LADIES' AMULET. - Monroe County Library System

14 THE GEM.AND LADIES 1
they began to fly, thick and fast fell the turbane
host, particularly when the sword of Bozzari
drank blood, and where his voice rose, far above tin
din of battle, urging on his tried and trusty fol
lowers until the last remnant of the foe disappear
ed. Sooty, and not prisoners, was his object, an
after collecting as much of the former as the)
could carry, they left the scene of action and fiel
of glory.
It was in vain the Turks lamented the breach
of faith and mistaken policy which drove Bozzaris
from their camp, and converted the Suliotes into
fees more determined than ever, at the very time
their assistance was most needed. Ere they discovered
their error, or knew the full power and
influence of their foe, a combination of circumstances
had resulted in a rebellion throughout
Greece, and that too at a time wluyi. but a small
portion of the Turkish army could be employed
in suppressing it. Having 1 just succeeded in reducing
all his rebellious Pashaws but Ali Pashaw,
of Greece, and Mehemet Ali, of Egypt, what with
guarding the districts recently the scenes of rebellion,
nnd watching ever jealous and grasping
Russia, from whence he was threatened with an
invasion, the Sultan had employment enough for
his army without wasting its energies among the
mountains of Greece. But Greece was too precious
a province to be yielded without a struggle.
Her soil was too rich, and her vineyards too productive,
not to be retained, even at a great sacrifice
; and hence, what was deemed not only a sufficient
force for quelling the insurrection, was
marched into her territory, but the war was carried
on in a manner to strike terror to the hearts
of the inhabitants. Catching, however, the spirit
which for ages had saved the Suliotes from the
degradation of slavery, the whole Greek population
flew to arms, resolved to free themselves or
die in the attempt. This resolution was daily
strengthened by the rapacities of the Turks, until
through the length and breadth of that beautiful
clime, all was one scene of carnage and horror,
both sides contending.with adesperation almost unknown
in the annals of war. Urged on by a bigotry
and avarice not satiated with blood, it was death
for a Greek of any description, whether mnn, woman
or child, to fall into the hands of a Turk.-r-
(On the other hand, retributive justice marked the
movements oC the Greeks, and they rushed upon
a Turk crying for quarter, with the same determination
to slay and not to save. Not so, however,
with Bozzaris and his Suliote band. Magnanimous,
as well as brave, when it was most
easy to avenge them they seemed to forget their
wrongs, and often saved the lives of those who
only wanted an opportunity to slay their preservers.
The eastle in which AH Pashaw took refuge,
01 the banks of lake Yanina, though strong and
bravely defended, at length fell into the hands of
the besiegers. The Sultan's army had been gre.tly
increased in numbers, and furnished with hea-
•vier ordnance; and the siege had been carried on
With an eaergy commensurate with its importance.
To humble the rebellious Pashaw, and strip him
of his power and wealth, was absolutely necessary
before the war upon the Greeks could be earned
on with much vigor. Bozzaris was from time
to time advised of the situation of the Pashaw,
and finally that the place must eurrender, and
therefore returned once more to his native inou0tains
to prepare to receive the Turkish force, which
he knew would not leave lhat section of cou
withoutanefforttoconqucrSuli. IsmaelPashaw
had been succeeded by another and more experienced
commander, large additions had been made
to the army, and the Turks felt confident of an
Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County · Historic Serials Collection
easy victory, as they turned themselves toward
the country of their old and more immediate enemies.
. But the Suliotes feared little the number or
resolution of the foe, so long as their stores and
ammunition lasted, for better than their enemies
they understood the advantages of their position.
The most the Turks could do, was to sit down in
vast numbers before their fortresses, and patiently
wait the exhaustion of their stores. Without
ordnance, it would be useless to attack the Suliotes,
as no effort to scale walls defended by such
men could be successful. The orders of the Sultan
were imperative, and on no occasion was the
Turkish general, who was a brave and active man,
and disliked more than the men under his command
the inactive warfare in which he was engaped,
to leave Suli unconquercd.
It would be uninteresting to go into a detail of
the different sorties which at times interrupted the
otherwise quiet course of things in the mountains
of Suli. Month after month rolled away, and the
Suliotes were invulnerable still. The patience of
the Turks, however, seemed as inexhaustible as
the bravery and resolution of the beseiged foe;
and though much needed in the Morea, and other
districts where the Greeks were in the ascendant,
they showed no disposition to move. The situation
of the Suliotes, unknown, however, to their
beseigers, for to them they ever appeared the same,
was daily becoming more and more critical. Prevented
from obtaining anything from without, their
store-houses were fast becoming exhausted, and
starvation and surrender stared them in the face.
But unwilling to yield, and have the beseigers resume
more active operations elsewhere, Bozzaris
left the citadel, passed the lines of the Turkish
army, and travelled on foot and at the peril of his
life, the whole of the wild country between Suli
and Corinth. Corinth at that time was the seat
of Government. His object was to get arms, and
a reinforcement of men, with which he intended
to full upon the rear of the Turkish army, during
sortie from the citadel, by which means he hoped
to relieve his countrymen and rout the foe. Representing
to government how important it was
that the Suliotes should be enabled to keep up
their gallant defence, and imparting a portion of
his own zeal to those at the head of affairs, he not
inly had the satisfaction of having his views
warmly seconded, but of soon seeing a small but
energetic force on the march toward Suli, commended
by the President in person. Anotherdetachment,
under Kuriekuli Mavromichalis, was
sent by water, with instructions to fall upon Suli
from the west, while that under the President and
Bozzaris was to penetrate through the mountains
and advance from the east.
Proudly beat our hero's heart as he found himiclf
at the head of an army, (for such, though nc-
:ompanied by the President, was the fact,) pushng
on to the relief of his countrymen, and that
hose under his command, seeing with what cneriy
he led the way, and how ardently he longed
br a glimpse of his native mountains, partook in
measure of the same spirit, and dashed on, re-
?ardlcss of danger or toil. Proceeding directly
to Patrass, they crossed the gulf of Corinth and
landed at Missolonghi. There they remained a
number of days to get recruits, but receiving a
message from the Suliotes, urging him, because of
their desperate situation, to hasten on, Bozzaris
once more put his men in motion, directing their
march through Ketolia, Arcanania, and other intervening
provinces, hoping to be joined on the
route by still greater numbers, and particularly
by some of the bands of drmatoli who inhabited
some of the regiong through which he would pass,
to this he was disappointed, except in the case of
two chieftains, of very doubtful faith, GoyoBakalos
and Vernakiotis, bat nevertheless poshed
on to Komboti, where he took post with a complement
not exceeding three thousand men. Here
they were immediately attacked by a body cf
Turkish cavalry, which they repulsed with great
slaughter. The onset was renewed from time to
time, but the advantage was always on the side
of the Greeks. With a vigilance almost superhuman,
Bozzaris watched over the little aimy under
his command, and if any portion of it during
tlteir numerous conflicts with the Turks, became
hemmed in by superior numbers, his sword war
ever ready to open a passage for their egress ana*
escape. At Komboti he was met by another
courier from Suli, who represented the situation
of the Suliotes as deplorable indeed. Not only
were they almost without provisions, but by ao
enormous sacrifice on the part of the Turks, they
had all been driven into a single citadel, and as
their ammunition had began also to fail, it would
not be possible for them to held out much longer.
This was too much for Bozznris to bear, and he
resolved to set off with three hundred Suliotet,
hoping almost against hope, to conceal his men
by day, make their way through the mountains by
night, and if they could not disperse the Turkish
army by an unexpected and vigorous onset, at
least furnish his countrymen with the means for
a continuation of the defence of Che citadel until
the arrival of the Greek force under the President.
What might have been accomplished but for the
treason of Gogo, it is impossible to say. As was
more than suspected, he had kept up a constant •
correspondence with the Turkish general, and ag
soon as Bozzaus, with his three hundred Siiliotes
left the Grecian camp, that officer was made acquainted
with the cirenmstance. A body of one
thousand men was instantly dispatched, with or
ders to join these who were already out, and if
possible, meet and capture them at Plaka. At
Plaka they met them, and Bozzaris, unable with
his small force openly to oppose the Turks, kept
up a continued skirmish during the day, pushed
on at night, and finally baffled all their efforts to
surround his little band. But though he worked
his way until within a few hour's march of the
rear of the Turkish army, now that his force and
mission were both understood by the Turkish general,
he was unable to do any thing for his countrymen
in the citadel, and therefore commenced a
precipitate retreat towards Petn, to which place
the President was to advance with the Greciaa
army, and where he arrived just in time to take
part in a general engagement with about eight
thousand Turks, who had been despatched to cuj
off the Greek force destined to the relief of the
Salutes. Though apprized of the presence and
numbers of the foe, the Greeks resolved to await
an attack. If successful, they might then advance
to the relief of Suli; if not, they could still
retreat to Missolonghi.
The village of Pela stands on sloping ground,
at the foot of a high mountain, having also a high
ridge of land on either side. It was resolved in
council, contrary to the advice of Bozzaris, to
place the regular troops in front of and at 'the
foot of the village, forming a line of the remainder
and larger proportion of their force, behind
and above the town, with two wings extending
forward like the horns of n crescent, and occupy
ing the two ridges which formed the flanks of tha
foremost line. The night succeeding this forme!
hop of the arm, was spent under arms, and on
the following morning, four thousand Albanian*
commenced the attack, rushing on with the most