The Battle of Aldy, also known as the Battle of the Sunzha River was a failed military expedition launched by the Russian Empire with the aim of capturing Sheikh Mansur, who, through his speeches and teachings had gained a wide following the North Caucasus, especially in his hometown Aldy. His teachings on Jihad ("Gazavat"[a]) and his idea of the unification of the North Caucasian tribes under a single Islamic state concerned the Russian administration, who, as a result, sent a 3,000 strong force under Nikolai de Pieri in order to capture him.
Battle of Aldy | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of Sheikh Mansur Movement | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Mansur's fighters | Russian Empire | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Sheikh Mansur Osman–Hajji |
Commanders of the Campaign: Vasily Tomara Pyotr Bagration (POW) | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Chechen fighters from Aldy and Alkhan–Yurt |
Astrakhan Infantry Regiment Cossack Detachments Artillery | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
At least 500+ |
2,000 2 cannons | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Total Casualties: |
Total Casualties: |
The Russian force was led by Colonel Nikolai de Pieri. It was approximately 3,000 men strong and had 6 cannons. The detachment arrived in the Chechen village Aldy on July 6, 1785, which it captured after a short skirmish with Chechen fighters. The Russians burnt the village down and began retreating to the Sunzha River, where, in the forest of Aldy, it was ambushed by Mansur's fighters, and as a result, the detachment was destroyed and dispersed. In total, 745 soldiers, including Pieri himself and several other commanders were killed and 162 captured. Additionally, hundreds of soldiers were wounded, and the detachment lost both of its cannons.[d] According to Sheikh Mansur, the Chechen side only suffered approximately 100 killed and 200 wounded.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha>
tags or {{efn}}
templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}
template or {{notelist}}
template (see the help page).