The Battle of Shamkhor is a battle between Russian troops and the vanguard of the 60,000-strong Iranian army that took place on September 3 (15), 1826 during the Russian-Persian war of 1826-1828.
Imagine 6,000 Russians defeated 14,000 Persians with only 27 casualties
This is how it was
Shamkhor battle - a battle between Russian troops under the command of General V. G. Madatov and the vanguard of the 60-thousandth Iranian army under the command of Shahzade Mohammed, the son of Abbas Mirza, and the Erivan sardar Amir Khan, which took place on September 3 (15), 1826 near the village of Shamkhor (now Shamkir, Azerbaijan), on the river. Shamkhor tea (Shamkhorka), during the Russian-Persian war of 1826-1828.
After the invasion of Karabakh in mid-July 1826, the 40,000-strong Iranian army of Abbas Mirza was detained by the siege of the Shusha fortress. On August 22 (September 3), Madatov's detachment, on the orders of Ermolov, set out to meet the 3,000-strong Persian detachment under the command of Zurab Khan, which was located on one of the tributaries of the Taus River. However, the Persian detachment retreated in advance and took up a position on one of the peaks. Madatov ordered to knock out the Persian detachment by storm. In the course of a small battle, the Persians retreated to Elisavetpol (now Ganja, in the USSR - Kirovabad), and the Shamshadil Tatars (Azerbaijanis) dispersed to their villages. Upon learning of this, Yermolov sent Madatov a battalion of the Kherson Grenadier Regiment and ordered to occupy Elisavetpol. On August 25 (September 6) Madatov set out in the direction of Elisavetpol. His detachment consisted of five companies of the Georgian regiment,a battalion of the Kherson Grenadier Regiment, three companies of the 41st Ranger Regiment, Cossacks and the police, in addition, there were 12 guns. The Persians approached Elisabethpol earlier. The son of Abbas-Mirza Mohammed, with a detachment of 10,000, set out to meet the Russians in the village of Shamkhor. On September 1 (13), he was joined by the Erivan sardar of Amir Khan with a 4,000-strong detachment and 2 guns. On September 3 (15) Cossacks and Caucasian Tatars (Azerbaijanis) attacked the vanguard of the Persian detachment and forced them to retreat beyond Shamkhor. On September 3 (15) Cossacks and Caucasian Tatars (Azerbaijanis) attacked the vanguard of the Persian detachment and forced them to retreat beyond Shamkhor. On September 3 (15) Cossacks and Caucasian Tatars (Azerbaijanis) attacked the vanguard of the Persian detachment and forced them to retreat beyond Shamkhor.
The battle formation of the Iranian troops was built in the shape of a crescent, curved towards the enemy, in the center of it was the regular infantry (sarbaz), and on the flanks there were irregular cavalry (gulyams). There were guns and falconets at the back. Madatov, despite the great superiority of the enemy in forces, attacked his positions on the move. With the support of artillery, the cavalry started a battle on the flanks, and the infantry, with a bayonet strike, broke through the center of the Iranian troops. The defeat of the confused enemy was completed with a horse attack by the Georgian and Tatar (Azerbaijani) militias. The Iranians had 2 thousand casualties, while Madatov's detachment had only 27 people.
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The Shamkhor battle did not last long and was not difficult. It ended with one swift blow. The resistance of the enemy was so weak that the brilliant victory, the defeat of five times the strongest enemy, cost the Russian troops only twenty-seven people who were out of action, while the enemy's losses were enormous. In the consciousness of the Persians themselves, they lost more than two thousand people on this fatal day for them, just killed. The Shah's guard, which took part in the case, no longer existed - almost all of it fell under the blows of the Russian cavalry. The space from Shamkhor to Elizavetpol, for over thirty miles, was strewn with enemy corpses. This was evidenced, among other things, by Paskevich himself, who, eight days later, passed through the battlefield,- and Paskevich cannot be suspected of being addicted to Madatov or a desire to exaggerate the significance of the Shamkhor victory.
The trophies of the battle were: one cannon of the English artillery, eleven falconets with camels and seventy-five prisoners.
Retreat of the Persian troops
Leaving Elizavetpol (Ganja), the Persians plundered the property of local residents.
Whole blocks testified to the sad events that swept over the city, and the old Ganja, once a stronghold of Azerbaijan, now gloomily towered over the remains of the devastated city.
The Armenian population suffered less than others, showing generally a lot of firmness and determination during the entire stay of the Persians in the city. Inhabiting a separate forstadt, the Armenians strengthened it and, placing guard guards at all the entrances and exits, announced that they would serve the Persians, but on the condition that none of their soldiers would appear in the quarter and that all the demands of the Persian government would be made only through by means of the foremen chosen by them. They decided to repulse any violence with a weapon and, in case of extreme, to stand to the last. The clever Nazar Ali Khan saw the uselessness of force and decided to seize the Armenian population by cunning. He invited them, under the guise of special courtesy on their part, to lay down all their property and even transfer their families inside the citadel for safety in case the Russians appeared and their storming of the city. Armenians, realizingwhat's the matter, rejected this offer; Tatars, on the contrary, fell into deception and were severely punished for their gullibility; leaving the fortress, the Persians took with them all the Tatar women.
Russian troops, led by Prince Madatov, were solemnly greeted by the city's Christian population.
Madatov's entry into ancient Ganja was solemn. The entire Christian population, preceded by the clergy in white Easter vestments, with banners and crosses, came out to meet the Russian troops as their deliverers. The columns stopped. Madatov, dismounting from his horse, asked the clergy to serve a thanksgiving service. Residents brought bread and wine to the soldiers, threw themselves at Madatov's feet, hugging his knees. The troops entered the city and occupied the citadel, over which the victorious Russian banner immediately flew. Everything came to life in the gloomy before that Elizavetpole, and in its magnificent gardens, all day and all night, until the very morning, songs and exclamations were heard: "Kgchakh (well done) Madatov!"
So the Armenians rejoiced; but the Tatar beks looked angrily - the Shamkhor victory dispelled their political dreams. The disappeared Persian banner on the citadel was replaced by the Russian banner - and how simple it all happened, calmly: the Persians disappeared; Russians, under the command of Prince Madatov, familiar to all, entered and stood in the citadel, as if they had never left it.
Results of the battle
The defeat of the Persian troops near Shamkhor forced Abbas-Mirza on September 5 (17), 1826 to lift the siege of Shushi.
On September 10 (22), General I. F. Paskevich arrived in Elizavetpol, who took over the command of the Russian troops.
On September 13 (25), a battle took place near Elizavetpol, in which the Iranian army was defeated, which predetermined its expulsion from Russian territories.
On September 10, General-Advisor arrived in Elisavetpol. Paskevich and took command over all the troops in the city, which consisted of 6 infantry battalions, 1 cavalry and 2 Cossack regiments, 24 guns, Tatar and Georgian cavalry. On the 13th, 7 versts from the city, Abbas Mirza was located with 15,000 infantry, 20,000 cavalry and 26 guns. Despite the inequality of forces, Paskevich, at the insistence of Madatov, decided to give battle. The victory was complete; its main culprit, Madatov, drove the enemy another 23 versts the next day; the Persians fled, no longer resisting, putting the infantry on the horses of the cavalry.