In April 1823, 28 Cretan insurgents from the eastern part of Crete, under the chieftain Emmanouil Kozani, Emmanouil Alexi, and others boarded a small ship to go to Koufonisi at night where the notorious janissary Mehmet Pilavas and his 30 men were camped.
In April 1823, twenty-eight Cretan rebels from the eastern part of Crete, led by Emmanouil Kozani, Emmanouil Alexi, and others, embarked on a nighttime voyage to Koufonisi where they planned to confront Mehmet Pilavas and his thirty men.