In the meantime a large force was being concentrated at Tiflis; and the foremost Russian division, consisting of 9,000 men of all arms, was pushed forward to Shamkar, a village in the vicinity of Genja. The young prince, Mahomed Meerza,[1] who now commanded in that place, moved out at the head of about 10,000 men to engage the advancing Russians. A battle was fought on the banks of the Zezam, a small stream of which the contending armies occupied the opposite sides. The Russian force, about a third of which was cavalry, was drawn up in one line, its left resting on the stream, and the whole of the cavalry being placed on the right, and separated by the guns from the infantry. Half of the Persian force consisted of cavalry, which was placed behind the line in which the infantry was drawn up. The Persian horse moved to the flank, with the intention of attacking the Russian cavalry; but it was kept in check, and soon forced to retire, by the well-directed fire of the Russian artillery. Upon this the cavalry advanced and pursued the Persians along the whole line of their infantry and to the rear of that body. General Madadoff, the Russian commander, upon this ordered his infantry to advance, which had the effect of enclosing the Persians between two fires. They thereupon broke and retired in confusion, leaving their field-pieces in the hands of the enemy. Of the two Persian commanders, Ameer Khan was shot by a Cossack when in the act of endeavouring to rally his troops; and Mahomed Meerza, the future king of Persia, had actually fallen into the hands of the Cossacks, when he was rescued by a Shahsevend chief, who carried him
off behind him on his horse. This was the turning-point
- ↑ He was afterwards Shah of Persia.
