The Battle of Sardarabad (Armenian: Սարդարապատի ճակատամարտ, romanized: Sardarapati chakatamart; Turkish: Serdarabad Muharebesi) was a battle of the Caucasus campaign of World War I that took place near Sardarabad, Armenia, from 21 to 29 May 1918, between the regular Armenian military units and militia on one side and the Ottoman army that had invaded Eastern Armenia on the other. As Sardarabad is approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) west of the capital of Yerevan, the battle not only halted the Ottoman advance into the rest of Armenia, but also prevented the complete destruction of the Armenian nation. The battle paved the way for the establishment of the First Republic of Armenia and the Treaty of Batum: recognition of Armenia by the Ottoman Empire.
In the words of Christopher J. Walker, had the Armenians lost this battle, "it is perfectly possible that the word Armenia would have henceforth denoted only an antique geographical term".
Background
Ottoman invasion of Eastern Armenia
After the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia and the ceasefire signed between the Third Army of the Ottoman Empire and the Transcaucasian Commissariat in Erzincan, newly forming Armenian detachments came to replace Russian forces retreating from the Caucasian Front, particularly from the territory of Western Armenia. Taking advantage of the military-political situation of the time, the Ottoman government set its mind on regaining control of territories occupied by the Russian Army during World War I and invading Eastern Armenia and the South Caucasus afterwards. The German government, the Ottoman Empire's ally, objected to this attack and refused to help the Ottoman Army in the operation. The Ottoman Army intended to crush Armenia and seize Russian Transcaucasia and the oil wells of Baku.
Launching an assault in February 1918, the Third Army of the Ottoman Empire occupied Western Armenian settlements one after another. Following the failure of Trabzon peace talks in April, Third Army commander Mehmed Wehib Pasha moved his forces towards Transcaucasia. Taking advantage of the conciliatory policy of the leadership of the newly-proclaimed Transcaucasian Federative Republic, the Turkish military units captured the heavily fortified Castle of Kars on 25 April, thus creating a direct threat to Alexandrapol. Following the siege of Kars, the Ottoman Forces Command put forward new conditions to the Transcaucasian authorities, demanding the surrender of Akhalkalaki, Akhaltsikhe and Alexandrapol, as well as of Alexandropol–Julfa railway, which the Turkish troops could use to reach Tabriz and get their hands on all the Transcaucasian railroads before the end of the war against the British. Unwilling to wait for the end of negotiations with the Transcaucasian delegation in Batumi, the Turkish forces took Alexandropol with a quick offensive on 15 May, creating a threat of conquest for all of Eastern Armenia. At this point, only a small area of Armenian territory remained unconquered by the Turks, and into that small area, hundreds of thousands of Armenian refugees fled. It seemed like it was only a matter of time until that too would be overrun.
In order to break into Eastern Armenia, the Turkish Military Command regrouped its troops. A special detachment commanded by Yakub Shevki Pasha was formed in Kars from subdivisions of I Caucasian Army Corps (under the command of Major-General Kazim Karabekir Pasha) and the 2nd Caucasian Army Corps of the Third Army (under the command of Major-General Yakub Shevki Pasha). Within the newly-formed detachment, the 36th Division (under the command of Colonel Pirselimoğlu Hamdi Bey) and the 9th Division (under the command of Colonel Rüştü Paşa) of I Caucasian Army Corps, as well as the 11th Division (under the command of Colonel Cavit Erdel) and the 5th Division (under the command of Colonel Mürsel Pasha) of II Caucasian Army Corps were to operate against the Armenian forces. Besides the detachment in question, also participating in combat operations in the course of the invasion of Eastern Armenia was the 12th Division of the IV Army Corps of the Second Army, which supervised Surmali mountain passes on the eve of the Battle of Sardarapat and had a mission to invade Igdir Province.
To be able to resist the attack, commander-in-chief of the Armenian Armed Forces Tovmas Nazarbekian decided to safeguard the strategic roads to Yerevan and Tiflis.
A part of the Armenian troops that had left Alexandropol, including some units of the 1st Division of the Armenian Corps, as well as several units within the Special Armenian Detachment, retreated towards the Ararat Plain. Here under the general command of Movses Silikyan, the Detachment of Yerevan of the Armenian Armed Forces was created with a task to thwart the Turkish attack on Yerevan.
Yerevan on the eve of the battle
The invasion of the Turkish army put the Armenian political leadership in both Tiflis and Yerevan in a difficult situation. On 19 May, after invading Surmali, Turkish General Halil Kut (the uncle of Enver Pasha) declared in Batumi that "the Armenians have been defeated and must be obeyed." On the other hand, the Armenian delegation represented in the negotiations of Batumi (Alexander Khatisian, Hovhannes Kajaznuni) in a cable sent to Khachatur Karchikyan, the Armenian member in the Transcaucasian Commissariat, recommended "against showing resistance to Turks."
Amid a widespread panic in the Aleksandropolsky Uyezd, the Ararat Plain and Yerevan following the attack of the Turkish troops, the Yerevan city council at a session on 18 May approved mayor Tadevos Tosyan's proposal to hand over the city to the Turks with no resistance, evacuate the population and lead them to the mountains. But the decision to surrender Yerevan yielded no practical results, as the Executive Body of the Armenian National Council of Tbilisi – the Special Committee – headed by Yerevan National Council chairman Aram Manukian sharply opposed such a development and overthrew the decision (supreme power in Yerevan and the province of Yerevan was given to the Special Committee). By the order of Aram Manukian and with the help of as many as 1500 residents, Yerevan's defenses, especially the area near Yerablur, were fortified.
On 18 May, Aram Manukian accompanied by Yerevan's commandant Arshavir Shahkhatuni, visited Etchmiadzin to urge Catholicos George V to leave the town for security reasons. But he not only rejected the proposal, but also encouraged the military to resist the Ottoman advance. Later legend claimed that church bells pealed for six days calling on Armenians from all walks of life – peasants, poets, blacksmiths, and even the clergymen – to rally to form organized military units. Civilians, including children, aided in the effort as well, as "Carts drawn by oxen, water buffalo, and cows jammed the roads bringing food, provisions, ammunition, and volunteers from the vicinity" of Yerevan.
In the days that followed, Manukian played a vital role in stabilizing the situation in Yerevan and the adjacent areas and tipping the scale in the Armenians' favor. In the morning of 19 May, he ordered the Commander of the 1st Division, Major-General Movses Silikyan' to stop the retreat of Armenian forces and avert the Turkish attack on Yerevan at any cost. To this end, Manukian promised to carry out organizational work in a short period of time, collect manpower and ammunition. In the subsequent days, recruitment was organized on Astafyan Street, in the English Park, in front of the Teachers' Seminary and elsewhere for volunteers to join the army at the start of the Battle.
Battle
Units involved on both sides
Turkish side
Forming part of the 36th Turkish Division moving towards Alexandropol-Yerevan were the 106th, 107th and 108th Infantry Regiments, one rifle battalion, two artillery divisions. The Turkish army was further supported by a separate cavalry regiment and another one of 1,500 Kurdish fighters. The Turkish forces were a total of 7,500–10,000 soldiers and officers, including the Kurds. The Turks had 40 cannons at their disposal.
Armenian side
During the Battle of Sardarapat, the forces of the Armenian side formed part of the Yerevan detachment, whose other units took part in the Battle of Bash-Aparan against the 9th Turkish Division. Major-General Movses Silikyan was the Commander of the detachment, while Colonel Alexander Vekilyan served as the Chief of Staff based in the building of the Gevorgian Seminary of Etchmiadzin in Vagharshapat. The Commander-in-Chief of the forces fighting in the Battle of Sardarapat was the Deputy Commander of the Yerevan detachment, Colonel Daniel Bek-Pirumyan, while Alexander Chneour was the Chief of Staff. Included in these forces were the 2nd Division of the Armenian Corps and several squads of the Special Armenian Detachment. Forming part of the 2nd Division (under the command of Movses Silikyan) were the 5th (3rd battalion, under the command of Poghos Bek-Pirumyan) and 6th (12 companies, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Abraham Dolukhanyan) regiments, the 2nd Cavalry Regiment with four cavalry battalions (Colonel Zalinyan), a partisan infantry regiment made up of eight battalions (Colonel Aleksei Perekrestov), a partisan cavalry regiment of three battalions (Colonel Korolkov), the Border Battalion (Lieutenant Colonel Silin), the Patrol Battalion of the 2nd Division. One battalion from the 4th Regiment, 1st Division was stationed in Davalu to defend the southern direction.
Included in the Yerevan unit from the Special Armenian Detachment were the 1st (Colonel Yuzbashev) and 2nd (Colonel Chakhmakhchev) Infantry Regiments of Van from the 3rd Special Brigade, the 2nd Special Cavalry Regiment of Zeytun (four cavalry battalions, Colonel Salibekyan), the infantry regiments of Khnus and Karakilisa (Colonel Kazimirsi) which formed part of the military units of the 2nd Special Brigade, the Regiment of Erzincan (6 battalions, Karapet Hassan-Pashaian) of the 1st Special Brigade, as well as the 1st Special Cavalry Regiment (military starshina Pavel Zolotarev).
Five infantry batteries under Colonel Christophor Araratyan's command were included in the Yerevan detachment, which also involved several squads composed of Western Armenian intellectuals, a Yezidi cavalry battalion (under the command of Usub Bek and Jangir Agha), as well as a great number of militia troops. The Armenian forces were composed of a total of 9,000–10,000 soldiers and officers, and amounted to 6,000–6,500 after some part of them were dispatched to the Bash-Aparan Front. The Armenians had 28 cannons at their disposal but only 16–20 were used in the course of combat operations.
Manoeuvres prior to the battle
On the eve of the occupation of Alexandropol, one of the tasks of the Armenian troops was the defense of railways and roads connecting Alexandropol to Yerevan and Tiflis. Following the fall of Alexandropol, those groups had to retire to Hamalu-Karakilisa and the Ararat Plain due to progressing Ottoman forces. On 19 May, the 26th Turkish Division took the Gharaghula (Getap) train depot near the Akhuryan River and started to advance towards Yerevan. Some subdivisions from the 2nd Special Brigade composed of the infantry regiments of Khnus and Karakilisa, as well as a part of the 1st Special Brigade (the Infantry regiment of Erzincan and other units) gradually withdrew from Ani and Aragats railway stations on the left bank of Akhuryan River towards Sardarapat from 16 to 19 May. During the retreat, even before clashing with the main Ottoman forces, they would come under fire from the vanguard Kurdish cavalry of the 36th Division. The retreat of those subdivisions via the Alexandropol-Yerevan route played an essential role for the Yerevan detachment in terms of buying time and regrouping forces. On 16–17 May, some of the squads of the Yerevan detachment based in Sardarapat were urgently sent to Araks and Karaburun stations to resist the Ottoman advancing towards the Ararat Plain, while some others were sent to Yerevan to get ready for the battle and receive enhancement by volunteers and armaments.