400 
WITH THE TURKS. 
Arrival of 
more British 
officers. 
Start for 
Dhomokos. 
Plan of 
operations. 
said to be on the same hills not more than two or three miles distant. 
An officer with whom I conversed, and who talked fluently in French, 
learnt at the Constantinople Military College, complained of the difficulty 
in managing the volunteers, who, under the recent organisation, had 
been incorporated with his battalion of regulars and stated that only 
200 or 300 of the latter now remained with it. 
I also visited one day the Greek “ Cathedral,” not an imposing 
edifice, which had also apparently been visited by the Bashi Bazouk in 
the first flush of victory; the floor was strewn with torn vestments and 
broken' pictures and I noticed a chest which had been broken open 
and, probably to the great disgust of the breaker, found it to contain 
only the relics of some Saint, whose bones lay scattered round it. At 
the time that I entered it a guard had been mounted on the door and 
the building was itself untouched. On the evening of the 12th I was 
agreeably surprised by the arrival of three brother officers from Yolo, 
viz : Captain Ryder and Lieutenant Birt, 3rd Dragoon Guards, and 
Lieutenant Holmes, I.S.C., the two latter, owing to some unfortunate 
delayabout the letters of recommendation to the Field-Marshal which 
had not yet reached Head-Quarters, were obliged to return to Yolo on 
the loth, but Captain Ryder joined and remained with our party. 
On the 16th we had news of an intended advance next day and, 
leaving most of our baggage at Pharsala in charge of the two drago¬ 
mans, we started in light marching-order with one pack-animal to 
carry our blankets, at 5 a.m. on the 17th, to join the 2nd division, 
which, with the 4th division and the corps artillery, was to march by 
the main road on Dhomokos. 
Colonel de la Tour arranged that Major Bornand should accompany 
the 6th division and that officer, whom, I regret to say, I had no 
opportunity of conversing with afterwards, must have seen some most 
interesting fighting in the hills. 
Before proceeding further I had better explain the plan of operations 
of the Turkish army so far as I was able to understand it at the time. 
The 2nd and 4th divisions, 1 as already stated, moved with the 
corps artillery (of five Field Batteries and one Howitzer Battery) 
by the main road on Dhomokos under the command of Neshat 
Pasha. 
The 1st division advanced on its right, under Haiyari Pasha, to 
carry out a turning movement on that flank. 
The 6th division, under Harndi Pasha, had the task assigned it 
(which apparently turned out a troublesome one) of marching 
through the Khassidiari Hills to the immediate south of Pharsala 
against the Greek right. 
The 3rd division, under Memduh Pasha, was sent to carry out a 
turning movement still further to the east. 
1 The 2nd division had three Field Batteries. 
