page_title: Don Cossacks
section_title: 18th–19th centuries
hierarchical_section_title: Don Cossacks / History / 18th–19th centuries
caption_attribution_description: English: Cossack's Herculean Strength and Epic Courage. Drawing from The War Illustrated. The caption reads: One of the greatest feats of the war, a Cossack exploit in which eleven Germans were killed, is now the talk of Petrograd. A trooper of the 6th Don Cossack Regiment was engaged in an attack on a German transport column. Observing six Germans in a trench about to enfilade the Russian main body, he charged the position and spitted two with his lance, while the other four fled. These he chased and killed individually. Later five German riflemen attacked the Russians, and again Kirjanoff charged, disposing of three with his lance. The others fled to the wood, where the amazing Cossack dispatched them with his sword.
context_page_description: Don Cossacks or Donians, are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don. Historically, they have been located within what was the Don Cossack Host, which was either an independent or an autonomous democratic republic in the present-day Southern Russia and the Donbass region of Ukraine, from the end of the 16th century until 1918. As of 1992, by the presidential decree of the Russian Federation, Cossacks can be enrolled on a special register. A number of Cossack communities have been reconstituted to further the Cossack cultural traditions, including those of the Don Cossack Host.
  Don Cossacks have had a rich military tradition, playing an important part in the historical development of the Russian Empire and participating in most of its major wars.
context_section_description: After 1786, the territory of the Don Cossacks was officially called Don Voisko Lands, and was renamed Don Voisko Province (Oblast’ Voyska Donskogo) in 1870 (presently part of the Rostov, Volgograd, and Voronezh regions of the Russian Federation as well as part of the Luhansk region of Ukraine).
  In 1805 the Don Cossack capital was shifted from Cherkassk to Novocherkassk (New Cherkassk).
  Don Cossacks are credited with playing a significant part in repelling Napoleon's Invasion of Russia. Under the command of Count Matvey Ivanovich Platov, the Don Cossacks fought in a number of battles against the Grande Armée. In the Battle of Borodino, Don Cossacks made raids to the rear of the French Army. Platov commanded all the Cossack troops and successfully covered the retreat of the Russian Army to Moscow. The Don Cossacks distinguished themselves in subsequent campaigns, and took part in the capture of Paris. Napoleon is credited with declaring, "Cossacks are the finest light troops among all that exist. If I had them in my army, I would go through all the world with them."
  In the general census of 1884, the male population of the Don Cossacks was reported to number 425,000. The Don Cossacks were the largest of the ten cossack hosts then in existence, providing over a third of total cossack manpower available for military service.
caption: 1915 drawing from The War Illustrated showing a charging Don Cossack. The figure is portrayed in peacetime dress uniform
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