| Siege of Erivan | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813 | |||||||
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Firman_of_Fath_%27Ali_Shah_Qajar_to_General_Gardane_(Erivan_fortress,_military_operations_against_the_Russians,_expectations_of_an_end_to_hostilities_and_the_capture_of_Gudovich).jpg) Firman of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar to General Gardane wherein, amongst others, suggested military operations against the Russians are written, and an indication that the Shah expects Gardane to report shortly an end to hostilities and the capture of Field Marshal Gudovich, December 1808, dated November-December 1808 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Erivan Khanate |
 Russian Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Abbas Mirza Hossein Khan Sardar Hasan Khan Qajar | Ivan Gudovich | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown |
3,000 casualties[1] c. 1,000 killed[2] | ||||||
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Flag_of_Agha_Mohammad_Khan.svg){kind=small}
The siege of Erivan took place in October and November 1808, during the Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813. As in 1804, the Iranians successfully defended the city and forced the Russians to withdraw.[1][3]
The Russian campaign, launched late in the season and poorly conceived and executed, failed after a six-week siege of the Iranian fortress of Erivan.[2] The Russians had suffered 3,000 casualties with almost 1,000 deaths.[1][2]
Russian field marshal Ivan Gudovich tried to excuse his defeat by claiming that French military officers had helped the Iranians, but Gudovich's superiors, as modern historian Alexander Mikaberidze explains, "knew better".[2] Tsar Alexander I was severely dissatisfied; when he heard about Gudovich's failure, he named his expedition as "stupid", and without any sort of compassion, sent him into retirement.[4]
- ^ a b c Behrooz 2013, p. 58.
- ^ a b c d Mikaberidze 2020, p. 438.
- ^ Kettenhofen, Bournoutian & Hewsen 1998, pp. 542–551.
- ^ Atkin 1980, p. 77.