Siege of Geoktepe

Siege of Geok Tepe
Part of Russian conquest of Turkestan
Date December 1880 – January 1881 Location Geok Tepe, Turkmenistan 38°09′28″N 57°57′59″E / 38.15778°N 57.96639°E / 38.15778; 57.96639Coordinates: 38°09′28″N 57°57′59″E / 38.15778°N 57.96639°E / 38.15778; 57.96639 Result Russian victory
Belligerents
Russian Empire	Turkmens
Commanders and leaders
Mikhail Skobelev
Strength
7,100 72 artillery pieces	20–25,000 people in the fortress (around 8,000 with firearms) no artillery
Casualties and losses
268 killed 669 wounded or: 59 killed 254 wounded 645 died of disease.	15,000 defenders and civilians killed or up to 20,000 killed or 150,000 killed

268 killed
669 wounded
or: 59 killed
254 wounded

For Lomakin's defeat at the same place in 1879 see Battle of Geok Tepe (1879)

The Battle of Geok Tepe in 1881 was the main event in the 1880/81 Russian campaign to conquer the Tekke Turkomans. Its effect was to give the Russian Empire control over most of what is now Turkmenistan, thereby nearly completing the Russian conquest of Central Asia. Skobelev marched from the southeast corner of the Caspian Sea and spent most of the summer and fall building up supplies north of the Kopet Dagh mountains. In December he marched southwest, besieged Geok Tepe for a month and took it by blowing up a mine under its walls. He was accused of excessive slaughter after the battle.

The battle is also called Denghil-Tepe or Dangil Teppe. Sources are inconsistent, but Denghil-Tepe seems to have been the name of the fort and also the name of a small hill or tumulus in the northwest corner of the fort. Geok Tepe ('Blue Hill') seems to refer to the general area, the modern town, a nearby village and a mountain to the south. Skrine says that fort enclosed a square mile or more, with mud walls 18 feet thick and 10 feet high on the inside and a 4-foot dry ditch on the outside, although other dimensions are given. The area was part of the Akhal Oasis where streams coming down from the Kopet Dagh support irrigation agriculture. It was inhabited by the Tekke tribe of Turkomans.

After Lomakin's defeat in 1879 Russia began to plan for a new campaign. The basic problem was moving up supplies since Akhal was an oasis surrounded by several hundred miles of semi-desert. In March 1880 Mikhail Skobelev was put in charge of the Trans-Caspian region. He adopted Lazarev's original plan of a slow and massive advance. Instead of Khoja Kale he chose a base at Bami on the north side of the Kopet Dagh. At some point he decided to take Geok Tepe by siege rather than storm. He arrived at Chikislyar in May, advanced up the Atrek and Sumbar Rivers and by June 11 he occupied Bami. The build-up was slow, partly due to the shortage of camels. In July he made a reconnaissance in force to examine Geok Tepe. By the first half of December he had enough men and supplies and moved out to occupy a fort he renamed ‘Samur’ a few miles west of Geok Tepe. On 27 December Aleksey Kuropatkin arrived with 5 companies, having made a remarkable march across the desert from Khiva. By the end of the month Skobelev had 4020 infantry, 750 cavalry as well as artillery, rockets, several machine guns and heliographs for communications. About 40000 Tekkes were thought to be in the area. On January 1, 1881 he occupied Yanghi-Kala south of the fort to control the water supply and the following day chose the southeast corner as the point of attack and on the following day moved the main camp to Yanghi-Kala. On 4–8 January the first parallel was built about 700 yards from the fort and a second begun. To protect this a detachment was sent to capture a small redoubt to the north and General Petrushevich was killed after rushing through the gate. The Tekkes made sorties on the 9th, 11th and 16th. These were largely successful, but cost many Turkoman lives. The camp was twice moved north to make it easier to deal with sorties. The Russians only had enough men to hold a siege line in the southeast corner and the Tekkes were usually allowed to move in and out on the north side of the fort. On January 18 a mine was started on the southeast side and two days later artillery made a breach in the south wall which was quickly repaired. On 23 January the mine was completed and loaded with 2600 pounds of powder.

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