F. A. Hastings.
XXVIII.
Karteria, Dragomestre, Dec. 8th, 1827.
My Lord,
I have the honour to inform you that I have passed over the army of General Church to this port, amounting to about twelve hundred men, with six pieces of artillery, and about sixty horses, mules, &c. The General has been joined by Maori and some other captains, which may have increased his force to two thousand men. He is in hourly expectation of being joined by Zouga, and even Varnachioti is expected to come over. The Monastery of Ligovitza, on the road from Arta to Lepanto and Missolonghi, is said to have been possessed by the troops of the General. This post is of importance. The troops have all marched from Patras to Navarino, and nothing remains but some Albanians and the inhabitants. Lepanto is thinly peopled; all have little provisions as well as Missolonghi. From what I know of Lepanto and the Castles, I am confident that, if your lordship was to attack it with the squadron you command, and General Church was to make even a demonstration of attack by land, it must fall in forty-eight hours' time. Lepanto lies on the face of a hill open to the sea; every shot and shell and rocket must tell somewhere, and they would readily capitulate. We must not take the Monastery of the Piraeus as an example. At Lepanto the Turks have their families—this particular always operates upon them; but whether it did or not, the place would be taken, and I am not one who overrates the capabilities of the Greeks. I fear, however, that General Church has other projects, and such as, according to my opinion, are very unlikely to succeed. So much so that, if your lordship does not arrive or send me orders, I shall return to the Archipelago, rather than lend myself to measures which appear to me worse than useless. I must again beg of your lordship not to forget us in the way of money, provisions, ammunition, coals, &c. We are now more than three months absent from Poros.
I have the honour to be, &c.,
F. A. Hastings.
XXIX.
Karteria, off Vasiladhi, Dec. 27th, 1827.
My Lord,