Although recognizing at a glance the military faults and incongruities of the scheme proposed by the Emperor Paul, Platov (as he declares in his memoirs) was fully "resolved to follow any line which led away from the prison of St. Peter and St. Paul." Without further committing himself he gravely nodded liis approval of everj^thing the imperial strategist had proposed. More than ever satisfied with his own plan and his manner of choosing a general to carry it out, the Emperor dismissed his late prisoner. On the lapel of Platov's coat, stained and discoloured by the smoke and dirt of his prison, glittered the high Russian order of St. John of Jerusalem. In his pocket was a draft on the imperial treasury for an almost unlimited amount, and a snuffbox ornamented with the insignificant features of his master. It is more than probable that Platov, whose breast had already been decorated by the great Catherine "with as many crosses as a graveyard," cared but little for these honours compared to the liberty he thus so strangely regained.
Without waiting the expiration of the three days graciously allowed him in Petrograd, the hetman set out for the Don, where he was received as one returning from the dead. Cutting short all demonstrations of welcome he began at once to gather the troops of the warlike community, without, however, disclosing the objects of the ill-planned campaign upon which they were to set forth. Every Cossack capable of carrying a lance was ordered to report at a given rendezvous, bringing with him two horses and six weeks' provisions. In the month of January, 1801, 27,500 Cossacks of the Don were able to set forth on their long march towards the deserts of Asia.
In Orenburg the Russian governor, Bakmetiev, had assembled provisions, camel transport and even a corps of interpreters speaking the languages or dialects of the numerous tribes whose countries they were to traverse. Before their departure from the fortress a letter from Paul was read promising the Cossacks "all the riches of India." Plunging boldly into the almost trackless wilderness that lay beyond the frontier outposts the Russian troops travelled like mariners across an unknown sea, marching, or rather navigating, by means of the compass and observed positions of the stars.
On the horizon hovered great bands of horsemen, Bashkirs and Kalmoucks, astonished to see a body of troops so numerous that they could not be attacked by any known tactics of desert warfare.
Without fear of surprise or ambuscade the troops marched at their ease and in open order. But another danger now threatened the Cossack army. The distant objective of their march having become rumoured about, the Kirghiz camel drivers began deserting with their animals, thus depriWng the Russians of the only means of transport. It even became necessary to abandon a large part of the provisions, tents and other equipment necessary for the troops. Moreover, on account of the intense cold the supply of fuel was rapidly disappearing. The Cossacks, unaccustomed to economy in tliis respect, insisted upon building roaring fires during the long cold nights. Sickness also broke out in the ranks and the problem of transporting those no longer capable of remaining in the saddle added to Platov's difficulties. In the absence of all recognizable marks in the featureless landscape one day's march appeared to the impatient and half mutinous troops precisely like that of the preceding day. The desert mirage, amazingly viWd in these latitudes, showed them the domes of distant cities and oases which they took to be Khiva or Bokhara, and the next moment dissolved these fairj'^ scenes ito clouds of mist. Such phenomena increased the superstitious fears of the Cossacks. ^Slany declared that the whole army was bewitched by Tartar sorcerers and that they were all marching forward without advancing towards their goal.*
* The old atavistic fear of the Tartars has fostered among the moujiks and Cossacks of the frontiers a
At last the hetman was obliged to yield to the demands of the mutineers. Glad of an excuse which hindered him from further carrying out plans he considered impossible of execution, he ordered that a camp be formed to rest the tired horses and attend to the sick. At the same time he sent out scouts and patrols in order to obtain news of Knorring's expedition. All soon realized that this halt was but the preliminary to an inevitable return. In the mirage which haunted the desert horizon Platov now began to see once more the slender golden spire which crowns the grim silhouette of the fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul.