THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA "I'/f J WITH THE GREEKS IN THESSALY Front W. KINNAIRD ROSE WITH THE GREEKS IN THESSALY W. KINNAIRD ROSE t BARRISTER-AT-LAW ; CAPTAIN, QUEENSLAND DEFENCE FORCE ; SPECIAL WAR CORRESPONDENT FOR REUTER'S IN GRECO-TURKISH WAR WITH 23 ILLUSTRATIONS BY W. T. MAUD MAP, AND PLANS METHUEN & CO. 36 ESSEX STREET, W.C. LONDON 1897 Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London & Bungay. DP 8^7 PREFACE This book is based on the despatches which I sent from Greece to Reuter's as their special war-correspondent. These were received with so much favour by the press and the public in this country and America, that I have been induced to embody them in a connected narrative of my experiences during the very brief but deeply interesting campaign. In the descriptions of the various engagements of which I was a witness I had almost said in which I had taken part there is little amplification of the originals for- warded by telegraph, and which were generally written on the field, while the picture was vivid and the atmosphere of battle was still round me. The brief sketch of the history of the Ethnike Etairia, in the opening chapter, is founded on information picked up from several members whose acquaintance I made in Greece, and from facts supplied me by my friend, Mr. Johnstone, b V 817 PREFACE the able resident correspondent in Athens of the Manchester Gtmrdian. Mr. W. T. Maud, the very accomplished artist of the Graphic, was my good comrade in many of the most stirring scenes of the campaign, and I had the pleasure of watching him, often under fire, making his powerful and picturesque sketches. Through the courtesy of the Proprietors of the Graphic, my publishers have been able to repro- duce many of his beautiful pictures. Other of the illustrations have been drawn for the present publication from Mr. Maud's rough sketches. The plans of the battles of Mati, Velestino, and Domokos have been drawn from the rough sketches which I made in my note-book to aid me in my descriptions of the engagements, in exactly the same way as I made shorthand notes of the different phases of the battles. They do not profess to be as exhaustive or as absolutely accurate as a military engineer's survey, but I hope they will enable the reader to follow the context with additional interest. Recent events in Thessaly are likely to attract tourists to that province of Greece, for the scenes of an historical campaign have a fascination all their own. I have been asked since my return what kind of outfit should be taken. Well, what has to be guarded against, are the extremes and vi PREFACE sudden variations of temperature, both in the mountains and the plains. During one of the days of the battles round Mati, my friend Mr. Williams noted a fall of twelve degrees Fahrenheit in ten minutes ; and between mid-day and night temperature the range was sometimes no less than fifty-five degrees. Under the advice of Mr. Donald C. Frazer, manager of the well- known firm of outfitters, Charles Baker and Co., Limited, Ludgate Hill, I took with me a riding- suit of Scotch Tweed in colour a light-brown and white mixture. If sometimes a little warm at mid-day, when the thermometer would run up to eighty-nine and ninety degrees, it was a complete protection at night against chills and fevers in the plains and in the lofty table-lands and mountains, as well as in open boats at sea. I could recom- mend nothing better for travellers or campaigners in similar climates. W. K. R. Vll CONTENTS CHAPTER I. London to Athens. Instructions Probabilities of war A pleasant meet- ing at Brindisi An enthusiastic Phil- Hellene Corfu Arrival in Athens The war-fever in the capital The Caf^-politician The Ethnike Etairia CHAPTER II. Athens to the Frontier. Preparations for the campaign M. Delyannis, Prime Minister M. Skouzes, Minister for Foreign Affairs Voyage through the Archipelago Independence Day Volo The journey to Larissa An agrarian question in Thessaly Larissa 14 CHAPTER in. On the Frontier. The Crown Prince and head-quarters staff The Citadel at Larissa The Greek army : its composi- tion and quality The Greek plan of campaign ix CONTENTS PAGE A visit to the Maluna Pass, and a peep at Elassona, Ravenni, Bougassie,the Vale of Tempd The ancient " Verde Antico " quarries A Wallach entertain- ment 25 CHAPTER IV. The Raid into Macedonia. The Ethnikd Etairia at work The run from Larissa to Trikkala The Raiders' rendezvous at Koniskos An impressive religious service The attack on Baltino and the advance towards Grevena The collapse of the Raid 48 CHAPTER V. The Battle of Nezeros. The Raid brings on the war The Turks attack Mount Annunciation at Nezeros The journey up the Dereli Pass to Nezeros Two days' fighting there The Greeks hold their own ... ... ... ... 56 CHAPTER VI. The Struggle for the Passes. The Turkish attack on Bougassieand Ravenni Success- ful resistance The Turks assault the Mount Elias Pass, capture Kurtziovali, and burn the Greek wounded Maluna Pass seized by the Turks, and after stubborn fighting the Greeks fall back on Mati Prince Nicholas attacks Vigla, but receives the order to retire Expected engagement at Mati .,, 73 X CONTENTS CHAPTER VII. The Assault on Vigla. PAGE The operations from Ravenni and from Bougassie Gallant behaviour of the Greek troops War-corre- spondents and the fighting line A fruitless engage- ment Further fighting in the Mount Elias Pass andatMati 87 CHAPTER VIII. The Battles round Matl The main body of Greek army hurried to Tyrnavos to prevent the Turkish army extending into the Thessalian plain The struggle for Kurtziovali A hot corner on Kritiri Large Turkish reinforce- ments march down Maluna Pass, and capture Karat- zali, which they burn An undecided action A camp at Tyrnavos The battle renewed Extension of Greek right and left wings A narrow escape News of Turkish success at Nezeros and their occu- pation of the Vale of Tempe The last stand at Mati and Mount Elias Pass Resolute Turkish attack on Greek right Turkish cavalry from Vale of Tempe join hands with forces from Maluna, turn the Greek right, and set fire to Deliler and Kutavi 99 CHAPTER IX. The Retreat from Mati and Stampede to Larissa. A night bivouac and scenes in Tyrnavos The retreat begins : the night dark : an ominous silence All arms intermingle, and order of retreat lost Sullen- xi CONTENTS PAGE ness gives place to clamour The retreat becomes a rout : " The Turks are upon us : Run, run ! the Turks are here" The stampede Our carriage assailed by terror-stricken soldiers, overturned and smashed Pandemonium Narrow escapes by cor- respondents Attempts to stay the stampede : as well might the whirlwind be called upon to stop Larissa reached at last 114 CHAPTER X. Evacuation of Larissa and the Flight to VOLO. Scenes of indescribable confusion Safety of all the correspondents Order given to evacuate Larissa Panic of the population The Cafd-politician once more The Citadel and guns of position deserted The disorderly march to Pharsala The bridge across the Peneios not blown up Departure of Crown Prince and staff by train Scenes at the railway station, and escape of the civil population Attempts to rush the trains Arrival at Volo ... 131 CHAPTER XL A Journey by Sea and Land to Athens. Efforts to leave Volo Expelled by excited crowd from a caique The shipping of the wounded A dis- turbed night Sail in fisherman's caique for Oreos in Island of Euboea Becalmed A fourteen hours' adventurous voyage Drive across Euboea to ^Edip- sos A pleasant reception The baths of Lipsos A sail to Chalcis, and in sponge-fisher's caique from xii CONTENTS PAGE Chalcis to Oropos A gale, and a night at anchor The drive from Oropos across the Fames range to Athens 143 CHAPTER XII. A Glimpse into Athenian Politics. Ministerial crisis M. Delyannis dismissed Want of preparations for a serious campaign Inadequate supply of munitions and arms Commissariat im- perfectly organized Riots in Athens and Pirasus, and shops looted for arms Meeting of the Chamber of Deputies M. Ralli commissioned to form a new Ministry M. Skouloudis, Minister for Foreign Affairs 158 CHAPTER XIII. Velestino and Pharsala. typical Greek salt Impudent Greek brigands A ride to Velestino Colonel Smolenskis : his general- ship The defence of Velestino The charge of the Turkish cavalry on the plateau-battery Smart vic- tory for Smolenskis Burning of Risomylos ... 168 CHAPTER XIV. Velestino and Pharsala {contimced). Rumours of an armistice All quiet at Velestino Evacuation of Risomylos by the Turks Attitude of the Greek officers : their disillusionment Attacked by brigands Greek war-ships flashing their search- CONTENTS PAGE lights A locomotive reconnaissance A run to Pharsala Its defences A visit to the head-quarters staff Trikkala re-occupied A night in Pharsala A veteran war-correspondent's camp A picturesque meeting, and a princely supper Ancient versus Modern History 176 CHAPTER XV. Velestino and Pharsala {continued). Hospitable Greeks The run back to Velestino A Greek reconnaissance and what it disclosed Ed- hem Pasha's new strategic developments His at- tempt to crush in Smolenskis' left flank Smolen- skis' stirring address to the Greek soldiers After fierce fighting the Turkish attack fails Strange meeting on the battle-field A true prophecy ... 189 CHAPTER XVI. The Last Stand at Velestino. The scene of the last stand The Turkish attack de- velopes on the right The struggle for the Kara- daon ridge A magnificent infantry charge by the Turks shattered by the Greeks The renewed Turkish attack on Smolenskis' original front The Greek line broken The right retires over Volo Pass ; the left retreats in the direction of Armyro Smolenskis saves all his guns The fighting at Pharsala The stand made by the Evzones and the English company of the Foreign Legion The retreat to Domokos, and the Crown Prince's Order- of-the-Day explaining the movement ... xiv CONTENTS CHAPTER XVII. The Evacuation of Volo and the Flight to the Islands. PAGE Wild panic in Volo The town crowded with refugees seeking escape by sea Disorder in the streets French sailors landed Five steamers with refugees get away to sea A journey from Chalcis via Ski- mitari, Tanagra, and the Parnes range to Athens ... 208 CHAPTER XVIII. Negotiations for an Armistice The Hospitals. Athens in state of subdued repentance The Foreign Ministers on behalf of their respective Governments offer their mediation with a view to obtaining an armistice and of smoothing the difficulties existing between Greece and Turkey The Hellenic Govern- ment places the interests of Greece in the hands of the Powers, agrees to the recall of the Greek troops from Crete, and adheres to autonomy for Crete The Porte declines to consider an armistice until after Bairam The English hospital at Piraeus ; the mili- tary hospitals in Athens; the English ambulance hospital at Chalcis, and the German ambulance hospital at San Marina 215 CHAPTER XIX. The Battle of Domokos. The armistice not being signed, another journey made to the front Recruits for the Foreign Legion Sad XV CONTENTS PAGE accounts of the state of the army at Domokos Forty thousand refugees at Larissa and surrounding country: their dreadful plight Domokos Ad- vance of the Turks in the morning ; the attack ; the engagement general all along the line at half-past two Intrepid Turkish assault on Greek centre and left, and splendid defence Gallantry of the Gari- baldians and Foreign Legion A last look at the ever-memorable scene of an ever-memorable battle 227 CHAPTER XX. The End of Domokos and the Retreat. The fighting on the right General Maoris' wing over- whelmed and the Greek right turned Dramatic scene at beginning of the retreat The death of Adjutant Sinclair The retreat of the Foreign Legion through Agoriani Pass The temporary hospital at Domokos : harrowing scenes The pas- sage to Larissa Conveyance of the wounded to San Marina The horrors of the hospital-ship The night journey from Chalcis to Thebes, and the day drive from Thebes to Athens 248 CHAPTER XXL The Armistice Signed : Close of the Campaign. The brief defence of the Phurka Pass The Greeks withdraw to Taratza Flying troops rallied by the Crown Prince The flag of truce The armistice signed The occupation of the line of Thermopylae xvi CONTENTS PAGE The disbandment of the Foreign Legion, and the Crown Prince's Order-of-the-Day on their disinter- ested conduct, their discipline and bravery The negotiations in Constantinople for a Treaty of Peace The Sultan perverse The situation grave, and will remain dangerous to the peace of Europe until the Great Powers compel the Sultan to listen to the voice of reason by an active demonstration of both fleets and armies 266 XVll LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Portrait of the Author ... Frontispiece Sketch-map of the Seat of War in Thessaly ... 14 Volo, with Pelion in the background... 20 The Crown Prince 26 The raid into Macedonia : Some of the Insurgent leaders: Captain Lazos and three lieutenants ... 48 Prince Nicholas 74 The fighting at Mati : Panoramic view of the Turks descending the Maluna Pass 84 The attack on Vigia, April 20th : Colonel Mavro- michaelis directs the advance from the Ravenni Valley 90 The attack on Vigla from the Bougassie Pass ... 94 Sketch-plan of the position at Mati, April 23rd ... 108 The fighting at Mati : Colonel Mavromichaelis watch- ing the battle from Kutavi no The stampede to Larissa : " Run, run ! the Turks are upon us" 114 The stampede to Larissa : Cutting the traces and deserting the guns 122 The stampede to Larissa : The pandemonium of indiscriminate firing 126 Greek officer attempts to stop the stampede : he might as well have called on the whirlwind to stay 128 xix LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Evacuation of Larissa : The Foreign Legion pre- venting the rush of the train for women and children 140 Colonel Smolenskis 168 The Turkish cavalry charge on the plateau-battery 172 Waiting for the Turks : The Greek squadron play- ing on Pelion with search-lights 180 Battle of Velestino, May 5th : Repulse of the Turkish infantry charge 194 Sketch-plan of the battle of Velestino, May 5th and 6th 198 Battle of Velestino, May 6th : Repulse of Turkish infantry assault 200 The battle of Velestino, May 6th : Bringing the Greek wounded to the railway station 204 Sketch-plan of the battle of Domokos 234 Panorama of the battle of Domokos : Explosion of a Greek caisson 240 Soldierly devotion : Lieut. Mavromichaelis when fatally wounded being drawn by his men from Domokos to Lamia 246 The Greek retreat from Domokos : The Crown Prince and his staff in the Phurka Pass : A night bivouac 254 XX WITH THE GREEKS IN THESSALY CHAPTER.!: %. ^], /' LONDON to <{TftENSrf ', 1*^ j' IN the first week of March, I received a commission from Mr. Herbert De Reuter, managing director of Reuter's Telegram Company, as their special War Correspondent in Greece. My instructions were to proceed with all possible speed to the Thessalian frontier and there wait events. Colonel Vassos' expedition to Crete had forced the hands of the Great Powers, in relation to that cradle of Greek revolt against the deliberate government by massacre by the unspeakable Turk. Moreover, it gave dramatic interest to the heroic efforts of the Cretan Greeks rightly struggling to be free. The Sultan, prohibited by the blockade of the International fleet from landing his Asiatic hordes on the gem of the Mgean Archipelago, was pouring into Macedonia battalion after battalion A I WITH THE GREEKS IN THESSALY of Anatolian troops, and marshalling his Moslem hosts along the Thessalian frontier and in the defiles of Epirus. From the housetops of the Chancelleries of Europe proclamation was made that the dogs of war would not be unleashed and that peace would be maintained at all hazards. Yet few students of Eastern politics believed in their heart of hearts in this vain cry. While optimist diplomats called ''pe*oe,y camfi'*tli^*;rhceaning echo of "no peace" frpip, tJiQ. n:]Quntaios. of*., Crete, from the snow- i;hoiftied.*'fehoul9i.-s'. of. 'O'lympus, the peaks and passes of Kassia which divide Macedonia from Thessaly, and the blue and white crests of the Pindus range which cuts Epirus from Northern Greece. The air was charged with the electric forces of battle, and the only question was when the war- cloud would burst. My object was to be on the scene ere it precipitated. Travelling night and day, I reached Brindisi on March 31. While waiting there for the steamer Sumatra to start for Piraeus, which it did late in the evening, I met Lieutenant Avrid Wester, of the staff of the Swedish army, who was going out to the same destination as a Correspondent for journals published in Stockholm and Helsingfors. Lieutenant Wester was destined to be my com- 2 LONDON TO ATHENS panion on many an eventful occasion. Another passenger was a Swedish engineer, whose enthusi- astic Phil-Hellenism was impelling him to the theatre of war as a volunteer. A fever of combat had certainly seized the gentleman, and its mani- festations were, to say the least, most entertaining. He flourished a huge dirk after the manner of the brigand in a transpontine theatre ; he played with a revolver as a child would with .its .favouritq-.tc-y ; and when not delivering imagia'ar^' ch'arges against imaginary Turks, he spent his'.tjmq iat.' *th,;; ^'cvlppi?;, piano composing a Grand March for the Volunteer Army which he firmly believed was to materially aid the Greeks in driving the Sultan from Europe. The next time I saw him, as will be told in the sequel, his enthusiasm had considerably cooled. We reached Corfu about noon of April i, and time was afforded for a run through the pictur- esque town with its exquisite views of hill and vale, and bright blue bays, and its semi-oriental streets and bazaars. The Royal Palace is inter- esting, built as it was for the Lord High Commissioner during the British protectorate. It contains portraits of George IV., of several of the British Governors, including Lord Guildford and Sir Thomas Maitland, the Presidents of the Ionian Senate and of the original Knights of St. Michael and St. George. But what was of more 3 WITH THE GREEKS IN THESSALY interest to me was the ancient citadel or Fortezza Vecchia, reminding one of Ehrenbreitstein on the Rhine or Stirling Castle. Much of the citadel is semi-ruinous, but the ramparts, some of which date back to 1500, are exceedingly strong. Whether the citadel would be of much use under conditions of modern warfare is a question that need not be considered, as under the terms of the surrender of the Ionian Islands to Greece, Corfu was 'r^cogjijiecli'biy.. Europe as neutral territory. .vTlj^.Jor?^. 'ascent : thr(3u^h the covered ways and by *su(!c^s*5rve* If^M '6f 'ramparts to the crowning tower is worth the trouble, for the sake of the magnificent panorama of town and island, and the view across the Straits to the blue Albanian hills. It was striking to find here a great fortress, practically without a garrison. Only a company of recruits held the place and furnished one or two easy-going sentries at the drawbridge over the moat or at the entrance to the ancient armoury. The ordinary garrison, we were informed, had been transferred to Arta. Piraeus was reached on Saturday morning, and we drove at once to Athens. However tempting, it is not my purpose to dilate on the classic city, but I could not help being struck with the vast changes which had been made 4 LONDON TO ATHENS since I had last visited it eighteen years before. Instead of a semi-squalid, half-oriental town, it has now grown into a city of spacious boulevards, of splendid open streets, lined literally with marble palaces. Greek merchants and bankers from all parts of the world, inspired by a patriotism which has something noble in it, have built these grand mansions, and reside, for a period of the year at any rate, in the rejuvenated qapital of their native land. In the lower part of the,;' town, hciWfeVer, there is still something to Y/6 'found of; old .Athens -^ narrow and not too clearf'tlibf6ug;h*fai*es'aifd''l3a-' zaars, the heritage of the Turk. But dominating all, in solemn contrast to the bizarre modernity of the new town, is the Acropolis, with its matchless temples and fanes, glorious even in their ruin and decay. My business, however, was not to study archse- ology, but the people in relation to the prospects of hostilities between Greece and Turkey. The atmosphere seemed to glow with the war- fever. The centre of public life, that is to say of the open-air life of the Athenians, is Constitution Square. There, in its numerous cafes overflowing into the gardens of the Place, thousands of eager- eyed and nervously-excited men discussed with active gesture the news of the day. My dear old friend, the late Professor Lorimer, 5 WITH THE GREEKS IN THESSALY of Edinburgh University, when prating to his students on the Law of Nature, held that almost never was the voice of the people the voice of God. It was generally, he emphasized in his sweet thin voice, the voice of the Devil. " A notation of the cries in the air at a time of surgent public excite- ment," says George Meredith, " can hardly yield us music." The Athenian shouts for war were cer- tainly not melodious. ^ " Crete must be annexed to thejEaJherlin'd; vfepjcus must be joined to Greece : it Jxad .been., awarded 'by the Berlin Congress in I'S'f^, h.<\^'''ii wa3i6nStVous that the Sultan had been permitted by the Powers to put the decision of the Congress to scorn." The cafe politician talked excitedly of the in- domitable Greek soldiery, of the brave deeds of the War of Independence in 1828, and even an occasional reference was made to Marathon and Thermopylae. " If the Sultan will not at once submit to the cession of Crete and Epirus and the correction of the Thessalian frontier, then the Greek army must march across the passes of the Kassia range, knock at the gates of Salonica, whence, if the Sultan will not heed, then the victorious march must be continued to Constantinople ! " The restless crowd, which " has no more imagi- nation than serves to paint the future in the colours of the past," found their own excited arguments 6 LONDON TO ATHENS perfectly convincing. The patriotic effusions of the Ethnik6 Etairia had done their work. The Greeks, it was firmly believed, were invincible, and the Turks were only a decadent force. What a rude and bitter disillusionment had the Greeks to experience ! Excitement in the city was not confined to the declamation of the pavement politicians. All day long companies of armed men were marching through the streets. Every; steamer arrivin|;" at Piraeus landed hundreds .of reservists, recruits, and volunteers, not only from tlieJslesQf' Greece bvit from every quarter of the Levant, from North Africa, from Western Europe, and even from America, South Africa, and Australia. They were attired in every variety of costume the baggy pants and braided jacket of the Albanian ; the fustanella, or plaited linen kilt, of the mountaineers, with picturesque jacket and tasselled fez ; the heavy woollen cloak and tight white breeches of shepherds and peasants from plain and mountain on the mainland, and even suits of Western tweed. The motley corps paraded the principal boulevards with banners flying, singing patriotic songs and cheered by the Athenian crowd. Now and again a battalion of regular troops would pass to the parade-ground for drill, headed by a few trumpeters who blared out an unsteady march. Enthusiasm was certainly 7 WITH THE GREEKS IN THESSALY not inspired by the spirit-stirring drum or by the rousing strains of brass and reed band. The want of miHtary music in the army, I may say parenthe- tically, was somewhat notable. I believe there is only one military band in Greece, and that is always stationed at Athens. Throughout the campaign, indeed, there was very little of the pomp of war. Brief reference has already been made to the Ethpik^. Etairi^; : Sonle idea of how Greece was driven into the unhappy lyar is impossible without a^\b#ibf'.