Markos Botsaris came from the Souliot clans, a group of Albanian-speaking Orthodox Christians from the mountains of Epirus who had built a fierce reputation as fighters in the decades before the revolution. The Souliotes had resisted Ali Pasha of Ioannina, the powerful Albanian warlord who dominated northwestern Greece in the early 19th century, before being forced out of their mountain stronghold and dispersed. Many ended up in the Ionian Islands, in the service of various powers, or eventually in the ranks of the Greek revolutionary forces when the uprising began in 1821. Botsaris was among the most capable of the Souliote commanders who threw their lot in with the revolution. By 1823 he was based in Missolonghi, the coastal town on the Gulf of Corinth that had become one of the revolution's most important western strongholds. When news of Mustafa Bushati's advance reached Missolonghi, Botsaris moved to respond.

Botsaris left Missolonghi with 350 men. As he moved northeast through the mountains toward Karpenisi, he gathered additional fighters — Greek revolutionaries who recognized both the threat and the opportunity that Mustafa's encamped army represented. By the time he reached the area, his force had grown to approximately 1,200 soldiers. The disparity in numbers between his force and the Ottoman-Albanian army was not something he could simply overcome in open battle; a conventional engagement would have been suicidal. What he could do was control the terms. Two days before the assault, Botsaris sent a small team of scouts — described in the sources as spies — into the Ottoman camp to map the positions of the enemy forces without being detected. They succeeded. The intelligence they brought back allowed Botsaris to plan a night raid that would strike quickly, cause maximum disruption, and withdraw before the larger army could bring its numbers to bear.

The assault came on the night of August 21, 1823. Greek forces moved into the Ottoman-Albanian camp under cover of darkness. The raid inflicted significant casualties on a force that substantially outnumbered the attackers. The operation demonstrated exactly the kind of tactical creativity that allowed the smaller Greek revolutionary forces to remain viable against an empire with vastly greater resources. Markos Botsaris was killed during the assault. The sources are consistent on this fact, though the details of exactly how and when he fell in the engagement are not fully documented. He was approximately 34 years old. His death was a serious loss — not because the raid failed, but because it succeeded, and he did not survive to see it through. The Greek forces withdrew after the attack. The objective had been disruption, not annihilation, and the night assault achieved that.

The military consequences of the battle played out over the following months. The Ottoman-Albanian army, despite the disruption at Karpenisi, continued its campaign and moved against Missolonghi, laying siege to the town. That siege, the second of Missolonghi, ultimately failed. Mustafa Bushati retreated to Albania in December 1823, his campaign having achieved none of its strategic objectives. The Greek revolutionary cause survived. Missolonghi would face a third, catastrophic siege in 1825 to 1826, ending in the famous Exodus when its defenders attempted a mass breakout through the encircling Ottoman forces. But in the summer and autumn of 1823, the line held. The night raid at Karpenisi was part of why.

Markos Botsaris has not been forgotten in the place where he died. Karpenisi has a square named for him, and the town has maintained a civic connection to Missolonghi — the place he came from — across two centuries. In August 2022, the municipalities of Karpenisi and Missolonghi formally twinned in a ceremony at the Botsaris square, marking the anniversary of the battle and the bond that history made between these two places. The battle itself is recorded by name in every account of the Greek War of Independence as an example of audacious small-unit tactics in the service of a larger cause. Botsaris is remembered as one of the revolution's significant figures — not because his death was heroic in any simple sense, but because the decision he made, to lead his men into a much larger enemy camp in the dark, reflected the calculated bravery of someone who understood that the war would not be won by waiting.