Akarnania joined the struggle for Greek independence in May 1821 under the leadership of Georgios Tsogkas. The revolutionaries marched against two small and badly maintained coastal forts, Plagia and Tekes, across from the island of Lefkas. Both succumbed easily, at which point a new actor entered the scene. He was called Kassano, a soldier of fortune from Corsica, who was at the service of Ali Pasha of Ioannina. He took two cannons from Plagia, and armed two gunboats with the purpose of occupying Vonitsa. He had just landed the guns, when he was attacked by the Ottomans serving under the garrison commander of nearby Preveza. Kassano abandoned the guns and the boats as he run for his life.