Battle of Phaleron

The Battle of Phaleron, or "Battle of Analatos", took place on April 24 (6 May Gregorian[1] ), 1827. The Greek rebel forces were being besieged inside the Acropolis of Athens by Ottoman forces under the command of Mehmed Reshid Pasha. Greek forces outside the city were desperately trying to break the siege.

Battle of Phaleron
Part of the Greek War of Independence

Karaiskakis landing at Faliron by Konstantinos Volanakis
Date24 April (6 May) 1827
Location
Near Athens
Result Ottoman victory
Belligerents
First Hellenic Republic  Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Lord Cochrane
Sir Richard Church
Yannis Makriyannis
Ioannis Notaras †
Georgios Karaiskakis †		 Reşid Mehmed Pasha
Strength
3,000 Unknown (some cavalry)
Casualties and losses
2,000 Unknown

Battle

The British officers Admiral Lord Cochrane and General Richard Church were nominally commanding the Greeks.[2] 3,000 men were ordered to advance across the plain. Their plan was to send 7,000 more men who were at Piraeus to attack the Ottomans from the flanks. Karaiskakis had proposed instead of a direct attack, to cut the supply lines of the Ottomans in eastern Greece, but his proposal was not accepted.

As the Greeks advanced from Phaleron, Reshid sent some cavalry to attack the Greeks. He expected the main assault to come from Piraeus. The troops from Piraeus did not arrive and the rest of the Greeks were attacked by the Ottoman cavalry.

Aftermath

The Greeks lost either 1,500[3] or 2,000 men, which was a devastating setback. The men in the Acropolis surrendered on 5 June[3] and were escorted by the French army to the coast. This defeat destroyed Greek morale and the only places on mainland Greece that persevered after the battle were Mani and Nafplio, seat of the government.

The Greeks had also lost their commander Karaiskakis from wounds suffered a few days before the battle.

Later that year, the Great Powers, Imperial Russia, France, and Great Britain destroyed the Egyptian and Ottoman fleets in the Battle of Navarino.

References
  1. The Century. vol 54. 1897. p. 144. Retrieved 2012-02-01.CS1 maint: location (link)
  2. David Brewer, The Greek War of Independence, p 301-303
  3. Smith, William (1857). History of Greece. London. p. 626.
Bibliography
  • Paroulakis, Peter Harold. The Greeks: Their Struggle for Independence. Hellenic International Press, 1984. ISBN 0-9590894-0-3.

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