Already in the 16th century some of the family members served as Cossacks. In 1551, Ivan the Terrible moved the entire garrison of to the east to provide military forces for the new citadel of Sviyazhsk for his campaign against Kazan. One of the Sviyazhsk Cossack atamans was Alexey Kobyzev, who led a Cossack troop in a battle with the Chuvashy in 1552. The battle was lost and the Cossacks had 70 men fallen.