Konstantinos Vlachopoulos

Konstantinos Vlachopoulos (, 1789–1868) was an armatolos, army leader of the Greek War of Independence and the first Greek commander of the Greek Royal Gendarmerie. He was also a member of the Filiki Eteria (Society of Friends), a secret organization whose purpose was to overthrow the Ottoman rule of Greece and establish an independent Greek state.

Biography

He was born in 1789 in the area Nicopolis near Preveza, from a great family of Armatoloi, Christian Greek irregular soldiers, of Western Greece. During the pre-revolutionary period, he was, together with his brother Alexakis, also an armatolos. Later, because of Ali Pasha's persecution, he and his brother were forced to flee in Corfu. There, the two brothers joined the Greek battalions of the British Army . In 1819 he was initiated, along with his brothers, Alexios and Dimitrios, into the Filiki Eteria.

When the Greek Revolution broke out, he took part in the battle of Vrachori, in late May 1821. Later, he was involved in the persecution of the Albanian chieftain, Nourka Servani. Then, he contributed to the liberation of Zapanti. In December 1823, he was promoted to chiliarch. He fought in the Second Siege of Messolonghi defending the bastion of Franklin. During the siege he was promoted to General. He survived the sortie of Messolonghi and fled to Attica where he fought together with Georgios Karaiskakis. On 6 September 1843, he was replaced by Spyromilios. He retired having the rank of Colonel of Gendarmerie and died in Athens in 1868.