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Battle of Domokos
Part of the Greco-Turkish War (1897)
Ottoman infantry charge at Domokos
Date 17 May 1897 Location Domokos (Kingdom of Greece) Result Ottoman victory
Belligerents
Ottoman Empire	Greece
Commanders and leaders
Edhem Pasha	Prince Constantine

The Battle of Domokos (Turkish: Dömeke savaşı, Greek: Μάχη της Δομοκού) was a battle between the Ottoman Empire and Greece . This battle was a part of the Greco-Turkish War (1897).

Battle

The Ottoman advance

At 6:30 a.m. on 5 May, Greek pickets situated at the Papasliki mountain reported that the enemy was attempting a flanking maneuver from the right. An hour later, the Ottomans began bombarding the Kitiki pass, the ensuing fighting there lasted until 2:00 p.m. when the last infantry assaults were successfully repelled by the defenders. Two Ottoman columns hit the Kasidiaris pass and the Tsiatma area, they were repulsed while the 1st company of the 4th Greek Regiment counter attacked pursuing the retreating Ottomans for 2 kilometres (1.2 mi). At 10:00 a.m., two brigades belonging to the 3rd Memdhuh Division pincered the Kotseli village held by the 7th Evzones Battalion. Fearing encirclement the Evzones engaged in a disorganized retreat, dangerously exposing the two Companies of the 4th Regiment at Kitiki and forcing them to retire. At 1:30 p.m.

the Ottoman rejiged their

Ormanli

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The commander of the Ottoman army at Elassona was Ethem Pasha . He was one of the younger generals of the Ottoman Army (then 46) and his appointment perplexed many. The commander of the Greek army was the Prince Constantine. The Ottoman army in Domokos was 45000 strong and the Greek army was 40000 strong The Greek side also had 2000 Italian irregulars under the command of Ricciotti Garibaldi.

According to a contemporary source following initial victories, Ethem Pasha had some of his troops in Velestino (which was the theatre of two former battles) and most in Pharsala. But there was a momentary pause after the second battle of Valestino. The new Greek prime minister Dimitrios Rallis was anxious to accept the mediation which the Great Powers were willing to undertake. Failing to reach a compromise, Ethem Pasha marched from Phasla to the town of Domokos on 17 May 1897. Domakos was the stronghold of the Greek army against the advancing Ottoman army.

The Ottomans advanced in several groups in the early morning of the 17th: Hayri Pasha's division on the right, heading towards Tsioba; Neşet Pasha's division to its left, on the main road to Domokos; Hamdi Pasha in the center; Memduh Pasha's division on the left, intending to hit the Greek's right flank, and Haidar Pasha's division following Hamdi Pasha's.

The first shots were fired at around 10 am on the left of the Greek lines, when Hayri Pasha's forces encountered a small force of Greek cavalry in the village of Tsioba. Hayri Pasha overestimated the Greek force and advanced cautiously; it took his troops an hour to take the village. Neshet's troops were delayed as well, as they had orders not to advance forward of Hayri's troops. Hamdi also encountered Greek troops around 10 am.

The Turkish left wing under Hamdi and Memduh advanced slowly, hampered by the difficult ground and the resistance put up by the Greek troops under Colonel Mastrapas. The Greek Fourth Division held Hamdi's Albanian regulars back for some time before Hamdi forced his way forward with artillery. Memduh's forces faced similar difficulties against the Euzonoi defending against his advance.

By 3 pm the Greeks had withdrawn from the plains in front of Domlokos, and Neşet's artillery had begun shelling the Greek lines. The Turkish infantry from Neşet and Hayri's divisions pressed forward under Greek artillery fire, reaching positions 400-600 yards from the Greek trenches. At sunset, the artillery fire died down, and the Greek positions seemed intact.

At 11 pm Ethem Pasha received word from Hamdi. Hamdi and Memduh were in position on the Greek right, ready to attack the right or right rear of the Greek positions. Ethem gave orders for Hamdi to attack the Greek right the next day, while Memduh swung around to cut off the Greek line of retreat through the Phurka Pass. Prince Constantine realized the danger posed by the Turkish forces on their right, and retreated during the night, leaving their fires burning to keep the Turks from noticing the retreat.

Ethem took the initiative and advanced to Thermopylae about 40 kilometres (25 mi) south. Although the pass was heavily defended by the Greek army it was captured. The sadrazam (prime minister) Halil Rifat Pasha was planning to capture Athens (to be used a bargaining chip in the future negotiations). But the Great powers of Europe forced the Ottoman porte for armistice. Two days after the battle both sides ceased fire.

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References

• Christopoulos, Georgios; Bastias, Ioannis (1977). Ιστορία του Ελληνικού Εθνους: Νεώτερος Ελληνισμός απο το 1881 ως 1913 [History of the Greek Nation: Modern Greece from 1881 until 1913] (in Greek). Vol. XIV. Athens: Ekdotiki Athinon.
• Forbes, Archibald; Welsh, Charles (1910). Famous Battles of the Nineteenth Century, 1875-1900. New York: A. Wessels Company. OCLC 319980819. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
• Gonzaga, Mauricio (1907). Ο ελληνοτουρκικός πόλεμος του 1897 εν Θεσσαλία [The Greco-Turkish War of 1897 in Thessaly] (in Greek). Athens: Hellenic Ministry of Defense Press. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
• Spyropoulos, Nikolaos (1933). Ο ελληνοτουρκικός πόλεμος του 1897 : Κριτική επί των κατά τον πόλεμον τούτον εξελιχθεισών επιχειρήσεων και συναγόμενα ωφέλιμα εξ αυτών πορίσματα [The Greco-Turkish War of 1897: Commentary and Criticism of its Operations and Conclusions] (in Greek). Athens: Nikolas Tiperoglou Publishing House. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
• Spyropoulos, Nikolaos (1934). Ο ελληνοτουρκικός πόλεμος του 1897 : Σύντομος μελέτη των εν τω θεάτρω της Θεσσαλίας εξελιχθεισών, κατά τον ανωτέρω πόλεμον επιχειρήσεων [The Greco-Turkish War of 1897: A Short Study of the Thessaly Theater of Operations] (in Greek). Athens: Ergasiai Typou. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
• Stranz, von (1900). Modern Warfare: As Illustrated by the Greco-Turkish War. London: S. Sonninschein and Company. OCLC 15473123.
• Pecout, Gilles (2004). "Philhellenism in Italy:Political friendship and the Italian volunteers in the Mediterranean in the nineteenth century". Journal of Modern Italian Studies. 16 (1): 405–427. doi:10.1080/1354571042000296380. Retrieved 8 May 2016.

Category:1897 in the Ottoman Empire Category:1897 in Greece Category:History of Thessaly Domokos Domokos Domokos Domokos