| Battle of Chios | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the First Balkan War | |||||||||
&sq=Envato&lang=en&file=File:Chios_topographic_map-en.svg) Map of Chios and the nearby Çeşme Peninsula | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Greece |
 Ottoman Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Ioannis Damianos Nikolaos Delagrammatikas |
Zihne Bey (POW) | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 5,000 | 2,000 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
36 killed 166 wounded |
~200 killed >1,800 men captured | ||||||||
The Battle of Chios took place from 24 November 1912 to 3 January 1913 during the First Balkan War. It resulted in the capture of the eastern Aegean island of Chios by the Kingdom of Greece, ending almost 350 years of rule by the Ottoman Empire.
The occupation of the island was a prolonged affair. The Greek landing force, commanded by Colonel Nikolaos Delagrammatikas, was quickly able to seize the eastern coastal plain and the town of Chios, but the Ottoman garrison was well equipped and supplied, and managed to withdraw to the mountainous interior. A stalemate ensued, and operations almost ceased from the end of November and until the arrival of Greek reinforcements in late December.
Finally, the Ottoman garrison was defeated and forced to surrender on 3 January 1913.[1]
- ^ Erickson 2003, pp. 157–158.