- Omar Vrioni
Omar Vrioni (known in Greek as Ομέρ Βρυώνης, Omer Vryonis) was a leading Ottoman figure in the
Greek War of Independence .Early life
Omar Vrioni was actually Albanian from the village of Vrionti near
Berat , with a distinguished record in the battles in Egypt against Napoleon. [Finlay, p. 89] WhenAli Pasha revolted against the Porte, Omar initially commanded the army tasked with defending the southern approaches toIoannina , but entered into an agreement with the Sultan;s forces, disbanding his army in exchange for thepashalik of Berat. [Finlay, pp. 95-96]After the fall and execution of Ali Pasha, Omar was sent to suppress the Greek Revolution which had broken out in March
1821 . OnApril 24 ,1821 , he defeated the Greeks at theBattle of Alamana and had their commander,Athanasios Diakos , impaled. Vrioni's advance was temporarily halted byOdysseas Androutsos who, with a handful of men, inflicted heavy casualties upon him at the Battle of the inn of Gravia on May 8, 1821.iege of Messolonghi
In late
1822 , he andMehmed Reshid Pasha joined forces to besiege the town ofMessolonghi . The town was completely surrounded on October 25, and might have fallen, had the Ottomans attempted an immediate assault. As it was, Vrioni preferred to take the strategically important town intact, and resorted to negotiations, against the opinion of Mehmed Reshid andYussuf Pasha . The besieged Greeks took advantage of the negotiations, dragging them out until November 8, when they were reinforced by sea, at which point they refused to negotiate further. The siege began in earnest, and the two pashas scheduled their main assault forChristmas night, December 24, calculating that the Greeks would be caught by surprise. The plan was leaked to the defenders, and the attack failed. Six days later, the siege was lifted.Later career
As a result of this failure, the antagonism between Omar Vrioni and Mehmed Reshid escalated, resulting in his recall by the Porte in
1824 , when he assigned a command in Macedonia. During the later Russo-Turkish War of 1828, he led a 20,000 strong army in an unsuccessful attempt to relieve theSiege of Varna .References
ources
* Brewer, David. "The Greek War of Independence". The Overlook Press, 2001. ISBN 1585673951
*
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