The 'Battle of Phaleron' took place on
April 24,
1827. The revolting
Greek 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
The English
Lord Cochrane and
Richard Church were commanding the
Greeks. 3,000 men were ordered to advance. Their plan was to send 7,000 more men who were at
Piraeus to attack the Turks from the flanks. 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 Turkish cavalry.
Aftermath
The Greeks lost 2,000 men. This was a devastating setback. The men in the Acropolis surrendered 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
Nauplio. Later that year, the Great Powers,
Imperial Russia, the restored kingdom of
France, and
Great Britain destroyed the
Egyptian and
Turkish fleets in the
Battle of Navarino.
Sources
★ Peter Paroulakis. The Greeks: Their Struggle for Independence. ISBN 0-9590894-0-3