Related
1699] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 193 ' A number of Strelitzes were executed
170 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1690 delighted that he made the Boyars
1657 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 27 left to support themselves by charity
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 131 Htle way, and being four, wee hired a coach
186 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1697 put out the white flag
1661] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 47 good earnest to consider how I might ridd myself of this countrey
136 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 Queens hand; whereat his Majestic smileing
1661] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 33 sence of the King
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 163 and equity which I had on my syde
1659] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 29 some other officers, had quietly beheld the whole affair
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
1659] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 29
some other officers, had quietly beheld the whole affair, rode up to him with a cocked pistol,
and threatened to shoot him for venturing so far without orders. Gordon made no other
answer than that he would not desert his captain ; but he was so aflFected by this incident and
by the loss of his friend, that, in despair, he rode back to seek death in another skirmish with
the Poles. He escaped once more, and Captain Forbes, after a captivity of six weeks, recovered
his liberty.
In a sally by a handful of the garrison against a numerous body of the enemy, Gordon again November 22.
fell into the hands of the Poles. He was allowed to walk about on parole, and made the ac-
quaintance of divers of his countrymen serving in the Imperial ranks, among whom was Captain
Leslie, son of Tullos, and nephew of Count Leslie* Proposals to liberate Gordon by exchange
were made by the Swedes, but refused by the Poles, who wished to see him again in their ser-
vice. Nor was he at heart much averse to joining their banner, although he thought it right to
affect some outward show of reluctance. The renowned John Sobieski tempted him with the
offer of a dragoon company in a body of troops stationed on the Sobieski estates, but this ap-
pointment would have withdrawn him from the path of promotion, and was therefore declined.
The future deliverer of Vienna— whom he characterises as a 'hard bargainer but courteous'—
could offer him no other service, but undertook to speak for him to Field-marshal Lubomirski.
The latter, soon afterwards, offered Gordon the rank of ensign in his body guard of foot ; but
the aspiring Scot had already held the same rank in a Swedish regiment of dragoons, and de-
clared that there was no potentate upon earth whom he would serve any longer as ensign.
A.D. 1659.
At length, after a captivity of eleven weekS; he accepted the appointment of quarter master. 1659.
He takes great pains to vindicate this change of standard— his chief reason resolving itself into
this, that his main object was to make his fortune, and that the Swedes had too many enemies
to have much chance of success. His own experience had already satisfied him, that, 'in the
Swedish army, the soldier is in danger of being starved to death by hunger.'
* 'James Lesley, the second son [of Alex- chamber in anno 1660, and received the golden
ander Lesley of Tullos, the third and youngest key that same year, and, in 1666, was made
son of John Lesley, the tenth Laird of Bal- colonel of a regiment of foot, and after his
quhain by his third marriage with Jean Erskine, uncle's death was one of the marishalls of the
daughter of Alexander, Master of Erskine,] Empire. He at last had some competition
when young, went to Germany to his uncle, with Count Staremberg, whereupon he retired
Walter, Count Lesley, and was educate with from the court to his city of Pettaw, where he
him as his heir. He sent him to his travels was seized with an apoplexy and the "out
through France, Italy, Spain, Poland, and Ger- which kept him, till his death in aniio'l69'>
many ; and, at his return, he married in anno without issue of his body. But his brother
1666, Maria Theresa, the Princess of Leichten- Patrick, his son James Ernest Lesley, suc-
stem, daughter to Prince Charles of Leichten- ceeded to him, to whom he left the lordship
stein. Duke of Trappau, and spent at his of Pernegg which he had bought, which was
marriage 50,000 rex- dollars, for there were pre- to foil to Franciscus Jacobus, son to Alex-
sent at the marriage, for respect to the uncle, ander his own brother, if he had no heirs-
the Count, the Emperor, Empress, and most of and he gave the lands of Balwhaine etc., to
the nobility at the court For his uncle and George the second son of his brother Patrick '
his own deservings, he was in great reputation —(Genealogy of the Leslies, in Macfarlane's
in the Emperor's court, and was created coun- Genealogical Collections, MS., Adv. Lib Edin )
sellor and gentleman of the Emperor his bed-
Gordon was brought up and remained a lifelong Roman Catholic, at a time when the Church was being persecuted in Scotland. At age of fifteen, he entered the Jesuit college at Braunsberg, East Prussia, then part of Poland. In 1661, after many years experiences as a soldier of fortune, he joined the Russian army under Tsar Aleksei I, and in 1665 was sent on a special mission to England. After his return, he distinguished himself in several wars against the Turks and Tatars in southern Russia. In recognition of his service he was promoted to major-general in 1678, was appointed to the high command at Kiev in 1679, and in 1683 was made lieutenant-general. In 1687 and 1689 he took part in expeditions against the Tatars in the Crimea, being made a full general. Later in 1689, a revolution broke out in Moscow, and with the troops under his command, Gordon virtually decided events in favor of Peter the Great against the Regent, Tsarevna Sophia Alekseyevna. Consequently, he was for the remainder of his life in high favor with the Tsar, who confided to him the command of his capital during his absence from Russia. In 1696, Gordon's design of a "moveable rampart" played a key role in helping the Russians take Azov. One of Gordon's convinced the Tsars to establish the first Roman Catholic church and school in Muscovy, of which he remained the main benefactor and headed the Catholic community in Russia until his death. For his services his second son James, brigadier of the Russian army, was created Count of the Holy Roman Empire in 1701. At the end of his life the Tsar, who had visited Gordon frequently during his illness, was with him when he died, and with his own hands closed his eyes. General Gordon left behind him a uniquely detailed diary of his life and times, written in English. This is preserved in manuscript in the Russian State Military Archive in Moscow. Passages from the Diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries (1635–1699) was printed, under the editorship of Joseph Robertson, for the Spalding Club, at Aberdeen, Scotland, 1859.