Weekly Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1853-1861, 1855-03-08
Extracts from Pumam's Magazine.
The Cossacks.

As was said above, their population
amounts to about 10000 They speak the
same language as the Russians and belong to
the same great Sclavic race The Cossacks
of the Don never undertook to throw of the
yoke of Russia, and make themselves entire
ly independent, like the Cossacks of the Dnie-
/ per, and hence they have been spared the
fate which befel the latter But their gov
eminent and institutions underwent serious
notifications in the.reign of Peter the Great
and Catharine H. In the present century
too, and especially within the last twenty or
thirty years, the process of assimilation to the
despotc system of Russia has been going on.
so that the Cossacks, although more favored
perhaps than the other subjects Oft the Gar,
still retain very few of their ancient liberties
| They no longer choose their own Hetman
The title of Hetman of all the Cossacks is
now vested in the hereditary prince of the
Empire. Most of their military and civil
functionaries are appointed by the Czar
Once the principle of equality prevailed, but
now an aristocracy has been instituted, aud
seldom established Formerly, all lands
were held in common. But, in l94l, this
kind of tennre was abolished, and every free
male person was made the exclusive owner
"
was given half that amount The Cossacks
on the Don have no direct taxes to pay and
| thex are nee -fr1usthe operation- Of tho gnx-
ernment monopolies, which weigh so heavily
upon the other provinces In consideration
for these exemptions, every Don Cossack
between the age of 16 and AZ, must hold him
self in readiness for military duty atany mo-
ment armed, equipped, and mounted, exclu-
of this system of conscription, the CosSacks
of the Don furnish an army of $1,000 to 60,
600 cavalry, for the service of the Czar.
These troops form, perhaps, the best body Of
light cavalry in Europe. No dependence
can be put upon them in a pitched battle.
They would never stand before the mouth of
a cannon, or charge of bayonets. But they
are proverbal for their skill in horsemanship,
and their sharpness in accommodating an ene-
my Hence the celebrated Russian General,
Suwaroff, called them the eye of the arme.
Large detachments of Cossacks always attend
the movements of the regular army, when in
active service; and all who have read the ac-
cont og Napoleon's campaign in Russia,
know vol how efficient they are in har-
rassing the enemy, and impeding his pro-
gress.
- Tho Coazack troops are not allowed to be
idle in times of peace. They are employed to
carry into execuaion hte extensive system
of internal police and espionage of the
Empire. They fom the escort of the
government officials and persons of dis
tinction ON their journeys, and the guard of
exiles on their way to Siberia They are in
trusted with the conveyance of important
messages from one part of the Empire to an
other, where dispatch is the most that is
required. They are the spies, the gems d aynles
and hangmen Of the Empire. They are en-
ployed on the frontiers to prevent the snug
Cling Of contraband goods and waylay those
travellers who presume to enter Russia with
out passport In Asia, along the southern
boundary, which stretches more than 1000
miles through inhospitable wastes from the
Black Sea to the Pacific Ocean, and in Europe
along the bank of the Danube and the bor-
ders of Germany to the Baltic Sea, the Cos
sack pursues his old vocation of guarding the
frontiers. Wherever Russia extends her
sway, there he posts himself as sentinel, to
watch the avenues of approach to this inn
mense Empire-to guard them alike against
the incursions of the savage hordes Of Asia,
and the introduction of the erevolutionars pro-
paganda of Europe-the barbarism of the
East and the civilization of the West. The
attribute of ubiquity which he apparently
possesses, renders him fit symbol of the
power of the Gar. To the traveller in Rus
sia, especially, he seems everywhere present
and hence the word Cossack, i'm the language
of western Europe has come to be a
synonym, or perhaps, tenn of opprobrium
for everything Russian d ID
In conclusion, it may be stated that the
entire military force of the Cossacks amounts
to about l25,0O0 After making allowance
for the troops necessary to maintain defen-
sive operations in Asia, and perform the or
dinary police service in the interior, it is
estimated that from $1,000 to 10000 Cos
sacks, armed and mounted, might be brought
into the field against Western Europe.