THE WAR OF GREEK INDEPENDENCE 1821 TO 1833 BY W.ALISON PHILLIPS 1897

BATTLE OF PETA 109
as Kiutayeh, 1
an officer as experienced and capable as
Mavrocordatos was the reverse.
The latter made his
headquarters at Ivombotti, where he remained, while
the Greek army advanced some fifteen miles further,
and took up a position at Peta. Here, disadvantageously
posted and without having entrenched themselves,
they were attacked, on the 16th of July, by the
Turks in overwhelming force. In the absence of the
commander-in-chief, no one possessed
sufficient authority
to produce unity of action among the heterogeneous
elements forming the Greek army. The Philhellenes,
indeed, fought with desperate courage; but
the treachery of the chief Gogos, who had been entrusted
with the defence of the key of the position,
suffered the Turks to attack them both in front and
rear, and only some twenty-five succeeded in forcing
their way through at the point of the bayonet. At the
same time Colonel Tarella fell,
and his regiment was
annihilated. 2
This battle had several important effects, apart
from its leaving the Turks free to reduce the Suliots;
for it
destroyed the prestige of Mavrocordatos, and
1 He had been Pasha of Kiutayeh in Asia Minor. His
father had been a Georgian priest, and he himself was a
convert to Islam.
2 For a detailed account of this battle see Gordon, i. 388.