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CONTENTS. XIX Lieutenant Adam Gordon and other Scots
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
CONTENTS.
XIX
Lieutenant Adam Gordon and other Scots 30
Gordon is promised a company of dragoons 31
A.D. 1660— setat. 25.
His joy on receiving tidings of the Restoration of King Charles II 31
He is made Captain-Lieutenant of the body guard of Field- Marshal Lubomirski, and
distinguishes himself in the defeat of the Russians at Czudno 31
Lieutenant-Colonel Menzies of Balgownie 31
Lord Henry Gordon 31
Lady Catharine Gordon, Countess of Morstein 32
A.D. 1661— aetat. 26.
Gordon resolves to return home 32
Mutiny of the Polish army in the Ukraine. Diet at Warsaw. Field -Marshal
Lubomirski ^ 33
Gordon is dissuaded from returning home 34,
He is tempted to enter the Muscovite service. 35
He resolves to join the Imperial army, and engages with Steelhand and two others to
raise a regiment of horse 35
He quits the Polish service. Letter commendatory from Field-Marshal Lubomirski... 36
The Imperial levies countermanded. Gordon engages to go to Vienna with despatches, 37
He resolves to take service with the Czar. Feigns sickness at Thorn, as an excuse for
quitting the Imperial service 39
Lieutenant- General Paul Menzies 39
Journey from Warsaw to Riga , 40
Gordon is confirmed in his resolution to enter the Russian ser^-ice 41
Journey from Riga to Moscow. Filth and moroseness of the people 42
Descriptions of Pskov and Novgorod 44
Arrival at Moscow. Audience of the Czar (Alexis I) 45
Gordon is enrolled as Major in Crawford's regiment 46
He is disgusted with the country, and resolves to leave it 47
He is threatened with Siberia 48
He exercises his soldiers. A collision with the Strelitzes 49
Gordon cudgels a Russian captain, ' and denies all, according to the fashion of the
country' 50
He attends two weddings, and « gets his first acquaintance with the females' 51
Adventure with his landlord 52
He takes the oath of fealty to the Czar , 53
His despondency and illness. Ignorance and corruption of the Muscovites. Anecdote
of their suspicious temper— crmor tartari and Crim Tartary. He is disappointed
in his hopesof a journey to Persia 53
A.D. 1662— setat. 27.
He is made Lieutenant-Colonel , 53
He discusses the advantages and disadvantages of marriage, and resolves to marry 54
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.
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