasha • Suleiman Pasha United Kingdom • Stratford Canning • Edward Codrington Russian Empire • Login Petrovich Geiden Kingdom of France • Henri de Rigny • Nicolas Joseph Maison