The early military organization and strategy of these Dnieper Cossacks was probably but little different from that of the Tartar levies. By the end of the sixteenth centiu-y, however, not only the garrisons of the sitch but also the troops and militia stationed in the agricultural settlements along the upper Dnieper, had developed a characteristic system of military service.
In the Hetman Bogdan Kostchinskoi, whose power was recognized by a majority of the free Cossacks settled along the Polish frontiers. King Stephen Bathory found a leader capable of bringing order and discipline out of the anarchy which had previously existed. Upon Bogdan he formally conferred the dignity of "Hetman of the Ukraine" and at the same time presented him with splendid regalia composed of the Asiatic symbols recognized by the Cossacks as those of supreme authority, namely: the hoidava or baton of the commanderin-chief; the buntchuk or horse-tail standard similar to that carried before the conquering generals of Genghis Khan. To these were added the tokens conferred on Polish frontier officials — a great seal of office and the standards that distinguished the mercenaries employed by the kings of Poland.
In the agricultural settlements or stanitzi of the Ukraine the Cossack levies were diWded into regiments or polki. These, in turn, were subdiWded into companies of one hundred men called sotnia, an organization which has persisted in the Cossack forces of the present day. Although a general of artillery, or obozni and a secretary, or pisari were nominated by the Polish king to assist the hetman ( and at the same time to oversee the more technical details of military organisation) the warlike customs of the Cossacks were not interfered with and their peculiar methods of fighting and discipline were generally maintained.*
* In a "memorandum" written by the Palatine Jan Sobieski, for the instruction of his son Jan, the hero-king who was to raise Poland to the higliest pinnacle of her glory, the contemporary Cossack civilization of the Polish frontier is thus described: "On their return from their numerous forays and campaigns against the enemy a part of these veteran warriors return to their headquarters in the islands of the Dnieper, but the great majority en-
Desirous at first of building up the strength of the Cossack class, the Polish nobles allowed these tribesmen to extend their homesteads and settlements into southern Podolia and Volhynia, permitting them to enroll as "Free Cossacks" all of the fugitive Russian serfs and other strangers who succeeded in joining their forces. By this wise policy Bathory intended to interpose between the frontiers of Poland and the rising power of Russia a military state or province devoted to the interests of the elective kingdom. At the same time, by bringing into cultivation the rich steppes of the Ukraine which had lain desolate for so many centuries through fear of the Tartar raiders, he opened new channels for the commerce of the Polish cities.
riched by their booty think only of resuming the joys of family life. Thus they camp down with their wives and children about the cities belonging to the crown or the nobility, varying the monotony by holding among themselves frequent assemblies where discussion often ends in bloody combat.... In the town of Tritchimorov, near Kiev, which was granted to them by Stephen Bathory, in recognition of their services, they have their arsenal, their treasury and their common market or meeting place. Here they gather the spoils collected through their piracies from the Turkish cities of Roumelia and Asia Minor. Here, too, they carefully preserve the charters granted to them by the republic of Poland and the standards presented to their leaders by Polish kings on the occasions when they have been asked to take up their arms in defense of the state." (Salvandy, Jean Sobieski. Vol. I, page 182.)
That these wise plans were not destined to be fully realized was due to several causes difficult to foresee.
In considering the history of the Ukraine, a distinction must be made between the agricultural Cossack settlements of the Upper Dnieper and the outposts or garrisons of the "Za-PorogV' to which the former were tributary. The cataracts of the Lower Dnieper are divided just below the modem city of Ekaterinoslav by an archipelago of hundreds of rocky islands covered with a shaggj'growth of stunted timber and underbrush. To na\'igate the secret channels of this waterj'^ labyrinth requires rare skill with the paddle, a knowledge to be obtained only through constant familiarity. By throwing up a few entrenchments of logs and earthworks any of these islands, isolated by the rapids, was capable of offering an almost impregnable defense against the attacks of an army not supplied with artiller5^