Battle of Aspindza

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Battle of Aspindza
Date 20 April 1770 Location Aspindza, Georgia 41°34′26.76″N 43°14′58.88″E / 41.5741000°N 43.2496889°E / 41.5741000; 43.2496889Coordinates: 41°34′26.76″N 43°14′58.88″E / 41.5741000°N 43.2496889°E / 41.5741000; 43.2496889 Result Georgian victory[1]
Belligerents
Kartl-Kakheti	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Erekle II	Gola Pasha †
Strength
3,000	9,500[2]
Casualties and losses
100	4,500+[2]

The Battle of Aspindza (Georgian: ასპინძის ბრძოლა) was fought on 20 April 1770 between the Georgians, led by king of Kartli-Kakheti Erekle II, and the Ottoman Empire.^[3] The Georgians won a victory over the Turks.^[4]

Battle[]

The Georgian forces of Erekle were joined in 1769 by a Russian expeditionary force under the command of general Totleben. The relationship between the two soon became strained. In the spring of 1770 they decided to move against the fortress of Akhaltsikhe, however at the last moment Totleben withdrew his forces in spite of Georgians' objections. Nevertheless, Erekle decided to give battle and defeated the Ottoman Turks with his outnumbered army. Totleben's withdrawal prevented Erekle from exploiting his victory and forced him to accept a draw.^[5]

After their defeat the Turks launched no further offensives into Georgia until the end of the war. Open strife broke down between Totleben and Erekle as the former attempted to seize control of Tbilisi and annex Georgia. Totleben moved his forces to Western Georgia and was relieved of his duties in 1771.^[6]

The battle is the subject of the patriotic ode "On the Battle of Aspindza" by Besiki.^[7]

Citations[]

References[]

• Allen, William Edward David (1971). A history of the Georgian people: from the beginning down to the Russian conquest in the nineteenth century. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-7100-6959-7.
• Gvosdev, Nikolas (2000). Imperial Policies and Perspectives towards Georgia, 1760–1819. Springer. ISBN 9781403932785.
• Kveselava, M. (2002). Anthology of Georgian Poetry. The Minerva Group. ISBN 978-0-89875-672-2.
• Mesxia, Šotʻa (1968). An outline of Georgian history. Tbilisi University Press. OCLC 292912.
• Mikaberidze, Alexander (2015). Historical Dictionary of Georgia. Rowman & Littlefield.
• Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. Reaktion Books Ltd.

General References[]

• Gogebashvili, Jacob (1937). "The Battle of Aspindza". Georgica (4–5). OCLC 1586281.

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