A TURKISH DEFEAT
The town of Nauplia stood on a projecting point at the head of the
gulf which was in old times known as the Gulf of Argos, but was now
more generally known as the Gulf of Nauplia, that town being the most
important port in Greece, carrying on a large trade in sponges, silk,
oil, wax, wines, and acorns. It was the seat of government of the
Venetians at the time they were masters of the Morea, and had been
very strongly fortified by them. The Acropolis, or citadel, stood on a
craggy hill where the point on which the town stood joined the
mainland. The Venetians had taken the greatest pain in fortifying this
rock, which was well-nigh impregnable, and was considered the
strongest position in the Morea.
The Turks had long been besieged here. Negotiations had at one time
been carried on with a view to its surrender, and had the Greeks acted
in good faith they could have gained possession of the place before
Dramali advanced to its relief. Six weeks before, the Turks, having
entirely consumed their provisions, signed the capitulation. The Turks
had little faith in the Greeks observing its conditions, but were of
opinion that it would be better to be massacred at once than to slowly
die of hunger. By the terms of capitulation the Turks were to deliver
up their arms and two-thirds of their movable property, while the
Greeks were to allow them to hire neutral vessels to transport them to
Asia Minor; and bound themselves to supply them with provisions until
the vessels arrived to take them away.
The Greek government at once sent some of its members to Nauplia to
register the property of the Turks. These immediately pursued the
usual course of endeavouring to enrich themselves by secretly
purchasing the property of the Turks, and by selling them provisions.
The Greek ministers took no steps to charter neutral vessels,
professing that they were unable to raise money for the purpose, but
really delaying to enable their secretaries at Nauplia to make larger
gains by bargaining with the wealthy Turks there. The Turks having now
got provisions enough to enable them to hold on, were in no great
hurry to conclude the surrender, as they knew that Dramali was
advancing. Such was the state of things when the schooner arrived in
the Gulf of Argos, and landed the party on the opposite side of the
gulf.
They at once proceeded into the interior, stopping at every village.
At each place they came to messengers were sent out to summon the
peasantry of the neighbourhood to come in. When they had assembled Mr.
Beveridge harangued them, pointing out that now or never was the time
to win their independence; that if the Turkish invasion were rolled
back now they might hope that the enemy would see that such a country
could not be conquered when the inhabitants were determined to be
free, for that if they thoroughly established their hold of it, and
occupied all the fortresses, there would be no chance of their ever
again shaking off the yoke. He said that he himself, an Englishman and
a stranger, had come to aid them as far as possible, and that all
unprovided with arms, or lacking ammunition, would receive them on
going down to the ship anchored in the bay.
At each place, previous to addressing the assembly, he had distributed
money among the local leaders and priests. These seconded his
harangues, and numbers of the men went down to the coast and obtained
guns and ammunition.
While Mr. Beveridge was travelling over the country the army of
Dramali was advancing unopposed. The troops which the central
government had placed to defend the passes fled without firing a shot,
and Dramali occupied Corinth without resistance. The Acropolis there
was impregnable, but the commander, a priest named Achilles
Theodorides, in spite of his Christian name and the fact that the
citadel was amply supplied with provisions, murdered the Turkish
prisoners in his hands, and fled with the garrison as soon as Dramali
approached the place.
The ease with which the Turkish general had marched through Eastern
Greece and possessed himself of Corinth, raised his confidence to the
highest point. It had been arranged that the Turkish fleet should meet
him at Nauplia, and he therefore determined to march with his whole
army there, obtain possession of the stores brought by the fleet,
relieve the town, and then proceed to the conquest of the Morea. Two
of his officers alone disagreed with him. Yussuf Pasha and Ali Pasha,
the latter of whom was a large land-owner of Argos, and both of whom
knew the country well, proposed that Corinth should be made the
head-quarters of the army, and great magazines be formed there; that
the army should be divided into two divisions, one of which, under
Dramali, should march to Nauplia and then recover Tripolitza, while
the other should march along the Gulf of Corinth to Patras, recovering
possession of the fertile province of Achaia. Dramali, however,
confident in his power to overcome any opposition that might be made,
determined to carry out his own plan, and started with his own army
for Nauplia.
Owing to the fact that Dramali had met with no opposition, and had
advanced with much greater rapidity than was expected, the
preparations for resistance were altogether incomplete at the time he
moved forward from Corinth, though the people were firmly determined
to resist his advance from Nauplia. Accordingly, to the great
disappointment of Mr. Beveridge, he moved without opposition through
the narrow defile of Dervenaki, where a few hundred men could have
successfully opposed the advance of an army, and arrived without
firing a shot at Argos, almost within sight of Nauplia, sending
forward Ali Pasha with five hundred cavalry to take the command at
Nauplia.
Had the Turkish fleet now arrived with supplies, as had been arranged,
it is probable that Dramali would have overrun the Morea, and that the
revolution in Greece would have been stamped out; but instead of doing
this it passed round the Morea to Patras in order to take on board
Mehemet, who had just been appointed Capitan Pasha. Dramali therefore
found himself at Argos without provisions, as, relying upon obtaining
supplies from the fleet, he had not encumbered himself with a baggage
train.
The members of the Greek government whose head-quarters had been at
Argos, had fled precipitately at the approach of Dramali. Argos had
been crowded with political leaders and military adventurers who had
gathered there in hopes of sharing in the plunder of Nauplia. All
these fled in such haste that the national archives and a large
quantity of plate that had just been collected from the churches and
monasteries for the public service, were abandoned. A wild panic had
seized the inhabitants, whose numbers had been vastly increased by
refugees from Smyrna, Chios, and other places, and thousands deserted
their houses and property, and fled in frantic terror. As soon as they
had left, the town was plundered by bands of Greek klephts, who seized
the horses, mules, working oxen, and carts of the peasantry round and
loaded them with the plunder collected in the city, and the Turks,
when they entered Argos, found that it had already been sacked.
While, however, the ministers, senators, and generals of Greece were
flying in panic, the spirit of the people was rising, and a body of
volunteers took possession of the ruined castle where the ancient
Acropolis of Argos had stood, and defended the position successfully
against the first attack of the Turks. Of all the Greek leaders,
Prince Demetrius Hypsilantes alone showed courage and presence of
mind. Hastening through the country he addressed energetic harangues
to the people, who responded enthusiastically to his impassioned
words, and took up arms without waiting for the call of their nominal
leaders. The work of the little English party now bore fruit, and the
peasants, with arms in their hands, some without leaders, some
commanded by their captains and primates, flocked from all parts of
the Morea towards the scene of action.
Having seen the work well begun, Hypsilantes hastened back to Argos,
and, accompanied by several young chiefs, threw himself with some
eight hundred men into the ruined castle, raising the force there to a
thousand men. The place was, however, badly supplied with provisions
and water, and the Turks closely invested it. The object with which
the first volunteers had occupied the place had been gained: the
advance of the Turks had been arrested, and time had been given to the
people of the Morea to rise. Hypsilantes and the greater portion of
the garrison accordingly withdrew during the night; but a small band
held it for three days longer, cutting their way out when their last
loaf was finished on the 1st of August, having occupied it on the 24th
of July.
By this time the Greeks had five thousand men assembled at Lerna, the
port of Argos, where the cowardly leaders had embarked, and they held
a very strong position where the ground rendered it impossible for the
Turkish cavalry to act. Other large bodies of Greeks occupied all the
mountains surrounding the plain of Argos. Had Dramali, when he first
found that the fleet had gone past with the supplies, returned to
Corinth, he could have done so without a shot being fired; but it was
not until the 6th of August, after wasting a fortnight, that he
prepared to move. He had brought with him from Corinth ten thousand
men, of whom half were cavalry, and already much greater numbers of
Greeks were gathered round him. Kolokotronis was nominally in command,
but the villagers obeyed their local leaders, and there was no order
or system among them. Had there been, they could have occupied strong
positions on the various roads leading up to the hills, and compelled
the surrender of the whole Turkish army. Instead of doing this, each
of the local chiefs took up the position that seemed to him to be
best.
The advance guard of the Turkish army consisted of a thousand
Albanians, trained and seasoned troops. These were allowed to go
through without even a skirmish. A body of cavalry were then sent
forward along the road by which they had come, and ordered to occupy
the Dervenaki defile, which Dramali had left unguarded behind him.
They found the Greeks intrenched there. The first Turkish division
therefore moved by another pass. Niketos, one of the bravest of the
Greek commanders, with two thousand men barred the valley and fell on
their left flank, while another body of Greeks, under Hypsilantes and
Dikaios, attacked them on the right. The Turkish cavalry charged
forward and tried to clear the valley, but a picked body of marksmen,
on a low hill overlooking a ravine, shot them down and blocked the
ravine with the bodies of the horses and their riders.
The pressure from behind increased, and a body of well-mounted
horsemen managed to dash through and reach Corinth in safety. Behind
them the slaughter was terrible. The Turks were shot down in numbers,
and fled in every direction. Many were killed, but more succeeded in
escaping, for the Greeks directed their whole attention to plundering
the great baggage-trains, consisting of mules and camels laden with
the valuables of the pashas and the rich spoil that had been gathered
in their advance. The news of the destruction of the first division of
his army astounded Dramali; but it was impossible for him to remain at
Argos, and the following day he moved forward by another road up the
steep hill known as Kleisura. Dikaios opposed them in front; Niketos
and Hypsilantes fell on their left flank.
As on the previous day, the baggage-train proved the salvation of the
Turkish soldiers. The Greeks directed their entire attention to it;
and while they were occupied in cutting it off, a brilliant charge by
a chosen band of Turkish horsemen cleared the road in front, and
Dramali, with the main body of his cavalry, was enabled to escape to
Corinth. His military chest, and the whole of the Turkish baggage,
fell into the hands of the Greeks. The troops under the immediate
command of Kolokotronis took no part whatever in either day’s
fighting, the whole of which was done by the two thousand men under
the command of Niketos, under whom Dikaios and Hypsilantes acted. As
Kolokotronis, however, was the nominal commander, the credit of the
defeat of Dramali was generally ascribed to him.
The Moriots returned to their native villages, enriched by the spoil
they had gathered. The party from the schooner had been spectators of
the fight. They had scarcely expected so good a result, for the
disorder, the want of plan, the neglect of any attempt to seize and
occupy the roads, and, above all, the utter incapacity of
Kolokotronis, seemed to render success almost hopeless; and, indeed,
out of the fourteen thousand Greeks assembled but two thousand fired a
shot.
Fortunately the brunt of the Turkish attack fell upon the one little
division that was ably commanded. Had the main body aided them, not a
soldier of Dramali’s army would have escaped. As it was, their loss in
men was comparatively small; but the total destruction of their
baggage-train, and, still more, the disorganization and depression
which followed the disaster, inflicted upon them by an enemy they
despised, completely paralyzed them, and no forward move was again
attempted. Dramali himself was utterly broken down by the humiliation,
and died at Corinth two months later.
Mr. Beveridge was well contented with the success, which was due
partly to his efforts. He had expended upwards of five thousand
pounds, and eight thousand muskets and a large quantity of ammunition
had been distributed from the schooner to the peasants. The victory
ought, he felt, to have been much more conclusive; but the spirit
awakened among the Moriots, and the confidence that would be
engendered throughout Greece at this victory over an army that had
expected to overrun the whole country without difficulty, immensely
improved the chances that Greek independence would be finally
established.
There was, however, one unfortunate consequence of the affair. The
success of these armed peasants at Argos confirmed the Greeks in their
idea that discipline was wholly unnecessary, that regular troops were
a mistake, and that all that was needed to conquer the Turks was for
the people to muster under their local leaders whenever danger
threatened. This absurd idea was the cause of many heavy disasters
which subsequently occurred. When the second day’s fighting was over
the English party made their way back to the schooner.
“I congratulate you heartily, sir, on the success the Greeks have
gained,” Martyn said; for the news of the victory had already reached
him.
“Thank you, Martyn. It might and ought to have been a great deal
better. Still, I am very thankful that it is as good as it is. I can
feel now that, come what may, my mission out here has not been
altogether a failure. We have done much good work in the cause of
humanity. My work during the last three weeks has been exactly what I
pictured it would be before I left home. By my personal efforts I did
a good deal to arouse the enthusiasm of the peasants. My money
increased my influence, and the arms we brought out contributed
largely to the success of the fight. I am pleased and gratified.”
“What sort of time have you had, Miller?” Martyn asked his comrade as
they walked up and down the quarter-deck together, as Mr. Beveridge
descended to his cabin.
“It has been good enough, for we have done a lot of tramping up hill
and down. The chief bought a horse the day he landed, or I am sure he
never could have stood it; it was pretty hard work even for us. You
should have seen him, day after day, haranguing crowds of villagers.
Of course I could not understand a word he said; but I can tell you he
worked them up into a regular frenzy; and the way they shouted and
waved their hands, and, as I imagine, swore terrible oaths that they
would kill and eat every Turk they saw, was something tremendous. It
quite electrified our fellows, who have been accustomed, I suppose, to
consider the chief as a quiet, easy-going gentleman, and they cheered
and shouted as loudly as the Greeks. Zaimes and his brother went off
on expeditions, on their own account, to villages we could not spare
time to go to. We were all right as to quarters and grub. The primates
and captains, or whatever the leaders call themselves, naturally made
a lot of us--and no wonder, considering how the chief scattered his
money among them all. The mule that carried the money was pretty
heavily laden when he went up, but the boxes were emptied before we
returned. The food, of course, was pretty rough, though it was the
best they had; but one has been spoiled for roughing it by our living
here.”
“I found a difference, I can tell you, Miller, since you went, and I
am heartily glad that Marco is back again. How has the doctor got on?”
“I think he has found it harder than he expected,” Miller laughed. “He
confided to me to-day that he shall not volunteer for another
expedition. But I was very glad he was with us; for Horace, of course,
was always in the thick of it, with his father, jawing away with the
village notables, and I should have had a dull time of it if it had
not been for the doctor, whose remarks upon the real enthusiasm of the
peasantry and the bought enthusiasm of their leaders were very
amusing. The doctor does not say much when we are all together; but he
is not at all a bad companion, and there is a lot of dry humour about
him. And now I sha’n’t be sorry when supper is ready, for we have been
on our legs since daybreak, and I have had nothing to eat but some
bread we carried with us and some wine with which we had all filled
our water-bottles.”
After this, for a time, the _Misericordia_ had a quiet time of it
cruising idly about among the Ionian Islands, and then crossing to
Venice, where they stayed for three weeks. Then they crossed the
Adriatic again, and put in at the port of Missolonghi. Mr. Beveridge
was very anxious to hear the result of the battle that was expected
between the Greek army, under Mavrocordatos, and the Turks advancing
south. He had himself strongly wished to go with the Greek army, but
had been dissuaded by Horace.
“My dear father, if we do any fighting at sea, we assuredly do our
share without taking part in fighting on shore. When we have once seen
the Greeks make a successful stand it will surely be time enough for
us to take any share in the matter. The Philhellenes will fight, that
is quite certain; but I think the odds are all against the Greeks
doing so. Besides, as you have often said, Mavrocordatos is no more
fit to command an army than any old woman in the streets of Athens
would be. He knows nothing whatever of military matters, and will take
no advice from those who do. I think there would be a tremendous risk
in joining the Greek army, and no advantage to be gained from it. Of
course, if you wish to go I will go with you, and we can take some of
the men if you like; but I certainly think we had better keep away
from it altogether.”
And so, instead of joining the Greek army, they had sailed to Venice.
As soon as they dropped anchor off Missolonghi Horace was rowed ashore
to get the news. He returned in an hour.
“It is lucky indeed, father, that we went to Venice instead of with
Mavrocordatos.”
“What, have the Greeks been beaten?”
“Completely smashed up, father. I have been talking to two or three of
the Philhellenes who were lucky enough to escape. Mavrocordatos sent
the army on to Petta, and established himself some twenty miles in the
rear. His chief of the staff, General Normann, felt the position was a
very bad one, but could not fall back when the Turks advanced, as he
had no orders. The regular troops, that is, the one regular regiment,
the hundred Philhellenes, and a body of Ionian volunteers, were
stationed in a position in front. The Greek irregulars, two thousand
strong, were placed some distance in the rear, and were to cover the
regulars from any attack from that direction. Two leaders of the
irregulars were in communication with the Turks; when these advanced,
the eight hundred men in front, who had two guns with them, repulsed
them; but Reshid Pasha sent round six hundred Albanians, who advanced
against a strong position in the rear. The whole body of the Greek
irregulars bolted like rabbits, and then the Turks in front and the
Albanians from the rear attacked the front division on all sides. They
fought gallantly. Of the hundred Philhellenes, seventy-five were
killed, the other twenty-five broke their way through the Turkish
ranks. The Greek regiment and the Ionians were cut up by the Turkish
infantry fire, followed by charges of their cavalry. Half of them were
killed, the others broke their way through the Turks. So out of the
eight hundred men over four hundred were killed. They say that not one
surrendered. So I think, father, it is very well that we did not go up
to see the fight, for you would naturally have been somewhere near the
Philhellenes.”
“This is bad news indeed, Horace.”
“It is, father; but how the Greeks could suppose that it was any use
getting up a regular army, consisting of one regiment of six hundred
men, to fight the Turks, is more than I can imagine. As to their
irregulars, except for fighting among the mountains, I do not see that
they are of the slightest good.
“I am awfully sorry for the foreign officers. After coming here, as
they did, to fight for Greece, and then forming themselves into a
corps to encourage the natives to fight, to be deserted and left to
fight a whole army is shameful. Those I spoke to are terribly cut up
at the loss of three-quarters of their comrades. The Turks are
advancing against Missolonghi. The Suliots have made terms, and are to
be transported to the Ionian Islands. The British consul at Prevesa
guarantees that the terms shall be honourably kept on both sides.”
Mr. Beveridge went ashore later, and returned completely disheartened
by his conversation with the leading inhabitants. He learned that, so
far from the defeat at Petta convincing the Greeks that it was only by
submitting to discipline and forming regular regiments that they could
hope to oppose the Turks, they had determined, on the contrary, that
there was no hope of fighting in that way, and that henceforward they
must depend entirely upon the irregulars.
“Their blindness is extraordinary,” he said. “They saw that, few as
the disciplined men were, they repulsed the attack of the Turkish
troops in front, and were only crushed when totally surrounded; while,
on the other hand, two thousand five hundred irregulars were unable
even to attempt to make a stand against six hundred Albanians, but
deserted their comrades and fled after scarcely firing a shot; and yet
in the future they intend to trust solely to these useless bands.
“At present everyone is quarrelling with everyone else. While Reshid
Pasha is preparing to invade Greece the captains and primates, instead
of uniting to oppose them, are quarrelling and fighting among
themselves for their share of the national revenues. The district of
Agrapha is being laid waste by civil broils; the province of Vlochos
is being devastated by the bands of two rival leaders; Kravari is
pillaged alternately by the bands of two other scoundrels; Gogos and
half a dozen other captains have openly gone over to the Turks. There
is only one hope I can see,” he added bitterly.
“What is that, Mr. Beveridge?” Martyn asked.
“It is, that the Greeks will continue their civil broils until they
make their country a complete desert; and that the Turks, finding that
they can obtain no food whatever, will be obliged by starvation to
quit the country. One thing I am resolved upon, and that is, that
until the Greeks fight for themselves I will do nothing further
whatever in the matter. I will still try to save women and children,
but I will do nothing else. I will neither interfere with Turkish
commerce nor fire a gun at a Turkish ship of war. We will lower our
long gun and four of the others down into the hold, Captain Martyn,
and we will cruise about and enjoy ourselves for a bit.”
“Very well, sir. It is just a year since we arrived out here, and a
little peace and quiet and amusement will do us no harm. I don’t know
how it would be with our flag, and whether we can sail into Malta or
into the Italian ports with it, or whether we can hoist our own
again.”
“The papers are all right, I believe,” Mr. Beveridge said. “You see,
she was nominally sold to the agent here of a Greek firm in London,
and is therefore registered as the property of a Greek subject. I have
papers signed by them selling the vessel again to me, with blanks for
the dates, which can be filled in at any time; but these, of course, I
could only fill in and use in the event of my deciding to leave Greece
altogether and return to England. So that, at present, we are simply a
Greek ship, owned by natives of that country, and holding letters of
marque from the Greek government to act as a privateer. I do not think
that the transaction would be recognized by any European power in the
case of two European belligerents; but this is an exceptional case,
as the sympathies of all the Christian powers are with the Greeks. As
far as the Turks are concerned, it makes no difference; whether Greek
or English, they would hang us if they caught us. But I don’t think
any very close inquiries are likely to be made in any European port.
Our Greek papers are all correct, and as we know that the account of
our having saved large numbers of fugitives from Chios has been in the
English papers, and doubtless our interference to save the Turks at
Athens has also been published, I think that we should be received
well by the sympathizers of either party.”
The next morning they sailed to Corinth, where they remained a few
days. John Iskos, Mr. Beveridge’s agent at Athens, came across to see
him. He informed him that he had sold but a very small portion of the
goods consigned to him in the prizes, but had shipped the great bulk
in neutral vessels and consigned them to the firm in London; the
vessels themselves he had disposed of to Hydriot merchants. He
recommended Mr. Beveridge to hand over to him the store of silks and
other valuables that had been retained on board the schooner, and he
would put them at once on board an Italian ship at present in the
port, and consign them to a Greek house in Genoa, as he certainly
would not obtain anything like fair prices for them in Greece.
The operation occupied two days, but all the most valuable goods were
retained, as the prizes might have been recaptured by Turks on their
way to Athens. The prizes had been brought in by Miller and Tarleton
alternately, Marco or Zaimes accompanying them to interpret, the crews
being taken back in native boats to Naxos, to which island the
schooner had made several trips to pick them up.
For the next two months the schooner cruised in Italian waters, from
Venice round to Genoa, putting in to many ports, making a circuit of
Sicily, and paying a short visit to Malta; then learning that the
Turks were about to besiege Missolonghi, and that the town was going
to resist until the last, they crossed over there in the second week
in November. They found that the port was blockaded by some Turkish
ships from Patras, but that some Hydriot vessels were expected to
arrive shortly. Mavrocordatos was himself in the town organizing the
defence, and taking really vigorous measures for holding out to the
last.
A week later seven Hydriot brigs arrived; the _Misericordia_, which
had again mounted all her guns, joined them; but as they approached
the port the Turkish vessels got up all sail and made for Patras, and
the Greeks entered the port. Missolonghi was protected by a low mud
wall, with a ditch six feet deep by sixteen feet wide. It contained
but a foot of water, but at the bottom was a deep clay, rendering it
quite impassable. There were eight guns mounted on the ramparts, and
Mr. Beveridge landed at once six more of those still lying in the
hold, with a supply of ammunition for the whole.
As soon as the port was open a thousand men crossed over from the
Morea under the command of partisan chiefs, and from time to time
others came in, until the garrison, originally but six hundred strong,
was increased to two thousand five hundred. For some weeks nothing was
done; but on the eve of the 6th of January, which was the Greek
Christmas-day, a Greek fisherman brought in news that the Turks were
preparing to assault the next morning at daylight, when they believed
the Christians would generally be in their churches. Forty men were
landed from the schooner to take part in the defence. At daybreak the
defenders were all in their places, hidden behind the rampart or
concealed in the houses near.
The storming party was led by eight hundred Albanian volunteers. One
division was intended to scale the wall on its eastern flank, while
another was to endeavour to penetrate the town by wading through a
shallow lagoon at its eastern extremity. The whole Turkish army turned
out, and suddenly opened a tremendous fire of musketry against the
ramparts, while the storming parties moved forward. The defenders
remained in their concealment until the Albanians were close at hand,
and then, leaping up, poured their fire into them. Expecting to take
the defenders by surprise, the Albanians were astounded at the sudden
and heavy fire poured into them, and at once broke and fled in
confusion. For some hours the Turks kept up a heavy fire, but did not
renew their attack in earnest. Tons of ammunition were fired away on
both sides, and then the Turks fell back to their camps, and on the
following day raised the siege.
The wildness of the fire was evidenced by the fact that only four
Greeks were killed. The blue-jackets from the schooner joined in the
fire upon the storming parties, but when it was evident that the Turks
had no idea of renewing the attack they returned on board ship. Their
remarks upon the combatants were the reverse of complimentary.
“It is well-nigh enough to make a man sick, Tom,” one man said to
another in Horace’s hearing. “To see them both blazing away good
powder and lead like that, I reckon to be downright sinful.”
“You are right there, mate. It is a downright waste of the gifts of
Providence. Why, there was powder and ball enough to have killed a
good five thousand Englishmen and Frenchmen thrown away in accounting
for four or five of them yelling fellows. It is more like play-acting
than fighting. Why, if you was to arm a couple of gals’ schools and
put ’em to fire at each other they would do ever so much better than
that. And to think them Greeks calls themselves Christians and don’t
know how to aim a musket no better than that; they might just as well
be heathen.”
While Missolonghi had been resisting successfully, the Turkish
garrison of Nauplia had at last surrendered. After Dramali’s army had
abandoned it the only hope that remained to them was that the fleet
might return. The Greeks retained possession of a small fort that had
been given up to them at the time that the first negotiations for
surrender were going on. From this fort combustible missiles were
fired into the town, and a brisk cannonade kept up with its defences,
but without much damage being done on either side. On the 20th of
September the Turkish fleet appeared off the entrance to the gulf, and
the Greek fleet from the islands of Hydra and Spetzas stood out to
meet them.
Unfortunately Admiral Kanaris was not present. For four days the two
fleets remained in sight of each other, firing at such distances that
no harm was done on either side. There was nothing to have prevented
the Turkish admiral relieving Nauplia and landing the troops and
provisions in his transports; but he feared to enter the gulf, while
the Greeks shrank equally from an attack upon him. After thus
exhibiting for four days his cowardice and incapacity, the Turkish
capitan-pasha abandoned Nauplia to its fate. The resistance only
continued because the Turks could put no reliance upon the oaths of
the Greeks. Women and children dropped dead from hunger in the
streets; the soldiers were so weak from starvation that but few were
able to carry their arms. The citadel was at last abandoned simply
because the soldiers who went down into the town to fetch the scanty
rations for its defenders were too weak to climb the hill again; and
the Greeks, as soon as they learned that it was abandoned, occupied
the position. Kolokotronis and a number of other leaders, attracted by
the prospect of booty, hurried to the spot like vultures round a
carcass.
Negotiations were again opened, and the Turks surrendered on the terms
of the Greeks engaging to transport them to Asia Minor, allowing each
to retain a single suit of clothes, a quilt for bedding, and a carpet
for prayer. As soon as the terms were signed, Kolokotronis and the
captains entered the town with their personal followers and prevented
all others from entering. The soldiers assembled before the gates,
declaring that they would not allow the chiefs to appropriate to
themselves everything valuable, threatening to storm the place, murder
the Turks, and sack the town. Greece was saved from fresh dishonour by
the timely arrival of the English frigate _Cambrian_, commanded by
Captain Hamilton. He was a strong friend of Greece, and was known to
many of the Greek leaders.
He at once held a conference with them, and in the strongest language
urged upon them the necessity of taking measures for the execution of
the capitulation, for that another breach of faith, another foul
massacre, would render the name of Greece despicable in civilized
Europe and ruin the cause of the country. Hamilton’s character was
greatly respected, and his words had their effect. He insisted upon
their chartering ships to embark the Turks. He himself took five
hundred of them on board the _Cambrian_, and nine hundred were
embarked in the Greek transports. This interference of Captain
Hamilton excited great anger in Greece.
The Turkish fleet did not escape absolutely scathless after its
inglorious departure from Nauplia. Although unmolested by the Greeks,
it sailed north, and anchored inside the island of Tenedos.
Kanaris persuaded the people of Psara to fit out two fire-ships. He
took the command of one, and both sailed for the Turkish fleet, which
they approached at daybreak. Two line-of-battle ships were anchored to
windward of the rest of the fleet. Kanaris undertook the destruction
of the ship to leeward, that being the most difficult operation. He
succeeded as well as he had done on two previous occasions. He ran the
enemy aboard to windward, lashed the fire-ship there, and fired the
train. The Turk was at once enveloped in flames, and the whole of the
crew, eight hundred in number, perished.
But Kanaris seemed to be the only Greek naval officer who had the
necessary courage and coolness to manœuvre successfully with
fire-ships. The other captain ran his fire-ship alongside the
man-of-war which carried the flag of the capitan-pasha. The position
of the fire-ship was, however, ill chosen, and after being set on fire
it drifted away without doing injury to the Turk. The rest of the
Turkish fleet cut their cables and made for the Dardanelles, while one
corvette ran ashore on Tenedos. Another was abandoned by her crew.
Kanaris and the crews of the two fire-ships returned safely to Psara
in their boats.