Tergukasov, Arzas Artemievich

Born in 1819 in Tiflis . Armenian-Gregorian religion. He was the 6th of eight sons of the archpriest of the Armenian Apostolic Church Ter-Harutyun Ter-Ghukasyants (possibly right- Ter-Ghukasyan ), a native of the former Shamkhor possession, which, before the Russians arrived in Transcaucasia, was part of the Ganja Khanate . The decisive role in the careers of Arzas Artemyevich and his entire family was provided by his older brother Solomon, who, with the assistance and patronage of Archbishop Nerses , later the Catholicos of All Armenians , after completing his medical course, received the title of Doctor of Medicine in 1826. Returning to Tiflis in 1826, Solomon in 1827 identified four of his brothers, including Arzas Artemyevich, at the Armenian Theological School, founded in 1824 by Archbishop Nerses. At the end of the brothers' studies at a religious school, in 1831, Solomon took them to Russia for further education. In July 1835, Arzas Artemievich entered the Institute of the Corps of Railway Engineers . While studying at the institute, on July 15, in 1836, he was promoted to warrant officer , then, on May 13, 1837, he was awarded the rank of ensign , and a year later, on June 4, 1838, Arzas Artemyevich was awarded the rank of second lieutenant with appointment to active service in the First Directorate of the surrounding St. Petersburg roads.

In May 1842, Arzas Artemyevich was transferred to the Caucasus, to the Directorate of Military Communications. Here he served for about eight years, participating in the construction of the Georgian Military Highway, and during that time he received: a cash prize from the Emperor, rank of captain , two orders of St. Anne - 3rd and 2nd degree and three promotions: chief of distance , assistant to the chief of the 2nd division and the acting chief of the 2nd division.

In 1850, Arzas Artemievich resigned for family reasons and was fired with the rank of lieutenant colonel . According to some information, the reason that made him leave the service in the 8th District of Railways was that he was burdened by this service, finding it inappropriate to his character; according to other sources, he left the service simultaneously with his brother Artashes, who served with him, due to misunderstandings that arose between them and the head of the District of Railways. After his dismissal, in 1850, Arzas Artemievich and his brother Artashes went again to Russia, to St. Petersburg, where, having prepared for military military service, they passed an additional exam.

Returning to the Caucasus, March 6, 1852, Arzas Artemyevich was enlisted in the rank of major in the Absheron Infantry Regiment , with whom he participated in many Caucasian expeditions . From May 6, 1853 to February 12, 1859 he commanded the 3rd battalion of this regiment. October 5, 1857 promoted to colonel ^[1] .

On February 12, 1859 he was appointed commander of the Absheron Infantry Regiment, and shortly thereafter, commanding his 1st and 4th battalions, he moved with them to the Gunib aul on August 25 and took control of the enemy blockages near this village after a heated battle. For this matter, right on the battlefield, Prince Baryatinsky was awarded the Order of St. George 4th degree (the award was approved on September 8) ^[2]

On October 20 of the same year he was awarded a golden Dragoon saber with the inscription "For courage" ^[3] .

August 6, 1865 ( according to other sources , November 9, 1865) was promoted to major general and appointed assistant chief of the 19th Infantry Division . Since 1868, Tergukasov managed the middle department of the Terek region , and on March 25 of the following year he was given command of the 38th Infantry Division along with production as lieutenant general .

During the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. Tergukasov remained in the Caucasian active corps and commanded the Erivan detachment .

On April 18, 1877, he and his division occupied Bayazet , which had been abandoned by the enemy, left a small garrison in the fortress, and with the rest of the forces moved towards Erzurum , simultaneously knocking out the enemy from the Alashkert fortification on May 28. On June 9, Ter-Gukasov’s detachment withstood the battle near the village of Dayar, where he was attacked by significantly superior forces of Mukhtar Pasha . The latter had in mind to take advantage of the remoteness of the main forces of the Russian Caucasian corps, which remained near Kars , to seize the passage of Delhi-Baba, thus block the way for Tergukasov’s detachment to Erzurum and inflict a decisive blow to him. The battle began at 2 p.m. with artillery fire on both sides, from which much more Turks suffered than Russians; at 4 hours 30 minutes the enemy marched on the attack, directing the main efforts against the right flank of Tergukasov’s detachment, but was repelled at all points; at 10 pm, the battle stopped without clear results.

At night, Tergukasov received an order to retreat, caused by the failure of the Russian main forces at Zivin. Despite the great difficulties of the path and following the enemy on the heels, the retreat was completed in perfect order, and the Turks soon stopped the pursuit. Heading back to Bayazet, Tergukasov arrived in time for him at a critical moment for the Russian detachment there.

Soon after Tergukasov left for Erzurum, a small detachment (about 1,600 people) left by him in Bayazet was besieged by the 25,000th detachment of Izmail Pasha and Gazi Magomet , which occupied the outer city and encircled the fortress. For more than 20 days, the besieged garrison courageously repelled the enemy. On June 28, Tergukasov approached the fortress and after the battle forced the besiegers to flee.

On October 23, Tergukasov, together with Lieutenant General Geiman, inflicted a decisive defeat on the Turks under Virgo Boyn , who was very strong from the front and flanks of the mountainous position, on which Mukhtar Pasha concentrated all his forces. Tergukasov, joining General Geiman, attacked this position on October 28 at 4.30 a.m. After a fierce battle, the Russians took possession of the key position, the height of Uzun-Akhmet, and soon after this forced the Turks to hastily retreat. Almost all enemy artillery became the prey of the Russian troops ^[4] .

On January 7, 1878, Arzas Artemievich was appointed head of the Akhaltsikhe detachment, and on April 16 of the same year, he was appointed head of the Caucasian Grenadier Division. July 22, 1878 Tergukasov was awarded the Order of St. 3rd degree George ^[5]

At the end of the war, Ter-Gukasov took command of the 2nd Caucasian Corps. For other differences during this war, Tergukasov was awarded the orders of St. 2nd degree Vladimir with swords, the White Eagle with swords and the Prussian Pour le Mérite ^[6] .

April 29, 1879 was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Army of His Imperial Majesty. In early September 1879 ( according to other sources - August 25, 1879) Tergukasov was appointed commander of the Trans-Caspian military department. September 14, 1879 was appointed commander of the 2nd Army Corps . For the short period of his Turkestan activity, Tergukasov did much useful for the reorganization of troops in the Trans-Caspian and seriously managed to streamline economic affairs that fell into decay after the unsuccessful Akhal-Tekinsky campaign of General Lomakin .

A brilliant characteristic of Tergukasov was given by General M. A. Terentyev :

“Ter-Gukasov was known in the Caucasus for his impeccable honesty and you can trust him. Having begun his service as an engineer of communications, he found that it was easy to become a fraudster here, and moved to combat troops. Having reached a high position, he never engaged in business operations, such as contracts for someone else’s name, to supply provisions and fodder to units of his troops subordinate to him, as other commanders did in the Caucasus ... ”

Arzas Artemyevich Tergukasov died on January 8, 1881 as commander of the 2nd Caucasian Army Corps .

Among other awards, Tergukasov had orders ^[7] :

• Order of St. Anne of the 2nd degree (1848, the imperial crown and swords for this order were granted in 1857)
• Order of St. George 4th degree (August 25, 1859, the award was approved on September 8 of the same year)
• Golden Dragoon Saber with the inscription "For Courage" (October 20, 1859)
• Order of St. Vladimir of the 4th degree with swords and bow (1860)
• Order of St. Vladimir 3rd degree with swords (1862)
• Order of St. Stanislav 1st degree (1867)
• Order of St. Anne 1st degree with swords (1870, the imperial crown was granted to this order in 1873)
• Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd degree with swords (1877)
• Order of the White Eagle with swords (1877)
• Order of St. George 3rd degree (July 22, 1878, No. 572 according to the list of gentlemen )
• Prussian Order " Pour le Mérite " (April 24, 1878, "For the Battle of the Turks in June 1877 and the Liberation of the Bayazet Garrison")

• Volkov S.V. Generality of the Russian Empire: Encyclopedic Dictionary of Generals and Admirals from Peter I to Nicholas II: in 2 volumes. - M .: Tsentrpoligraf , 2009. - T. 2 : L — I. - S. 570. - ISBN 978-5-227-02055-0 .
• Tergukasov, Arzas Artemievich // Russian Biographical Dictionary : in 25 volumes. - SPb. - M. , 1896-1918.
• Lieutenant-General A. A. Tergukasov, Head of the Erivan Detachment of the Caucasian Army // Heroes and figures of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. - Ed. V.P. Turba. - SPb. , 1878. - S. 99-107.
• Terentyev M. A. History of the conquest of Central Asia. T. 3. St. Petersburg., 1903.
• Caucasian calendar for 1882. - Tf. : Type. Ch. management Glavnachonach. citizen part in the Caucasus, 1881.

• Bayazet seat
• Bayazet (novel)
• Bayazet (television series)