Battle of Pylos
| Battle of Pylos | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Peloponnesian War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Athens | Sparta | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Demosthenes |
Thrasymelidas Brasidas | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
50 ships Hundreds of troops |
60 ships Unknown troops | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
The Battle of Pylos took place in 425 BC during the Peloponnesian War, between Athens and Sparta. Closely related to this battle was the Battle of Sphacteria, which occured immediately afterwards.
In the spring of 425 BC, Sparta helped Messina in Sicily revolt from Athens, while launching another invasion of Attica under the command of King Agis. The Athenians dispatched forty ships to Sicily under the command of Eurymedon and Sophocles, with orders to assist the democracy in Corcyra on their way; Sparta had invested the city with a fleet of sixty ships. Demosthenes, who had recently won the Battle of Olpae, was allowed to sail with the fleet. A storm obliged the fleet to shelter at Pylos (an excellent natural harbor on the Peloponnesian coast, some forty-five miles from Sparta) delaying the journey to Corcyra. This was to Demosthenes' liking, as he had a plan to fortify Pylos, gain a foothold in the Peloponnese close to Sparta, and incite rebellion among the helots; he had sailed with the fleet with the idea of putting it into action. The commanders felt it was a waste of time and money, but the soldiers fortified the area regardless, as bad weather was preventing their departure, and they wanted a diversion from their boredom. The fortifications were finished in six days, and Demosthenes remained there with five ships while the main fleet continued on their mission to Corcyra and Sicily with the rest of the fleet.
When Sparta learned that Athens had taken Pylos they removed their army from Attica. They marched to Pylos and recalled their fleet of sixty ships, ordering them to meet them at Pylos; Demosthenes anticipated the Spartan actions, and sent two of his ships to recall the rest of the Athenian fleet. The harbor at Pylos was a large bay, with the seaward side almost completely blocked by the wooded island of Sphacteria; there was a narrow passage through to the harbor at each end of the island. The Spartans planned to blockade the fortress at Pylos from both the land and the harbor, block up the two harbor entrances to prevent the Athenian fleet from entering, and land a garrison on the island to deny its use to the Athenian fleet when it arrived. The Spartan Epitadas and a force of 440 hoplites were landed on Sphacteria, while the rest of the army prepared to storm the Athenian fortifications; failing that, they would settle in for a siege. Demosthenes had few hoplites, and most of the rest of his troops were unarmed sailors from the remaining triremes. He took sixty of his hoplites to the weakest section of the beach fortification to repel the Spartan landing he thought likely, posting the rest of his troops on the landward wall.
Forty-three Spartan ships, under Thrasymelidas and Brasidas, attempted to force a landing,but the Athenian troops held firm, aided by the rocky shoreline. Brasidas was injured, and the Spartan troops, unable to storm the beach fortifications, were pushed back by the Athenian land force. The Spartans attacked the fort for three days, and started obtaining timber for siege engines when they found they could not storm the walls.
After the third day, the rest of the Athenian fleet returned, now fifty ships strong, as they had rendevouzed with an additional ten ships. The Spartans had not yet blockaded the entrances to the harbor, and prepared to engage the Athenian fleet in the harbor, where they felt the more enclosed space would favor their inferior naval skills. The Athenian fleet engaged the Spartan fleet in the harbor, and put it to flight, to the horror of the Spartan troops on shore, for it meant that the hoplites on Sphacteria were now cut off from the mainland. After mopping up the remains of the Spartan fleet, the Athenian ships set a close guard on the island, to prevent the Spartan garrison from escaping.
The Spartans, finding it impossible to retrieve their troops, arranged an armistice, and Spartan ambassadors were sent to Athens to negotiate a truce and the safe return of the island garrison. The Athenians remained at Pylos for a total of seventy-two days, during which time the ambassadors failed to make peace and the Athenians finally invaded Sphacteria and captured the garrison. See Battle of Sphacteria for this portion of the siege.