loan Solomon, was born in 1793 in the village of Pleșoiu in the Dolj District of Oltenia and died in 1865 in Bucharest. He came from a family of soldiers of the time and, as far as we know, his close ancestors were all captains of armies. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1806-1812 he took part in the Volunteer Corps of the Romanian Pandurs who fought on the side of the Russians. Specifically from 1809 onwards he served as captain of a small corps of volunteers, replacing his older brother who had been killed, and he fought in many battles and received three wounds.
His activity during the Russo-Turkish war 1806-1812 as a captain of the pandurs under the leadership of Tudor Vladimirescu, all his activity from the end of the above war until 1821 and, most importantly, his position as leader of all the armed forces of Oltenia, undoubtedly played an important role in the revolutionary mobilization of the people of Wallachia in 1821.
Loan Solomon joined the revolutionary movement from the very beginning and Tudor Vladimirescu entrusted him with the command of Oltenia's revolutionary forces. After the Ottoman invasion of the Romanian Principalities, Solomon attempted to retreat to the Austrian border, but on the way he was forced to fight with a powerful Ottoman army corps near Zâvideni, where he was defeated. The same Ottoman corps would defeat, several days later, Ypsilantis' army in Dragashani.
The revolutionary forces under the leadership of T. Vladimirescu acted in Oltenia in the following way: they first occupied the main monasteries of the area (Tişmana, Strehaia, Motru, etc.) and turned them into strongholds, supplying them with food and ammunition and manning them with strong guards, then camped in the village of Țînțăreni, which turned it into a gathering and training center for the Revolutionaries.
There are some interesting excerpts in his memoirs, published in 1862
and as we were sitting at the table together, before I left, a merchant came from Bucharest and said, among other things: that Ypsilantis had come to Bucharest; Upon hearing this news, Tudor said that he was a brute (Ypsilantis) and for what reason he came; all the other leaders remained silent.
On March the 15th, I suddenly received a proclamation from Dervis Pasha of Vidin, accompanied by a proclamation from the Patriarch of Constantinople.
The Patriarch threatened us with excommunication.... similarly Dervis-pasha, advised us to lay down our arms and to repent, to become subjects of our true Sovereign;
I quickly infomed without delay ,by regular mail, Tudor Vladimirescu in Bucharest. He replied that I would promise to surrender a little later, but that I should never do that.
On the seventh day after Easter we received news that the Patriarch of Constantinople was hanged on Easter day. Upon hearing this, the captains and my Pandurs became more furious, and stayed with me for justice (for revenge).
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