Battle of Echmiadzin (1804)
The Battle of Echmiadzin took place in June 1804, during the Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813. A Russian force of 5,000 men under Pavel Tsitsianov advanced on Erivan. A Persian army of 20,000 under Crown-Prince Abbas Mirza met him at Echmiadzin. Cutting off the Russian's supplies, the Persians successfully defended the town and forced the Russians to withdraw. Though the Russians were unable to capture Echmiadzin, and were in fact pushed away from it, the outcome of the battle itself has been variously described as inconclusive,
a Persian victory, or a Russian victory.
Background
In 1801, capitalizing on political turmoil in Iran, the Russians annexed Kartli-Kakheti, a region which had been part of Iran for centuries. In 1802, Pavel Tsitsianov was appointed as the new Russian commander-in-chief in the Caucasus. A die-hard Russian imperialist and expansionist, he had little respect for either the inhabitants of the Caucasus or the Iranians. In January 1804, he invaded Iran, besieging the Iranian city of Ganja. After a month he captured and ruthlessly sacked it; up to 3,000 Iranians were massacred in three days of pillage. This initiated the Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813.Battle
After the capture of Ganja, Tsitsianov proceeded to Erivan. At Echmiadzin, near Erivan, his army clashed with that of Crown-Prince and Commander-in-Chief Abbas Mirza and Fath-Ali Shah; a three-day battle followed.The Russian artillery inflicted considerable casualties on the Iranian army, which at the time had not yet been modeled on modern lines. In their own way the Iranians proved to be effective; surrounding the Russians and preventing them from receiving supplies. This forced Tsitsianov to withdraw, and he was thus unable to take Echmiadzin. This was a tactical defensive success for the Iranians. However, in line with the traditional Iranian concept of warfare, they allowed the Russians to escape, instead of making full use of the advantage they had gained.