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SEAL. Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
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1690] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 169 regiments in line three deep
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CONTENTS. Purpose and plan of the Diary 3 A.D. 1635. The Author's birth and parentage
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
CONTENTS.
Purpose and plan of the Diary 3
A.D. 1635.
The Author's birth and parentage 3
A.D. 1640-1644— aetat. 5-9.
At the parish school of Cruden 4
A.D. 1644— aetat. 9.
At the parish school of Ellon 4
A.D. 1645— setat. 10.
At school at home 4
A.D. 1646-1647— aetat. 11-12.
Again at the parish school of Ellon 4
A.D. 1648-1650-aetat. 13-15.
Again at the parish school of Cruden 5
A.D. 1651— aetat. 16.
A love affair. Resolution to go to some foreign country. Voyage from Aberdeen
to Dantzic ^
Journey from Dantzic to Braunsberg 7
A.D. 1651-1652— ffitat. 16-17.
At the Jesuit College at Braunsberg 7
A.D. 1653— aetat. 18.
Resolution to return home. Adventures in the journey from Braunsberg to Dantzic... 7
Voyage up the Vistula to Kulm. The winter spent there 12
A.D. 1654— setat. 19.
Journey to Warsaw 14
Fresh resolution to return home '• 1^
Journey from Warsaw to Posen 15
Description of Posen. Kindness of the Scots settled there 16
A.D. 1655— eetat. 20.
Journey from Posen to Hamburg.... • 17
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.