Related
1667] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. lOl with their officers, from which 1 diswaded them, that the Emperour
128 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 I was, because of hireing chaires or coaches
1686] DIAHY OF PATRICK GORDON. Ill granted me two Strcltsees for a convoy
38 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDOl^. [1661 such service againe ; with which the ambassadour was very much moved,
1661] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 33 sence of the King
190 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [leQS ' Taking the six deputies with me, I went to their camp
1667] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 103 to me, desireing me to let him have him
122 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1686 flesh was torren out of their armes
1686] DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. 163 and equity which I had on my syde
36 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1661 I should have had by my officers, who must have furnished
Summary
Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"
36 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1661
I should have had by my officers, who must have fm'nished so many horse-
men according to their charge. I gave surety or caution for my levy-
monev James Biruey, Georg Gordon, and James Wenton, all merchants
and indwellers in Zamoisiz.
Being fully resolved now to engage in the service of the Roman Em-
perour, upon the above said conditions, I thought it tyme to desire my
passe ; and haveing watched a fitt opportunity, with great difficulty, 1 ob-
teined a grant of it, the generall commanding me to cause writt it myself,
which 1 did in plaine termes, without any hyperbolicall or superfluous praise
or expressions, and haveing delivered it to his excellency, he was pleased to
read it, and seeming not well satisfyed, gave it to the secretary, Bartholo-
meus Pestritsky, commanding him to writt it over, saying. He deserveth a
better recommendation. Two dayes thereafter, my pass being ready, and
brought to the generall, I standing by, he was pleased to ask me, if I would
not resolve to stay in the service ? I answering that I could not, he gave
me my pass, the exact and true copy whereof I have here inserted.
Georgius Sebastianus Lubomirsky, Comes in Wisnicz et laroslaw,
Sacri Romani Imperii Princeps, Supremus Mareschallus Regni
Poloniae et Generalis Exercituum Dux campestris, Generalis
Minoris Poloniae, Cracoviensis, Chmielniviensis, Nizinensis, Casi-
miriensis, Olstinensis, Pereaslaviensisque Gubernator .
Universis et singulis, cujuscunque status, gradus, honoris, dignitatis,
officii et praeeminentiae personis, hasce nostras visuris, lecturis, aut legi
- audituris, humanissimam officiorum nostrorum contestationem . Quicunque
egregiis clarent factis, praesertim illi quorum generosa pectora militari sese
eiferunt laude, omnes tales a ducibus sub quorum gubernatione militarunt,
decore gloriaque meritorum suorum debere ornari omnes postulat aequitas .
Hinc generosum Patricium Gordon, natione Scotum, nobili in suis partibus
genere ortuui, per menses octodecem sub nostra legione dragonum legionarii
hospitiorum magistri, et per duodecem menses sub praesidiaria corporis
nostri cohorte capitanei locum tcnentis muneribus functum, dimitti a nobis
postulantem, nee non alias in partes quaerendae fortunae causa conferre se
volcntcm, nequaquam testimonio promeritarum laudum privandum esse ar-.
bitrati sumus . Itaque coram omnibus et singulis, ad quorum notitiam prae-
sentes venturae sint, testamur, cum omnibus in proeliis, conflictibus, occa-
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.