no  water,  and  were  obliged  to  fight  nightly
for  a  supply.  During  the  third  night.
Colonel  Karegin,  leaving  behind  a  drum-
mer and  a  few  sentries,  with  orders  to  drum
and  give  the  challenge  the  whole  night,
effected  the  retreat  of  his  detachment  un-
observed by  the  enemy ;  and  after  a  forced
march,  took  by  a  coup  de  main  the  fortress
of  Shachbulach,  in  possession  of  which  he
set  the  whole  Persian  army  at  defiance.
At  dawn  of  day  the  brave  drummer  and
his  comrades  were  cut  to  pieces.*  To
crown  this  enterprise.  General  Sizianoff,

*  The  narrative  of  this  military  exploit  does  not  explain
the  particular  share  which  Major  Kotlerefsky  had  in  it.
Perhaps  however  the  gallant  author  leaves  it  to  be  under-
stood, that  it  was  the  Major  who  planned  the  enterprise,
while  the  Colonel  simply  directed  it's  execution. — In
this  case,  his  praise  of  Kotlerefsky  has  not  been  measured
by  the  respect  which  every  soldier  owes  to  the  severe
but  necessary  rules  of  military  subordination.  Allowing
that  the  Major  advised  the  enterprise,  still  Colonel
Karegin  was  the  responsible  officer,  alone  accountable
to  his  sovereign  for  the  safety  of  the  troops  confided  to
his  care ;  and  as  it  cannot  be  denied  that  he  alone  would
have  incurred  the  blame  attendant  upon  the  failure  of  a


JOURNEY    TO    PERSIA.  85

with  twelve  hundred  men  and  a  few  guns,
marched  against  Abbas  Mirza,  and  totally  de-
feated him.  The  king,  who  was  on  this  side
of  the  Araxes,  at  the  head  of  a  large  army,
retreated  across  the  river  with  the  utmost  pre-
cipitation, and  even  destroyed  the  beautiful
bridge  of  Huderapin,  which  still  lies  in  ruins.
