THE WAR BETWEEN RUSSIA AND TURKEY, 
407 
shed, 2000 metres high, of the Upper Euphrates and tlie Aras, to the 
west of which, at Delibaba, 20 kils. from Taghir, the Passin plain is 
entered, in which the Aras is crossed at Kuprikoi, 40 kils. west of 
Delibaba, and thence the road leads along the left bank to Erzeroum 
by Karsankaleh. On the 15th June the Russian advanced guard fell 
in with the Turkish outposts in front of Taghir, whose main position 
was at the Summit of the road, and admirably organised for defence. 
There were only seven guns in position, and the steep rocky slopes only 
permitted of 3000 men being brought into line in the entrenchments. 
The knowledge of having an overpowering superiority in artillery—30 
guns—and the fact of the continual retreat of the Turks hitherto, 
induced General Tergukasoff to attempt the attack with the six 
battalions of the 73rd and 74th, and the 3rd Rifle Battalion, which he 
had with him. On the 16th, at 7 a.m., he opened fire from two 
batteries, and ordered two battalions of the 73rd to advance to the right 
and two of the 74th to the left of the road, and succeeded, after a hard 
struggle of six hours—more with the difficulties of the ground than 
with the enemy, 16 battalions strong, who merely threw away their 
ammunition-—in forcing the Turks to retreat. An attempt to turn the 
enemy’s right with cavalry failed, on account of the difficulty of the 
ground. The Turks left 100 killed and wounded behind them, while 
their commander, Achmed Pasha, was killed. The loss of the Russians 
was only 150 men. 
The 149th and 150th Infantry Regiments had had to be left in the 
interior of the province at the beginning of operations, and only two 
battalions of them and a few sotnias had advanced as far as Orgoff, 
under Major-General Kalobalai Khan, where they remained ready to 
support the garrison of Bayazid. The danger to this place from the 
Lake of Yan seemed to have completely cleared off, when suddenly 
on the 14th June a mass of Turks and Kurds, stated at 13,000 men, 
appeared at Temporis, 18 kils. south of Bayazid, and drove in the weak 
outposts on the 17th. On the 18th there was a general attack on the 
town, which the Russians had to evacuate. They retreated into the 
citadel, which was at once invested and bombarded by the Turks. 
An attempt to relieve the garrison made by Kalobalai Khan on the 
25th June was repulsed at Karabulak; so that now the garrison had to 
hold out without hope of relief, which, on account of the want of food, 
was more desired every day. 
These threatening occurrences in Tergukasoff’s rear, and also the 
weakness of his detachment opposite an enemy who was constantly 
receiving reinforcements, and who, after the battle of the 16th June, 
had only retired 15 kils. to Delibaba, hindered his further advance. 
On the 21st June a reconnaissance, sent out under Col. Medvedovski, 
of two companies and seven sotnias to the north of Taghir, came, at 
Hassan Beg, on the nothern parallel road to Delibaba, on a strong 
hostile column—Mukhtar had personally brought up eight battalions 
to Delibaba to stop the retreat—who deployed at once on and to the 
south of the road, and advanced to attack with at least twenty battalions 
and a numerous cavalry. Medvedovski managed to hold his own till 
the arrival of the 1st Battalion 74tli Regiment and the 4th Battery, 
