Kozaks

By Walter Kish

One of the most powerful and enduring images from Ukrainian history is that of the Kozak (more commonly spelled Cossack in English) – the fearless, saber-wielding mounted warrior of the steppes, who fought for the freedom of Ukraine and the preservation of the Orthodox faith.

From the fifteenth through the eighteenth centuries, the Kozaks were the scourge of the Polish and Russian nobility that tried to enforce feudalism on the Ukrainian people, as well as a constant threat to their southern Tatar and Turkish neighbours. As a youth, I can recall the powerful impression that the movie Taras Bulba made on me, with the hero, played by a heroic and scalp-locked Yul Brynner, reinforcing this stereotypical image of the ideal Kozak.

Though I will not go so far as to say that this image is wrong, historical research has shown that the nature of the Kozak and the organization, tactics and activities of the Kozak forces were far more complex, diverse and pragmatic than the simplistic images many of us have of them as ultimate cavalrymen.

Some basic history is order here. Kozaks were originally runaway serfs escaping their Polish or Russian feudal masters. They were ethnically mostly Ukrainians or Russians, though there were smatterings of Poles, Tatars and other minorities. Most of the fugitive Ukrainians settled on the eastern fringes of the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth, around the Dnipro River, and became better known as the Zaporozhian Kozaks. Most of the Russians migrated further east around the Don River and became known as the Don Kozaks. Both communities organized themselves around a democratically elected military hierarchy composed of polky (regiments), sotni (companies) and stanytsi (village posts). This early dedication to democracy, coupled with a strong commitment to defend their Orthodox faith, became the defining characteristics of the Kozak ethos.

The first actual reference to Kozaks was in a Ruthenian chronicle from 1395, though it was not until the fifteenth century that large numbers of them begin to appear in an organized form in the wild eastern steppe lands. For the first century or two from their initial settlement, these communities existed mostly on the basis of hunting, fishing and pillaging their neighbours, particularly the Tatars and Turks to the south. These raids, interestingly enough, were not done on horseback but by boat. Kozaks were excellent boat-builders and sailors. Each spring, flotillas consisting of up to hundreds of boats would make their way down the Dnipro River and attack the coastal settlements of the Crimean Tatars or sail across the Black Sea and attack the vast, wealthy cities of the Ottoman empire.

In the seventeenth century, beginning with Khmelnytsky’s famous rebellion against the Poles, most of the Kozaks’ military activity turned primarily to fighting either the Poles or the Russians, depending on current historical circumstances. What may be surprising to many is that at this peak time in Kozak history, few Kozaks fought in cavalry formations. Most Kozaks were infantry and were armed primarily with pikes and muskets, supported by limited artillery contingents.

The reasons for this were straightforward. What horses the Kozaks had were primarily draft animals used for farming and not very suited to the demands of warfare. A steed bred for the sturdy requirements of cavalry service was an expensive luxury. At that time, the best heavy cavalry in Europe was acknowledged to be Polish, with a typical war horse costing between 200 to 1,500 zlotys, a price prohibitively high even in those days and well beyond the means of most Kozaks. Within the Kozak army, only senior officers were mounted and only small detachments of cavalry were possible. When Kozak armies took to the field they usually formed alliances with the Tatars to provide the required cavalry support.

It was only towards the latter part of the Kozak era that large numbers of mounted Kozaks became more prevalent. Even then, from a tactical point of view, they could only be considered essentially as “light” cavalry, relying on speed, numbers and surprise, emulating the practice and tactics of their sometimes foes, sometimes allies, the Tatars.

So, if one were to ask what the typical Kozak was like, the more accurate image would probably be that of either a fighting sailor or a musketeer. In reality, a Kozak had to be flexible and versatile, being able to fight on foot, mounted, or on the sea, using a wide variety of weapons and tactics. Whatever the case, Kozaks eventually, came to be recognized as one of the most effective fighting forces in all of Europe. Even subsequent to the eventual suppression, in the nineteenth century, of Kozak independence, the Russian tsars continued to use Russian Kozak formations, under a tight leash, of course, and employed classical Kozak tactics, to conquer and control the vast Siberian hinterlands.

Kozaks and the Kozak era of Ukrainian history are far richer in colour and detail than many of us realize, and a subject worthy of further study.