Related
1661] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 43 Wee rose early, and, towards eveniug, came to Kokenliausen
1661] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 33 sence of the King
42 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1661 misfortune
1699] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 193 ' A number of Strelitzes were executed
1661] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 47 good earnest to consider how I might ridd myself of this countrey
SEAL. Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 141 Being invited to devotion and dinner, by my Lord Chancellour
34 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1661 hired it ; the lodging or house belonging to that family
43-46. Arkhangelsk on the Dutch engraving of 1765
1661] DIARY OF PATEICK GOKDON. 37 sionibus quaecunque sub tempus servitiorum illius contra plurimos
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
1661] DIARY OF PATEICK GOKDON. 37
sionibus quaecunque sub tempus servitiorum illius contra plurimos regni
istius liostes, nempe, Suecos, Moschos, Cosacos acciderant, interfuisse dcpug-
iiasscque strenue, et ita exactum boiii simul milltis et officialis munus imple-
visse, ut tarn sibi laudcm honorcmque paraverit, quam nomini gentis Scoti-
cae virtute bellica ubique inclitae optime correspondent . Huie ergo prae-
noniinato Patricio Gordon non tantum liberara ex more et ritu militari cum
honore dirais-ionem, et amplam meritorum attestationem concedimus ; sed
etiam pro eodem tanquam Sacrae ac Serenissimae Regiae Majestati domino
nostro clementissimo huicque reipublicae ac nobis optime, strenue fideliter-
que probato militi, omnes et singulos pro ea qualis cuiquam secundum suam
congruit dignitatem et statum, observantia requirimus, ut sive in Scotiara
patriam suam, sive in exteras nationes conferre se statuerit, [eum] cum-
primis decenter, libere lionorateque dimissum reputent, gressum, regressum,
commorationemque ubivis locorum tutam concedaut, omni honore, benevo-
lentia, ac bumanitate, complectantur, ac ad quaevis in re militari, promo-
tionis, officiorum, graduumque incrementa habeant commendatum . In cujus
rei fidem meliorem praesentes liberae dimissionis commendationisque nostrae
literas extradi illi jussimus man us nostrae subscriptione et soliti impressione
sigilli munitas . Datae Varsaviae die 2 mensis Julii, anni Domini 1661 .
Georgius Lubomirsky I I. s. 1 Bartholomeus Pestriecky
suae Excellentiae Secretarius .
Haveing gott my pass, I made preparation for my jorney to Prussia,
and wanted nothing but the maine business, the levy money.
The tenth of Julii, by an express frcm Vienna, the Roman Emperours Ju'j lo.
ambassadour received an order not to engage any officers, or to capitulat
for levying of men, and, if he had engaged any already, to discharge them
the handsomest way he could ; whereupon he sent imediately for Steel-
faand and imparted his orders to him, and I comeing thither at the same
tyme, was made acquainted therewith also ; whereat, I being surprised and
greatly troubled, said that none was a losser by it but I, haveing disengaged
my self of such good service, and thereby even disobUged the best and
powerfullest prince in the countrey ; that the great desire I had to have
served the Roman Emperour had ruined me, not knowing where to find
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.