NAM.1963-07-3-1

The Capitulation of Kars, Crimean War, 28 November 1855. Oil on canvas, by Thomas Jones Barker (1815-1882), signed, and dated lower right: ‘T Jones Barker/ ...8 1857’, 1857 Kars, a city in north-eastern Turkey, was besieged by a Russian army of 25,000 in June 1855, during the Crimean War (1854-1856). Demoralised by their defeats at the hands of the Russians, the Turks left the defence of Kars to Brevet Colonel (later Gen Sir) William Fenwick Williams (1800-1883), the British commissioner with the Ottoman Army in Anatolia. Through his brilliant organisation, the garrison was able to repulse three major Russian attacks, but eventually cold, famine and an outbreak of cholera forced it to surrender on 26 Nov 1855. In recognition of their heroism, the defenders were allowed to march out of the city with the honours of war and into captivity.

Kars, Siege of, 1855 (Crimean War, Ottoman Empire 1853-1856)