Battle of Kars

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Kars


caption=
partof=the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–78
date=17 November, 1877
place=Kars, Turkey
result=Russian victory
combatant1=flag|Russian Empire|1858
combatant2=flag|Ottoman Empire
commander1=Count Mikhail Loris-Melikoff, Lazarev Ivan Davidovich
commander2=Hussein Pasha
strength1=?
strength2=24,000
casualties1=2,273 total
casualties2=2,500 killed
4,500 wounded
17,000 captured

:"For the 1855 siege during the Crimean War, see Siege of Kars."The Battle of Kars was a decisive Russian victory over the Ottoman Empire during the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78.

In June, 1877 Russian forces attempted a siege of Kars but were driven off by a Turkish army at the Battle of Kizil-Tepe. In November Russian commander in the Caucasus, Grand Duke Michael, demanded the surrender of Kars but was refused. The Grand Duke sent a force under Loris-Melikoff and Lazarev Ivan Davidovich to take the city by storm. On November 17 Loris-Melikoff attacked and succeeded in capturing the eastern fortifications and cut off the garrison under Hussein Pasha. Hussein attempted to cut his way out but he and only a few others succeeded as much of the Turkish army was taken prisoner. The Treaty of San Stephano officially gave Kars to Russia and remained in Russian possession until the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk during World War I.

ee also

* Battles of the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–78
* Kars, a history

ources

* "Compton's Home Library: Battles of the World" CD-ROM