Katerynoslav Cossack Army

Katerynoslav Cossack Army. A military formation centered between the Boh River and the Inhul River in southern Ukraine. It was formed in 1787 by Russian Gen Grigorii Potemkin from two former units of the Boh Cossack Army and local peasants and military colonists to defend southern Ukraine against the Turks and to fight in the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–91. The subsequent conscription of merchants, artisans, and Old Believers from the region increased the size of the army to some 50,000, including 10,000 active soldiers organized in 10 regiments. The army gained renown in battles against the Turks at Akkerman (Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi). The Katerynoslav Cossack Army was disbanded in 1796. In 1802 some 3,000 of the former Cossacks were resettled in the Kuban, where they joined the Kuban Cossack Host.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 2 (1989).]