The organized operations of the Greek revolutionaries in Halkidiki did not last more than one month. Emmanouil Pappas had the support of the monks of Athos and the inhabitants of Kassandra, Polygyros and the Mademohoria. The element of surprise, however, had definitely been lost, since the operations started in May, nearly two months after the outbreak of the revolution in the Peloponnese (25 March 1821).
Nevertheless, by early June the rebels had succeeded in reaching the outskirts of Thessaloniki. Their triumph was all too brief, however, for they had to contend with the army commanded by the able Bayram Pasha (and, later, the forces of the fearsome Mehmed Emin Pasha) with virtually no backing from the chieftains of Olympos and western Macedonia.
The advance quickly turned into a series of retreats and was effectively squashed with the Kassandra disaster (October 1821) and Emmanouil Pappas' flight to Hydra (November 1821). A large number of refugees escaped to the Northern Sporades islands at that time.
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