Siege
1464 siege
The Siege of Mytilene was a military attempt by the Republic of Venice to capture the Island of Lesbos from the Ottomans. The Venetians made two attempts but were repelled, suffering heavy losses.
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Text from the Wikipedia article “Siege of Mytilene”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Siege of Mytilene was a military attempt by the Republic of Venice to capture the Island of Lesbos from the Ottomans. The Venetians made two attempts but were repelled, suffering heavy losses.
In the year 1462, the Ottomans had conquered the island of Lesbos. Two years later, the Venetian senate authorized Admiral Orsato Giustinian to attack the Ottomans. The Venetians have been worried that the Ottoman Sultan, Mehmed II, could trade the island with the Florentines. Despite other plans to capture fortresses that guard the Dardanelles, Lesbos remained the main target.
The Venetians, led by Orsato Giustinian, sailed with a fleet of 32 galleys, 4 ships carrying 800 infantry, and a large number of artillery, or 70 ships that included 3,000 heavy infantry. The Venetians landed and besieged the island's capital, Mytilene. The first attack began on April 1. The Venetians had stone-hurling cannons, crossbows, and scaling ladders. At first the Venetians called the garrison to surrender, but they refused. The Ottoman garrison numbered 400 of the Sultan's heavily armored guards (presumably Janissaries).
The Venetians began bombarding the walls but only destroyed a small part, which was successfully rebuilt. Another issue was the rupture of the cannons after some shots. The Venetians attempted several assaults, either by mining or scaling ladders, but all were repelled, causing heavy losses among the Venetians. As the siege dragged on, the Sultan dispatched a relief fleet consisting of 150 vessels led by Mahmud Pasha Angelović. The Venetians heard of the relief fleet and quickly abandoned the siege on May 18, leaving their artillery behind and taking the inhabitants who joined them. The Venetians had suffered 5,000 losses during the siege.
The Venetians retreated to Negroponte. In the following month, Giustinian attempted another landing in Lesbos, this time a raid carried out by Stratioti and galley crews, but once again failed. Giustinian and his men sailed to Methoni, where he died on July 11 due to grief over his loss at Lesbos.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Siege of Mytilene (1464)”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.