Though many resented his policies, Tsitsianov's rule brought some of the much needed stability for Georgians, particularly in terms of keeping at bay the previously rampant incursions and marauding by Lezgian mountaineers. When one of his generals was killed in battle with the Lezgians, his rage knew no bounds and wrote an angry letter to the Sultan of Elisu: "Shameless sultan with the soul of a Persian - so you still dare to write to me! Yours is the soul of a dog and the understanding of an ass, yet you think to deceive me with your specious phrases.
Know that until you become a loyal vassal of my Emperor I shall only long to wash my boots in your blood": Under the orders of Emperor Alexander I, he later led the Russian armies into the new Russo-Persian War. In the summer of 1804, he advanced against the Persian forces in Persian Armenia, and fought at Gyumri, Echmiadzin, on the Zang River, and finally Yerevan. His actions earned him the Order of St. Vladimir, 1st Degree.