Omer Vryonis

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Omer Vryonis (also Omer Vrioni) was a leading Ottoman figure in the Greek War of Independence.

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[edit] Early life

Omer Vryonis was actually Albanian but, when Ali Pasha revolted against the Porte, he chose the side of Sultan Mahmud II rather than that of his own countryman and ruler.

After the fall and execution of Ali Pasha, Omer Vryonis was sent to suppress the Greek Revolution which had broken out in March 1821. On April 24, 1821, he defeated the Greeks at the Battle of Alamana and had their commander, Athanasios Diakos, impaled. "The sickening reality of the impalement was that the victim was spreadeagled face down, and held in place by ropes attached to each leg while a man with a heavy mallet drove a long sharpened pole in his anus."[1] Vrioni's advance was temporarily halted by Odysseas Androutsos who, with a handful of men, inflicted heavy casualties upon him at the Battle of the inn of Gravia on May 8, 1821.

[edit] The Siege of Messolonghi

Further information: First Siege of Messolonghi

In late 1822, he and Mehmed Reshid Pasha joined forces to besiege the town of Messolonghi. The town was completely surrounded on October 25, and might have fallen, had the Ottomans attempted an immediate assault. As it was, Vryonis preferred to take the strategically important town intact, and resorted to negotiations, against the opinion of Mehmed Reshid and Yussuf Pasha. The besieged Greeks took advantage of the negotiations, dragging them out until November 8, when they were reinforced by sea, at which point they refused to negotiate further. The siege began in earnest, and the two pashas scheduled their main assault for Christmas night, December 24, calculating that the Greeks would be caught by surprise. The plan was leaked to the defenders, and the attack failed. Six days later, the siege was lifted.

[edit] Later career

As a result of this failure, the antagonism between Omer Vryoni and Mehmed Reshid escalated, resulting in his recall by the Porte in 1824, when he assigned a command in Macedonia. During the later Russo-Turkish War of 1828, he led a 20,000 strong army in an unsuccessful attempt to relieve the Siege of Varna.

[edit] Notes and sources

  1. ^ Brewer, David, The Greek War of Independence, (The Overlook Press 2001) p.86 ISBN 1585673951
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