ABSTRACT
A k h a l t s ik h had three lines of defence-the town, the fortress walls, and the citadel within them ; and, as it proved, the fate of all hung on the possession of the town, strong in itself owing to the steep and rocky nature of its site; scarred by deep ravines; strengthened by bastions connected by palisading 16 feet high, with a ditch on each side ; and presenting, like so many Asiatic dwelling-places, a very labyrinth of narrow crooked streets eminently favour able for defence, eminently difficult and dangerous to attack. And this town contained a population of 25,000 people, of whom, if the Armenians and Jews, a minority, were ready to favour the Russians, the native Muhammadans were a fierce and warlike race, bent, both men and women, on defending to the last extremity their homes, their lives, and their property. They had, too, the support of the garrison and the protection of the fortress. The latter was not a place of great strength, for the heights around it commanded every point of the works; but the broken nature of the ground afforded good cover for determined men,1 and the confidence of its defenders was expressed in the saying, “ You may snatch the moon from heaven rather« than the crescent from the mosque of Akhaltsikh.” We have Paskiévitch’s own
1 Monteith, p. 213. 195
statement that the troops at his disposal numbered only 12,792 all told ; of these 3287 were required to guard the camps, 2959 to man the siege batteries, leaving an assault ing force of only 6546 officers and men, of whom 4016 were infantry. The besiegers, however, were flushed with victory; they had stormed Kars and Akhalkalâki, they had routed the seraskier’s army of thrice their strength, and they were led by Mouravióff and many another hero under the eye of Paskiévitch himself.
