. The Burton Holmes lectures;. 1 MK \ .\; 266 THE WONDERS OF THESSALY ^:M THh. PENEL S of all praise — the men proved themselves steady fighters inspite of youth and inexperience. And in judging their lateractions it must be remembered that the Greeks were at notime as strong numerically as the Turks. Less than seventythousand untrained Greek troops were pitted against more thanone hundred and thirty thousand seasoned veterans or Turk-ish reserves, drilled by German officers. As yet, however, theTurks had not crossed the line in force, and the Greeks werestill strongly intrenched at the en
. The Burton Holmes lectures;. 1 MK \ .\; 266 THE WONDERS OF THESSALY ^:M THh. PENEL S of all praise — the men proved themselves steady fighters inspite of youth and inexperience. And in judging their lateractions it must be remembered that the Greeks were at notime as strong numerically as the Turks. Less than seventythousand untrained Greek troops were pitted against more thanone hundred and thirty thousand seasoned veterans or Turk-ish reserves, drilled by German officers. As yet, however, theTurks had not crossed the line in force, and the Greeks werestill strongly intrenched at the entrance to the plain. But a fatal mistake during the night of April 23 com-pletely changed the situation. The advance posts of theGreeks were signaled to retire to the main line. The signalswere wrongly interpreted in Tyrnavos, whence the rumor ranthat the advance posts have been taken by the Turks. Theinhabitants packed up goods and chattels, and began to. THE WONDERS OF THESSALY 269 leave the town. Panic seized the troops and spread fromTyrnavos to Larissa and thence southward to the very basesof suppHes, to Volo and the other seaport cities. Larissa was abandoned by the Greek forces, and for threedays was at the mercy of the released convicts and drunkeninsurgents, who pillaged the houses, committed all kinds ofoutrage, and then fought among themselves. When the Turkish cavalry at last arrived, they came inthe guise of deliverers, and were welcomed by the four hun-dred Moslem inhabitants, the Jews, and the few Greek resi-dents remaining in the city. The Turkish commander, whencomplimented on his capture of the city, replied : Mere
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectvoyages, bookyear1901
