On March 18, 1826, five years into the Greek War of Independence, a group of Greek revolutionaries arrived in Beirut under the command of Montenegrin freedom fighter Vasos Mavrovouniotis. Their landing followed an emotional plea from a Lebanese monk who implored Mavrovouniotis to free Syria from Ottoman rule.
The Ottomans, wary that the Antiochian Greek Orthodox Christians (Rum) in Syria might join the Greek uprising, had already disarmed all Christians in the region. While the Ottoman authorities ordered the execution of the Patriarch of Antioch—mirroring the execution of Ecumenical Patriarch Gregorios V in Constantinople—local officials in Syria defied the command.
Ioannis Kolettis, the leader of Free Greece, saw a potential Syrian uprising as a strategic opportunity. With the Greek Revolution faltering after Egyptian forces arrived in 1826 to aid the Ottomans in reclaiming lost territories, he believed a rebellion in Syria could draw Ottoman troops away from the Greek mainland, bolstering the revolutionary cause. To fund their campaign, Mavrovouniotis and Hatzimihalis Dalianis of Epirus first raided Ottoman Cyprus, looting and pillaging, before leading a flotilla of approximately fifteen Greek ships to Beirut on March 18.
The British Consul in Aleppo, John Barker, born in Smyrna, documented the event in a memo to Ambassador Stratford Canning in Constantinople. Barker characterized the landing as more akin to piracy than a liberation effort, noting the reputation of Greek pirates for such Mediterranean raids. He reported that the Greek forces “scaled part of the defense walls while ships cannonaded the town.” Beirut’s defenses were woefully unprepared: with no regular military presence and limited firearms and ammunition, the fort meant to protect the town from sea attacks was as vulnerable as its residents.
Despite the initial surprise, resistance emerged under the leadership of a local mufti, who rallied and inspired the townspeople to defend Beirut. The ensuing battle resulted in losses on both sides: the Greeks suffered around 40 casualties, while the defenders lost 14 killed and 20 wounded. The town endured significant damage, with 500 cannonballs striking buildings, including two that hit the French consular house and three that struck the Austrian agent’s residence.
Though repelled, the Greeks lingered near the coast, taking shelter in detached houses within the silk grounds—an area largely populated by Christians they spared from harm. According to Barker, the Greeks urged the local Christians “to rise and join them,” though he doubted their understanding of Beirut’s Christian population, suggesting they overestimated its size and influence. Rumors also circulated that the Greeks sought an alliance with the Druze leader, inviting him to unite under a Christian banner.
This attempt to enlist the Druze may have doomed the expedition. The Greeks had appealed to the rivals of Bashir Shihab, the Emir of Lebanon—a Muslim convert to Maronite Christianity who had once defied Napoleon during his siege of Acre, contributing to the French failure in Syria. Just a year earlier, in 1825, Bashir had worked with the Ottomans to oust the rival Druze Jumblatt family from Mount Lebanon, securing his power with Ottoman support. Historians speculate that Bashir might have seen a Greek incursion as a chance to gain further assistance against the Druze, though his allegiance to the Ottomans made his position ambiguous. Ultimately, he mobilized his forces to expel the Greeks from Beirut, and with no local support forthcoming, the invaders retreated to their ships.
The aftermath proved devastating for Beirut’s Christians. On March 23, 1826, days after the Greeks withdrew, an Ottoman lieutenant arrived with nearly 500 Albanian irregulars, unleashing chaos on the Christian population. Barker noted that these undisciplined troops inflicted greater harm on residents’ property than the Greek invasion itself. Christians—whether Latin, Maronite, or Greek—faced relentless persecution from the authorities, and even Europeans were not immune to the soldiers’ aggression and greed.
A French merchant and an American missionary under British protection experienced this violence firsthand when troops stormed their homes, threatening their lives, abusing them, and looting their possessions. European consuls struggled to shield their staff and local Christians (rayahs) from the onslaught. The broader Christian community suffered immensely: their homes and silk plantations were seized, and they were tortured to extract impossible sums, leaving them destitute after losing everything in forced sales.