Battle of Vasilika


The Battle of Vasilika was fought between Greek revolutionaries and the Ottoman Empire during the Greek War of Independence.

Battle

During the revolution of 1821, the Sultan, in order to help the Ottoman forces in Central Greece, sent an army of eight thousand men leaded by Behrem Pasha from Macedonia to help them. If this army would unite with the rest of the Ottoman forces the revolution in Central Greece would come to its end. In order to stop the campaign, Yannis Gouras, Dimitrios Panourgias and Yannis Dyovouniotis with a force of 1,600 or 2,300 men occupied the narrow road of Vasilika, in Phthiotis.
At August 26th 1821, the Ottoman army conflicted with the Greeks. The Greek defenders manage to hold their position causing huge casualties to the Ottomans and even killing a Turkish officer. Behrem Pasha was finally forced to retreat to Lamia, to the north of Thermopylae. On the battlefield, he had left seven hundred dead Ottomans, eight hundred horses and eighteen flags. This victory prevented the Ottoman army in Central Greece to enter the Peloponnese and deliver the Ottoman garrisons besieged by the Greeks.