TURKEY. 
up in the Acropolis, were in great distress for want of pro¬ 
visions ; while, in order to accelerate its capture, the Hy¬ 
driots had disembarked a body of islanders with some ship 
guns at the Pirasus. But no sooner did they receive tidings 
of Omer’s approach, than a general flight took place ; the 
Hydriots sailing away, while the Athenians sought shelter 
either in the mountains or in the island of Salamis, where 
fifteen hundred of them found a refuge. Soon afterwards, 
however, Odysseus and some other Greek captains, who had 
been attached to the former army of Ali Pacha, came from 
Epirus, and occupying the defiles of Thermopoise, effec¬ 
tually prevented any more Turkish reinforcements from 
advancing in that direction. 
In Macedonia, hostilities had already commenced, and 
the Christians of that province, meeting at first with some 
success, pushed their incursions as far as the gates of Salo- 
nica, causing great alarm in that rich and populous city. 
But, instead of following any fixed plan, they roamed about 
the country in separate bands, and for objects of little im¬ 
portance. At the commencement of these tumults, the Greek 
inhabitants of Mount Pelion, in The&saly, were excited to re¬ 
volt, but this insurrection was soon suppressed by the Turks. 
At sea, the Greeks carried every thing before them, and 
for a long time rode undisputed masters of the Egean, keep¬ 
ing the Turkish ports and islands in a state of complete 
blockade: with the exception of merchant vessels, however, 
the only prizes hitherto made consisted of a corvette with 
a small complement of men, surprised in the port of Milos, 
and also one or two brigs of war. But a far more glorious 
triumph was afforded them, by the first attempt the Ottomans 
made to regain possession of the sea, and re-establish the 
maritime communication between Constantinople, Smyrna, 
and Egypt. In order to effect this purpose, two line-of- 
battle ships, and several smaller vessels, had quitted the Hel¬ 
lespont towards the end of May, and proceeded as far as 
the island of Lesbos. The Greek squadron fell in with one 
of the two-deckers, a seventy-four gun ship, which had 
separated from the others off the southern coast of the island. 
The following are a few particulars of the action, as related 
by Tombasi, the Hydriot admiral. Instead of keeping the 
open sea, and making use of his formidable artillery, the 
Turkish captain only thought of flight, but being unable to 
escape without fighting, he anchored his ship at the entrance 
of the gulf of Adrametum. On this, the Greeks immedi¬ 
ately prepared fire ships to lay him on board: their- first 
attempt failed, but the second completely succeeded. Two 
of these destructive masses being linked together, fell athwart 
the bo*s of the Ottoman, while the ignorant Mussulmen 
stood on deck with their muskets to oppose what they ima¬ 
gined to be an attempt at boarding, deceived by several 
effigies the Greeks had dressed up in different parts of the 
fire vessels. When once attacked, only a few minutes 
elapsed before the Turkish ship was enveloped in flames, the 
captain then cut his cables and allowed her to drift towards 
the shore, but long before reaching it she run a-ground. 
The crew now endeavoured to save themselves by swimming; 
but the victorious islanders pursued in their boats, and such 
were the perils which the Turks had to encounter, that out 
of a complement of eight hundred men, scarcely a single in¬ 
dividual was saved. As to the ship, she burned to the water’s 
edge. The rest of the Turkish squadron fled with all possible 
speed to the Dardanelles. 
Demetrius, the brother of Alexander Ipsilanti, arrived at 
Hydra early in June from Trieste, having traversed the Aus¬ 
trian dominions in disguise. He bore a commission from 
Prince Alexander appointing him general in chief of all the 
forces in Greece, and was accompanied by a younger brother 
of prince Cantacuzene and some other Greeks belonging to 
families settled in the North of Europe. The Hydriots 
received Ipsilanti with discharges of artillery and other de¬ 
monstrations of joy. After remaining a few days in the 
island, he proceeded to the Morea, where he assumed the 
command of the army before Tripolizza, The disastrous 
Von. XXIV. No 1635. 
173 
issue of his brother’s expedition could not then be known, 
and it was generally supposed that Demetrius had brought 
large sums of money and a quantity of military stores; but 
this illusion soon vanished, for it was found he had not more 
than 200,000 Turkish piastres, most of which Petros Bey 
borrowed for the support of his followers, and 200 stand of 
arms. As the melancholy termination of the northern cam¬ 
paign became known, the ardour excited by Ipsilanti’s arrival 
began to cool, when the ephors turned a deaf ear to all his 
propositions for organising the army and establishing a regu¬ 
lar system of administration. Independently of this Deme¬ 
trius found that the Greeks were never united. The armed 
population was commanded by officers bearing the title of 
Capitani, a word of very vague signification; since some 
were at the head of 2000 men, while others were not fol¬ 
lowed by more than 20 or 30. These officers, though en¬ 
gaged in the same enterprise, acted quite independently of 
each other, but it more frequently occurred, that a number 
of them agreed to obey one chief of superior reputation. 
Now the best understanding did not always exist between the 
captains and the primates, although they were reciprocally 
dependent on each other; the first for receiving a regular 
supply of rations, which it was the business of the ephors 
to collect and send to the army; the second, for having 
their decrees enforced and measures carried into effect. The 
confusion arising from the jumble of civil and military or¬ 
ganization, to which the country party adhered but too 
obstinately, may be easily conceived: brought up under the 
Turkish system, and participating in its abuses, they seemed 
to have no permanent rule of action, and took a singular 
pride in attempting to imitate the barbarous pomp displayed 
by the Mahometans of rank. The situation of the prince 
was both difficult and delicate, surrounded by jarring in¬ 
terests and passions, an object of constant jealousy to the 
primates, and frequently opposed in his attempts to correct 
prevailing defects. 
Prince Cantacuzene, his colleague, quitted Greece alto¬ 
gether in October, hopeless of effecting any good purpose 
with these discordant forces. 
Early in August, prince Mavrocordato and Caradja, the 
first a highly distinguished Fanariot, and the second a son of 
the fugitive Hospodar, arrived from Marseilles in a Greek 
vessel, loaded with military stores, which Mavrocordato had 
purchased there, and after visiting the camp before Patrass, 
disembarked their supplies at Messolunghi. The talents and 
noble character of Mavrocordato, soon procured him great 
weight and authority among all classes. The bey of Maina, 
Mavromichalis, though as anxious to see his country free as 
most men, was destitute of those powers of the mind, in- 
dispensable for those destined to take a prominent part in 
such a revolution ; but his brother, Kyriacouli, on v/hom the 
command of the Mainotes seemed principally to devolve, 
gave proofs of courage and enterprise. 
But of all those who were now called upon to aid the 
Greek cause, Colocotroni deserves most particular notice. 
This chief had never submitted to the Ottomans, but like his 
ancestors, had almost from his cradle carried on a petty war¬ 
fare against them, spreading alarm throughout his native 
province, at the head of a band of faithful and determined 
followers, making the most inaccessible mountains of Arcadia 
his abode, and plundering all who came in his way. No 
wonder if the character of such a man received a tinge from 
the wild habits of his life; hasty and violent in his temper; 
an Ajax in person; bold and daring in the field, where he 
seemed to court danger; greedy and rapacious of spoil, fer¬ 
tile in stratagem, it would have been almost impossible to 
find a more active or efficient partisan. Driven from the 
Morea by Veli Pacha, he first entered into the Russian, and 
subsequently the British service, and was appointed captain 
of guides in one of the Greek battalions raised in the Ionian 
Islands. But his military experience had given to Coloco¬ 
troni no relish for tactics or discipline; to neither of which 
did he appear to attach the smallest importance; and he 
2 Y neither 
