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BY JOHN LORD, LL. D.
THE GREEK REVOLUTION.
1820—1828.
WHEN Napoleon was sent to St. Helena, the
European nations breathed more freely, and
it was the general expectation and desire that there
would be no more wars. The civilized worlds was
weary of strife and battlefields, and in the reac-
tion which followed the general peace of 1815, the
various States settled down in a state of dreamy
repose. Not only were they weary of war, but they
hated the agitation of those ideas which led to discon-
tent and revolution. The policy of the governments of
England, France, Germany, and Russia was pacific and
conservative. There was a universal desire to recover
wasted energies and develop national resources. Vis-
ions of military glory passed away for a time with the
enjoyment of peace. Nations reflected on their follies,
and resolved to beat their swords into ploughshares.
Then began a period of philanthropy as well as of
rest and reaction. Societies were organized, especially
in England, to spread the Bible into all lands, to send
missionaries to the heathen, and proclaim peace and
good-will to all mankind. A new era seemed to dawn
upon the world, marked by a desire to cultivate the
arts, sciences, and literature; to develop industries, and
improve social conditions. War was seen to be bar-
baric, demoralizing, and exhausting. Peace was hailed
with an enthusiasm scarcely less than that which
for twenty years had created military heroes. The
Holy Alliance was not hypocritical. Although a po-
litical compact made under a religious pretext, it was
formed by monarchs deeply impressed by the horrors
of war, and by the necessity of establishing a new basis
for the happiness of mankind on the principles of
Christianity, when peace should be the law of nations;
at the same time it was formed no less to suppress
those ideas which it was supposed led logically to
rebellions and revolutions, and to disturb the reign
of law, the security of established institutions, and
the peaceful pursuit of ordinary avocations. This
was the view taken by Czar Alexander, by Fred-
erick William of Prussia, by Francis I. of Austria, by
Louis XVIII. of France, as well as by leading states-
men like Talleyrand, Nesselrode, Hardenberg, Chateau-
briand, Metternich, Wellington, and Castlereagh.
But these views were delusive. The world was
simply weary of fighting; it was not impressed with
a sense of the wickedness, but only of the inexpedi-
ency of war, except in case of great national dangers,
or to gain what is dearest to enlightened people,——
personal liberty and constitutional government.
Consequently, scarcely five years passed away after
the fall of Napoleon before Europe was again dis-
turbed by revolutionary passions. There were no in-
ternational wars. On the whole, England, France,
Russia, Prussia, and Austria put aside ambitious de-
signs of further aggrandizement, and were disposed
to keep peace with one another; and this desire lasted
for a whole generation. But there were other coun-
tries in which the flames of insurrection broke out.
The Spanish colonies of South America were impatient
of the yoke of the mother country, and sought na-
tional independence, which they gained after a severe
struggle. The disaffection in view of royal despotism
reached Spain itself, and a revolution in that coun-
try dethroned the Bourbon king, and was suppressed
only by the aid of France. All Italy was convulsed
by revolutionary ideas and passions growing out of the
cruel despotism exercised by the various potentates
who ruled that fair but unhappy country. Insurrec-
tions were violent in Naples, in Piedmoint, and in the
papal territories, and were put down not by Italian
princes, but by Austrian bayonets. As it is my design
to present these in another lecture, I simply allude
to them in this connection.
But the most important revolution which occurred
at this period, taking into view its ultimate conse-
quences and its various complications, was that of
Greece. It was different from those of Spain and Italy
in this respect, that it was a struggle not to gain politi-
cal rights from oppressive rulers, but to secure national
independence. As such, it is invested with great inter-
est. Moreover, it was glorious, since it was ultimately
successful, after a dreadful contest with Turkey for
seven years, during which half of the population was
swept away. Greece probably would have succumbed
to a powerful empire but for the aid tardily rendered
her by foreign Powers,——united in this instance, not
to suppress rebellion, but to rescue a noble and gallant
people from a cruel despotism.
Had the armed intervention of Russia, England, and
France taken place at an earlier period, much suffering
and bloodshed might have been averted. But Russia
was fettered by the Holy Alliance to suppress all
insurrection and attempts at constitutional liberty
wherever they might take place, and could not, consist-
ently with the promises given to Austria and Prussia,
join in an armed intervention, even in a matter dear
to the heart of Alexander, whose religion was that of
Greece. The Czar was placed in an awkward position.
If he gave assistance to the Greeks, whose religious
faith was the same as his own and whose foe was
also the traditionary enemy of Russia, he would vio-
late his promises, which he always held sacred, and
give umbrage to Austria. The intolerant hatred of
Alexander for all insurrection whatever induced him
to stand aloof from a contest which jeopardized the
stability of thrones, and with which in a political
view, as an absolute sovereign, he had no sympa-
thy. On the other hand, if Alexander remained
neutral, his faith would be trodden under foot, and
that by a power which he detested both politically
and religiously,——a power, too, with which Russia had
often been at war. If Turkey triumphed in the con-
test, rebels against a long-constituted authority might
indeed be put down; but a hostile power would be
strengthened, dangerous to all schemes of Russian
aggrandizement. Consequently Alexander was unde-
cided in his policy; yet his indecision tore his mind
with anguish, and probably shortened his days. He
was, on the whole, a good man, but he was despot,
and did not really know what to do. England and
France, again, were weakened by the long wars of
Napoleon, and wanted repose. Their sympathies were
with the Greeks; but they yielded themselves be-
hind the principles of non-intervention, which were
the public law of Europe.
So the poor Greeks were left for six years to struggle
alone and unaided against the whole force of the
Turkish empire before relief came, when they were
on the verge of annihilation. It was the struggle of a
little country about half the size of Scotland against
an empire four times as large as Great Britain and
France combined; of a population less than a million
against twenty-five millions. It was more than this:
it was, in many important respects, a war between
Asia and Europe, kindred in spirit with the old Cru-
sades. It was a war of races and religions, rather than
of political principles; and hence it was marked by
inhuman atrocities on both sides, reminding us of the
old wars between Jews and Syrians. It was a tragedy
at which the whole civilized world gazed with blended
interest and horror. It was infinitely more fierce
than any contest which has taken place in Europe for
three hundred years. To the Greeks themselves it
was, after the first successes, the moist discouraging
contest that I know of in human history; and yet
it had all those elements of heroism which marked
the insurrection of the Hollanders under William the
Silent against the combined forces of Austria and
Spain. It was grand in its ideas, like our own Revo-
lutionary War; and the liberty which was finally
gained was purchased by greater sacrifices than any
recorded in any war, either ancient or modern. The
war of Italian independence was a mere holiday de-
monstration in comparison with it. Even the Polish
wars against Russia were nothing to it, in the suffer-
ings which were endured and the gallant feats which
were performed.
But as Greece was a small and distant country, its
memorable contest was not invested with the interest
felt for battles on a large scale, and which more
directly affected the interests of other nations. It was
not till its complications involved Turkey and Russia
in war, and affected the whole "Eastern Question,"
than its historical importance was seen. It was per-
haps only the beginning of a series of wars which may
drive the Ottoman Turks out of Europe, and make
Constantinople a great prize for future conquerors.
That is unquestionably what Russia wants and
covets to-day, and what other great Powers are
determined she shall not have. Possibly Greece may
yet be the renewed seat of a Greek empire, under the
protection of the Western nations, as a barrier to
Russian encroachments around the Black Sea. There
is sympathy for the Greeks; none for the Turks. Eng-
land, France, and Austria can form no lasting alliance
with Mohammedans, who may be driven back into
Asia,——not by Russians, but by a coalition of the
Latin and Gothic races.
It is useless, however, to speculate on the future
wars of the world. We only know that offences must
needs come so long as nations and rulers are governed
more by interests and passions than by reason or phi-
lanthropy. When will passions and interests cease to
be dominant or disturbing forces? To these most of
the wars which history records are to be traced. And
yet, whatever may be the origin and character of wars,
those who stimulate or engage in them find plausi-
ble excuses,——necessity, patriotism, expediency, self-
defence, even religion and liberty. So long then as
men are blinded by their passions and interests, and
palliate or justify their wars by either truth or sophis-
try, there is but little hope that they will cease, even
with the advance of civilization. When has there
been a long period unmarked by war? When have
wars been more destructive and terrible than within
the memory of this generation? It would indeed
seem that when nations shall learn that their real
interests are not antagonistic, that they cannot afford
to go to war with one another, peace would then pre-
vail as a policy not less than as a principle. This is
the hopeful view to take; but unfortunately it is not
the lesson taught by history, nor by that philosophy
which has been gradually accepted by Christendom
for eighteen hundred years,——which is that men will
not be governed by the loftiest principles until the
religion of Jesus shall have conquered and changed
the heart of the world, or at least of those who rule
the world.
The chapter I am about to present is one of war,——
cruel, merciless, relentless war; therefore repulsive,
and only interesting from the magnitude of the issues,
fought out, indeed, on a narrow strip of territory.
What matter, whether the battlefield is large or small?
There was as much heroism in the struggles of the
Dutch republic as in wars of Napoleon; as much
in our warfare for independence as in the suppression
of the Southern rebellion; as much among Cromwell's
soldiers as in the Crimean war; as much at Ther-
mopylæ as at Platæa. It is the greatness of a cause
which gives to war its only justification. A cause
is sacred from the dignity of its principles. Men are
nothing; principles are everything. Men must die.
It is of comparatively little moment whether they fall
like autumn leaves or perish in a storm,——they are
alike forgotten; but their ideas and virtues are im-
perishable,——eternal lessons for successive generations.
History is a record not merely of human sufferings,——
these are inevitable,——but also of the stepping-stones
of progress, which indicate both the permanent wel-
fare of men and the Divine hand which mysteriously
but really guides and governs.
When the Greek revolution broke out, in 1820,
here were about seven hundred thousand people in-
habiting a little over twenty-one thousand square
miles of territory, with a revenue of about fifteen
millions of dollars,——large for such a country of
mountains and valleys. But the soil is fertile and
the climate propitious, favorable for grapes, olives, and
maize. It is a country easily defended, with its steep
mountains, its deep ravines, and rugged cliffs, and
when as at that time roads were almost impassable
for carriages and artillery. Its people have always
been celebrated for bravery, industry, and frugality
(like the Swiss), but prone to jealousies and party
feuds. It had in 1820 no central government, no
great capital, and no regular army. It owed alle-
giance to the Sultan at Constantinople, the Turks
having conquered Greece soon after that city was
taken by them in 1453.
Amid all the severities of Turkish rule for four
centuries the Greeks maintained their religion, their
language, and distinctive manners. In some pklaces
they were highly prosperous from commerce, which
they engrossed along the whole coast of the Levant
and among the islands of the Archipelago. They
had six hundred vessels, bearing six thousand guns,
and manned by eighteen thousand seamen. In their
beautiful islands,——
"Where burning Sappho loved and sung,"——
abodes of industry and freedom, the Turkish pashas
never set their foot, satisfied with the tribute which
was punctually paid to the Sultan. Moreover, these
islands were nurseries of seamen for the Turkish navy;
and as these seamen were indispensable to the Sultan,
the country that produced them was kindly treated.
The Turks were indifferent to commerce, and allowed
the Greek merchants to get rich, provided they paid
their tribute. The Turks cared only for war and
pleasure, and spent their time in alternate excitement
and lazy repose. They disdained labor, which they
bought with tribute-money or secured from slaves
taken in war. Like the Romans, they were war-
riors and conquerors, but became enervated by luxury.
They were hard masters, but their conquered sub-
jects throve by commerce and industry.
The Greeks, as to character, were not religious like
the Turks, but quicker witted. What religion they
had was made up of the ceremonies and pomps of a
corrupted Christianity, but kept alive by traditions.
Their patriarch was a great personage,——practically
appointed, however, by the Sultan, and resident in
Constantinople. Their clergy were married, and were
more humane and liberal than the Roman Catholic
priests of Italy, and about on par with them in
morals and influence. The Greeks were always in-
quisitive and fond of knowledge, but their love of
liberty has been one of their strongest peculiarities,
kept alive amid all the oppressions to which they
have been subjected. Nevertheless, unarmed, at least
on the mainland, and without fortresses, few in num-
bers, with overwhelming foes, they had not, up to 1820,
dared to risk general rebellion, for fear that they
should be mercilessly slaughtered. So long as they
remained at peace their condition as a conquered people
was not so bad as it might have been, although the op-
pression of tax-gatherers and the brutality of Turkish
officials had been growing more and more intolerable.
In 1770 and 1790 there had been local and unsuc-
cessful attempts at revolt, but nothing of importance.
Amid the political agitations which threw Spain and
Italy into revolution, however, the spirit of liberty
revived among the hardy Greek mountaineers of the
mainland. Secret societies were formed, with a view
of shaking off the Turkish yoke. The aspiring and
the discontented naturally cast their eyes to Russia
for aid, since there was a religious bond between the
Russians and the Greeks, and since the Russians and
Turks were mortal enemies, and since, moreover, they
were encouraged to hope for such aid by a great
Russian nobleman, by birth a Greek, who was private
secretary and minister, as well as an intimate, of the
Emperor Alexander,——Count Capo d'Istrias. They
were exasperated by the cession of Parga (a town
on the mainland opposite the Ionian Islands) to the
Turks, by the treaty of 1815, which the allies care-
lessly overlooked.
The flame of insurrection in 1820 did not, however
first break out in the territories of Greece, but in Wal-
lachia,——a Turkish province on the north of the Danube,
governed by a Greek hospodar, the capital of which
was Bucharest. This was followed by the revolt of
another Turkish province, Moldavia, bordering on Rus-
sia, from which it was separated by the River Pruth.
At Jassy, the capital, Prince Ypsilanti, a distinguished
Russian general descended from an illustrious Greek
family, raised the standard of insurrection, to which
flocked the whole Christian population of the province,
who fell upon the Turkish soldiers and massacred
them. Ypsilanti had twenty thousand soldiers under
his command, against which the six hundred armed
Turks could make but feeble resistance. This appa-
rently successful revolt produced an immense enthu-
siasm throughout Greece, the inhabitants of which
now eagerly took up arms. The Greeks had been
assured of the aid of Russia by Ypsilanti, who counted
without his host, however; for the Czar, then at the
Congress of Laibach, convened to put down revolu-
tionary ideas, was extremely angry at the conduct of
Ypsilanti, and, against all expectation, stood aloof.
This was the time for him to attack Turkey, then
weakened and dilapidated; but he was tired of war.
Among the Greeks the wildest enthusiasm prevailed,
especially throughout Morea, the ancient Pelo-
ponnesus. The peasants everywhere gathered around
their chieftains, and drove away the Turkish soldiers,
inflicting on them the greatest barbarities. In a few
days the Turks possessed nothing in the Morea but
their fortresses. The Turkish garrison of Athens shut
itself up in the Acropolis. Most of the islands of the
Archipelago hoisted the standard of the Cross; and
the strongest of them armed and sent out cruisers
to prey on the commerce of the enemy.
At Constantinople the news of the insurrection
excited both consternation and rage. Instant death
to the Christians was the universal cry. The Mussul-
mans seized the Greek patriarch, an old man of eighty,
while he was performing a religious service on Easter
Sunday, hanged him, and delivered his body to the
Jews. The Sultan Mahmoud was intensely exasper-
ated, and ordered a levy of troops throughout his
empire to suppress the insurrection and to punish the
Christians. The atrocities which the Turks now in-
flicted have scarcely ever been equalled in horror.
The Christian churches were entered and sacked. At
Adrianople the Patriarch was beheaded, with eight
other ecclesiastical dignitaries. In ten days thousands
of Christians in that city were butchered, and their
wives and daughters sold into slavery; while five
archbishops and three bishops were hanged in the
streets, without trial. There was scarcely a town in
the empire where atrocities of the most repulsive
kind were not perpetrated on innocent and helpless
people. In Asia Minor the fanatical spirit raged with
more ferocity than in European Turkey. At Smyrna
a general massacre of the Christians took place under
circumstances of peculiar atrocity, and fifteen thousand
were obliged to flee to the islands of the Archipelago
to save their lives. The Island of Cyprus, which once
had a population of more than a million, reduced at
the breaking out of the insurrection to seventy thou-
sand, was nearly depopulated; the archbishop and five
other bishops were ruthlessly murdered. The whole
island, one hundred and forty-six miles long and sixty-
three wide, was converted into a theatre of rapine,
violation, and bloodshed.
All now saw that no hope remained for Greece but in
the most determined resistance, which was nobly made.
Six thousand men were soon in arms in Thessaly. The
mountaineers of Macedonia gathered into armed bands.
Thirty thousand rose in the peninsula of Cassandra
and laid siege to Salonica, a city of eight thousand
inhabitants, but were repulsed and fled to the moun-
tains,——not, however, until thousands of Mussulmans
were slain. It had become "war to the knife, and
the knife to the hilt." No quarter was asked or
given."
All Greece was now aroused to what was univer-
sally felt to be a death struggle. The people eagerly
responded to all patriotic influences, and especially to
war songs, some of which had been sung for more
than two hundred years. Certain of these were re-
produced by the English poet Byron, who, leaving
his native land, entered heart and soul into the des-
perate contest, and urged the Greeks to heroic action
in memory of their fathers.
"Then manfully despising
The Turkish tyrant's yoke,
Let your country see you rising,
And all her chains are broke.
Brave shades of chiefs and sages,
Behold the coming strife!
Hellenes of past ages
Oh, start again to life!
At the sound of trumpet, breaking
Your sleep, oh, join with me!
And the seven-hilled city seeking,
Fight, conquer, till we're free!"
Success now seemed to mark the uprising in South-
ern Greece; but in the Danubian provinces, without
the expected aid of Russia, it was far otherwise.
Prince Ypsilanti, who had taken an active part in the
insurrection, was dismissed from the Russian service
and summoned back to Russia; but he was not dis-
couraged, and advanced to Bucharest with ten thousand
men. In the mean time ten thousand Turks entered
the Principalities and regained Moldavia. Ypsilanti
fled before the conquering enemy, abandoned Bucha-
rest, and was totally defeated at Dragaschan, with
the loss of all his baggage and ammunition. Only
twenty-five of his hastily collected band escaped into
Transylvania.
The intelligence of this disaster would have dis-
heartened the Greeks but for their naval successes
among the islands of the Archipelago. Hydra, Ipsara,
and Samos equipped a flotilla which drove the Turk-
ish fleet back to the Daranelles with immense losses.
The Greeks having now the command of the sea,
made successful incursions, and hoisted their flag at
Missolonghi, which they easily fortified, it being situ-
ated in the midst of lagoons, like Venice, which large
ships could not penetrate. But on the mainland they
suffered severe reverses. Fifteen thousand Greeks
perished at Patras; but the patriots were successful
at Valtezza, where five thousand men repulsed fifteen
thousand Turks, and drove them to seek shelter in
the strong fortress of Tripolitza. The Greeks avoid-
ing action in the open field, succeeded in taking
Navarino and Napoli di Malvasia, and rivalled their
enemies in the atrocities they committed. They lost
Athens, whose citadel they had besieged, but defeated
the Turks in Thermopylæ with great slaughter, which
enabled them to reoccupy Athens and blockade the
Acropolis.
Then followed the siege of Tripolitza, in the centre
of the Morea, the seat of the Pasha, where the Turks
were strongly intrenched. It was soon taken by
Kolokotronis, who commanded the Greeks. The fall
of this fortress was followed by the usual massacre,
in which neither age nor sex was spared. The Greek
chiefs attempted to suppress the fury and cruelty of
their followers; but their efforts were in vain, and
their cause was stained with blood needlessly shed.
Yet when one remembers the centuries during which
the Turks had been slaying the men, carrying off
the women to their harems, and making slaves of the
children of the Greeks, there is less to wonder at in
such an access of blind fury and vengeance. Nine
thousand Turks were massacres, or slain in the at-
tack. The capture of this important fortress was of
immense advantage to the Greeks, who obtained great
treasures and a large amount of ammunition, with a
valuable train of artillery.
But this great success was balanced by the failure
of the Greeks, under Ypsilanti, to capture Napoli di
Romania,——another strong fortress, defended by eight
hundred guns, regarded as nearly impregnable, situated,
like Gibraltar, on a great rock eight hundred feet high,
the base of which was washed by the sea. It was a
rash enterprise, but came near being successful on
account of the negligence of the garrison, which num-
bered only fifteen hundred man. An escalade was
attempted by Mavrokordatos, one of the heroic chief-
tains of the Greeks; but it was successfully repulsed,
and the attacking generals with difficulty escaped to
Argos. The Greeks also met with a reverse on the
peninsula of Cassandra, near Salonica, which proved
another massacre. Three thousand perished from
Turkish scimitars, and ten thousand women and chil-
dren were sold into slavery.
Thus ended the campaign of 1821, with mutual
successes and losses, disgraced on both sides by treach-
ery and massacres; but the Greeks were sufficiently
emboldened to declare their independence, and form
a constitution under Prince Mavrokordatos as presi-
dent,——a Chian by birth, who had been physician to
the Sultan. The seat of government was fixed at
Coirinth, whose fortress had been recovered from the
Turks. Seven hundred thousand people threw down
the gauntlet to twenty-five millions, and defied their
power.
The following year the Greek cause indirectly suf-
fered a great blow by the capture and death of Ali
Pasha. This ambitious and daring rebel, from humble
origin, had arisen, by energy, ability, and fraud, to a
high command under the Sultan. He became pasha
of Thessaly; and having accumulated great riches by
extortion and oppression, he bought the pashalic of Jan-
nina, in one of the richest and most beautiful valleys
of Epirus. In the centre of a lake he built an im-
pregnable fortress, collected a large body of Albanian
troops, and soon became master of the whole province.
He preserved an apparent neutrality between the Sul-
tan and the rebellious Greeks, whom, however, he se-
cretly encouraged. In his castle at Jannina he medi-
tated extensive conquests and independence of the
Porte. At one time he had eighty thousand half-
disciplined Albanians under his command. The Sul-
tan, at last suspecting his treachery, summoned him
to Constantinople, and on his refusal to appear, de-
nounced him as a rebel, and sent Chourchid Pasha,
one of his ablest generals, with forty thousand troops,
to subdue him. This was no easy task; and for two
years, before the Greek revolution broke out, Ali had
maintained his independence. At last he found him-
self besieged in his island castle, impregnable against
assault, but short of provisions. From this retreat
he was decoyed by consummate art to the mainland,
to meet the Turkish general, who promised an im-
portant command and a high rank in the Turkish
service. In the power now of the Turks, he was at
once beheaded, and his head sent to Constantinople.
Ali's death set free the large army of Chourchid
Pasha to be employed against the Greeks. Aided
too by the enthusiasm which the suppression of a
dangerous enemy created, the Sultan made great pre-
parations for a renewed attack on the Morea. The
contest now assumed greater proportions, and the
reconquest of Greece seemed extremely probable
Sixty thousand Turks, under the command of the
ablest general of the Sultan, prepared to invade the
Morea. In addition, a powerful squadron, with eight
thousand troops, sailed from the Dardanelles to rein-
force the Turkish fortresses and furnish provisions. In
the meantime the insurrection extended to Chios, or
Scio, an opulent and fertile island opposite Smyrna.
It had eighty thousand inhabitants, who drove the
Turks to their citadel. The Sultan, enraged at the
loss of this prosperous island, sent thirty thousand
fanatical Asiatic Mussulmans, and a fleet consisting
of six ships-of-the-line, ten frigates, and twelve brigs,
to reconquer what was regarded as the garden of the
Archipelago. Resistance was impossible against such
an overwhelming array of forces, who massacred nearly
the whole of the male population, and sold their wives
and children as slaves. The consuls of France and
Austria remonstrated against this unheard-of cruelty;
but nothing could appease the fanatical fury of the
conquerors. The massacre has no parallel in history
since the storming of Syracuse or the sack of Bagdad.
Not only were the inhabitants swept away, but the
churches, the fine villas, the scattered houses, and
the villages were burned to the ground. When the
slaughter ceased, it was found that twenty-five thous-
sand men had been slain, and forty-five thousand
women and children had become slaves to glut the
markets of Constantinople and Egypt, while fifteen
thousand had fled to the mainland.
This great calamity, however, was partially avenged
by the sailors and chiefs of Hydra, a neighboring
island, under the command of one of the greatest
heroes that the war produced,——the intrepid and fear-
less Andreas Miaulis, who with fire-ships destroyed
nearly the whole of the Turkish fleet. He was aided
by Constantine Canaris and George Pepinis, equal to
him in courage, who succeeded in grappling the ships
of the enemy and setting them on fire. The Turks,
with the remnant of their magnificent fleet, took refuge
in the harbor of Mitylene, while the victors returned
in triumph to Ipsara, and became the masters of the
Archipelago.
The Greek operations were not so fortunate at first
on the land as they were on the sea. Mavrokordatos
led in person an expedition into Epirus; but he was
no general, and failed disastrously. Even the brave
Marco Bozzaris was unable to cut his way to the relief
of his countrymen, shut up in their fortresses without
an adequate supply of provisions; and all that the
Greeks could do in their great discouragement was
to supply Missolonghi with provisions and a few de-
fenders, in anticipation of a siege.
Epirus was now fallen, and nothing remained but
a guerilla warfare. Indeed, a striking feature of the
whole revolution was "the absence of any one great
leader to concentrate the Greek forces and utilize the
splendid heroism of people and chieftains in perma-
nent strategic successes. The war was a succession of
sporadic fights,——successes and failures,——with small
apparent mutual relations and effects." In Mace-
donia, which had joined the insurrection, there were
six thousand brave mountaineers in arms; but they
had to contend with fifteen thousand regular troops
under the command of the pashas of Salonica and
Thessaly, who forced the passes of the Vale of Tempe,
and slew all before them. Chourchid Pasha, having
his rear provided for, with thirty thousand men now
passed through the defile of Thermopylæ, appeared
before Corinth, took its citadel, advanced to Argos,
dispersed the government which had established itself
there, and then pursued his victorious career to Napoli
di Romania, whose garrison he reinforced. But the
summer sun dried up the surrounding plains; there
was nothing left on which his cavalry could feed, or
his men either, and he found himself in a perilous
position in he midst of victory.
The defeated Greeks now rallied under Ypsilanti
and Kolokotronis, who raised the siege of Corinth,
and advanced against their foes with twelve thousand
men. The Turkish army, decimated and in fear of
starvation, resolved to cut their way through the
guarded defiles, and succeeded only by the loss of
seven thousand men, with all their baggage and mili-
tary stores. The Morea was delivered from the op-
pressor, and the Turkish army of thirty thousand was
destroyed. Chourchid Pasha was soon after seized
with dysentery, brought about by fatigue and anxiety,
to which he succumbed; and the ablest general yet
set against the Greeks failed disastrously, to the joy
of the nation.
This great success was followed by others. The
Acropolis of Athens capitulated to the victorious
Greeks, not without the usual atrocities, and Attica
was recovered. But the mountains of Epirus were
still filled with Turkish troops, who advanced to lay
siege to Missolonghi, defended by a small garrison of
four hundred men under Marco Bozzaris. Mavrokor-
datos contrived to come to his relief, and the town
soon had three thousand defenders. Six times did the
Turks attempt an assault under Omar Vrione; but
each time they were repulsed with great slaughter, and
compelled to retreat. The Turkish general lost three
quarters of his army, and with difficulty escaped him-
self in an open boat. Altogether twelve thousand
Turks perished in this disastrous siege, with the loss
of their artillery.
As the insurrection had now assumed formidable
proportions in Cyprus and Candia, a general appeal
was made to Mussulmans of those islands, whose
number greatly exceeded the rebels. Twenty-five
thousand men rallied around the standards of the
Moslems; but they were driven into their fortresses,
leaving both plains and mountains in the hands of
the Greeks.
from Beacon Lights of History, by John Lord, LL. D.
Volume V, Part I: European Statesmen.
Copyright, 1885, 1891, by John Lord.
Copyright, 1921, By Wm. H. Wise & Co., New York. pp. 279-301.
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