Patrick Gordon

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Patrick Leopold Gordon of Auchleuchries (born March 31, 1635 , † November 29, 1699 ) was a Scottish general in the Russian army .

Patrick Gordon

1635-1653

Patrick was born the youngest son of the Gordon of Auchleuchries ( Clan Gordon ) Catholic family and received his basic education in the schools of the parishes of Cruden and Ellon . For religious reasons he refused to attend a university in Scotland and left his Scottish homeland for Gdansk in 1651 . From here he drove via Königsberg to Braunsberg ( Warmia , then part of Poland), where he studied in the Jesuit college of the Lyceum Hosianumcontinued. His diary shows that some Scots were living in Prussia at that time. But the strict life in the college did not meet his expectations, and so he decided to return to Scotland.

1653-1655

In 1653 Patrick Gordon left the Jesuit College in Braunsberg for Danzig . On the way there he reports in his diary of a strange encounter with an old man who encourages him - a kind of experience of God. In Kulm he heard that the Polish magnate Janusz Radziwiłł had a Scottish bodyguard, where he would certainly find employment.

In 1654 Gordon made his way to Janusz Radziwill. After failing to meet the magnate, he travels to Posen , only to return to Scotland from here. Here he meets some compatriots and the Polish nobleman Opaliński . The latter invites him to travel to Germany with him. Gordon, who is financially supported by his compatriots, is now traveling to Germany with Opalinski.

1655-1662

In February 1655 he arrives in Hamburg, where he separates from Opalinski. Through Swedish recruiters, he learns that a member of his clan is a captain in the Swedish army . He then entered the Swedish service and traveled to Poland. His impressions of the strict discipline and life in the Swedish army are important sources for the history of this campaign. In 1656 he was captured for the first time and forced to enter Polish services. In the following years he was captured several times and changed employers more often.

In 1661 he served under the Polish magnate Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski , when the war between Poland and Russia temporarily ended with the defeat of the Tsar's troops at Tschudnow , Mogiljow and Ljubar. When an offer from the ambassador of the Habsburg emperor to enter Austrian service as a captain did not materialize, Patrick Gordon accepted an offer from the Russian ambassador and in 1661 entered the service of Russian tsar Aleksei I, along with other compatriots and other Western Europeans Patrick Gordon train the Russian troops . But he cannot cope with the complicated situation at the tsarist court and at the end of 1661 he decides to leave Russia again. He is not allowed to do this.

1662-1699

Gravestone of Patrik Gordon with German inscription from 1877

He distinguished himself in the campaigns against the Turks , was the commander of Kiev for a long time , became a general in 1687 and, from 1689, gained great influence over Peter the Great , whose armies he trained with François Le Fort in a European way, and his efforts to achieve sole rule to win, he strongly supported. In the Turkish War of 1696, he led the operations as commanding general and conquered the Azov fortress . During Peter's first trip abroad as governor of Moscow, he suppressed the second Strelitz uprising .

At the end of his life, Gordon was seriously ill and was frequently visited by Tsar Peter. He is said to have held his hand and closed his eyes while he died.

The diary

General Gordon kept a journal in English. The original was kept in the archives of the Russian Foreign Ministry. It was translated into German by Moritz Posselt and published in several parts (1st part 1849 in Moscow, 2nd part 1851 in St. Petersburg, 3rd part 1853 also in St. Petersburg).

family

Patrick Gordon was married twice. First since January 26, 1665 with Katherine von Bockhoven († before October 10, 1682). The couple had the following children:

  • Katherine Elizabeth (25 November 1665 - 1739)
⚭ (1) 1680 Colonel Strasbourg
⚭ (2) February 15, 1698 General Alexander Gordon (1670–1752), known as the biographer of Peter the Great ( The History of Peter the Great, Emperor of Russia. )
  • James (1668–1722) became the first resident of Russia to be Knight of the Order of Malta in 1722
  • John († before 1712) ⚭ August 27, 1692 Elizabeth Grant († before 1724)

In his second marriage he was married to Elizabeth Barloe von Roonaer. The couple had the following children:

  • Theodore (born February 14, 1681), from 1709 colonel in his father's Butirsky regiment
  • George Stephen (December 27, 1682 - November 1, 1684)
  • Janet (born March 24, 1690), dies as a child
  • Peter (June 3, 1691 - November 1695)
  • George Hilarius (September 10, 1693 - March 7, 1694)
  • Mary (?)
⚭ (1) September 23, 1690 Daniel Crawford († 1691)
⚭ (2) 1692 Carl Snivius († February 15, 1698)

He also adopted Anna Catharine of Strasbourg, who was originally from Ireland. She married the Polish Lieutenant General Georg-Dietrich von Puttkamer .

literature

  • Passages from the Diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries (1635–1699) , Spalding Club, Aberdeen, 1859.
  • Patrick Gordon, Diary of General Patrick Gordon, during his military service among the Swedes and Poles from 1655 to 1661, and his stay in Russia from 1661 to 1699. (1st part 1849 in Moscow (digitized) , 2nd part 1851 in St. Petersburg (digitized) , 3rd part 1853 also in St. Petersburg (digitized) ).

Web links

Commons : Patrick Gordon  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Diary of General Patrick Gordon, during his military service among the Swedes and Poles from 1655 to 1661, and his stay in Russia from 1661 to 1699 -1. tape
  2. ^ Diary of General Patrick Gordon, during his military service among the Swedes and Poles from 1655 to 1661, and his stay in Russia from 1661 to 1699 - Volume 2 ,
  3. ^ Diary of General Patrick Gordon, during his military service among the Swedes and Poles from 1655 to 1661, and his stay in Russia from 1661 to 1699 - Volume 3
personal data
SURNAME Gordon, Patrick
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gordon of Auchleuchries, Patrick Leopold
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish general in Russian service
DATE OF BIRTH March 31, 1635
DATE OF DEATH November 29, 1699