394 
THE WAR BETWEEN RUSSIA AND TURKEY, 
lay tlie strongest work of all, Fort Ramazan, wliich was revetted anc ^ 
provided witli bomb-proof cover. Next to it, on the west, in ifke 
valley, lay Fort Kaia Bascbi—a well-traced bastioned earthwork ,* 
and lastly, the unimportant little Kudian Tchair redoubt. Except 
Fort Ramazan, no work had revetted ditches. Forts Singher and 
Kaz Tapassi were strengthened by flanking batteries. The town 
fortifications lie on both banks, the citadel being on the right bank. 
Ardahan was garrison by 12 battalions of infantry and two field 
batteries. The armament of the works consisted of 76 guns of the 
most different patterns, of which at most one-eighth were rifled. The. 
state of all the works was above the usual Turkish style; they were in 
good preservation, and relatively secure against an attack in force. 
From the state of the fortress. General Devel saw, in a reconnaissance 
on the 5th May, that his weak force was neither strong enough for a 
blockade nor an attack by storm. Recognising this, and as it was 
necessary to be secure from attacks from the side of Ardahan, before 
the siege of Kars was begun. General Hermann advanced on the 
10th May on Ardahan from the Camp of Zaim, with the 13th and 15th 
Grenadiers, 15th Dragoons, 1st Gorsko-Mozdok Cossack Regiment, 
2 sotnias of irregulars, 3J batteries, and 2 companies of the 1st Sapper 
Battalion. The column, which was accompanied by General Loris- 
Melikoff, reached Pankis, 9 kils. south-east of Ardahan, on the' 
13th May, after a four days* march by Djelaus, Tschatak, and 
Khaskioi. 
During the advance of the reinforcements. General Devel had thrown 
a bridge over the Kur at Ur, 12 kils. below the town • and an attempt 
of the garrison to destroy this bridge on the 13th was repulsed. On 
the 14th the telegraph lines to Olti were destroyed. The detachment 
which had arrived under General Melikoff was divided into two columns, 
while to General Heimann were also given 2 battalions 153rd Regiment, 
1 sotnia of Poltava Cossacks, the 5th Battery, 39th Brigade, and 
3 companies of the 3rd Sapper Battalion. General Bevel's column 
consisted of the 156th and 2 battalions of the 153rd Regiment, the 
2nd Terek Cossacks, the 3rd and 6th Batteries of the 19th Brigade, 
and the 5th Kuban Battery. The remainder of the cavalry were 
absent, reconnoitring to the north and west. On the 15th May the 
siege artillery arrived, and was at once, with much difficulty, brought 
into position against the Giilawerdi Hill and Fort Emir Oghlu, 
In spite of the strength of the two principal forts, General 
Loris-Melikoff determined to risk the storming of them, as they were 
too wide apart to mutually support one another. If he succeeded in 
taking the weaker, Emir Oghlu, he would command from it the forts in 
the valley on the right bank, and those as well as the town could be 
taken with inconsiderable loss ; if these results were attained, it was a 
matter of doubt whether the works on the left bank could defend 
themselves. Following out this general idea, DeveFs column encamped 
opposite the foot of the Giilawerdi Hill, while General HeimamPs were 
dislocated to the south of the town in the valley. The Giilawerdi Hill, 
to which a gentle slope rises for 2 kils. from the village of the same 
name, is crowned by Fort Emir Oghlu on a wide plateau. To the 
