398 
THE WAR BETWEEN RUSSIA AND TURKEY. 
Erzeroum, and therefore he left Kars by the Erzeroum road on the 
28th April with eight battalions. 
To turn the attention of the garrison of Kars away from Tchavtchavatze, 
a small detachment under Colonel Lazareff made a demonstration on the 
29th April from the camp to within 7 kils. of the fortress, without 
bringing on a fight. It now seemed necessary to provide for the 
cavalry, who were still pressing westwards, a rallying point to the 
south of Kars. On the 29th, therefore, General Heimann marched 
with three Grenadier regiments (the 13th, 14th, and 16th), and five 
batteries to Khalif Oghlu, 15 kils. east of Kars, and on the 30th to 
Vezinkoi, 15 kils. south-east of the same place. Prince Tchavtchavatze 
had in the meantime pushed forward two separate columns, one under 
Major-General Loris-Melikoff towards the Kars-Olti road, which was 
reached at Soigudli, 18 kils. west of Kars, and upon which the column 
advanced on the 29th April by Latchgerd as far as Zeledji (32 kils.) 
without meeting the enemy. The column of Colonel Malama was more 
fortunate, as, in crossing the Kars-Erzeroum road, it came upon Mukhtar 
Pasha’s army in retreat, which it soon forced into complete confusion. 
If was only at 11 p.m. that the Turks succeeded in making a stand at 
Yerischen, 53 kils. south-west of Kars. 
The main body, under Prince Tchavtchavatze, had advanced to 
Tikna, 18 kils. from Kars, on the chaussee to Erzeroum. On the 30th 
April the two columns returned to the main body, and the whole 
marched by Khanlikoi, where there was a trifling skirmish with a sortie 
from Kars, to General Hermann’s bivouac at Yezinkoi. Some regiments 
had in 48 hours marched 110 kils., during part of which time they 
were in contact with the enemy, and all the time on bad mountain 
paths. General Heimann now returned with his column to the camp 
at Zaim, taking with him two regiments of cavalry and a battery, while 
Tchavtchavatze remained at Vezinkoi with 17 squadrons and a battery. 
The next care of the head-quarter staff was to fortify the camp, to 
establish communications to the rear, to bring up the siege artillery, 
and to organise the etappen service. An endeavour was also made to 
establish communications with the Erivan Column, and for this purpose 
Colonel Count Grabbe was sent with 1 battalion, 10 sotnias, and 
2 guns by Kulpi, and Major-General Loris-Melikoff with 10 sotnias by 
Vezinkoi and Khar to Kaghisman, on the left bank of the Avas, 60 kils. 
from Zaim. 
On the 6th May both detachments entered the town, occupied it 
without fighting, and organised the Russian Government of the district; 
Grabbe remained there with a garrison, while Loris-Melikoff marched 
on the 7th May, reconnoitred to the west for two days, and then returned 
to Vezinkoi. A reconnaissance of the ground north of Kars, under-* 
taken by Major-General Scheremetieff on the 7th May with 7 sotnias, 
through Topadjikh and Tschakmaur to Komkh, 6 kils. north-west of 
Kars, led to a short action on the Berdik Tchai, in which a Turkish 
sortie of four battalions and one battery tried to cut off the retreat of 
the detachment. With the object mentioned in b, the staff and a part 
of the column under General Heimann marched on the 10th to Ardahan, 
and the troops remaining in the camp were forced to remain inactive, 
