page_title: Battle of Velestino
section_title: First Battle of Velestino, 27–30 April
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Velestino / First Battle of Velestino, 27–30 April
caption_attribution_description: English: Disposition of the Turkish &amp; Greek forces on April 25, 1897
context_page_description: The Battle of Velestino comprised two separate combats, which took place on 27 April [O.S. 15 April] 1897–30 April [O.S. 18 April] 1897 and 5 May [O.S. 23 April] 1897–6 May [O.S. 24 April] 1897, between the Greek and Ottoman armies at Velestino in Thessaly, as part of the Greco-Turkish War of 1897.
  The pass of Velestino controlled the road and railway lines linking the port city of Volos with the interior of the Thessalian plain. As the Greek army withdrew from Larissa to Farsala, a reinforced brigade under Colonel Konstantinos Smolenskis was sent to occupy the pass and cover Volos and the right of the new Greek position. At the same time, the Ottoman high command dispatched a mixed force of cavalry and infantry in the same direction to capture Volos. The first Greek detachments arrived in the area in the morning of 27 April, some hours ahead of the Ottomans, and occupied the heights around Velestino. As a result, a first clash developed in the same evening as the first Ottoman forces arrived in the area.
caption: Dispositions of the Greek and Ottoman armies on 25 April 1897
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