The Exodus From Messolonghi by Theodoros Vryzakis
On the 10th of April 1826, 10.500 Messolonghi
inhabitants, after one year of siege,
made the heroic ”Exodus of Messolonghi“ adding another brilliant page to the
history of the Greek War of Independence.
It was the 15th April 1825, three years after the failed
attempt to occupy Messolonghi, that the Ottoman army returned to besiege the
city, that had become the seat of the Senate of Western Continental Greece.
The army of Resid Mehmet Pasha or Kioutachis as the Greeks
called him, numbering 20.000 men, began the second siege of the city, later to
be joined by another 10.000 men from the Peloponnese campaign under Ibrahim
Pasha.
The siege of the city can be divided into two periods: April 15th to December 12th 1825 and December 12th to April 10th 1826. Without help from the rest of the Greeks, the residents of Messolonghi resisted for one year. A three-man committee composed of Ioannis Papadiamantopouos, Dimitrios Themelis and George Kanaris organised the city’s defence.
The fortress of the city after the first siege had been
restored and fortified, following the efforts of Alexandros Mavrokordatos, the
great philhellene Lord Byron and Michael Kokkinakis.
Its trench was now deeper and the courtyard was re-enforced
with towers, on which several cannons had been placed. The islet of Vassiladi, between the lagoon
and the sea, became a kind of advanced fortress and there were six guns and 2.000
women and children were gathered there for their safety,.
Within Messolonghi there were 10.000 residents, including
4.000 men, excellent warriors from Epirus
and Aitolokarnania and another 1000 men capable of using weapons.
During the first stage (April 15th – December 12th 1825)
Messolonghi was besieged only by the forces of Kioutahis and their attack was
easily repelled. The siege from the sea
was not strong enough and was repeatedly disrupted by the fleet of Andreas Miaoulis
which supplied the besieged citizens with ammunition and food. On the 24th of July, 1000 Russian soldiers under
George Karaiskakis forced the Ottomans to withdraw their forces to Mount Zygos,
relieving the siege of Messolonghi. The
Turkish fleet being harassed by Greek boats was forced to seek shelter in
Cephalonia was then under British rule.
On the 5th of August, Kitsos Taavellas, head of the group of
fighters from Souli, entered the city raising the morale of the besieged. But at the beginning of November a fleet of
Ottoman and Egyptian brought 8000 Egyptian soldiers to the siege and a month
later the army of Ibrahim Pasha came to the region.
At the time, Ibrahim’s army numbered 25.000 troops,
comprised of Ottomans, Egyptians and Albanians.
They were commanded by French officers and had modern artillery at their
disposal.
It was on the 25th of December (Christmas day) 1825 when the
second phase of the siege began. The two generals of the Ottoman forces were in
disagreement and Ibrahim attacked the city first. On January 16th 1826, Ibrahim admitted his
failure to conquer the city.
The armies of the Turks and the Egyptians had stunned the
besieged Greeks with a ruthless bombardment. They managed to take over the
strategically important islets of Vassiladi and Kleisova.
After the fall of these two islets, the situation for the
besieged became desperate as Miaoulis’ ships could no longer bring supplies to
the city. Messolonghi was now without
food. So they were forced to eat
seaweed, mice and cats.
Under these terrible circumstances, they were not able to
defend their city. On the 16th of April, the board of chieftains decided to make the exodus at midnight on the Saturday
of Lazarus, through the dawn of Palm Sunday (April 9th and 10th .)
At midnight, according to the plan, they were divided into
three groups, under Dimitrios Makris,
Notis Botsaris and Kitsos Tsavellas, in hope of breaking the enemy lines
and taking them by surprise.
However, the plan was not carried out properly or perhaps a
traitor betrayed the scheme to the Ottomans.
Ibrahim’s forces slaughtered the Greek freedom fighters who fought
against all odds and meanwhile the enemy forces who had invaded the city,
killed everyone who was left behind.
It is estimated that 3000 Greeks were killed during the Exodus
of Messolonghi and 6000 women and children were taken as slaves, sold to the slave
markets of Constantinople and Alexandria.
The Ottoman-Egyptian casualties amounted to 5000 men.
The Ottoman victory proved to be Pyrrhic as the barbarity of
the Turkish troops and the heroism of the Greeks generated a new wave of philhellenism throughout Europe.
Messolonghi was liberated on the 19th of May 1829, In 1937 it was recognised as a “Holy City” due to the mass slaughter of its citizens by the Turks and Palm Sunday was designated as the anniversary of the Exodus.
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