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
Combatants
Greece	Ottoman Empire
Commanders
Athanasios Diakos, Panourgias Panourgias, Yiannis Dyovouniotis	Omer Vryonis
Strength
1,500 irregulars	9,000 troops
Casualties
unknown	unknown

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

In April 1821, Omer Vryonis, the commander of the Turkish army, advanced with 9,000 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' men fought for several hours before they were overwhelmed. Eventually Diakos himself was captured after he was shot in the foot and had his sword broken. He was taken to Vrionis. Vrionis offered to make Diakos an officer in his army but Diakos refused and replied "I was born a Greek and I will die a Greek".

Vrioni 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" referring to the Greeks' uprising against the Turks.

[edit] Sources

Peter Parouakis. The Greeks: Their Struggle for Independence. ISBN 0959089403