page_title: Battle of Velestino
section_title: 29 April
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Velestino / First Battle of Velestino, 27–30 April / 29 April
caption_attribution_description: English: Sketch of First Battle of Velestino, April 30
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.
context_section_description: After his arrival at Gherli around noon on 29 April, Mahmud Muhtar urged Naim Pasha and Suleiman Pasha to attack before the Greeks had had enough time to establish strong fortifications; he also pointed out that the rest of the Ottoman army was at the very same time preparing to advance on Farsala, and that the Greek forces opposing them were not as strong as they thought.The energetic Mahmud Muhtar would prove to be the driving force of the Ottoman efforts to break through the Velestino position, but the Ottomans remained hampered by the lack of unified command: Naim Pasha, who outranked Mahmud Muhtar, disregarded his advice and proved himself a dilatory and hesitant commander.
  The Ottoman commanders worked out a plan of attack in two columns. Suleiman Pasha was put in charge of the right (western) column, although Colonel Mahmud Muhtar, who joined the column ostensibly as the commander-in-chief's liaison, was its de facto commander. It comprised the Bursa, Orhaneli, and Bilecik infantry battalions, a horse artillery battery, and 7 cavalry companies (three from the 6th Guards Regiment and the 13th Cavalry Regiment), and was intended to operate as a diversion, while the main attack would be led by Naim Pasha on the left (eastern) flank along the road to Volos, against the Greek centre and right. Naim Pasha's column comprised the Adapazarı, Elmalı, Çakırca, and Tuzca battalions and two companies from the Mihaliç battalion, the 14th Cavalry Regiment, and a field artillery battery.
  On the Greek side, the forces under Smolenskis' command on 29 April numbered 6 infantry companies on the feet of Malouka Hill, to the west of Velestino, with an artillery battery on the Panagia height. A battalion occupied the low ground before the pass itself, between the Velestino railway station and the height of Ovrias Gala to the northeast, near Rizomylos. The 6th Evzone Battalion held the Ovrias Gala height itself. Another infantry battalion, with an artillery battery, was placed at the Pilaf Tepe height. Two battalions (minus a company sent to Volos) remained at Velestino as a reserve. The Greek troops had dug trenches and field works before their positions.
  The Ottomans began their march at 14:00, and were detected by the Greek scouts an hour later, as the Ottoman vanguard detachments approached the village of Koniari (modern Chloi) in front of the Greek left. At around 16:00, Suleiman Pasha's troops occupied the heights around Koniari, and started firing on the Greek positions. After about half an hour, Mahmud Muhtar had gauged the Greek strength, which he estimated at 3–4 battalions with a few mountain artillery pieces, and, given the numerical superiority of the Ottoman forces, decided to launch an all-out attack. However, before giving this order, he had to coordinate with Naim Pasha's column, and set out to meet with him at Rizomylos, only to find that the latter's column had moved slowly and not yet reached its planned positions. Only at around 17:00 did the leading elements of Naim Pasha's column arrive at Rizomylos, with the main body following half an hour behind. Naim Pasha launched an attack against the Greek positions at Ovrias Gala at 18:00, but was repulsed, and nightfall halted any further operations.
  According to Colmar von der Goltz, Mahmud Muhtar suggested a night attack against the Greek left at 03:00, but again this did not take place because the additional battalion promised by Naim Pasha for this operation failed to arrive on time. With the shift of troops and focus to their right, the Ottomans effectively reversed their original plan and made their main effort against the Greek left.
  On the Greek side, Colonel Smolenskis asked Crown Prince Constantine for urgent reinforcements, and in the same night received by rail the 4/2 field artillery battery, which took up position near the railway station, and the 4th Evzone Battalion, which took up positions at Ayvali (modern Rigaion) to cover Smolenskis' left flank.  As a result, by the next morning, the heights of Malouka Hill on the Greek left were defended by the equival
caption: Sketch of the Ottoman and Greek positions prior to the Ottoman attack on 30 April
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