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Stamatios Kapsas | |
|---|---|
| Born | Pazarakia (nowKryopigi, Chalkidiki,Greece) |
| Died | 10 June 1821[1] |
Stamatios (Stamos)Kapsas (Greek:Σταμάτιος (Στάμος) Κάψας), known asKapetan Chapsas (Καπετάν Χάψας), was achieftain of theGreek Revolution of 1821 fromChalkidiki.[2]
Stamatios Kapsas was born in the village of Pazarakia (nowKryopigi, Chalkidiki) in the late 18th century. At an early age he moved toSykia to find work, but quickly came into conflict with the localOttoman authorities, and became aklepht active in the region ofSithonia,Mount Cholomon, and the Chasikochoria (modernPolygyros area).
By the time of the outbreak of theGreek War of Independence in 1821, he wasserdar (watchman) of the central administrative body of the monasteries ofMount Athos atKaryes. On 23 March 1821, with the aid of ship captains fromPsara andAinos,Emmanouil Pappas landed on Athos with guns and ammunition. After meeting with Kapsas, they began forming an army. Supported by theMetropolitan ofMaroneia Konstantios, they gathered 1,000 armed monks, while Kapsas roamed Chalkidiki, where he enjoyed great prestige due to his activity as a klepht, to rally more men to their cause. The men he gathered came mostly from the Sithonia andKassandra peninsulas and the Chasikochoria, especially from Sykia. Kapsas' army quickly swelled to 2,000 men. The Ottomans, disquieted by the rapid spread of the revolt, launched pogroms against the Greek populace inThessaloniki and its vicinity, thereby leading to the spread of the revolt with uprisings occurring throughout the modernThessaloniki andSerres prefectures. In view of these developments, on 17 May Pappas officially proclaimed the Greek Revolution in northern Greece. The rebel army was split in two: Pappas with the monks and the men of theMademochoria (the twelve villages around the silver mines in eastern Chalkidiki) moved east towardsRentina to confront the Ottoman troops moving to suppress the rebellion fromThrace, while Kapsas (withAnastasios Chymeftos as deputy commander) and his 2,000 men moved west to capture Thessaloniki.
From Athos, Kapsas moved through the villages of Chalkidiki toVasilika andThermi, where the rebels set up camp (8 June 1821) to prepare for the assault on Thessaloniki. On the same day, Kapsas' men confronted and defeated the Ottoman cavalry near the modern American Agricultural School, under Ahmed Bey ofGiannitsa, in which the Greeks were victorious, forcing the Ottomans to retreat to Thessaloniki. TheAustrian consul in the city reported at the time that "even here disorder is spreading. The anxiety and fear, whether the Greeks should strike at the city from both land and sea, is widespread, although the government has taken the richest and most influential Greeks as hostages."
In the meantime, however, Pappas had encountered the Ottoman reinforcements coming fromDrama andConstantinople and was driven back after battles at Rentina andApollonia. With only 200 men remaining, he sped west to unite with Kapsas. The latter, informed of the dire situation in the east, retreated to Vasilika, where he united with Pappas' men. In Thessaloniki, Ebu Lubut Pasha had gathered an overwhelming army of 30,000 foot and 5,000 horse, and moved to meet the rebels. Kapsas chose to give battle at the narrow valley of Anthemountas river, near the Monastery of St. Anastasia, but detached Chymeftos with some of his men to cover the Kassandra peninsula against a possible landing of Ottoman troops by sea in his rear.
The ensuing battle at Vasilika quickly turned into a disaster for the Greeks, especially after the Ottoman troops began massacring the inhabitants of the village. The local magnate Georgios Kotzias then suggested that the rebels should barricade themselves in the Monastery of St. Anastasia, but the monks would only allow the non-combatants to enter the monastery. Kapsas remained in the field with just 67 men to delay the Ottomans, while Pappas with the remaining army covered the civilians' flight to the monastery. Kapsas and his 67 men were killed to the last. A monument at the site commemorates their sacrifice.