Battle of Kurekdere
The Battle of Kurekdere took place in 1854 as part of the Crimean War. It started when the Ottoman army of Kars marched towards Gyumri to attack the Russian force commanded by General Vasili Bebutov, already weakened with detachments. The battle was related with great spirit and the defeat of the Ottoman army by the Russian forces.
In accounting the Russians for the defeat of an army nearly 40,000 Ottoman forces of all arms by a hostile force of less than one-half that number, it is not sufficient to say that the management of the whole battle on the side of the Turks was a series of blunders from the first to last, strategical errors might have protracted the mission and have added to the cost of a victory. Four months after the battle of Kurekdere no military operations took place. Some European officers there were strongly advised a forward movement on Tiflis.
