That Greece should have been so easily beaten is still a cause of wonderment.
If all accounts are true, the Crown Prince Constantine deserves a good deal of the blame of the disaster. He was not experienced enough to take command of an army in an important campaign, and should not have undertaken so difficult a task unless he was sure of himself.
It is said by all the newspaper correspondents who were with the Greek army, that the shameful flight from Larissa was the cause of the series of defeats that followed it. These men declare that after Larissa the Greeks lost confidence in their commanders, and had no hope of success.
It is claimed that if the Greeks had pushed forward instead of retreating, the Turks must have been beaten.
Up to the evening of April 23d, when the retreat occurred, the Turks were in a desperate condition. Edhem Pasha, the general in command of the Turkish army, had decided that it was impossible to break through the Greek lines, and had ordered a retreat to Elassona. That very night he telegraphed the hopelessness of his situation to Constantinople, and a special messenger left for Athens, bearing a message from the Sultan, asking for peace.
The retreat on Larissa changed the whole fate of the war.
There are many rumors why this retreat was ordered, but no one seems to understand the matter clearly.
One report says that the Turks were actually falling back on Elassona, and one of the Greek generals, seeing the movement, mistook it for an attempt to surround the Greeks and cut their army to pieces. He is said to have galloped to the Crown Prince with this mis-information, and assured him that unless he ordered a retreat they would all be sacrificed. The Crown Prince did not attempt to assure himself of the accuracy of this statement, but at once issued the fatal order.
If this account be true, the two armies must have been fleeing from each other at the same moment.
Edhem Pasha, being a good general, soon discovered what had happened. He at once saw his opportunity and took advantage of it.