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Part 10: Water from Fire
Part 10: Water from Fire
With the Souliotes beaten back Mustafa Pasha halted to gather his supplies at the town of Agrinion, nearly a day’s march from Missolonghi. In the two battles, thus far with the at Karpenisi and Mount Kaliakouda, the Ottomans had lost thousands of muskets and pistols, and an unknown number of horses, mules, and livestock leaving them desperately short of resources. Nearly a sixth of his army had also been lost to injury or death in the two battles thus far, stretching his already thin ranks even further. After a week of waiting Omer Vrioni finally arrived with reinforcements amounting to 5,000 men and nearly 700 wagons laden down with food, clothing, and munitions, restocking the depleted arsenal of Mustafa Pashas army.
By mid-September the combined Ottoman armies departed Agrinion for Missolonghi and subsequently laid siege to the city for the second time on the 20th of September. Leading the defense of the city was an Eptanesian named Konstantinos Metaxas from the isle of Cephalonia.[2] Metaxas had been appointed by the government as the Governor General of Western Greece, a position of little to no power, and established himself in Missolonghi due to its strategic importance and strong defensibility. Though he was tasked with pushing the Ottomans from the region, most of his efforts were exhausted settling disputes between the separate factions in the city, with the Souliotes generally being the most obnoxious and disruptive bunch. Were it not for the efforts of Markos Botsaris and the other more reasonable captains of the Souliotes, it is likely that the Greeks would have fought against them rather than with them.
Konstantinos Metaxas, Governor General of Western Greece in 1823
It was unfortunate for Metaxas then that Botsaris had still not returned by the time Mustafa Pasha arrived outside Missolonghi. It was undeniable that Markos Botsaris held incredible sway in all Western Greece, a fact that was made infamous by the open disregard of Metaxas by the Souliotes within the cities walls. They were fiercely loyal to their own chieftains and openly flaunted Metaxas’s meager authority, they constantly demanded extensive bribes for their services however minor they may have been, some even resorted to blackmail against Metaxas to gain his obedience. Still, despite their slights Konstantinos Metaxas proved himself to be an able administrator and most importantly, a relatively talented military man in defensive situations.
Mustafa Pasha soon learned, much as Vrioni had before him, that the lagoon upon which Missolonghi sat, provided the city with excellent defenses as well as a near infinite supply of fish. There also existed a number of hidden routes crossing the lagoon where the water was shallower than the rest enabling easier travel by foot, which the Greeks used to great success, smuggling men, munitions, and food into the city. To take the city, the Mustafa Pasha would need to deny the Greeks access to the lagoon by securing it in its entirety. It would be a long and grueling process as the Greeks had fortified the islands, sandbanks, and townships that dotted across the lagoon over the last year.
The first target was to be the small village of Anatoliko located at the northern end of the lagoon. Situated upon an island amidst the delta spanning the Missolonghi lagoon and the Anatoliko lagoon, it provided the first line of defense for Missolonghi. In the days leading up to the first siege of Missolonghi, Anatoliko had been left undefended allowing Omer Vrioni to brush past it on his way to his main target. This time however, Konstantinos Metaxas had recognized its importance and stationed a company of no more than 200 men in total on the island. Their only orders were to hold as long as possible against a force at least 10 times their own.
When the Ottomans attempted to cross over to the island on the 22nd, they were easily repelled by the Greek defenders when they became stuck in the thick mud surrounding the islet. Mustafa Pasha, realizing that further assaults on the island would be detrimental to his attack on Missolonghi, chose to starve Anatoliko out instead. Both banks of the lagoon were seized by the Ottomans and cannons were brought in to reduce the Greeks defenses on the island to rubble. Metaxas initially managed to work around the Ottoman besiegers by smuggling food and water onto the island, but within days their route into Anatoliko was discovered by the Ottomans who quickly closed this last corridor to the Greeks. With their only supply line to the outside world cut, conditions rapidly began to deteriorate in Anatoliko.
The Siege of Anatoliko
While food was still plentiful due to the large bounty of fish in the waters surrounding the town, their supplies of fresh water were becoming increasingly scarce. Adding to their woes a stray cannon ball careened into the town’s chapel setting the structure ablaze. With their church in flames, it looked as if God himself had abandoned them. Falling into a deep despair, the Greeks considered surrender, but from their darkest depression emerge a new hope as water began to rise from beneath the ruined church. The cannon ball had revealed a hidden spring of fresh water from underneath the chapel’s floor. Whether this turn of events was a miracle sent from god or an incredible act of luck, no one can say.
Regardless, the belief that God was on their side, stiffened the resolve of the Greeks on Anatoliko who continued to resist the Ottomans besieging them. Mustafa Pasha’s efforts at Missolonghi had also been lacking as well as he proved unable to seize control of the lagoon from the Greeks. His efforts at Anatoliko were just one failure out of many, his attempts to seize the island of Dolmas had been successful, but at a steep cost, over 1,000 casualties to 100 for the Greeks, and his efforts to take Klisova to the East of Missolonghi had been bloodily repulsed. As had been the case the year before, the winter rains continued to make a mess of the Ottoman camp and malaria once again made it way through the Ottoman ranks. Worst of all was the arrival of Markos Botsaris who had finally recovered from his injuries at Karpenisi on the 21st of October. Alongside him were 600 Souliotes and Roumeliotes and his longtime rival Kitsos Tzavelas.[3]
Kitsos Tzavelas, Souliot Captain and archrival to Markos Botsaris
The arrival of the Souliotes to his rear, while not an existential issue for Mustafa Pasha, was a problematic one, especially for his already tenuous supply situation. As was the case at Karpenisi, the Souliotes easily infiltrated the Ottoman camp on several occasions much to the ire of Mustafa and Vrioni. Despite all their efforts to oppose Botsaris and Tzavelas, they continually managed to find a way through their pickets. At first the Souliotes simply attacked the supply lines running from the north and guards sent out to protect them, but as the siege progressed the raids quickly became more daring and bold, eventually they even expanded to the Ottoman camp.
The heated rivalry between Botsaris and Tzavelas spurred their men to engage in increasingly grander attacks against the Ottoman forces. When Tzavelas and his Souliotes captured four wagons, Botsaris would capture eight. When Botsaris and his followers stole ten horses from the Ottoman’s stables, Tzavelas and his men made sure that they took twenty. The French diplomat and historian Francis Pouqueville in letters to his brother the Consul, Hughes Pouqueville, he described the petty rivalry between the two as a game played between children. The winner of this competition would ultimately be Tzavelas as his raid upon the Ottoman food stores proved to be decisive in the siege of Missolonghi. Under the cover of darkness, Tzavelas and 50 men made their way into the Ottoman camp. Stealing what they could before destroying the rest, he had denied the Ottomans of their primary store of food.
For Mustafa Pasha, he had had enough. His efforts to starve the Greeks into submission had backfired tremendously as his force had itself been worn down by the constant raids on his own supply lines, and suffered from rising casualties. Recognizing that he would be unable to maintain the siege across the entire lagoon with his diminished numbers, Mustafa Pasha was ultimately forced to lift the siege and withdraw on the 13th of November.[4] For the second time in a year, the Greeks had won a great victory at Missolonghi cementing their hold on the region and furthering Sultan Mahmud’s II rage towards the city. The “Miracle of Anatoliko” as it was later called, established Missolonghi as a sacred city in the minds of the Greeks. It was a city blessed by God, a city that no enemy would ever overcome, a city that would stand forever. With the Ottomans in retreat once more, the Greeks began preparations for an offensive of their own, one that if successful would finally drive the Ottomans from the Gulf of Corinth.
Next Time: The Baron Byron
[1] Anatoliko, or Aitoliko, is a small town located on an island seperating the Missolonghi lagoon in the south from the Aitoliko lagoon in the north.
[2] Eptanesians were Greeks from the Ionian islands.
[3] The Tzavelas Clan had urged surrender during the Souliot Wars which earned them the ire of Markos Botsaris and his family who advocated for continued resistance against the Ottomans an Ali Pasha. While this rivalry waned over the years, Kitsos and Markos remained bitter rivals during the first two years of the war.
[4] Mustafa Pasha Bushatli’s 1823 campaign in OTL was rife with problems as well stemming from the continual infiltration of his camp by the Souliotes. Both at Karpenisi and again at Missolonghi, the Souliotes wreaked havoc on his supply lines ultimately forcing his withdraw. With Markos Botsaris surviving from his wounds at Karpenisi in TTL I don’t see why this wouldn’t continue to be the case here as well, in fact it would probably be a lot worse for the Ottomans than OTL.
With the Souliotes beaten back Mustafa Pasha halted to gather his supplies at the town of Agrinion, nearly a day’s march from Missolonghi. In the two battles, thus far with the at Karpenisi and Mount Kaliakouda, the Ottomans had lost thousands of muskets and pistols, and an unknown number of horses, mules, and livestock leaving them desperately short of resources. Nearly a sixth of his army had also been lost to injury or death in the two battles thus far, stretching his already thin ranks even further. After a week of waiting Omer Vrioni finally arrived with reinforcements amounting to 5,000 men and nearly 700 wagons laden down with food, clothing, and munitions, restocking the depleted arsenal of Mustafa Pashas army.
By mid-September the combined Ottoman armies departed Agrinion for Missolonghi and subsequently laid siege to the city for the second time on the 20th of September. Leading the defense of the city was an Eptanesian named Konstantinos Metaxas from the isle of Cephalonia.[2] Metaxas had been appointed by the government as the Governor General of Western Greece, a position of little to no power, and established himself in Missolonghi due to its strategic importance and strong defensibility. Though he was tasked with pushing the Ottomans from the region, most of his efforts were exhausted settling disputes between the separate factions in the city, with the Souliotes generally being the most obnoxious and disruptive bunch. Were it not for the efforts of Markos Botsaris and the other more reasonable captains of the Souliotes, it is likely that the Greeks would have fought against them rather than with them.
Konstantinos Metaxas, Governor General of Western Greece in 1823
It was unfortunate for Metaxas then that Botsaris had still not returned by the time Mustafa Pasha arrived outside Missolonghi. It was undeniable that Markos Botsaris held incredible sway in all Western Greece, a fact that was made infamous by the open disregard of Metaxas by the Souliotes within the cities walls. They were fiercely loyal to their own chieftains and openly flaunted Metaxas’s meager authority, they constantly demanded extensive bribes for their services however minor they may have been, some even resorted to blackmail against Metaxas to gain his obedience. Still, despite their slights Konstantinos Metaxas proved himself to be an able administrator and most importantly, a relatively talented military man in defensive situations.
Mustafa Pasha soon learned, much as Vrioni had before him, that the lagoon upon which Missolonghi sat, provided the city with excellent defenses as well as a near infinite supply of fish. There also existed a number of hidden routes crossing the lagoon where the water was shallower than the rest enabling easier travel by foot, which the Greeks used to great success, smuggling men, munitions, and food into the city. To take the city, the Mustafa Pasha would need to deny the Greeks access to the lagoon by securing it in its entirety. It would be a long and grueling process as the Greeks had fortified the islands, sandbanks, and townships that dotted across the lagoon over the last year.
The first target was to be the small village of Anatoliko located at the northern end of the lagoon. Situated upon an island amidst the delta spanning the Missolonghi lagoon and the Anatoliko lagoon, it provided the first line of defense for Missolonghi. In the days leading up to the first siege of Missolonghi, Anatoliko had been left undefended allowing Omer Vrioni to brush past it on his way to his main target. This time however, Konstantinos Metaxas had recognized its importance and stationed a company of no more than 200 men in total on the island. Their only orders were to hold as long as possible against a force at least 10 times their own.
When the Ottomans attempted to cross over to the island on the 22nd, they were easily repelled by the Greek defenders when they became stuck in the thick mud surrounding the islet. Mustafa Pasha, realizing that further assaults on the island would be detrimental to his attack on Missolonghi, chose to starve Anatoliko out instead. Both banks of the lagoon were seized by the Ottomans and cannons were brought in to reduce the Greeks defenses on the island to rubble. Metaxas initially managed to work around the Ottoman besiegers by smuggling food and water onto the island, but within days their route into Anatoliko was discovered by the Ottomans who quickly closed this last corridor to the Greeks. With their only supply line to the outside world cut, conditions rapidly began to deteriorate in Anatoliko.
The Siege of Anatoliko
While food was still plentiful due to the large bounty of fish in the waters surrounding the town, their supplies of fresh water were becoming increasingly scarce. Adding to their woes a stray cannon ball careened into the town’s chapel setting the structure ablaze. With their church in flames, it looked as if God himself had abandoned them. Falling into a deep despair, the Greeks considered surrender, but from their darkest depression emerge a new hope as water began to rise from beneath the ruined church. The cannon ball had revealed a hidden spring of fresh water from underneath the chapel’s floor. Whether this turn of events was a miracle sent from god or an incredible act of luck, no one can say.
Regardless, the belief that God was on their side, stiffened the resolve of the Greeks on Anatoliko who continued to resist the Ottomans besieging them. Mustafa Pasha’s efforts at Missolonghi had also been lacking as well as he proved unable to seize control of the lagoon from the Greeks. His efforts at Anatoliko were just one failure out of many, his attempts to seize the island of Dolmas had been successful, but at a steep cost, over 1,000 casualties to 100 for the Greeks, and his efforts to take Klisova to the East of Missolonghi had been bloodily repulsed. As had been the case the year before, the winter rains continued to make a mess of the Ottoman camp and malaria once again made it way through the Ottoman ranks. Worst of all was the arrival of Markos Botsaris who had finally recovered from his injuries at Karpenisi on the 21st of October. Alongside him were 600 Souliotes and Roumeliotes and his longtime rival Kitsos Tzavelas.[3]
Kitsos Tzavelas, Souliot Captain and archrival to Markos Botsaris
The arrival of the Souliotes to his rear, while not an existential issue for Mustafa Pasha, was a problematic one, especially for his already tenuous supply situation. As was the case at Karpenisi, the Souliotes easily infiltrated the Ottoman camp on several occasions much to the ire of Mustafa and Vrioni. Despite all their efforts to oppose Botsaris and Tzavelas, they continually managed to find a way through their pickets. At first the Souliotes simply attacked the supply lines running from the north and guards sent out to protect them, but as the siege progressed the raids quickly became more daring and bold, eventually they even expanded to the Ottoman camp.
The heated rivalry between Botsaris and Tzavelas spurred their men to engage in increasingly grander attacks against the Ottoman forces. When Tzavelas and his Souliotes captured four wagons, Botsaris would capture eight. When Botsaris and his followers stole ten horses from the Ottoman’s stables, Tzavelas and his men made sure that they took twenty. The French diplomat and historian Francis Pouqueville in letters to his brother the Consul, Hughes Pouqueville, he described the petty rivalry between the two as a game played between children. The winner of this competition would ultimately be Tzavelas as his raid upon the Ottoman food stores proved to be decisive in the siege of Missolonghi. Under the cover of darkness, Tzavelas and 50 men made their way into the Ottoman camp. Stealing what they could before destroying the rest, he had denied the Ottomans of their primary store of food.
For Mustafa Pasha, he had had enough. His efforts to starve the Greeks into submission had backfired tremendously as his force had itself been worn down by the constant raids on his own supply lines, and suffered from rising casualties. Recognizing that he would be unable to maintain the siege across the entire lagoon with his diminished numbers, Mustafa Pasha was ultimately forced to lift the siege and withdraw on the 13th of November.[4] For the second time in a year, the Greeks had won a great victory at Missolonghi cementing their hold on the region and furthering Sultan Mahmud’s II rage towards the city. The “Miracle of Anatoliko” as it was later called, established Missolonghi as a sacred city in the minds of the Greeks. It was a city blessed by God, a city that no enemy would ever overcome, a city that would stand forever. With the Ottomans in retreat once more, the Greeks began preparations for an offensive of their own, one that if successful would finally drive the Ottomans from the Gulf of Corinth.
Next Time: The Baron Byron
[1] Anatoliko, or Aitoliko, is a small town located on an island seperating the Missolonghi lagoon in the south from the Aitoliko lagoon in the north.
[2] Eptanesians were Greeks from the Ionian islands.
[3] The Tzavelas Clan had urged surrender during the Souliot Wars which earned them the ire of Markos Botsaris and his family who advocated for continued resistance against the Ottomans an Ali Pasha. While this rivalry waned over the years, Kitsos and Markos remained bitter rivals during the first two years of the war.
[4] Mustafa Pasha Bushatli’s 1823 campaign in OTL was rife with problems as well stemming from the continual infiltration of his camp by the Souliotes. Both at Karpenisi and again at Missolonghi, the Souliotes wreaked havoc on his supply lines ultimately forcing his withdraw. With Markos Botsaris surviving from his wounds at Karpenisi in TTL I don’t see why this wouldn’t continue to be the case here as well, in fact it would probably be a lot worse for the Ottomans than OTL.
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