Battle of Kars

Part of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)

Capture of Kars by Nikolay Karazin, 1877

Date	17 November 1877
Location	Kars, Ottoman Empire
Result	Russian victory

Belligerents

Russian Empire

Ottoman Empire

Commanders and leaders

Count Mikhail Loris-Melikov
Ivan Lazarev

Hussein Hami Pasha

Strength

28,000
119 guns

25,000
303 guns

Casualties and losses

2,270 total

7,000 killed and wounded
18,000 captured

The Battle of Kars was a decisive Russian victory over the Ottoman Empire during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878).

In June 1877, Russian forces attempted a siege of Kars but were driven off by an Ottoman army at the Battle of Kizil-Tepe. In November the Russian commander in the Caucasus, Grand Duke Michael, demanded the surrender of Kars but was refused. The Grand Duke sent a force under Mikhail Loris-Melikov and Ivan Lazarev to take the city by storm. From 9 October onwards, Lazarev led a 28,000 Russian army during the Battle of Kars. Among these 28,000 soldiers, the majority were Armenian volunteers who signed up to join the army of Lazarev. On November 17, Loris-Melikov attacked and succeeded in capturing the eastern fortifications and cutting off the garrison under Hussein Hami Pasha. Hussein Pasha attempted to cut his way out, but he and only a few others succeeded. Of the original 25,000 Turkish army, 7,000 died and 18,000 surrendered to Lazarev and were taken prisoner. The Treaty of San Stefano officially gave Kars to Russia and it remained in Russian possession until the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk after World War I.

In 1880, Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky wrote a triumphal march named "The Capture of Kars" in honor of the victory.

News of the capture of Kars by Viktor Vasnetsov, 1878

Kars in 1878

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