ABSTRACT
W ith Yermóloffs disappearance from the scene Paskié vitch, though invested with all his predecessor’s authority, was still for a time hampered by Diebitsch, who, it is sup posed, would not unwillingly have taken over the command himself. Diebitsch lingered on in Tiflis until the last day of April 1827, and twelve· days later Paskiévitch, free at last, save for the distant control of the Emperor, set out from the Georgian capital, and on 15th June joined forces with the advanced guard which, under Benckendorff, had on the 27th April invested Erivân, after occupying without resistance the monastery of Etchmiadzin. Erivân, a for tified city of some strength, was the main objective in the Russian plan of campaign, the details of which, elaborated in St. Petersburg, considerably altered owing to Yermóloff’s many objections, and again modified by Diebitsch, were found, after all, impracticable in execution, owing mainly to difficulties of food and transport. Paskiévitch, who had already been delayed on this account, when he arrived before the walls of Erivân found Benckendorff’s force so weakened by hunger and sickness, and some loss sustained in a cavalry attack on the Persian camp at Aiglanli late in April,1 that he decided to replace it by a fresh body of
THE CONQUEST OF THE CAUCASUS 165 troops under Krasóvsky. This done, he concentrated the rest of his forces on the Garni-tchay River some 50 versts (33 miles) to the south ; and on the 21st June set out for Nakhitchevan, the capital of the khanate of that name, 72 versts (48 miles) farther on the road to Tabriz. His object in undertaking this expedition was twofold — to threaten the last-named city, Abbas Mirza’s capital, and to prevent any attempt to relieve Erivân from that direction. His purpose had been kept secret until the last moment even from his own generals, and though the route proved extraordinarily difficult owing to the intense heat and the nature of the country-a waterless desert-he had the satis faction of entering Nakhitchevan unopposed on the 26th June.
