Edward John Trelawny - Mountain Fortress

Mountain Fortress

Trelawny then began lobbying members of the London Greek Committee to fully support Odysseas. He also lobbied for a Greek Congress and criticised Mavrokordatos. In a letter to Mary Shelley Trelawny described Mavrokordatos as a "miserable Jew" and said that he hoped to see him beheaded. Trelawny was able to transfer some portions of weapons shipments from London to Odysseas. This was a controversial move among Greek leaders and the London Greek Committee, many of whom saw it as a foolish move. He also suggested that the Greek authorities should hire privateers to harass Turkish ships.

In May 1824 Trelawny brought a load of guns to the fortified cave in which Odysseas was based. He arrived with a British military officer, Whitcomb, and a military engineer, Fenton. Trelawny recorded that Odysseas commanded a force of 5,000 men, who killed over 20,000 people during their campaign. Odysseas and his men retired to Parnassus after they learned the Greek government would not give them more funds. The Greek Government had decided to try to raise a regular army and take power away from the warlords. The size of his force soon diminished.

Trelawny hoped to convince Odysseas to leave with him for the Ionian islands, but Odysseas refused. He also helped Odysseas hide some valuable antiquities, they were never found. Some sources claim that Odysseas was attempting to strike a deal with the Turks at that time. Trelawny soon married Teritza, the half-sister of Odysseas. She was much younger than him, and was probably a teenager. Some have speculated that their wedding was performed by a local Greek Orthodox priest. Teritza then lived with him in the cave. At this point Trelawny's life had actually began to resemble many of the stories that he had previous constructed about his past. Word soon spread to England that Trelawny was working for the Turks with Odysseas now. Trelawny again tried to convince Odysseas to escape with him to the Ionian Islands in order to prevent the Greek government from arresting him. Odysseas was caught on his way to find a boat. He was charged with treason and imprisoned in Athens. Trelawny administered the cave in his absence.

While practicing shooting with the two Englishmen Trelawny was shot in the back. Fenton was quickly shot and killed by a soldier of Odysseas. Seeing this, Whitcomb tried to flee but was captured by soldiers. The soldiers initially hung Whitcomb off a cliff by his ankles as punishment, but Trelawny asked them to stop and they imprisoned the man. There was no doctor available and Trelawny lived on a diet of raw eggs that was suggested by his wife, who attended to him there. He needed to have a musket ball removed, however. His men soon kidnapped a Klept doctor and forced him to operate at gunpoint. The doctor's efforts were unsuccessful. Although Trelawny was in poor condition for several weeks he eventually recovered. His living assailant was later released. The soldiers wanted to roast Whitcomb alive, but Trelawny insisted on releasing him.

Trelawny was bedridden for five weeks after he was shot. After word spread to England that Trelawny had survived, many of his relatives unsuccessfully lobbied the British government to extract him from Greece. The British Army Major D'Arcy Bacon learned of his situation and came to an agreement with Mavrokordatos to allow Trelawny to leave Greece. Bacon went searching for Trelawny and was captured by some of Odysseas' soldiers. They had mistook him for a doctor and hoped that he would operate on Trelawny. A British Corvette sailed to Corinth to pick him up, Teritza accompanied him. His story was widely published in English newspapers then. Some biographers believe that the two were bribed by Mavrokordatos to kill Trelawny and give over the cave. Bacon successfully lobbied the Greek government to allow him to leave the country. Odysseas was executed in Athens shortly before the attempt on Trelawny's life. Trelawny regained full use of his arm, but he walked with a slight hunch after recovering from his injury.