Petros Soumilas or Soumilis ( el, Πέτρος Σουμίλας/Σουμίλης) was a

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the ...

officer who reached the rank of lieutenant general.

Life

He was born in

Leukas Lefkada ( el, Λευκάδα, ''Lefkáda'', ), also known as Lefkas or Leukas (Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Λευκάς, ''Leukás'', modern pronunciation ''Lefkás'') and Leucadia, is a Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island in the ...

(then under

British rule The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

) on 1 January 1861. He joined the

on 2 August 1882, and later enrolled in the NCO School, from where he graduated in August 1888 as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry. He served as a

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

instructor and in the newly established

Hellenic Military Geographical Service The Hellenic Military Geographical Service or HMGS ( el, Γεωγραφική Υπηρεσία Στρατού or Γ.Υ.Σ.), is the Hellenic Military's mapping agency. History Established in 1889 as the “Geodetic Mission” with the purpose o ...

, and participated in the

Greco-Turkish War of 1897 The Greco-Turkish War of 1897 or the Ottoman-Greek War of 1897 ( or ), also called the Thirty Days' War and known in Greece as the Black '97 (, ''Mauro '97'') or the Unfortunate War ( el, Ατυχής πόλεμος, Atychis polemos), was a w ...

and the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

. During the latter he commanded the 3rd Battalion of the 11th Infantry Regiment, and occasionally substituted for the regimental commander as well. As a monarchist, he was dismissed from the Army in 1917–1920 during the

National Schism The National Schism ( el, Εθνικός Διχασμός, Ethnikós Dichasmós), also sometimes called The Great Division, was a series of disagreements between Constantine I of Greece, King Constantine I and Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizel ...

. He was reinstated with the electoral defeat of

Eleftherios Venizelos Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos ( el, Ελευθέριος Κυριάκου Βενιζέλος, translit=Elefthérios Kyriákou Venizélos, ; – 18 March 1936) was a Greek statesman and a prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movem ...

in November 1920 which brought the royalist opposition to power, and assumed command of the Xanthi Division in

Eastern Thrace Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways * Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air ...

. In May 1921 he was transferred to command the 10th Infantry Division in

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, and he led it in the

Greek summer offensive The Greek Summer Offensive of 1920 was an offensive by the Greek army, assisted by British forces, to capture the southern region of the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean Region from the Kuva-yi Milliye (National Forces) of the provisional Turkish n ...

and the advance towards the Sakarya river. In 1922 he was placed in command of the III Army Corps, which he commanded during the collapse and retreat of the Greek army from Anatolia in August 1922. Following the outbreak of the

Venizelist Venizelism ( el, Βενιζελισμός) was one of the major political movements in Greece from the 1900s until the mid-1970s. Main ideas Named after Eleftherios Venizelos, the key characteristics of Venizelism were: *Greek irredentism: T ...

-led

September 1922 Revolution The 11 September 1922 Revolution ( el, Επανάσταση της 11ης Σεπτεμβρίου 1922) was an uprising by the Greek army and navy against the government in Athens. The revolution took place on 24 September 1922, although the date wa ...

among the surviving Army units, he was dismissed from service on 17 October 1922. He testified in the

Trial of the Six The Trial of the Six ( el, Δίκη των Έξι, ''Díki ton Éxi'') or the Execution of the Six was the trial for treason, in late 1922, of the Anti-Venizelist officials held responsible for the Greek military defeat in Asia Minor. The tria ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soumilas, Petros 1861 births 20th-century deaths 20th-century Greek people Hellenic Army lieutenant generals Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) People from Lefkada Commanders of the Order of George I Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Greece) United States of the Ionian Islands people