Battle of Dervenakia The Battle of Dervenakia ( ) was the Greek victory over the Ottoman forces on 26 – 28 July 1822 , an important event in the Greek War of Independence . The destruction of Dramali Pasha ' s forces saved the heartland of the rebellion , the Morea , and secured it for the Greeks until the arrival of Ibrahim Pasha in 1825 . Background . After the final defeat and death of Ali Pasha , the Ottoman forces in northern Greece were reoriented to the south , where the Greeks had rebelled in early 1821 . A force of some 30 , 000 men , including 6 , 000 cavalry , was entrusted to Mahmud Dramali Pasha ( pasha of Larissa ) , who had replaced the veteran Hursid Pasha . This force was the largest seen in Greece in more than a century , since the last Venetian - Ottoman War , composed of experienced warriors with ample supplies . Dramali was expected to crush the Greek rebellion by advancing to Corinth , relieve the besieged garrison of Nafplion and recapture the capital of the Morea , Tripoli . Setting out from Zitouni ( Lamia ) early in July , he proceeded southwards through Boeotia . He made no attempt to retake the Acropolis of Athens which , although well supplied with provisions and ammunition , had capitulated to the Greeks on 21 June owing to lack of water . The Greeks had sent a force to block the passes at Geraneia , but the size of the Ottoman army discouraged them , and Dramali passed through unmolested . The same was repeated at the fort of Acrocorinth , which was abandoned by its commander , Iakovos Theodoridis , after he murdered the imprisoned Kiamil Bey . After arriving at Corinth in mid - July , Dramali wedded Kiamil ' s widow , and called a council to determine his future actions . There , many of his officers , headed by Yussuf Pasha of Patras , urged him to follow a military plan of using Corinth as a base , building up strong naval forces in the gulf and isolate the Morea , before advancing on Tripoli . Dramali ignored this sound advice , and , full of confidence , decided to proceed from Corinth to the south , towards the Argolis . Siege of Nafplion . Dramali passed through the narrow defile known as the Dervenaki ( Tretos ) and on 24 July reached Argos , whence the Greek government had fled . He left no guards behind him in the Dervenaki and he posted no forces where other defiles exposed his flanks . He sent cavalry forward to join the Ottoman garrison at Nafplion , which at that time was on the point of capitulation . As it was , Dramali was able to seize the Greek hostages which the garrison was holding there as a pledge for the safety of Muslim hostages held by the Greeks . Trapped in the Argolis . On arriving in Argos , he found that its citadel , Larissa , was manned , and that the Ottoman fleet , with which he had planned to rendezvous with the Ottoman fleet at Nafplion , was actually at Patras . What he should have done was to have fallen back immediately to Corinth , from where he could have drawn supplies from Patras . Instead , he launched an attack on the citadel . The Greeks , under Demetrios Ypsilantis , held out for twelve days , before lack of water forced them to sneak out past the Ottoman lines in the middle of the night . However , while Dramali was preoccupied with Larissa , the Greeks rallied their forces . Already the Peloponnesian Senate had stepped into the place vacated by the central government . Military leaders like Theodoros Kolokotronis and Petrobey called for volunteers , who came flocking in , along with the " kapetanei " and the primates . Five thousand troops assembled at the fortified mills of Lerna ; others assembled at points on the marshy banks of the river Erasinos ; and daily the Greeks skirmished with the Ottomans as they attempted to find water and fodder for their horses and baggage animals . Other Greek bands infiltrated the mountains which overlook the plains of Argos . On the hills extending from Lerna to the Dervenaki , Kolokotronis , who had been appointed " archistratigos " ( commander - in - chief ) , concentrated no less than 8 , 000 men . Around Agionori there were 2 , 000 troops under Ypsilantis , Nikitaras and Papaflessas . Towards Nafplion large forces were assembled under Nikolaos Stamatelopoulos , the brother of Nikitaras , and these were joined by Arvanites from Kranidi , Poros and Kastri . Kolokotronis pursued a scorched earth policy , aiming at starving the Ottomans out . The Greeks looted the villages , burned the grain and foodstuff they could not move , and damaged the wells and springs . Dramali ' s army was trapped in the sweltering Argolic plain . However , Kolokotronis was not in a position to coordinate all the Greek forces , for many operated under their own leaders , refusing to follow his orders . If Kolokotronis had in fact commanded the Greek armies , and thus been able draw up a general military plan , Dramali ' s forces might have been completely annihilated and Nafplion would have been captured with little difficulty . Disaster in the ravines . As it was , Dramali was given the opportunity to carry out his belated decision to retreat . On 26 July he dispatched an advance guard consisting of 1 , 000 Muslim Albanians to occupy the passes . These troops , who were either mistaken by the Greeks for cobelligerents or deliberately allowed to pass , got through entirely unharmed . But a body of Dramali ' s cavalry which was following up to occupy the Dervenaki was intercepted by Nikitaras at the village of Agios Vasilis and was routed , a victory which gained for Nikitaras the name of ' Turk - eater ' ( " Turkofagos " ) . Very few of the Ottoman " delhis " ( light cavalry ) managed to escape ; most of them had lost their horses and , as they tried to make their way on foot up the ravines of the mountains , they were almost all intercepted by small Greek bands or shot down by individual marksmen from concealed positions . During the encounter the Greeks took an enormous amount of booty - hundreds of horses and baggage animals and a considerable quantity of treasure , arms and stores . Two days later ( 28 July ) , Dramali attempted to evacuate his main forces by way of the route through Agionori . Here he came up against the Greeks under Papaflessas who was holding the main defile ( Klisoura ) . Unable to proceed , he soon found himself assailed by Nikitaras and Ypsilantis who made a forced march from their positions at the village of Agios Vasilis and at Agios Sostis . Although Dramali himself with the main troop of delhis managed to force his way through and finally reach Korinthos , the Greeks captured all the baggage and the military chest ; and they annihilated almost completely the unmounted personnel of Dramali ' s army . But no sooner had they achieved victory than they dispersed : the Moreots hastened to return to their villages taking with them such animals and other booty on which they had been able to lay their hands . Had they been less intent on booty , they might have totally annihilated Dramali ' s army . As it was , many of the delhis lived to fight another day , but Dramali himself died , a broken man , in the following December at Korinthos . His campaign had resulted in a disaster of great magnitude : out of an army of more than 23 , 000 with which he entered the Morea , barely 6 , 000 had survived . The extent of the Ottoman defeat became proverbial in Greece , where a great defeat is still referred to as a " νίλα του Δράμαλη " , i . e . " Dramali ' s disaster " . Aftermath . With the destruction of the main Ottoman force present in Greece at the time , the rebellion survived its first great test , and was firmly now established . In December 1822 , Nafplion finally surrendered to the Greeks , who made it their provisional capital . The Greek cause would however quickly unravel , with factional conflict breaking out in 1823 . Kolokotronis himself , arguably the Greeks ' ablest military leader , was imprisoned by his enemies in Palamidi , at a time when the Sultan , acknowledging his inability to deal with the " Greek problem " , turned to Muhammad Ali of Egypt and his Western - trained armies for help .