Page 166 - Beholding Liberty!

IΙ.1.1
Peter Heinrich Lambert von Hess (1792-1871)
The sacrifice of the Sacred Band at Dragatsani
lithograph, 62 x 45 cm
signed: P Herwegen inv. et sculpsit (under decorative border, centre) / Gemalt v. Peter Hess (bottom left) / Lithogr. v. H. Kohler. (bottom right) / Eigenthum u. Verlag v. Meÿ u. Widmaÿer, München. (low centre)
inscribed (captions): 400 Ιερολοχίται, πρόδρομοι του / ιερού αγώνος πίπτουσι περί το Δραγασάνιον. (to) / Massacre of the Four Hundred / Hierolochites at Dragatzani. (left) / Massacre de 400 hommes / du bataillon sacré
à Dragatzani. (right) / Untergang der 400 / Hierolochiten bei Dragatzani. (bottom)
Hellenic Parliament Art Collection, inv. n. 307
THE FILIKI ETAIREIA LEADER, Alex- andros Ypsilantis also organised the Sacred Band (Ieros Lochos) in Moldovlachia, a military corps mainly consisting of volunteer students of the di- aspora; the corps was modelled after the Imperial Russian Army, with European-style uniforms, a flag, an oath and a set of regulations. The Sacred Band engaged in combat in Dragatsani, in present-day Romania, in June 1821. Due to poor choices in tac- tics and reserves, most of the Sacred Band soldiers met with heroic deaths in the open battlefield under attack by Ottoman cavalry; a few were rescued with help from Georgakis Olympios, including the com-
mander, Nikolaos Ypsilantis, and the Filiki Etaireia co-founder, Athanasios Tsakalov. Olympios was then isolated by Ottoman army at Sekou Monastery, where he was blown up; Alexandros Ypsilantis was arrested and imprisoned in Austria. That was the end of the Greek Revolution in the Danube Hege- monies. However, the heroic sacrifice of the Sacred Band was a moral victory and set an inspiring exam- ple for the continuation of the Revolution in Greece.
This engraving after a painting by Peter von Hess [cf. cat. no II.1.17-20] shows the Sacred Band in the desperate battle at Dragashani, with the brave sol- diers fighting heroically to their deaths.
166 BEHOLDING LIBERTY!