Yesaul, osaul or osavul (russian: есау́л, translit=yesaul, uk, осаву́л, translit=osavul) (from Turkic yasaul - ''chief''), is a post and a rank in the Ukrainian

Cossack The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

units. The first records of the rank imply that it was introduced by Stefan Batory,

King of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electable position in Europe (16t ...

in 1576.

Cossacks in Russia

There were different yesaul posts and ranks in Cossack Hosts in

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. T ...

: *Генеральный есаул (''generalny yesaul'') - General Yesaul *Походный есаул (''pokhodny yesaul'') -

Campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed * Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * B ...

Yesaul *Войсковой есаул (''voiskovoy yesaul'') -

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Yesaul *Полковой есаул (''polkovoy yesaul'') -

Regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

al Yesaul *Артиллерийский есаул (''artilleriysky yesaul'') -

Artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieg ...

Yesaul *Сотенный есаул (''sotenny yesaul'') - Company Yesaul (commander of a

sotnia Sotnia ( Ukrainian and ) was a military unit and administrative division in many Slavic countries. Sotnia, deriving back to 1948, has been used in a variety of contexts in both Ukraine and Russia to this day. It is a helpful word to create sh ...

) *Станичный есаул (''stanichny yesaul'') - Yesaul of a stanitsa

Cossack Hetmanate and Sloboda Ukraine

In Ukraine of the 17th and 18th centuries, an osaul was a military and administrative official performing the duties of aide-de-camp.Encyclopedia of Ukraine
The head of state, hetman, would appoint up to two osauls known as a General Osaul. There also was a Regimental Osaul as well as Company Osaul, with each regular cossack regiment and company except artillery having two of each. Beside them there were osauls under special assignments, one of them serving for General Obozny (quartermaster) who performed duties of a chief executive and was the second in importance after the Hetman.

General Osaul

A senior officer of a Hetmanate cossack army who was a member of the general officer staff. ;Duties *supervising army's condition *leading large detachments (wartime) *managing muster rolls *directing the army engineers *commanding mercenary troops *sometimes serving as an acting hetman Other duties consisted of being a hetman's envoy, supervised matters of internal security, conducted annual regimental musters and inspections. Among the notorious osauls were

Petro Doroshenko Petro Doroshenko ( uk, Петро Дорофійович Дорошенко, russian: Пётр Дорофе́евич Дороше́нко, pl, Piotr Doroszenko; 1627–1698) was a Cossack political and military leader, Hetman of Right-bank Uk ...

, Demian Mnohohrishny,

Ivan Mazepa Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa (also spelled Mazeppa; uk, Іван Степанович Мазепа, pl, Jan Mazepa Kołodyński; ) was a Ukrainian military, political, and civic leader who served as the Hetman of Zaporizhian Host in 1687–1708. ...

, and Ivan Skoropadsky. From 1798 to 1800 after the liquidation of the

Zaporizhian Host Zaporozhian Host (or Zaporizhian Sich) is a term for a military force inhabiting or originating from Zaporizhzhia, the territory beyond the rapids of the Dnieper River in what is Central Ukraine today, from the 15th to the 18th centuries. These in ...

, the rank of osaul was equated with the ranks of rittmeister in cavalry and

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and m ...

Regimental Osavul

Regimental Osavul ( uk, Полковий осавул) is an assistant Colonel in Military Affairs.

Sotenny Osavul

Sotenny Osavul ( uk, Сотенний осавул) is an assistant sotnik in Military Affairs.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Osaul at the encyclopedia of Ukraine
Military organization of Cossacks Military ranks of Russia Military ranks of Ukraine