After the massacres ordered by Cevdet Bey on April 19 were largely concluded, the vali redeployed his troops for an attack on the city of Van itself.
On the Turkish side were about 4,000 well-armed troops supported by artillery, while the city was defended by about 1,500 Armenian militia, who according to Yarrow were obliged to resort to "all kinds of weapons including blunderbusses, Colt pistols, old-fashioned rifles and even ... a couple of small cannon [made] out of old metal".
This poorly armed force would nonetheless prove sufficient to hold off the Turks for almost a month until the relief of the city by Russian forces.

Yarrow and other members of the American mission were still located in the city when the siege began, and were thus able to provide eyewitness accounts.
In an interview with an American newspaper a year later, Yarrow provided some details of the siege.
Of the initial stages, he says:
When the people in the city heard of the coming of the Turks they knew that no mercy would be shown them, for half the population were Armenians and Syrians [Assyrians] and they knew the Turks would massacre them.
There was great commotion and nobody knew what to do.
The people decided to make a stand against the Turks ... The battle started when the Turks fired upon and killed a group of women outside of the city.
The besieged area was about one mile across and a veritable hail of bullets swept over the walls for 28 days that the city of Van was under fire.

Yarrow himself assisted the Armenian defenders in maintaining governance during the siege.
Yarrow's colleague, fellow missionary Clarence Ussher, notes that as the Armenians remaining in Van "had small experience in organization", it was "absolutely necessary" that someone with the right abilities attend to governance.
Ussher states that Yarrow stepped into this role, taking the lead on many emergency committees and eventually "organiz[ing] a government with a mayor, judges, police, and board of health".
Yarrow also helped organize a soup kitchen along with the manufacture and distribution of bread to those in need.

Toward the end of the siege, Turkish forces bombarded the American missionary compound, a violation of diplomatic immunity that Ussher suggests was made because of Turkish suspicion that the Americans had aided the city's defence.
Of the bombardment, Yarrow states:
We had flying over the building where the missionaries were staying five American flags.
One day the Turks turned their fire on the building and for two days they kept up an incessant firing of rifle bullets and shrapnel.
Why they did this we do not know.
The Turks knew, however, that we had helped the Armenians with their sick and had bettered sanitary conditions etc.
We did nothing to assist them in a military way.

On 14 May, after almost a month of siege, Turkish forces withdrew due to the advance of Russian forces, who relieved the city a few days later.
It was then discovered, in the words of Yarrow, that "while the siege was going on the Turks [had] killed every Armenian that they could find in the vicinity of the city", including women and children.
After making this discovery, some Armenians began killing some of the city's surviving Turks in revenge.
Later however, after order had been restored, Yarrow expressed surprise "at the self-control of the Armenians, for though the Turks did not spare a single wounded Armenian, the Armenians are helping us to save the Turks – a thing that I do not believe even Europeans would do."

With the lifting of the siege, the Armenians were to enjoy a brief ten-week period of self-governance, before advancing Turkish forces brought the city under threat once again.
Thousands of Armenians fled the city rather than fall once more into Turkish hands, fleeing across the border to the relative safety of the Russian Caucasus, and Yarrow, by now sick with typhus, and the other American missionaries also decided to leave.
Along the way, Yarrow describes how "in one locality the Turkish advance guard, secluded in the hills, poured rifle shots down upon the fleei
After the massacres ordered by Cevdet Bey on April 19 were largely concluded, the vali redeployed his troops for an attack on the city of Van itself. On the Turkish side were about 4,000 well-armed troops supported by artillery, while the city was defended by about 1,500 Armenian militia, who according to Yarrow were obliged to resort to "all kinds of weapons including blunderbusses, Colt pistols, old-fashioned rifles and even ... a couple of small cannon [made] out of old metal". This poorly armed force would nonetheless prove sufficient to hold off the Turks for almost a month until the relief of the city by Russian forces.
Yarrow and other members of the American mission were still located in the city when the siege began, and were thus able to provide eyewitness accounts. In an interview with an American newspaper a year later, Yarrow provided some details of the siege. Of the initial stages, he says:
When the people in the city heard of the coming of the Turks they knew that no mercy would be shown them, for half the population were Armenians and Syrians [Assyrians] and they knew the Turks would massacre them. There was great commotion and nobody knew what to do. The people decided to make a stand against the Turks ... The battle started when the Turks fired upon and killed a group of women outside of the city. The besieged area was about one mile across and a veritable hail of bullets swept over the walls for 28 days that the city of Van was under fire.
Yarrow himself assisted the Armenian defenders in maintaining governance during the siege. Yarrow's colleague, fellow missionary Clarence Ussher, notes that as the Armenians remaining in Van "had small experience in organization", it was "absolutely necessary" that someone with the right abilities attend to governance. Ussher states that Yarrow stepped into this role, taking the lead on many emergency committees and eventually "organiz[ing] a government with a mayor, judges, police, and board of health". Yarrow also helped organize a soup kitchen along with the manufacture and distribution of bread to those in need.
Toward the end of the siege, Turkish forces bombarded the American missionary compound, a violation of diplomatic immunity that Ussher suggests was made because of Turkish suspicion that the Americans had aided the city's defence. Of the bombardment, Yarrow states:
We had flying over the building where the missionaries were staying five American flags. One day the Turks turned their fire on the building and for two days they kept up an incessant firing of rifle bullets and shrapnel. Why they did this we do not know. The Turks knew, however, that we had helped the Armenians with their sick and had bettered sanitary conditions etc. We did nothing to assist them in a military way.
On 14 May, after almost a month of siege, Turkish forces withdrew due to the advance of Russian forces, who relieved the city a few days later. It was then discovered, in the words of Yarrow, that "while the siege was going on the Turks [had] killed every Armenian that they could find in the vicinity of the city", including women and children. After making this discovery, some Armenians began killing some of the city's surviving Turks in revenge. Later however, after order had been restored, Yarrow expressed surprise "at the self-control of the Armenians, for though the Turks did not spare a single wounded Armenian, the Armenians are helping us to save the Turks – a thing that I do not believe even Europeans would do."
With the lifting of the siege, the Armenians were to enjoy a brief ten-week period of self-governance, before advancing Turkish forces brought the city under threat once again. Thousands of Armenians fled the city rather than fall once more into Turkish hands, fleeing across the border to the relative safety of the Russian Caucasus, and Yarrow, by now sick with typhus, and the other American missionaries also decided to leave. Along the way, Yarrow describes how "in one locality the Turkish advance guard, secluded in the hills, poured rifle shots down upon the fleei
Ernest Yarrow