175 
T U R 
the engagement, Colocotroni marched round the wall, and 
falling on the rear of the Turks, they were defeated with 
great loss. 
On the 1st of October, 2500 Bardouniots came out, sur¬ 
rendered, and took their place in the Greek camp. On the 
fifth of the same month, the horrors of this protracted siege 
was brought to a terrible close. A few Greek soldiers having 
approached the gate of Argos, entered into conversation with 
the Turkish sentinels, and began as usual to barter fruit. The 
Turks were imprudent enough to assist them in mounting 
the wall, with a large basket of grapes, in exchange for 
which they gave their arms; but no sooner had the Greeks 
gained the summit, than they hurled down the unguarded 
Mahometans; opened the gate, the only one that was walled 
up, to their comrades, and displayed the standard of the cross 
above it. When this emblem was perceived from the camp, 
it acted like an electric shock; the whole Christian army in¬ 
stantly rushed from all sides to the assault, and the disorder 
once began could not be stopped, for the Turks immediately 
opened a brisk fire of cannon and small arms upon them 
from the citadel and ramparts. The principal Greek officers, 
who certainly could not .have restrained their men, were 
drawn away by the torrent: Colocotroni was one of the last to 
hear what was passing, and as he would not deign to follow 
the steps of any other captain, he determined to force a 
passage for himself, so that his troops suffered severely. 
After the gates were broken down and the walls scaled, a 
furious struggle was maintained in the streets and houses; 
but the Peloponnesians, flushed with victory and spurred on 
by vengeance, were irresistible, and before sunset, all opposi¬ 
tion was quelled in the blood of the unfortunate Moslems. 
The citadel, where a large body of Turks had taken refuge, 
having held out till the following evening, surrendered at 
discretion. 
Filled as the history of Europe is, with the recital of cities 
taken by storm, and the scenes which have followed, it were 
a task as needless as it would be painful to retrace those which 
occurred at Tripolizza between the evening of the 5th, and 
the morning of the 7th of October, 1821. 
Nothing could exceed the dreadful and indiscriminate car¬ 
nage; but let it be remembered, that during the whole war, 
not a single armed Greek who fell into the hands of the 
Turks, had been spared. The loss of the Turks on this occa¬ 
sion was reckoned at 6000 killed, besides many prisoners; 
the loss of the Greeks was said to be about 500 killed and 
wounded. It was but a short time before the assault, that the 
capitan Pacha’s fleet had entered the gulf of Lepanto, landed 
troops at Vastigza, Galzida, and other places, who after 
massacring the defenceless inhabitants, had reduced the 
towns to ashes. Patras, Corinth, Modon, Coron, and Na¬ 
poli de Romania were still in possession of the Turks. 
It is now necessary to retrograde a little in point of time, 
to mark events occurring in other parts. In the month of 
August, four Pachas at the head of 5000 men, marched 
against Zetouni Their object was to unite with the Otto¬ 
man troops at Thebes and Athens, to enter the Morea and 
relieve Tripolizza, and the other fortresses. 
On the 31st of August, these were encountered at Fon¬ 
tana, on the high road to Lavidia, by a small corps com¬ 
manded by Odysseus. Three hundred Turkish horse, sent 
to recounoitre, fell into an ambuscade and were cut to pieces. 
Next day the Turks attacked with their whole force: at first 
the Christians gave way, but being railied by a chief, named 
Gouraz, they made a desperate charge, and the T urks were 
routed. The Turks lost here one Pacha and above 1000 
men slain. Several standards, pieces of cannon, and many 
horses, with much baggage, fell into the hands of the 
victors. 
For nearly two months afterwards, the positions of the 
armies in Greece were various. At Zetouni and in front of 
Odysseus, were the remains of the Mussulman forces, beaten 
Oil the 31st; in his rear was a Turkish division of three 
thousand men at Thebes; and the corps of Omer Vrioni at 
Athens, both of which had continual affairs of advanced 
KEY. 
posts at Dolreni and Dorbeni, with the Greeks who defended 
the Isthmus of Corinth. Two thousand Boeotian peasants 
occupied some points round the mountains of Thebes, 
while fifteen hundred armed Athenians held the island 
of Salamis, and other parties were assembled on the hills of 
Attica. 
About the end of August, an insurrection broke out in 
Eubsea, headed by the Bishop of Carystus, who endeavoured 
to interrupt the communication between Athens and Negro- 
pont, and to cut off a Turkish detachment passing from the 
former to the last named place, with a convoy of valuable 
effects. But his followers taking to flight at the first fire, 
he was forced to escape to Hydra. 
It was on the 14th of August, that the grand Ottoman 
fleet quitted the Dardanelles, under the command of Kara 
Ali, the Capitana Bey, who was afterwards blown up by the 
Ipsariots at Scio. It consisted of thirty sail, of which four 
were of the line, and one a three-decker. After an in¬ 
effectual attempt on the Island of Samos, the Turkish 
admiral steered to the southward, pursued by one hundred 
and nine Greek vessels. The islanders, whose largest ships 
did not carry more than thirty guns, did not however seek 
an action in the open sea, but sought an opportunity of 
separating the hostile fleet, or attacking it with fire-ships. 
The Turks, grown wary by experience, avoided exposing 
themselves to these destructive machines, taking care to keep 
in a close body, and always under sail. They had now a 
number of European seamen, chiefly natives of Malta and 
Genoa, on board the fleet. These men, of whom there are 
a great many generally idle at Constantinople, were al¬ 
lured more by the hope of pecuniary advantages than any 
interest in the struggle, which was indeed a matter of perfect 
indifference to them. The Greek sailors, with a spirit of 
impatience which has often proved prejudicial to their cause, 
obliged their chiefs to return to port, so that all their exploits 
during this cruise were limited to burning a few Turkish 
transports on the coast of Anatolia. A single fast sailing 
schooner, commanded by a brother of the Hydriot admiral 
Tombasi, was left to watch the enemy’s movements; but she 
returned to Hydra on the 3d of September, bringing in¬ 
telligence, that the Capitana Bey, reinforced by the Egyptian 
and Algerine squadrons, had passed the island of Cos, on 
his way to Candia. This information proved erroneous, as 
Kara Ali steered directly for the Peloponnesus, and supplied 
Coron and Modon with provisions. His appearance on the 
southern shore of the Morea, created general consternation. 
Some of his smaller vessels having approached Calamata, 
the military commandant and garrison prepared to fly to 
the mountains, but were encouraged to remain by the ex¬ 
ample of the brave Balisto, who drew up his weak battalion, 
in order of battle upon the strand, partially covered by 
some sand hills, and caused his drums and trumpets to 
sound, while a body of one thousand Mainotes fired a 
general volley of musketry from behind the rocks. The 
pusillanimous Turks, disheartened by this show of resistance, 
sheered off without daring to disembark: while thus em¬ 
ployed, Balisto learned that the people of Calamata were 
about to dispatch the Mussulman prisoners confined there; 
he instantly flew to the town with a party of soldiers, 
arrived in time to prevent the act, and then returned to his 
post on the beach. 
From Modon, the Capitana Bey sailed to Pafrass; three 
thousand Achaians and Ionians blocked up that place on the 
land side, while some light vessels prevented supplies from 
entering by sea. The latter fled on the appearance of the 
fleet, taking shelter either at Galaxidi, or running on the 
shallows of Messolunghi, where they were burned by the 
Turkish boats. Kara Ali, having arrived in the roads, made 
a discharge of his artillery upon the Greek camp, and the 
garrison sallied forth at the same time: a single post of 
two huudred men offered a slight resistance; the rest 
of the besiegers dispersed themselves in the mountains, 
leaving the few pieces of cannon they had in the . power of 
the Turks. This was the event which induced Ipsilanti 
to 
