The first American who took part in the Greek Revolution.

Captain “Zervos,  the American.”   (George Jarvis)

Remeber me !   my friends,

Who here from freedom's cause remains

In Grecian seas, in Grecian plain

To break the most  inglorius chains,

And seeks humanity. 

__________________________________________ George Jarvis         

An ardent lover and supporter of the ideals of freedom  

in the Greek revolution*

    George Jarvis was the son of Benjamin Jarvis, an American diplomat on assignment in Europe.   Jarvis exemplifies a true philhellene who endangered his life to come to the aid of Greece and her people.    He was an ardent lover and supporter of the ideals of freedom. 

Upon his arrival in Greece in 1822, he shed his fashionable, European clothes and put the uniform of the Greek fighter, the "fustanela".  He taught himself to read and write Greek and changed his name to Captain “George Zervis, the American.”  Under his new name, he fought alongside the other Greek soldiers and shared in their struggle against the Ottoman Empire.  

Jarvis departed for Greece with Hastings, a Royal Navy officer, arriving on the island of Hydra in the Saronic Gulf on April 3, 1822.  He lives on the island from 1822 to 1824, serving as an officer in the Greek Navy with Manolis Tobazis, a most distinguished officer.

When Jarvis heard about Lord Byron’s arrival in Greece, he left Hydra for the town of Missolonghi, in western Greece, and served as Lord Byron’s adjutant until his death in April 18, 1824. Under guidance of Greek engineer M.Kokkinis he also helped fortify in both Missolonghi and Aitolico.

In August 1824 under Prince Mavrocordato’s leadership, he took part in the expedition to the northern Turkish strongholds of Kravassaras and Makrinoros, in the province of Epirus. In November of that same year, he returned to Missolonghi, only to meet up with Jonathan Peckham Miller.

In 1825, he found himself marching along with the soldiery to the towns of Nafplion and Tripolis in the Peloponnese. During the invasion of Egyptian Pasha Ibrahim, he assumed the expenses for the 45 soldiers sent to Methoni, a town situated in the Messinia, a prefecture of the southern Peloponnese.

From 1827 until his death on August 11, 1828, Jarvis along with Samuel Gridley Howe and Jonathan Peckam Miller, continue to contribute as members of the Philhellene committee of America by distributing much needed medication, clothing and food to Greeks who had suffered during this time. He was buried in the city of Argos, in the Peloponnese with the rank of Lieutenant General.

Washington faces with satisfaction

 the revolutionary full action

of the Greeks for independence

after the American transcendence

to defeat the British Empire

with courage, sword and fire.

Hymn to Freedom, verse 22  Dionysios Solomos, National poet of Greece

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Language attribute by P.V.Mataragas

* Greek War of Independence, Following the fall of the Roman Empire to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, most of Greece came under Ottoman rule. During this time, there were some revolt attempts by Greeks to gain independence from Ottoman control.

In 1814, a secret organization called the Filiki Eteria was founded with the aim of liberating Greece. The Filiki Eteria planned to launch revolts in the Peloponnese, the Danubian Principalities, and in Constantinople and its surrounding areas. The first of these revolts began on 6 March 1821 in the Danubian Principalities, but was soon put down by the Ottomans. The events in the north urged the Greeks in the Peloponnese into action and on 17 March 1821, the Maniots declared war on the Ottomans. This declaration was the start of a "Spring" or revolutionary actions from other controlled states against the Ottoman Empire.

By the end of the month, the Peloponnese was in open revolt against the Turks and by October 1821, the Greeks under Theodoros Kolokotronis had captured Tripolitsa. The Peloponnesian revolt was quickly followed by revolts in Crete, Macedonia, and Central Greece, which would soon be suppressed. Meanwhile, the makeshift Greek navy was achieving success against the Ottoman navy in the Aegean Sea and prevented Ottoman reinforcements from arriving by sea.
Tensions soon developed among different Greek factions, leading to two consecutive civil wars. Meanwhile, the Ottoman Sultan negotiated with Mehmet Ali of Egypt, who agreed to send his son Ibrahim Pasha to Greece with an army to suppress the revolt in return for territorial gain. Ibrahim landed in the Peloponnese in February 1825 and had immediate success: by the end of 1825, most of the Peloponnese was under Egyptian control, and the city of Missolonghi—put under siege by the Turks since April 1825—fell in April 1826. Although Ibrahim was defeated in Mani, he had succeeded in suppressing most of the revolt in the Peloponnese and Athens had been retaken.

Following years of negotiation, three Great Powers, Russia, Britain and France, decided to intervene in the conflict and each nation sent a navy to Greece. Following news that combined Ottoman–Egyptian fleets were going to attack the Greek island of Hydra, the allied fleet intercepted the Ottoman–Egyptian fleet at Navarino. Following a week long standoff, a battle began which resulted in the destruction of the Ottoman–Egyptian fleet. With the help of a French expeditionary force, the Greeks drove the Turks out of the Peloponnese and proceeded to the captured part of Central Greece by 1828. As a result of years of negotiation, Greece was finally recognized as an independent nation in May 1832.
The Revolution is celebrated by the modern Greek state as a national day on 25 March.

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sources:

http://www.americanphilhellenessociety.com/
http://Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://www.tovima.gr/ reportaz: Fotene Tomae

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