184 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1696 September 22. On twenty-second of September, the Czar commanded Gordon

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

184 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1696


September 22. On twenty-second of September, the Czar commanded Gordon to order 15,000 arschin of
Englisli cloth according to pattern, one-third of it azure, another third dark blue, and the rest
raspberry colour.

A.D. 1695.

'I^rch. \yji]- against the Turks having been resolved upon, Gordon was ordered to march upon

Azof. He came in sight of the city upon the twenty-seventh of March, and, two days afterwards,
the army was joined by the Czar and the commander-in-chief of the expedition, Alexei Simono-

^^^- ^vitsch Schein. Itwasthemiddleof June, however, before the place could be invested. One of two

forts, called Callanshaes, having been stormed by Colonel James Gordon, the other was

^^^y- evacuated during the night following. About the middle of July, the besieged made a sally on

General Patrick Gordon's division, but were repulsed. During the following night, a German en-
gineer went over to the Turks, and betrayed to them the weak points of the Muscovite lines. The
next sally was, in consequence, directed against Lefort's quarter, and was so nearly successful that
the division was saved from destruction only by the opportune interposition of Gordon. The
Czar scolded and threatened the Strelltzes for failing to do their duty.

August 4. In tjie beginning of August, Peter determined to assault the town. It was in vain that

Gordon remonstrated; the attack was made, and failed, as he had foretold. 'Such,' he writes,
'was the unfortunate result of this ill-timed and rash undertaking, urged on, as I might say, by
Rehoboam's councillors. Of the four regiments, fifteen hundred men were killed, besides
oflScers. About nine o'clock, his Majesty sent for me and the other officers. There was nothing
to be seen but angry looks and sad countenances.'

A second assault, towards the end of August, was equally fruitless ; and in a few days after-

>ctober. wards the siege was raised. The Czar, with his generals, returned to Moscow about the end of

October.

On the fifteenth of November, Gordon writes, ' I drove with his Majesty to the iron works,
where I hammered a broad plate.'

A.D. 1696.

In January of this year, Gordon is found in correspondence with one of the two Scottish
Archbishops, Dr. John Paterson, who, when parson of Ellon, more than thirty years before, was no
distant neighbour of the family at Auchleuchries. He had been sent to the Castle of Edinburgh
in 1692, on a charge of being in communication with King James.]

TO HIS GRACE THE ARCHBISHOP OF GLASGOW.

January 29, 1696.
May it please your Grace,

I find my self both honoured and obliged by yours of the
second July. I am exceeding sorry for your sufferings, but cannot but
rejoyce hearing of your constant loyalty, and Christian patience. Suffering