Battle of Vergas
Encyclopedia
The Ottoman-Egyptian Invasion of Mani was a campaign during the Greek War of Independence
that consisted of three battles. The Maniots
fought against a combined Egyptian and Ottoman
army under the command of Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt
.
On March 17, 1821, the Maniots (residents of the central peninsula on the southern part of the Peloponnese
) declared war on the Ottoman Empire
, preceding the rest of Greece in joining the revolution by about a week. The various Greek forces won a quick string of victories, however, disputes broke out amongst the leaders and anarchy ensued. The Ottomans seized this chance and called for reinforcements from Egypt. The reinforcements came under the command of Ibrahim Pasha, the son of the leader of Egypt, Muhammad Ali
. With the Greeks in disarray, Ibrahim ravaged the Peloponnese and after a four months siege he captured the city of Missolonghi in April. He then went back to Peloponnese and turned his attention in June to Mani
.
Ibrahim tried to enter Mani from the north-east near Almiro on June 21, 1826, but he was forced to stop at the fortifications at Vergas. His army of 7,000 men was held off by an army of 2,000 Maniots and 500 refugees from other parts of Greece. Despite Egyptian and Ottoman artillery, the outnumbered Maniots managed to hold off the Ottomans. Ibrahim sent 1,500 men to attempt a landing near Areopolis and go north to threaten the Maniot rear. This force was initially successful; however the women and old men of the area fought back and repelled them with heavy losses. When the Egyptians at Vergas heard that Theodoros Kolokotronis
was advancing on their rear they retreated.
In August, Ibrahim renewed the offensive and he sent a group of regular soldiers down the coast and they reached Kariopoli before they retreated. Ibrahim sent a force of 6,000 men down to Polytsaravo and on the way they destroyed a tower that was opposing them. When they reached Polytsaravo, they were faced by the Maniots in their forts. The Egyptians and the Ottomans were forced to retreat with significant losses. This was the last time Mani was invaded during the War for Independence, as Greece was liberated in 1828.
had started on the March 17, 1821, when the Maniots
declared war on the Ottoman Empire
at Areopoli
. On March 21, the Maniot army of 2,000 men under the command of Petros Mavromichalis
which also included Theodoros Kolokotronis
, marched from Areopolis and headed for Messenia
. The next day, they reached Kalamata
, which had an Ottoman garrison and they captured the city on March 23.
The rest of Greece joined the war when Bishop Germanos of Patras
declared Greece in rebellion on March 25. At Kalamata, the Greeks established the Messenian Senate which governed affairs in the southern Peloponnese. Kolokotronis wanted to attack Tripoli
but Petros Mavromichalis convinced him to attack the smaller towns first. Petrobey also sent letters to the courts of Europe telling them of the Greeks' plan. Petrobey finished off the letters by signing it with Petrobey Mavromichalis, Prince and Commander-in-Chief. On April 28, the Maniot army joined Kolokotronis forces at Karytainia. From there they went to Tripoli and started to besiege the city. The city eventually fell on September 23, 1821 and was sacked by the Greeks.
Due to the unrelenting losses and stories of Greek atrocities in Tripolis, the Sultan became desperate and in 1824 he called on his Viceroy in Egypt, Muhammad Ali
, to aid him. Ali promised to aid him in return for cession of the island of Crete
, Cyprus
, as well as making his son Ibrahim Pasha
, Pasha of the Peloponnese
. After his offer was accepted, Ali sent his son in command of the expedition. Meanwhile, the Greeks were in disarray because of political rivalries which had caused a civil war. Kolokotronis was arrested, his son Panos
was killed, and his nephew Nikitaras
forced to flee.
Ibrahim used the confusion to land at Methoni in the Peloponnese. From Methoni, Ibrahim started pillaging the Peloponnese and taking many people as slaves. Ibrahim captured Tripolis but was stopped from capturing Nauplion by Kostantinos Mavromichalis and Dimitrios Ypsilantis. In retaliation, Ibrahim burnt down Argos
before returning to Tripoli. Ibrahim decided to go with his army and join Reshid Pasha at Missolonghi in Central Greece. The Egyptians reached the city on December 12, 1825 and helped the Ottomans with the siege. On April 10, 1826, the city fell to the invaders and the city was sacked.
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Ibrahim sent an envoy to Mani demanding its surrender or else he would pillage it. He received the Maniotic reply of:
Ibrahim, furious with the response, ordered an attack on northwestern Mani from Kalamata on June 23, 1826. Under his command was a force of 7,000 men, a mixture of infantry and cavalry. The invaders were forced to stop at the fortifications of the Maniots at Vergas near Almiro. Defending the walls were 2,000 Maniots soldiers and 500 Greek refugees.
The Egyptian artillery failed to breach the walls, so Ibrahim decided to launch two ships with cannons and have them bombard the Maniot defences from the sea. He also combined this attack with infantry assaults, however these failed as the invaders were driven back from the walls eight times. The attacks lasted for a few more days before the Egyptians and Ottomans were forced to retreat when news arrived that Kolokotronis was approaching their rear with 2,000 men. The Maniots chased the Egyptians up to Kalamata before withdrawing. Ibrahim lost 2,500 men at Vergas and the Greek losses are unknown.
During the Battle of Vergas, Ibrahim decided to attack the Maniots from the rear. His plan was to send a small fleet with a few soldiers to land at the Bay of Diros, 2 kilometers south of Areopolis. The aim of this was to capture the unguarded Areopoli, which cut the communication lines of the defenders at Vergas and demoralize them as well. He would then be able to attack the Maniots from the rear and control the mountain passes to eastern Mani and Gytheio
. Authors Peter Greenhalgh and Edward Eliopoulos describe this plan as excellent.
On June 23, he sent a small fleet carrying 1,500 to land at the Bay of Diros and to capture Areopolis. Aid came from other villages. On June 26, the surviving Egyptians were rescued by Ibrahim's fleet from the beach and those who were not rescued had to swim to the ships or be killed by the Maniots. This battle cost Ibrahim 1,000 men and he was forced to retreat from Mani after being defeated at Vergas.
The Egyptians then proceeded towards the town of Polytsaravos and reached it on August 28. Awaiting them there were 2,500 Maniots behind their fortifications. The Maniots had chosen Polytsaravos as their position of defence as it was on high ground and was surrounded by rocky slopes. This would have meant that the Egyptians could have been stopped before they arrived at the town. As part of their defence plan the villages sent all the women and children to the mountains before improving the fortifications. As the Egyptians arrived at the walls, the Maniots sallied out and caught the Egyptians by surprise. The Egyptians, suffering losses, withdrew from Mani and back into the Laconian plain. The Egyptians had lost 400 men during the battle and the Maniots only lost 9. This was the last invasion launched against Mani.
Even though this campaign is overshadowed by other battles of the revolution, it was one of the most important. The Maniates stopped the Egyptians and Ibrahim Pasha who had not been defeated this decisively before. The women who defeated the Egyptians at Diros have been given the name of 'The Amazons of Diros'. This was the last invasion of Mani as Ibrahim abandoned any ideas of conquering it. On the April 26, 1827 the Turkish navy bombarded Oitylo with over 1,700 cannon balls hitting the town.
In 1827, the combined fleets of France, England and Russia defeated the combined Ottoman-Egyptian fleet in the Battle of Navarino
. In 1828, under the terms of the Treaty of Constantinople
, Greece became an independent state which was recognized by the Ottomans in 1829. When Ioannis Capodistrias was made president of Greece, he had Petros Mavromachalis imprisoned. The Mavromichalis' reacted by assassinating Capodistrias in Nauplion as he went to church. The Maniots continued causing trouble and defeated two Bavaria
n armies King Otto
sent against them before they were subdued only after some of the leaders were bribed. This ended the Maniots' independence and they were forced to pay taxes.
Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...
that consisted of three battles. The Maniots
Maniots
The Maniots or Maniates are the Greek inhabitants of the Mani Peninsula located in the southern Peloponnese in the Greek prefecture of Laconia and prefecture of Messinia. They were also formerly known as Mainotes and the peninsula as Maina. The Maniots are the direct descendants of the Spartans...
fought against a combined Egyptian and Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
army under the command of Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt
Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt
Ibrahim Pasha was the eldest son of Muhammad Ali, the Wāli and unrecognised Khedive of Egypt and Sudan. He served as a general in the Egyptian army that his father established during his reign, taking his first command of Egyptian forces was when he was merely a teenager...
.
On March 17, 1821, the Maniots (residents of the central peninsula on the southern part of the Peloponnese
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus , is a large peninsula , located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...
) declared war on the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, preceding the rest of Greece in joining the revolution by about a week. The various Greek forces won a quick string of victories, however, disputes broke out amongst the leaders and anarchy ensued. The Ottomans seized this chance and called for reinforcements from Egypt. The reinforcements came under the command of Ibrahim Pasha, the son of the leader of Egypt, Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali of Egypt
Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha was a commander in the Ottoman army, who became Wāli, and self-declared Khedive of Egypt and Sudan...
. With the Greeks in disarray, Ibrahim ravaged the Peloponnese and after a four months siege he captured the city of Missolonghi in April. He then went back to Peloponnese and turned his attention in June to Mani
Mani Peninsula
The Mani Peninsula , also long known as Maina or Maïna, is a geographical and cultural region in Greece. Mani is the central peninsula of the three which extend southwards from the Peloponnese in southern Greece. To the east is the Laconian Gulf, to the west the Messenian Gulf...
.
Ibrahim tried to enter Mani from the north-east near Almiro on June 21, 1826, but he was forced to stop at the fortifications at Vergas. His army of 7,000 men was held off by an army of 2,000 Maniots and 500 refugees from other parts of Greece. Despite Egyptian and Ottoman artillery, the outnumbered Maniots managed to hold off the Ottomans. Ibrahim sent 1,500 men to attempt a landing near Areopolis and go north to threaten the Maniot rear. This force was initially successful; however the women and old men of the area fought back and repelled them with heavy losses. When the Egyptians at Vergas heard that Theodoros Kolokotronis
Theodoros Kolokotronis
Theodoros Kolokotronis was a Greek Field Marshal and one of the leaders of the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire....
was advancing on their rear they retreated.
In August, Ibrahim renewed the offensive and he sent a group of regular soldiers down the coast and they reached Kariopoli before they retreated. Ibrahim sent a force of 6,000 men down to Polytsaravo and on the way they destroyed a tower that was opposing them. When they reached Polytsaravo, they were faced by the Maniots in their forts. The Egyptians and the Ottomans were forced to retreat with significant losses. This was the last time Mani was invaded during the War for Independence, as Greece was liberated in 1828.
Prelude
The Greek War of IndependenceGreek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...
had started on the March 17, 1821, when the Maniots
Maniots
The Maniots or Maniates are the Greek inhabitants of the Mani Peninsula located in the southern Peloponnese in the Greek prefecture of Laconia and prefecture of Messinia. They were also formerly known as Mainotes and the peninsula as Maina. The Maniots are the direct descendants of the Spartans...
declared war on the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
at Areopoli
Areopoli
Areopoli is a town on the Mani Peninsula, Laconia, Greece. The word Areopoli means "city of Ares", the ancient Greek god of war. It was the seat of Oitylo municipality. Areopoli was called Tsimova by the invading Slavs during the 7th century AD...
. On March 21, the Maniot army of 2,000 men under the command of Petros Mavromichalis
Petros Mavromichalis
Petros Mavromichalis , also known as Petrobey , was the leader of the Maniot people during the first half of the 19th century. His family had a long history of revolts against the Ottoman Empire, which ruled most of what is now Greece...
which also included Theodoros Kolokotronis
Theodoros Kolokotronis
Theodoros Kolokotronis was a Greek Field Marshal and one of the leaders of the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire....
, marched from Areopolis and headed for Messenia
Messenia
Messenia is a regional unit in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, one of 13 regions into which Greece has been divided by the Kallikratis plan, implemented 1 January 2011...
. The next day, they reached Kalamata
Kalamata
Kalamata is the second-largest city of the Peloponnese in southern Greece. The capital and chief port of the Messenia prefecture, it lies along the Nedon River at the head of the Messenian Gulf...
, which had an Ottoman garrison and they captured the city on March 23.
The rest of Greece joined the war when Bishop Germanos of Patras
Germanos of Patras
Germanos was an Orthodox Metropolitan of Patras.Germanos was born in Dimitsana, northwestern Arcadia, Peloponnese...
declared Greece in rebellion on March 25. At Kalamata, the Greeks established the Messenian Senate which governed affairs in the southern Peloponnese. Kolokotronis wanted to attack Tripoli
Tripoli, Greece
Tripoli is a city of about 25,000 inhabitants in the central part of the Peloponnese, in Greece. It is the capital of the prefecture of Arcadia and the centre of the municipality of Tripolis, pop...
but Petros Mavromichalis convinced him to attack the smaller towns first. Petrobey also sent letters to the courts of Europe telling them of the Greeks' plan. Petrobey finished off the letters by signing it with Petrobey Mavromichalis, Prince and Commander-in-Chief. On April 28, the Maniot army joined Kolokotronis forces at Karytainia. From there they went to Tripoli and started to besiege the city. The city eventually fell on September 23, 1821 and was sacked by the Greeks.
Due to the unrelenting losses and stories of Greek atrocities in Tripolis, the Sultan became desperate and in 1824 he called on his Viceroy in Egypt, Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali of Egypt
Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha was a commander in the Ottoman army, who became Wāli, and self-declared Khedive of Egypt and Sudan...
, to aid him. Ali promised to aid him in return for cession of the island of Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
, Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, as well as making his son Ibrahim Pasha
Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt
Ibrahim Pasha was the eldest son of Muhammad Ali, the Wāli and unrecognised Khedive of Egypt and Sudan. He served as a general in the Egyptian army that his father established during his reign, taking his first command of Egyptian forces was when he was merely a teenager...
, Pasha of the Peloponnese
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus , is a large peninsula , located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...
. After his offer was accepted, Ali sent his son in command of the expedition. Meanwhile, the Greeks were in disarray because of political rivalries which had caused a civil war. Kolokotronis was arrested, his son Panos
Panos Kolokotronis
Panos Kolokotronis was the eldest son of the Greek General Theodoros Kolokotronis. He was born on the island of Zakynthos in 1800, while his father was serving there as a Major in the British Army...
was killed, and his nephew Nikitaras
Nikitaras
Nikitaras was the nom de guerre of Nikitas Stamatelopoulos , a Greek revolutionary in the Greek War of Independence. Due to his fighting prowess, he was known as the "Τουρκοφάγος" , literally "Turk-Eater"....
forced to flee.
Ibrahim used the confusion to land at Methoni in the Peloponnese. From Methoni, Ibrahim started pillaging the Peloponnese and taking many people as slaves. Ibrahim captured Tripolis but was stopped from capturing Nauplion by Kostantinos Mavromichalis and Dimitrios Ypsilantis. In retaliation, Ibrahim burnt down Argos
Argos
Argos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...
before returning to Tripoli. Ibrahim decided to go with his army and join Reshid Pasha at Missolonghi in Central Greece. The Egyptians reached the city on December 12, 1825 and helped the Ottomans with the siege. On April 10, 1826, the city fell to the invaders and the city was sacked.
Battle of Vergas
From the few Greeks of Mani and the rest of Greeks who live there to Ibrahim Pasha. We received your letter in which you try to frighten us saying that if we don't surrender, you'll kill the Maniots and plunder Mani. That's why we are waiting for you and your army. We, the inhabitants of Mani, sign and wait for you.
Ibrahim, furious with the response, ordered an attack on northwestern Mani from Kalamata on June 23, 1826. Under his command was a force of 7,000 men, a mixture of infantry and cavalry. The invaders were forced to stop at the fortifications of the Maniots at Vergas near Almiro. Defending the walls were 2,000 Maniots soldiers and 500 Greek refugees.
The Egyptian artillery failed to breach the walls, so Ibrahim decided to launch two ships with cannons and have them bombard the Maniot defences from the sea. He also combined this attack with infantry assaults, however these failed as the invaders were driven back from the walls eight times. The attacks lasted for a few more days before the Egyptians and Ottomans were forced to retreat when news arrived that Kolokotronis was approaching their rear with 2,000 men. The Maniots chased the Egyptians up to Kalamata before withdrawing. Ibrahim lost 2,500 men at Vergas and the Greek losses are unknown.
Battle of Diro
Gytheio
Gytheio , the ancient Gythium or Gytheion , is a town and a former municipality in Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality East Mani, of which it is a municipal unit. It was the seaport of Sparta, some 40 km north...
. Authors Peter Greenhalgh and Edward Eliopoulos describe this plan as excellent.
On June 23, he sent a small fleet carrying 1,500 to land at the Bay of Diros and to capture Areopolis. Aid came from other villages. On June 26, the surviving Egyptians were rescued by Ibrahim's fleet from the beach and those who were not rescued had to swim to the ships or be killed by the Maniots. This battle cost Ibrahim 1,000 men and he was forced to retreat from Mani after being defeated at Vergas.
Battle of Polytsaravo
After his retreat from Mani due to the defeats at Vergas and Diros Pasha renewed his offensive in August. Ibrahim's army was led by a Laconian from Bardounia named Bosinas who had assistance from the Egyptian fleet. On August 27, he reached Kariopoli in an attempt to take a safe path through the mountains. Before he reached the town of Polytsaravos, his army of 6,000 Egyptians was delayed by Theodoros Stathakos and his family of thirteen men who refused to let the invaders past their tower. Bosinas tried to negotiate with Stathakos. Stathakos, feigning surrender, told Bosinas to come and take his family's guns. As Bosinas came to retrieve the guns, the Stathakos family killed him. In retaliation, the Egyptians used their two cannons and blew up the tower.The Egyptians then proceeded towards the town of Polytsaravos and reached it on August 28. Awaiting them there were 2,500 Maniots behind their fortifications. The Maniots had chosen Polytsaravos as their position of defence as it was on high ground and was surrounded by rocky slopes. This would have meant that the Egyptians could have been stopped before they arrived at the town. As part of their defence plan the villages sent all the women and children to the mountains before improving the fortifications. As the Egyptians arrived at the walls, the Maniots sallied out and caught the Egyptians by surprise. The Egyptians, suffering losses, withdrew from Mani and back into the Laconian plain. The Egyptians had lost 400 men during the battle and the Maniots only lost 9. This was the last invasion launched against Mani.
Aftermath
In 1827, the combined fleets of France, England and Russia defeated the combined Ottoman-Egyptian fleet in the Battle of Navarino
Battle of Navarino
The naval Battle of Navarino was fought on 20 October 1827, during the Greek War of Independence in Navarino Bay , on the west coast of the Peloponnese peninsula, in the Ionian Sea. A combined Ottoman and Egyptian armada was destroyed by a combined British, French and Russian naval force...
. In 1828, under the terms of the Treaty of Constantinople
Treaty of Constantinople (1832)
The Τreaty of Constantinople was the product of the Constantinople Conference which opened in February 1832 with the participation of the Great Powers on the one hand and the Ottoman Empire on the other. The factors which shaped the treaty included the refusal of Léopold, King of Belgium, to...
, Greece became an independent state which was recognized by the Ottomans in 1829. When Ioannis Capodistrias was made president of Greece, he had Petros Mavromachalis imprisoned. The Mavromichalis' reacted by assassinating Capodistrias in Nauplion as he went to church. The Maniots continued causing trouble and defeated two Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n armies King Otto
Otto of Greece
Otto, Prince of Bavaria, then Othon, King of Greece was made the first modern King of Greece in 1832 under the Convention of London, whereby Greece became a new independent kingdom under the protection of the Great Powers .The second son of the philhellene King Ludwig I of Bavaria, Otto ascended...
sent against them before they were subdued only after some of the leaders were bribed. This ended the Maniots' independence and they were forced to pay taxes.
Sources
- Bob Barrow, (1998). The Mani. Stoupa: Thomeas Travel Services.
- Patrick Leigh FermorPatrick Leigh FermorSir Patrick "Paddy" Michael Leigh Fermor, DSO, OBE was a British author, scholar and soldier, who played a prominent role behind the lines in the Cretan resistance during World War II. He was widely regarded as "Britain's greatest living travel writer", with books including his classic A Time of...
, (1984). Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese. London: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-011511-0 - Peter Greenhalgh and Edward Eliopoulos. Deep into Mani: Journey to the southern tip of Greece. London: Trinity Press. ISBN 0-571-13524-2
- Kyriakos Kassis, (1979). Mani's History. Athens: Presoft.
- Peter Harold, Paroulakis, (1984). The Greeks: Their Struggle for Independence. Darwin: Hellenic International Press. ISBN 0-9590894-0-3
- Yiannis Saĭtas, translated by Philip Ramp, (1990). Greek Traditional Architecture: Mani. Athens: Melissa Publishing House.