paCTed the greateft part o f the winter before Yaitfk and Oren-
J burg : at the fiege of which latter place he maflacred with
the moil: favage barbarity all the officers and nobles who
were brought before him ; and as he openly avowed an intention
o f extirminating the whole Ruffian nobility, he
fpared neither fex nor a g e ; but cut off, without compunction,
women and children, as well as thofe who were capable
o f bearing arms, againft him. His conduct was as imprudent
as it was barbarous. Though he was already married
to Sophia, the daughter o f a Coffac, by whom he had three
children, he yet efpoufed a common woman o f Yaitik. He
delayed his march againft the enemy for the celebration of
his nuptials, and exhibited continued fcenes of the moil: pub-
lick intoxication and riot.
He was fupported bynoperfons o f rank or confequence;
but, in order to impofe upon his army, fome o f his moft confidential
adherents had affirmed the names o f the principal
Ruffian nobility, and wore the feveral orders of knighthood.
By a fignal to his attendants he maflacred; all German officers
who were brought before him, in order-to prevent his ignorance
of a language, which, as Peter III. he muft have un-
derftood, from being obferved by his followers.
During thefe tranfadlions, general Belikof advancing into
thefe parts at the head o f a very coufiderable army, detached
his major-general prince Peter Galitziu againft the rebels,
who furprized Pugatchef with his whole force near Tatif-
cheva, and worfted him for the firft time. Being compelled
to retire, he was clofely purfued and overtaken by prince
Galitzin near Kargula, upon the river Sakmara, about the
diftance o f twelve miles from Orenburg;' he was completely
routed, his defultory troops Were difperfed, and he himfelf
narrowly efcaped with a few o f his moft faithful followers
, into
into the Uralian mountains; but, notwithftanding this dif- CH^Pcomfiture,
he colledled his fcattered men, and foon made his < „ >
appearance with a refpeclable force on the Eaft fide o f thofe
mountains. He carried feveral fmall fortreffes, and burnt
T ro itzk ; but being attacked near that place by lieutenant
general de Colm, he was obliged to retreat a fecond time
into the mountains. Rendered defperate by thefe repeated
defeats, and defirous o f again fignalizing his arms by
fome brilliant exploit, he fuddenly directed his march towards
Cafan, committing in his progrefs the moft dreadful
devaluations. Having burnt the fuburbs o f that town, he laid
fiege to the citadel, which is built upon an eminence, and
whither major-general Paul Potemkin the governor and all
his attendants had retired. Being compelled to raife the
fiege by the approach o f colonel Michaelfon with a large
detachment, and being clofely purfued by that officer, he
was again routed a little beyond Cafan, after feveral obftinate
engagements, which continued with little interruption during
three days. This route was fo general, that Pugatchef,
accompanied only by three hundred well-armed Coflacs o f
Yaitik, who were the moft defperate rebels and in whom he
chiefly confided, fled acrofs the Volga. Afterwards he was
joined by large bodies o f Coflacs and Balhkirs ; while ill-
armed peafants, who looked upon him as their deliverer,
flocked to his ftandard from very confiderable diftances. In
this manner the impoftor feemed to gain ftrength from his
Ioffes; and he derived fuch delufive hopes from the number
o f his troops, that he had even formed the refolution o f proceeding
to Mofcow, where one o f his emiflaries had raifed a
fpirit of fedition among the common people o f that city. But
apprehenfive, left, as peace was concluded with the Turks,
VoL- i 1 part