Battle of Galatsi

Battle context

The Battle of Galați, fought on 1 May 1821 in the Principality of Moldavia, marked the first direct military engagement between the Filiki Eteria — the Greek revolutionary organization led by Prince Alexander Ypsilantis — and Ottoman forces, making it the opening armed clash of the Greek War of Independence. The Greek forces were commanded by Athanasios Karpenisiotis, a commander of Cretan origin, while the Ottoman side was led by Yusuf Pasha Perkovtsalis alongside Hacı Kara Ahmed Efendi and Selim Mehmed Efendi. As the first test of Greek revolutionary arms against the empire, the engagement at Galați established that the insurrection would meet organized Ottoman military opposition from its earliest stage, shaping expectations for the campaign in the Danubian Principalities that Ypsilantis had chosen as the opening theater of revolt.