1678] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 105 capital of the Saporogiim Cossacks

Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"

1678] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 105

capital of the Saporogiim Cossacks. His successful (Icfciicc of tliis town, aiul expulsion of the
Mahometans iVom tiio Ulirainc, p;aineil liini liigli military reputation.



A.D. 1678.

Ho now renewed his cflTorts for leave to quit Russia. Hut tho Czar Fcodor was on this
point as iniplacahlc as liia father Alexis; nnil, although tho emleavours of the Scottish soldier
were bnclccd by a letter fVom King Charles II., presented by Sir John Ilcbdcn, his ambassador
extraordinary, they wore in vain. The value of Gordon's services In the Hold was now fully ap-
preciated ; and, ni tho year 1G78. ho was again sent, wiili liis dragoons and a regiment of
Strelit/A's, to the defence of T.schigirin from the renewed ntliicl; with which it was threatened by
the Turks and Tartars. In this task, his skill as au engineer enabled him to overcome great
difllculiies, and, for four weeks, to fight every inch of ground ngalust overwhelming numbers.

lie wns repairing and strengthening tho ramparts in expectation of tiu; siege, when the
twenty-ninth of May called him to celebnite the d<iy of the birth and restoration of the King
of Great Britain, by a dinner to the chief olllcers of the garrison. Tho feast was pprcad in his
garden ; salvoes were fired ; there was music of sundry sorts ; and all were very merry. The
rovcl was still high, when a letter arrived from Major-Goneral Kosarow, demanding to know
tho cause of tho shots which had so alarmed tlio camp. Tho bearers of tho dispatch added
that the army had been called to arms, and that tho cavalry were in their saddles ; and they
wondered how tho Scottish engineer and his company could bo so gay and reckless at a time
of such anxiety. Gordon, having quieted their alarm, dismissed them with a conciliatory answer.

It was on tho eighth of July that the van of the besieging army camo within sight of the
town. Gordon gathered from deserters that the Turks numbered about tlfly thousai\d men of
all arms, and that the Tartars who followed the Khan of the Crimea were about as many. They
had four great cannon, drawn eacli of them by thh"ty-two yoke of budalocs; twcnty-scvon
battery pieces of various sizes; a hundred and thirty field guns ; six mortars, throwing shells
of a hundred and twenty pounds in weight; and nine smaller pieces, throwing shells of fVom
thirty to ftu'ty pounds. There were eight tlio<i.sand waggons, and live thousand camcl.s, laden
with ammunition. There were a hundred thousand waggons with provisions, and eight
thousand herdsmen. These last, as well as the waggoners and tho miners, were Christian.s
fVom tlie F.uropean provinces under Ottoman rule. The commaiul of this formidable Iiost was
entrusted to tho Grand Vizier, Kara l\Iustapha.

The garrison which had to hold Tschigirin numbered rather less than twelve thousand.
Gordon had tho command of his own dragoons and of a regiment of Strolitzos. He was, besides,
the chief engineer, and both constructed the works before tho slego began, and directed the
subsequent operations. The Kussian army on the Dnieper came but slowly to tho relief of the
beleaguered city, and did but little when it camo. (Jordon's Diary chronicles the events of
each day, and describes in detail the assaults and sallies, mines and countermines, breaclios
and rctrenchmeuls.

P