Battle of Alamana

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Battle of Alamana

Part of the Greek War of Independence

The Battle of Alamana (1821). Painting by Zographou.

Date	April 1821
Location	Thermopylae, Greece
Result	Ottoman victory

Belligerents

Greece

Ottoman Empire

Commanders

Athanasios Diakos †, Panourgias Panourgias, Yiannis Dyovouniotis

Omer Vryonis

Strength

1,500 irregulars

9,000 troops

Casualties and losses

unknown

v • d • e Greek War of Independence

Alamana – Gravia – Valtetsi – Doliana – Dragashani – Skuleni – Vassilika – Tripoli – Chios – Peta – Dervenakia – 1st Messolonghi – Karpenisi – Psara – Samos – Gerontas – Sphacteria – Maniaki – Mills of Lerna – 3rd Messolonghi – Mani – Arachova – Kamatero – Phaleron – Navarino – Petra

The Battle of Alamana was fought between the Greeks and the Turks during the Greek War of Independence in April 1821.

1 Battle
- 1.1 Death of Diakos
2 Aftermath
3 Sources

[edit] Battle

Omer Vryonis, the commander of the Turkish army, advanced with 8,000 men from Thessaly to crush the revolt that had broken out in Peloponnesos. Athanasios Diakos, Panourgias Panourgias and Yiannis Dyovouniotis with their bands of armatoloi (a total of perhaps 1,500 men) took up defensive positions at the river Alamana (Spercheios), near Thermopylae.

Vryonis' attack forced Panourgias and Dyovouniotis to retreat, leaving Diakos alone. Diakos's men fought for several hours before they were overwhelmed.

[edit] Death of Diakos

Eventually, Diakos himself was captured and taken to Vryonis after he was shot in the foot and had his sword broken. When Vryonis offered to make Diakos an officer in his army, Diakos immediately refused and replied:

"I was born a Greek and I will die a Greek".

Vryonis then ordered that Diakos be impaled on a spit and roasted over a fire. The Turks tried to make Diakos carry the long spit, but he threw it down with contempt. As he was led off to die, onlookers heard him sing:

"Look at the time Charon chose to take me, now that branches are flowering, now that the earth sends forth grass".

Diakos's song was in reference to the Greeks' uprising against the Turks.

[edit] Aftermath

Even though the battle was ultimately a military defeat for the Greeks, Diakos's death provided the Greek national cause with a stirring myth of heroic martyrdom.

[edit] Sources

Paroulakis, Peter Harold. The Greeks: Their Struggle for Independence. Hellenic International Press, 1984. ISBN 0-9590894-0-3.

v • d • e Greek War of Independence
Ottoman Greece: Armatoloi/Klephts · Maniots · Souliotes · Orlov Revolt · Lambros Katsonis · Ali Pasha
Greek Enlightenment: Cosmas of Aetolia · Adamantios Korais · Rigas Feraios · Theophilos Kairis · Filiki Etaireia
Events		Personalities
Land operations • Battle of Alamana • Battle of Gravia • Battle of Valtetsi • Battle of Doliana • Battle of Dragashani • Battle of Skuleni • Battle of Vassilika • Siege of Tripolitsa • Chios Massacre • Battle of Peta • Battle of Dervenakia • First Siege of Messolonghi • Battle of Karpenisi • Battle of Sphacteria • Battle of Maniaki • Battle of the Lerna Mills • Third Siege of Messolonghi • Ottoman–Egyptian Invasion of Mani • Battle of Arachova • Battle of Kamatero • Battle of Phaleron • Battle of Petra Naval conflicts • Battle of Spetses • Destruction of Psara • Battle of Samos • Battle of Gerontas • Battle of Souda • Battle of Navarino	Greek Regional Councils • Messenian Senate • Peloponnesian Senate • Senate of W. Continental Greece • Areopagus of E. Continental Greece • Provisional Regime of Crete • Administration of Samos Greek National Assemblies • First National Assembly • Second National Assembly • National Assembly at Epidaurus • Third National Assembly • Fourth National Assembly • Fifth National Assembly International Conferences, Treaties and Protocols • Congress of Laibach • Congress of Verona • Protocol of St Petersburg • Treaty of London • Conference of Poros • Treaty of Adrianople • London Conference • Treaty of Constantinople	Greece • Theodoros Kolokotronis • Petros Mavromichalis • Athanasios Diakos • Nikitaras • Ioannis Kapodistrias • Ioannis Kolettis • Papaflessas • Odysseas Androutsos • Demetrios Ypsilantis • Georgios Karaiskakis • Laskarina Bouboulina • Markos Botsaris • Alexandros Mavrokordatos • Manto Mavrogenous • Andreas Miaoulis • Nikolis Apostolis • Antonios Kriezis • Iakovos Tombazis • Konstantinos Kanaris • Emmanouel Pappas Philhellenes • Lord Byron • Charles Fabvier • Thomas Gordon • Karl Norman • Jean-Gabriel Eynard • Santorre di Santa Rosa • Carl von Heideck • Richard Church • Lord Cochrane	Moldavia and Wallachia • Alexandros Ypsilantis • Tudor Vladimirescu • Dimitrie Macedonski • Giorgakis Olympios • Yiannis Pharmakis Ottoman Empire • Sultan Mahmud II • Hursid Pasha • Kara-Ali Pasha • Omer Vryonis • Mahmud Dramali Pasha • Mehmed Hüsrev Pasha • Reşid Mehmed Pasha • Yussuf Pasha Vilayet of Egypt • Ibrahim Pasha • Suleiman Pasha United Kingdom • Stratford Canning • Edward Codrington Russian Empire • Login Petrovich Geiden Kingdom of France • Henri de Rigny • Nicolas Joseph Maison