DRAGUT-REIS
How Sinan Basha and Dragut raided the islands of
Malta and Cozo and captured the town of Tripoli. How
the Knights of Malta captured “the puissant galleon”
belonging to the Kustir-Aga and the Odalisques of the
harem of the Grand Turk. The despair of the ladies and
the advice of the Imaum to Soliman the Magnificent.
A great armada is fitted out in Constantinople. The
preparations for defence on the part of La Valette and
the Knights. The expedition sails from Constantinople and
lands in Malta.
Great must have been the consternation of the Knights when the armada,
commanded by Sinan Basha, appeared off their coasts, and bitter must
have been the reflections of Juan d’Omedes, the Grand Master, who had
all along contended that so formidable an expedition could not possibly
be directed against Malta. The inhabitants of that island were,
however, not left long in doubt, as Sinan, immediately on his arrival,
entered the Grand Harbour, or “the Great Port,” as it was called in
those days. Sinan, in his royal galley, led the way in, contemptuously
assured of an easy victory over so insignificant a place of arms. He
had his first rude awakening before he had traversed some quarter of a
mile of the placid waters of the Great Port. The harbour, as is well
known, though long, is very narrow, and, on the starboard hand of the
Turkish galleys as they entered, the Commandeur de Guimeran, a
Spanish Knight, had ambushed three hundred arquebusiers. As the galley
of Sinan came abreast of the ambush, the Commandeur gave the order to
fire. The volley at so close a range had a terrible effect, especially
among the “chiourme,” or the slaves who rowed the galley, some hundred
of whom were placed _hors de combat_. Sinan, in a furious rage, ordered
an immediate disembarkment; but when his men landed and scaled the
heights of Mount Sceberras (the elevated land on which the city of
Valetta now stands) there was no one to be found, the Commandeur and
the men who had formed the ambush having disappeared. Gazing from the
heights at Il Borgo, the fortress on the opposite side of the harbour
where the Knights then dwelt, Sinan demanded of Dragut, “If that,”
pointing to the fortress, “was the place which he had told the Sultan
could easily be taken?”
Dragut, whom no peril ever daunted, coolly replied:
“Certainly, no eagle ever built his nest on a rock more easy of access.”
A corsair, who had been slave to the Knights, now approached Sinan, and
told him that he had assisted at the building of the fortress; which,
he averred, was so strong that if the admiral delayed until he had
taken it that the winter would be upon them, although it was then only
the month of July. Sinan, as we have said, was a hesitating commander.
He had the ever-present fear of the Grand Turk before his eyes, and was
not inclined for so difficult and dangerous an enterprise as this was
represented to be. Leaving the fortress in his rear, he marched off
to the high land in the centre of the island, on which was situated the
Città Notabile, the capital of Malta, some seven miles distant from
the sea. On their march through the island the Turks committed their
usual atrocities, murdering the wretched inhabitants, firing their
dwellings, destroying their crops, and carrying off their women. Had
the siege of Notabile been pressed, the city must have fallen; but
Sinan declared to Dragut that the principal object of the expedition
was the reduction of Tripoli, and, in consequence, he had not the time
to devote to its reduction. Dragut, furious at this temporising policy,
urged an immediate assault, and, while the contention was waxing
sharp between the two leaders, a letter was brought to Sinan which
had been captured in a Sicilian galley. It was from the “Receiver” of
the Order, who dwelt at Messina, to the Grand Master, informing him
that he had expressly sent this ship to inform him that Andrea Doria
had just returned from Spain and was hastening with a large fleet to
attack the Turks. The letter was a ruse on the part of the “Receiver,”
and contained not a particle of truth. It was, however, quite enough
for Sinan, who immediately called a council of war and imparted this
alarming news to its members. The council, after the invariable fashion
of such bodies, decided to take the safest and easiest course: the
name of the terrible Andrea was one of evil omen to the Ottomans, and,
as one man, they voted for prosecuting their voyage to Tripoli before
the Genoese seaman should put in an appearance. In vain was the fury
of Dragut, who had counted on a full revenge on his ancient enemies
the Knights. The armada sailed to the adjacent island of Gozo, which
was thoroughly sacked with every refinement of cruelty. Every house
on the island was burned, and six thousand of its inhabitants carried
off to slavery. One incident is deserving of record. In Gozo dwelt a
certain Sicilian with his wife and two daughters: sooner than that they
should fall into the hands of the Turks this man stabbed his wife and
daughters and then threw himself, sword in hand, into the ranks of his
enemies, where he slew two of them, wounded several others, and was
then hacked to pieces. The fleet then proceeded to Tripoli, which was
taken almost without opposition, as it was defended by a mere handful
of the Knights and some utterly unreliable Calabrian infantry, who
had never before seen a shot fired: these men very soon mutinied and
refused to fight any longer. Dragut became the autocrat of Tripoli, as
his great predecessor Kheyr-ed-Din Barbarossa had been of Algiers: from
hence, in the years that were to come before his death, he carried on
his sleepless and unending warfare with his Christian foes, on whom he
was destined to inflict another terrible defeat when they attacked this
stronghold which he had made his own.
Claude de la Sangle dying on August 18th, 1557, Jean Parisot de la
Valette was chosen Grand Master of the Knights of Malta in his stead
on August 21st of the same year. He was, as we have said before, in
succession, soldier, captain, councillor, general, and Grand Cross; he
was as wise in council as he was terrible in battle; he was as much
esteemed by his brethren as he was feared by the infidel. Under his
governorship “the Religion” regained the ancient authority which it
had once possessed, especially in some of the German Provinces and in
the Republic of Venice. So great was the influence of La Valette that
he succeeded in making the “Languages” (or confederations of Knights)
of Germany and Venice pay their “responsions,” which had been allowed
to get into arrear. These “responsions” were a tax levied on the
“Languages “ exclusively for the purpose of combatting the infidel,
and La Valette brought all the firmness of his high character to bear,
in order to induce these Knights to do what, he reminded them, was
their simple and obvious duty. Fired by the highest conception of the
office he had been called upon to execute, La Valette allowed none
of those under his command to be slack in their performance of their
duties. In him dwelt the real old crusading spirit. He saw life with
the single eye, for that which was paramount was the utter destruction
of the infidel. There are many men who have a high conception of duty;
there are but few who can inspire those with whom they are brought
in contact. Of these latter was Jean Parisot de la Valette; in him
the pure flame of religious enthusiasm burnt with so clear a light as
to act as an illuminant for the paths of others. In him dwelt that
rare quality of lifting others almost to that plane on which he dwelt
himself, of making men nobler and better almost in spite of themselves.
So it was that, when La Valette stooped to remind others of his brother
Knights that they owed money to the Order, that money was paid at once.
Having thus restored order to the finances, the Grand Master turned his
attention to the state of affairs (as he had received them from his
predecessor) connected with the territorial possessions of the Knights.
For long years now the fortress of Tripoli had been in the hands of the
renowned Dragut, who was the scourge and the terror of the Christians.
The corsair dwelt in his stronghold in insolent defiance of the
Knights, whose property it once had been. Years before he had wrested
it from them by the strong hand: what, then, more necessary in the
eyes of such an one as La Valette than to expel this audacious pirate?
The Grand Master invited the co-operation of Juan la Cerda (a Spanish
Grandee, Duke of Medina-Celi, and Viceroy of Sicily for the King of
Spain) in this enterprise. The Viceroy joyfully acceded to the request,
and informed his master. Philip II. approved the project, and sent
orders to the Duke of Sesse, Governor of Milan, to the Duke of Alcala,
Governor of Naples, and to John Andrea Doria, General of the Galleys,
to join forces and to repair to Sicily, placing themselves under the
orders of the Duke of Medina-Celi, who was expressly charged to take
no action save by the advice of the Grand Master. The expedition
assembled, the Duke took it to Malta, where it wintered, and in the
spring it sailed and attacked Tripoli.
They found this fortress, however, in a very different state from that
which they expected. Dragut, says De Vertot, “avoit faire terasser les
murailles de cette place.” Bastions had been constructed, and every
advantage taken for defence which was permitted by the terrain, or
that the art of fortification admitted at this epoch. The castle, which
was not advantageously placed, was, notwithstanding, put in a state of
defence by an enormous expenditure of money. Great towers, in which
were mounted many big guns, defended the entrance to the port, which
had become the headquarters of the vessels owned by Dragut, and also of
those corsairs who sailed their craft under the crescent flag of the
Sultan of Constantinople. It was against such a fortress as this that
the Duke of Medina-Celi went up: we have no space to deal here with the
details of this attack, which ended in the hopeless and irremediable
defeat of the Christian forces. The Duke was an incompetent commander;
he was opposed to one of the greatest leaders of the age—an expert
in almost every branch of the science of war, in command of a large
body of the fiercest fighters of the day, who ever feared the wrath of
Dragut more than the swords of the enemy.
La Valette, though he mourned over the repulse of the Christian
forces from Tripoli, did not on that account allow his pursuit of
the infidel to grow faint; the galleys of “the Religion” were always
at sea, and both the corsairs and the Ottoman Turks were perpetually
losing valuable ships and costly merchandise. Under the General of
the Galleys, the Commandeur Gozon de Melac, and that celebrated
chevalier, the Commandeur de Romegas, the sea forces of the Knights
were everywhere in evidence. Into the hands of the Christians fell the
Penon de Velez, situated on the northern coast of Africa opposite to
Malaga—a fortress much frequented by the corsairs; the Goletta at
Tunis was also taken, and the pirates became so much alarmed that they
demanded succour from Constantinople. They represented to Soliman that,
at this rate, the whole of Northern Africa would soon be in the hands
of the Christians to the total exclusion of the true believer.
Soliman listened to their complaints and promised that soon he would
send forth an armament which should put an end to the misfortunes from
which they were suffering. Once again preparations were begun in the
arsenals of Constantinople, and while these were in progress an event
took place which had an important bearing on the situation. Just after
the taking of the Penon de Velez seven galleys of “the Religion,”
under the command of the chevaliers de Giou and De Romegas, which were
cruising in the neighbourhood of Zante and Cephalonia, fell in with
“a puissant galleon” filled with the richest merchandise of the East,
armed with “twenty great cannons of bronze,” and a number of smaller
guns, under the command of the Reis Bairan-Ogli, having on board
“excellent officers of artillery,” as well as two hundred Janissaries
for her defence. This great ship was the property of Kustir-Aga, the
chief Eunuch of the Seraglio of the Sultan, and many of the ladies of
the harem were interested in a pecuniary sense in the safe arrival of
this vessel at Constantinople. The galleys of “the Religion” attacked,
and, after a most obstinate resistance, in which one hundred and twenty
of the Christians and an even larger number of the Turks were killed,
the galleon was captured.
If there had been an outcry in Constantinople before this occurrence
it was all as nothing to that which now arose. Kustir-Aga and the
Odalisques of the Harem prostrated themselves at the feet of Soliman
the Magnificent, and with streaming eyes, dishevelled hair, and frantic
gestures, demanded the instant despatch of an expedition to utterly
exterminate these barbarian corsairs, the Knights of Malta, who had
thus injured them and lacerated their tenderest susceptibilities.
The Grand Turk, autocrat as he was, had no peace day or night; he
was surrounded by wailing women and sullen officials, all of whom
had lost heavily by the capture of the puissant galleon. The Imaum,
or preacher in the principal mosque, called upon the Sultan in his
discourse to fall upon the audacious infidel and smite him hip and
thigh. He reminded the Padishah that, in the dungeons of the Knights,
true believers were languishing; that on the rowers’ benches of the
galleys of “the Religion” Moslems were being flogged like dogs. In
a furious peroration he concluded: “It is only thy invincible sword
which can shatter the chains of these unfortunates, whose cries are
rising to heaven and afflicting the ears of the Prophet of God: the
son is demanding his father, the wife her husband and her children.
All, therefore, wait upon thee, upon thy justice, and thy power, for
vengeance upon their cruel and implacable enemies.”
Contrary to all precedent, which enjoins the most perfect silence in
the mosque, these bold utterances were received with something more
than murmurs of applause: never in all his long and glorious reign had
the great and magnificent despot heard so plainly the voice of his
people. Apart, however, from eunuchs, women, and Mullahs, Soliman had
long been importuned by Dragut to take the course which was now being
urged upon him with so much insistence. There was at this time no
warrior in all his _entourage_ for whose opinion the Sultan had the same
respect as he had for that of the ruler of Tripoli. Dragut had more
than a tincture of learning: he was first of all an incomparable leader
of men and an entirely competent seaman. He was also a scientific
artillerist, and was learned in the technique of the fortification of
his time. Added to this he was—albeit by no means so cruel as most of
his contemporaries—one of those men before whom all trembled: as we
have seen in the case of the corsairs who defended “Africa,” “they
feared the wrath of Dragut more than death itself.”
It was this renowned leader who warned Soliman against the Knights; he
pointed out that they were far more dangerous now than they had been
in 1523, the year of their expulsion from Rhodes. When established
there they were, so to speak, surrounded by the Turkish Empire; in
Malta, on the contrary, they were easily succoured from Sicily, which
belonged to Spain, another implacable enemy of the Moslem; that Malta
lay right on the route which all the ships of the Sultan must take on
passage from the East to Constantinople; and in consequence the Order
was a standing and perpetual menace to the trade of the Empire. All
this was so undeniably true that so shrewd a man and so competent a
ruler as Soliman could not fail to be impressed by the soundness of the
reasoning. Besides all this, he knew quite well that now he could
not hold back, had it been even against his inclination—which was by
no means the case; for there had arisen one of those storms of popular
opinion—all the more formidable because of their infrequency—before
which even the most hardened of despots must bend. Accordingly the
Sultan called a conference of his fighting men, which was held on
horseback in the open-air. The inclination of the Sultan being known,
most of the generals, like good courtiers, voted for immediate war
with the Knights. At this conference was present that Ali Basha, or
Occhiali, or Uluchali, as he was indifferently called, of whom we shall
have more to say later on. Upon this occasion he was present as the
representative of Dragut, and urged, on behalf of his master, that the
time was not yet ripe for an attack on Malta. First, he contended, it
was necessary to recapture the Goletta and the Peñon de Velez, and to
defeat the Moors of Tunis, who were feudatories of the Spanish king and
avowed enemies of the Ottoman Empire. Ali was supported by one Mahomet,
an old warrior who had grown white in the service of the Sultan, who
strongly opposed the contemplated campaign on the ground that the
Knights would in all probability have the full strength of Europe at
their backs.
Numbers, however, added to the personal inclination of the Sultan,
carried the day. The die was cast, the memorable expedition was decided
upon, and all the Sultan’s vast Empire soon rang with the note of
preparation. The Capitan Basha, Piali, was in command of the fleet, and
the direction of the land forces was confided to Mustafa, an old
officer sixty-five years of age, a severe disciplinarian, and of a
sanguinary and cruel disposition to any of his enemies who had the
misfortune to fall into his hands.
Once again did Europe lose itself in speculation: against whom, all
men were asking, was this new expedition to be directed? Spain feared
for her African possessions, as the Goletta was the key to the kingdom
of Tunis, while the Peñon de Velez was one of the bulwarks of Algeria.
In consequence Don Garcia de Toledo passed over from Sicily to confer
with the Grand Master of the Knights. Garcia de Toledo was by no means
a favourable specimen of the illustrious race from which he sprang,
and was a complete antithesis to La Valette; he was to prove himself
in the terrible days that were to come to be sluggish, incompetent, a
ruler who could not rule, a person for ever letting “I dare not wait
upon I would.” Just as long as Spain considered this new expedition
was directed against herself considerable activity was shown; when the
attack developed and it was seen that the objective of the Turks was
Malta, the procrastinating Spanish king and his incompetent viceroy
allowed matters so to drift that, had any other man than La Valette
been in command at Malta, the fall of that island had been inevitable.
We have seen how Juan d’Omedes had dealt with a previous crisis
in the affairs of the Order; very different was it in the opening
months of the year 1565. La Valette was well served by his spies in
Constantinople, and the Grand Master was under no illusions from the
very first as to what the destination of the army of the Sultan would
be. He recognised that against the small islands of Malta and Gozo
all the strength of the mightiest Empire in the world was about to be
directed, and with serene confidence set about the task of preparation.
His first care was to send out “a general citation” to those Knights
living in their own homes in different countries in Europe, commanding
them to repair at once to Malta and take part in the defence of that
Order to which they had vowed to consecrate their lives. The agents
of the Order in Italy succeeded in raising two thousand infantry, and
the Viceroy of Sicily sent over two companies of Spanish infantry
which he had promised. All the galleys of “the Religion” were called
in from distant service and were set to work importing ammunition,
stores, provisions, and all requisites for the withstanding of a
siege. As the galleys passed backwards and forwards to Sicily, in each
returning vessel came noble gentlemen of every country in Europe, in
answer to the summons of their Grand Master. They were received with
the tenderest affection by him and by those others already assembled;
never in all its long and glorious history had the Order assembled in
circumstances more grave; never in its history, either in the past
or in the future, did it quit itself with so supreme a heroism as in
those days of 1565 which were yet to come. In Malta the orderly bustle
of preparation went on ceaselessly; the Italian and Spanish troops
and the inhabitants of the island, for the most part hardy mariners
well accustomed to the ceaseless _guerre de course_ of the Knights, were
formed into companies, officered by the members of the Order, and
assigned to different posts.
Meanwhile the Grand Master caused copies of the letters which he had
received from Constantinople to be sent to all the great princes of
Europe; showing them the straits to which the Order was shortly to be
reduced and imploring of them to send timely succour. But it was not
upon outside aid that La Valette counted overmuch; he was preparing
to confront the Turks with such forces as he had at his own disposal;
content, if necessary, to leave the issue in the hands of the God in
whom he trusted. As the chevaliers came flocking to the standard of
St. John he received them, we are told, “as a kind father receives
his beloved children, having provided in advance for their food and
lodging.” He personally entered into the most minute details of his
charge; he reviewed his infantry, he instructed his artillery, he
planned sites for hospitals, he sketched out new fortifications, and
then went among the humblest of his followers and wielded the pick and
shovel in the burning sun. Everywhere his cheering presence was felt,
his equable and serene temperament diffused confidence and hope.
All things being thus in train he assembled his brethren and addressed
them in the following terms:
“A formidable army, composed of audacious barbarians, is descending
on this island; these persons, my brothers, are the enemies of Jesus
Christ. To-day it is a question of the defence of our faith as to
whether the book of the Evangelist is to be superseded by that of the
Koran? God on this occasion demands of us our lives, already vowed
to His service. Happy will those be who first consummate this
sacrifice. But that we may indeed be worthy to render it come, my dear
brothers, to the foot of the altar, where we may renew our vows. Let
each one rely on the blood of the Saviour of men and in the faithful
practice of the sacraments; in them we shall find so generous a
contempt for death that we shall indeed be rendered invincible.”
The Knights then, headed by the Grand Master, took themselves in
procession to the church. Here they confessed and received the
sacrament. “They went out from thence as men who had received a new
birth.” The Knights, we are then told, tenderly embraced one another
in all solemnity; vowing to shed the last drop of their blood in
defence of their religion and its holy altars. It was in this lofty
frame of mind that the Knights of Malta awaited the coming of their
hereditary foe. Into the hearts and minds of these gallant gentlemen
of the best blood in the world the Grand Master had instilled some
leaven of the greatness by which he himself was inspired. When belief
is so wholehearted as it was in the case of La Valette; when it is
allied to a genius for war, and a supreme gift for the inspiration of
others, then that man and the force which he commands are as near to
invincibility as it is permitted to fallible human beings to attain.
There were two things in which the Knights were supremely fortunate on
this occasion: the first was that they had La Valette as Grand Master,
the second that Dragut was not in supreme command of the Turks, and
that the siege had opened before he arrived upon the scene. In this
expedition, as in previous ones, the Turkish commanders had orders to
attempt nothing really important without the advice of Dragut. They
found themselves without him when they arrived and made an initial
mistake. With La Valette in command there was no room for blundering;
the ultimate result of their blunder was the defeat which they
sustained.
Grand Master, Knight, and noble, soldier, peasant, and mariner, strove
valiantly with the task of putting the island into a state of defence,
and when at last the long-expected armada of their foes rose above that
distant blue horizon in the north all had been done that skill and
experience could dictate.
It was upon May 18th in the year 1565 that the Turkish fleet arrived
at Malta. It was composed of one hundred and fifty-nine galleys
and vessels propelled by oars: on board of these was an army for
disembarkation of thirty thousand men, composed of Janissaries and
Spahis, the very pick and flower of the Turkish army. Soliman the
Magnificent was leaving as little to chance as was possible on this
occasion; he well knew the temper of the Knights, and that this
expedition had before it a task which would try both the army and its
leaders to the very utmost of their strength. Behind the main body of
the fleet came a host of vessels, charged with provisions, the horses
of the Spahis, the siege-train of the artillery, all the innumerable
appliances and engines of war which were in use at that day. The
initial mistake on the part of the Turks was in embarking cavalry for a
siege; they knew, or they should have known, of the extreme smallness
of the island which they were about to attack, and that they were by
no means likely to be met with armies in the field owing to the
enormous preponderance of numbers which they had assured to themselves.
Piali, as we have said, was in command of the fleet, and Mustafa of
the army; the corsairs did not arrive on the scene till some days
afterwards.
The Turks landed some men who encountered the Chevalier La Riviere
and some Maltese troops, with whom they had some lively skirmishes.
Unfortunately, in one of these the Chevalier was captured, put to
the torture, and eventually beheaded for having wilfully misled
the Turks. A council of war was held by Piali, Mustafa, and their
principal officers, to deliberate on the best manner of prosecuting
the enterprise on which they were engaged. The admiral, wishing to
conform strictly with the instructions of Soliman, voted to delay all
initiative until the arrival of the famous corsair. Mustafa, however,
held a different opinion: the unfortunate Chevalier La Riviere had,
before his death, informed the Turkish general that large and powerful
succours were expected daily from Sicily. Secretly disquieted by this
news, which he had at the time affected to disbelieve, Mustafa now
urged immediate action. His opinion was that, in the first instance,
they had better attack the castle of St. Elmo. It was a small and
insignificant fort which at best would only delay them some five or
six days; when this had fallen they could proceed to the more serious
business of taking Il Borgo, the principal fortress on the island in
which the Grand Master and most of the Knights were established. By the
time St. Elmo had been taken they might reasonably expect that Dragut
and his corsairs would have arrived, and, with these seasonable
reinforcements, proceed to the really formidable portion of their
task. In their decisions both admiral and general were wrong; to delay
attack, once the troops were landed, was a counsel of pusillanimity
hardly to be expected of Piali, but showing at the same time how
he dreaded above all else departing one iota from the instructions
which he had received. To attack the castle of St. Elmo first was a
military mistake, because it could be—and was during the whole of the
siege—reinforced from its larger sister Il Borgo.
The discourse of Mustafa prevailed in the council of war, and the siege
of St. Elmo was decided upon and immediately begun.
[Illustration: JEAN PARISOT DE LA VALETTE, GRAND MASTER OF THE KNIGHTS
OF MALTA, AT THE SIEGE OF THAT ISLAND BY THE TURKS IN 1565.]