Page 191 - Beholding Liberty!

HALL OF THE TROPHIES
IΙ.1.33
Anastasios Orlandos
Naval affairs, that is history of the acts during Greece’s Struggle for Independence of three naval islands, especially Spetses, vol. I
Athens: By the Printing House of Ch.N. Filadelfeos, 1869 Library of the Hellenic Parliament
THE NAVAL BATTLE OF SPETSES
began on 8 September 1822, when the Greek fleet, headed by Andreas Miaoulis, confronted the Turk- ish-Egyptian armada in the strait of Spetses. The aim of the opponents was, by occupying Spetses, to facilitate the supply of Nafplio, under siege by the Greeks. The naval confrontation was conducted in an unorderly manner and without coordination on the Greek side: «Each one of the captains was immediately putting in action whatever seemed
IΙ.1.34
Surrender of Neokastro (Neokastro, 7 August 1821) Archives of the Greek Regeneration, vol. 1, no 445 [pp. 445-446] Library of the Hellenic Parliament
THE MONTHS-LONG SIEGE «with can- nons, bombs and rifles» and the blockage of the Neokastro fort by the revolted Greeks (25 March-9 August 1821) caused a serious food supply problem to the besieged Turks, in the end forcing them to surrender and abandon their weapons: «In this way we brought them to such a state of starvation, that they ate their horses and any other kind of animal found in there [...], surrendering out of famine al- most dead in our hands».
to them as most appropriate for the salvation of the country, and only the bravery and love for the country, shared by all, determined the movements of each one of them». Finally, the decisive contri- bution of the Greek fire-ships defined the outcome of the naval battle: on 12 September the Turk- ish-Egyptian retreated, sailed away in the Aegean and abandoned the plan of bringing provisions to Nafplio, which on 30 November was occupied by the Greeks.
SCENES AND FIGURES OF FREEDOM The eruption of the Revolution 191