ABSTRACT
T he attempt to recover possession of Akhaltsikh took the Russians by surprise ; they had not given the Turks credit for the spirit of enterprise requisite to such an under taking, nor could they foresee by whom the blow would be struck. In pursuance of a policy dictated by the numerical weakness of his own army, Paskiévitch had striven hard to seduce from their natural allegiance the Mussulman tribes inhabiting the newly conquered districts or their immediate neighbourhood, and amongst them the Adjars, a warlike and numerous people, whose homes lay close to Akhaltsikh itself. Their chief had entered, readily, into negotiations, and had expressed with seeming sincerity his willingness to accept for himself and his people Russian sovereignty. But either he was playing false or the pressure from the other side was too great, and on the 21st February 1829 he suddenly appeared before Akhaltsikh with an army or horde estimated at 15,000 men, occupied the town which had so recently been the scene of Russian triumph, butchered the Christian inhabitants, and after a vain attempt at storming, blockaded Prince Béboutoff and his small garrison in the
fortress and citadel. A siege ensued lasting twelve days, during which the defenders suffered some loss and much privation; but on the approach of a small body of men under Bourtseff, who with great hardihood forced the Borzhom defile and advanced to the attack without waiting for the main relieving force coming from Ardahän under Mouravióff, the undisciplined Adjars broke and fled, anxious only to secure the booty plundered at Akhaltsikh from Christian and Mussulman alike.1
