Key Facts
- Duration
- ~6 weeks (Oct–Nov 1808)
- Russian casualties
- 3,000
- Russian deaths
- ~1,000
- Result
- Iranian defensive victory; Russian withdrawal
Strategic Narrative Overview
Russian field marshal Ivan Gudovich launched a campaign late in the 1808 season, besieging the Iranian fortress of Erivan for approximately six weeks. The operation was widely regarded as poorly conceived and executed. Iranian defenders successfully repulsed the Russian assault. Gudovich reportedly attributed his failure to the involvement of French military advisers assisting the Iranians, a claim his own superiors dismissed.
01 / The Origins
The siege of Erivan occurred within the broader context of the Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813, a conflict rooted in Russian imperial expansion into the Caucasus and competing claims over territories such as Georgia and Armenia. Iran, under the Qajar dynasty, resisted Russian encroachment, and Erivan served as a key Iranian fortress defending the region against repeated Russian offensives.
03 / The Outcome
The Russians withdrew after suffering around 3,000 casualties, including nearly 1,000 dead. Tsar Alexander I was severely dissatisfied with the outcome, describing Gudovich's expedition as 'stupid' and forcing him into retirement. The fortress of Erivan remained in Iranian hands, as it had after the failed Russian siege of 1804, prolonging the war without a decisive territorial shift.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Ivan Gudovich.
Side B
1 belligerent
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.