The Bug Cossack Host (; ) was a

Cossack The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Rus ...

host and irregular army within Tsarist Russia, which used to be located along the Southern Buh River. The 2nd Bug Regiment was led by Ataman Pyotr Mikhailovich Skarzhinsky. The 1st regiment was commanded by Ivan Kasperov. In 1788, the two regiments merged into one Bug Cossack (1500 cavalry). The combined regiment was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Pytor Mikhailovich Skarzhinsky, who would become the first ataman of the Bug Cossack army. The Bug Cossack Host was formed in 1769 out of

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

Vlachs Vlach ( ), also Wallachian and many other variants, is a term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate speakers of Eastern Romance languages living in Southeast Europe—south of the Danube (the Balkan peninsula ...

, and

Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...

, who had taken the side of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774. After the war, the regiment was quartered on the Southern Buh River. In 1788, the Bug Cossack Host became a part of the Yekaterinoslav Cossack Host (disbanded in 1796) and protected the border. It was disbanded in 1800, only to be created again in 1803 under the original name. The Bug Cossack Host had to provide three regiments of 500 men each in the times of war. During the

Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812) The Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Turkish Empire as one of 12 Russo-Turkish Wars. Both sides favoured peace as they feared Napoleon's moves to the east. Background The war broke out ...

, the Bug Cossacks participated in the siege of Izmail and battles in Bessarabia, Moldova, and Wallachia. During the war with Napoleon I of 1812–14 they conducted operations as partisans. Detachments led by D. Davydov, O. Figner, O. Seslavin, successfully fought in France, for which they were awarded the

Order of St. George The Order of Saint George () is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. It was originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) as the highest military decoration of the Russian Empire for commiss ...

standard "For Bravery" by Russian Tsal Alexander I. In 1817, it was included into the

military settlement Military settlements () represented a special organization of the Russian military forces in 1810–1857, which allowed the combination of military service and agricultural employment. The beginning of the reform The Emperor Alexander I of Rus ...

s and combined with the two Cossack regiments into a Bug

Uhlan Uhlan (; ; ; ; ) is a type of light cavalry, primarily armed with a lance. The uhlans started as Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army, Lithuanian irregular cavalry, that were later also adopted by other countries during the 18th century, including Polis ...

Division of the Russan Imperial Army.

References

18th century in the Zaporozhian Host Cossack hosts {{Ukraine-hist-stub