Greece was and is the land of the incredible. One of them happened on November 27, 1847. It is one of the most embarrassing incidents in the history of Greece and the Greek Army, in which of course there was involvement of political "media", as well as foreign embassies.
The situation in Greece throughout the reign of Otto was chaotic in every way. External pressures and humiliations, economic hardship, dozens of revolutions and movements, political corruption and... robbery.
The captain of the Militia Battalion of Patras, Nikolaos Mereditis, was one of the "minor" commanders of the 1821 Struggle. He belonged to the "French Party" and was a protégé of the then Prime Minister Ioannis Kolettis. Mereditis, with political incitement , also reacting to his upcoming transfer to Tripoli, convinced the soldiers of two companies of the battalion to follow him.
He arrested his commander who with the third company tried to react and became master of the city of Patras. Then, like a gentleman, he robbed the bank, grabbing the large amount for the time of 25,000 drachmas. He grabbed another 32,000 drachmas from the customs office of Patras and demanded the money of the public treasury so as not to cause damage to the city.
Terror prevailed in Patras and life in the city died for five days. No one dared to leave his house. Mereditis made incredible sums. He then limited his demands to 250,000 drachmas. The British consul, however, convinced him to limit their demands to around 90,000 drachmas...telling him that he would also grant him a British ship to leave the city!
Before he could decide, however, he and his men were attacked by military forces and volunteers who had been sent in the meantime. Fierce clashes ensued within the city. Many of Meredith's men were killed. Only one was arrested and he – strangely enough – escaped with most of them and with stolen money on a British ship as the consul had promised.
The Greek government demanded the handover of Mereditis and the money, which the British diplomat refused. Meredith and his men eventually reached Malta. The money was taken by the British who even presented a letter of protest to Othon because the fire of the Greek forces damaged the boats in which Mereditis and his men were being transported to the British boat where they took refuge.
The episode is typical of the time and had something to do with the so-called Mussouro episode between Greece and the Ottoman Empire, which was supported by the British.