Related
1655] DIAEY OF PATRICK GORDON. 17 who was, according to the custome of the Polonian nobility
1667] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. lOl with their officers, from which 1 diswaded them, that the Emperour
1661] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 33 sence of the King
174 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1692 be restored. As for Harie Gordon
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 123 by the river, well fortifyed with a wall
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 155 Crossing the Black River
38 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDOl^. [1661 such service againe ; with which the ambassadour was very much moved,
166 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1669 The renewal of the war against the Crim Tartars
1690] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 107 their arrival was announced. Gordon was at once admitted to His Majesty
1698] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 187 empire.* In this capacity he marched with a considerable force to Asof,
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
1698] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 187
empire.* In this capacity he marched with a considerable force to Asof, the fortifications of
which it was desirable to restore and strengthen as speedily as possible. From Asof he pro-
ceeded to Taganrog, where the Czar had resolved, in the previous year, to have a strong fortress.
His presence put a stop to a meditated attack by the Tartars upon the cities of the Ukraine ; and
finding no further occupation for his arms, he began to march l)ack towards Moscow, where he
arrived in November.
A.D. 1698.
In the end of February, Gordon notes the receipt of a letter from the Czar, written at London February
in the middle of Jannary.
A few weeks afterwards his journal begins to be occupied witli that mutiny of the Strelitzes,
which, but for him, would, in all probability, have issued in the dethronement of the Czar.
'This afternoon came the greater part of the Strelitz petitioners, and about a hundred others, April 3.
who had seceded from the corps of Prince Michael Grigoijewitsch Romodanowski, to the honse
of their Boyar, Prince Iwan Borissowitsch Trojekurow, and begged to be heard. They were
told to send in four, the most influential, of their number; who accordingly came and declared
that they could not take the field by such a bad road ; and they begged for delay, representing
that they had sufiered great privations, and were still suffering. They exaggerated everything
excessively. But the Boyar interrupted them, and ordered them to go to their duty, and march
off immediately. As they declined to do so, he ordered them to be arrested and taken to prison.
But their comrades, seeing this,, rescued them from the guard that was conducting them, and set
them at liberty. This occasioned great consternation among the high authorities. The gene-
ralissimo Prince Fedor Jurjewitsch (Romodanowski) sent in great haste for me. When he had
told nie all the circumstances, with considerable exaggeration, I was of opinion that, consider-
ing the weakness of the party, and that they were without leaders, it was hardly worth while to
take the matter so seriously, or anticipate great danger. I went, however, to Butirki to obviate
all danger, and be ready in case of any tumult or meeting. I made see that all the soldiers were
in their quarters, and finding all right, I lay down to get some rest, as it was now late. First,
however, I had sent word to the authorities how matters stood.
' On the fourth, at daybreak, I sent to learn how things were in the city. Learning that all April 4.
was quiet, I repaired to Generals Alexei Semenowitsch and Prince Fedor Jurjewitsch (Romo-
danowski), who had been attending an imperial council. I found every body in anxiety about
the impending danger, wliich I tried to allay. But many persons, who are inclined by nature to
anticipate dangers, have, in such cases, yet another object ; they magnify the circumstances in
order that their own zeal and services may appear the more signal in quelling the dangers, and
* 'His Majesty appointed an army of who, by his extraordinary behaviour and suc-
12,000 soldiers, of which most of the officers cess, had acquired both the love of the army
were foreigner,', to be quartered in the suburbs and the esteem of the whole nation.'— (Captain
of Mosco, to keep the city in awe, commanded John Periy's State of Russia under the present
by General Gordon, who had entered in the Czar, p. 156.)
Russian service in the time of his father, and
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.