Patras in the 1820s (Source: Wikipedia)
During the last ten days of March 1821, the Peloponnese was in a state of revolutionary turmoil, awaiting the start of the Greek War of Independence. In Patras, on March 21, clashes broke out between Greeks and Turks, which escalated the following month. These events became known as the “Patras Uprising,” which ended with its brutal suppression by the Ottomans, aided by the city’s British consul. The Messenian Senate, which was closely monitoring developments, drafted a letter of protest against the consul, which was even published in a Baltimore magazine in November of that same year.
History of the Uprising
In February–March 1821, Patras resembled a boiling cauldron. The Greeks refused to pay taxes and went about armed. On 21 March 1821, after first moving their families to the city’s castle, the Turks killed a Greek and set Greek houses on fire. The people of Patras then took up arms and began clashing with the Ottomans.
The next day (March 22), prominent Greek freedom fighters from Achaea, such as Papadiamantopoulos, Bishop Prokopios of Kernitsa and Kalavryta, Zaimis, and Andreas Lontos arrived in the city in chariots, accompanied by armed men. The rebels gathered in St. George Square, where they took an oath and began to besiege the castle where many Turks had taken refuge. During the uprising, the British consul in Patras, Philip James Green, took a hostile stance toward the Greeks. Green promptly alerted the Turks to the uprising and, in collaboration with them, organized its violent suppression.
On 3 April, at the suggestion of the British consul, the Turkish general Yusuf Pasha arrived in Patras. Yusuf lifted the siege of the castle and then destroyed and looted the city. For this action, Green did not escape the Greeks’ retaliation; in the winter of 1821, Ionian rebels tracked him down on a British schooner and beat him.
The Proclamation of the Messenian Senate
The issue of the magazine in which the letter was published on November 10, 1821
On April 26, 1821, the Messenian Senate issued a proclamation addressed to the British consul Green. In it, the Messinian rebels accused him of failing to maintain neutrality in the clashes between Greeks and Turks, as he had promised them. They also criticized him for his treacherous behavior, as he informed the Turks of the movements of the Patras rebels and guided the enemy. In fact, the British consul had requested naval assistance from the Bey of Preveza on behalf of the Ottomans, while he had suggested to the pashas that they launch a campaign against Patras.
The Senate’s accusations, however, did not stop there. According to the authors of the letter, Green was delaying the payments he owed to the Greeks of the city, he had informed Yusuf on how to enter the city, and at his instigation, the Turks set fire to Greek homes and the warehouses of Greek merchants. In the view of the Messenian Senate, his actions violated the rights of the people and the neutrality of the British government, while endangering the lives of thousands of Christians. For this reason, the members of the Senate warned him that he would be held accountable for his abhorrent actions.
The Publication of the Proclamation in the United States
A striking fact is that this letter was published on 10 November 1821 in the magazine "Niles' Weekly Register," which was Baltimore’s most famous publication during the first half of the 19th century. The magazine was published by Hezekiah Niles (1777–1839) between 1811 and 1848 and had thousands of subscribers. In terms of its content, the magazine featured articles on politics, economics, technology, literature, and art. The letter from the Messenian Senate was published in Volume 9, specifically on page 175, in the column featuring international correspondence.
Giorgos Giannikos
Sources:
Information was drawn from Wikipedia and "Niles' Weekly Register" (Vol. 9, No. 11, 10/11/1821)
This text is a reprint of an article from the newspaper “Eleftheria Kalamatas” (Issue 13250/ 22-3-2022)
