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The Routledge Handbook of the Crimean War

Candan Badem

Romantic Warriors of
the Crimean War

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https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9780429265983-20
Saadet Büyük Güler
Published online on: 15 Sep 2021

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20
ROMANTIC WARRIORS OF THE
CRIMEAN WAR
Michał Czajkowski and his Cossack Cavalry
Regiment
Saadet Büyük Güler

Liberation, freedom, glory, honour and serving for a noble cause have been part of the most
chivalric terminology for most cultures. This romantic ideological approach in the Slavic world
is/was relevant with the Cossacks, especially those who were part of the szlachta (nobility).
Therefore, it should not be surprising to hear the conformity of the term “liberation or victory”
from the past hetman to contemporary pro-Russian Cossack militant “conquer or die trying”.
The establishment of a volk without patria regardless of the Herderian cultural synthesis was
maintained through tales and myths of Cossacks that characterized the romantic revolutionaries
of 1848. One of the Polish controversial romantic characters was Michal Czajkowski who led
the Cossack Cavalry Regiment of the Ottoman Rumelia army. Czajkowski asserted himself as a
romantic figure fighting against the tyrants who blocked dreams of a free motherland.1 His role
in the Ottoman army was neither strategic nor essential but the Sublime Porte benefited from
this guerrilla warrior as well as various Polish officers who fought in Poland against Russia.
Czajkowski’s Cossack romanticism predominated over his Polish-Catholic enthusiasm and
contained the Cossack traditions and beliefs that were linked with Polish nationalism along with
the ideal of Cossack-Slavic unity. Although he considered himself as Catholic, he was aware of
the fact that Catholicism was not aligned with his ambitions of Slavic unity. Czajkowski was
born in the town Halczyniec (Volhynia region in the today’s Ukrainian lands) in 1804. His
father Stanisław Czajkowski, a chamberlain of Żytomierz, was a respected lawyer. But he died
when Michal was two or three years old. His mother Petronęła Głębocka did not marry again
after the death of her husband, she devoted herself to her son’s upbringing. According to her
family tradition, she had Cossack origins; she was the great granddaughter of hetman Cossack
Brzuchowiecki. Czajkowski’s maternal grandfather Michał Głębocki had a great impact on
Czajkowski – he even gave his name to Czajkowski. He was poor but his wife’s family was from a
szlachta family, he became part of this family with marriage.2 Under the influence of his maternal
grandfather, young Michal tried to conform to the Cossack way of living and he “dressed in the
Cossack style, put on a Cossack cap, and on this cap, there was a feather like old Ukrainian and
Zaporozhian hetmans… as he had his constant Cossack military training from his grandfather”.3
As most of the Cossacks, Czajkowski considered himself as the knout in the hands of Tsar but as
a Ukrainophile, he also dreamed of forming a Cossack-Slavic confederation. In the first half of the
19th century, one could easily be a Polish nationalist and a Ukrainophile at the same time. Being
an Ukrainophile in this case meant love for the land that made up part of the Polish-Lithuanian

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 Saadet Büyük Güler

Commonwealth. Ukrainian peculiarities were marginalized as regional or ethnic, which did not
exclude Ukraine from the Polish world. It was the Polish Ukrainophilism of the 1830s that for
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the first time clearly assumed political implications.The intense interest in Ukraine among Polish
ideologues, many of whom had emigrated after the failure of the 1830–1831 Polish Uprising,
stemmed from the search for potential allies in their struggle against the Russian Empire. Polish
Ukrainophiles and Ukrainians of Polish origin (the borderline between these two terms was
rather vague) contributed greatly to the creation of new Ukraine. They idealized the past of
Polish-Ruthenian encounters and saw the future of the Rus’ in the re-establishment of the Polish
Commonwealth as a union of three, not two, elements – Poland, Lithuania and Eastern Slavic
Rus’.4 Consistency in this argument might be challenged though the idea was to maintain a nos-
talgic Slavic reunion despite the corrupt and tyrant Russian bureaucrats. Therefore, it would not
be misleading to consider Czajkowski’s Ottoman venture as an instrumental action to weaken
Russian power for the liberty of Poland.5
Cossacks were historically loyal to the Czar and the reason for Czajkowski’s departure from
this tradition was because the Czar expected the small Slavic countries to affirm Russian super-
iority and to support Russian goals. The ideological basis for Czajkowski and most of the Polish
leaders (including Prince Adam Czartoryski) supporting the Ottomans was to maintain a Slavic
league where all parties would be equal, without Russian superiority.6 Obviously, the Russian
Czar had no intention to share his political power with states that were constantly in turmoil.This
was actually the breaking line between the Polish cause and the Czar. Czajkowski participated in
the Polish insurrection of 1830–1831 and after the failure of this uprising he went into exile in
France where he developed his “Cossack idea”, the ideology of the resurrection of Cossackdom,
romanticizing the history of Ukrainian-Polish relations. He wrote several novels on this theme
and became popular.
For British interests, the existence of a Polish threat to Russia was always efficient to reduce
Russian political and military influence in Europe.This was more significant for France.The par-
tition of Poland in 1795 had various outcomes for most of the European countries. Poland was
a buffer between European powers and Russia and its annexation positioned Russia, Austria and
Prussia into an inevitable engagement in the Crimean War. As Aleksandar Zlatanov commented,
the British and mainly the French asylum, financial and political support for the Polish émigrés
were strictly pragmatic and geopolitical initiatives. While the Poles were hoping to gain national
independence, both Western European powers calculated that they could use the Poles solely for
their geopolitical interests, one of which was diminishing the Russian influence on the Sublime
Porte.7 Obviously, Czajkowski and most of the Poles were aware of this situation but benefited
from a generous welcome in the Ottoman lands.
The strength of the Ottoman Empire and the existence of Poland were opening more
fronts for Russia, thus weakening Russian military superiority. Excluding Hungarian leader
Lajos Kossuth’s political ambitions and mere propaganda, his strategic understanding was
explicit: “If Poland still existed, and Hungary were free, neither the existence of Turkey would
be in danger, nor Russia was over powerful”.8 According to Krzysztof Karbownik, this idea
goes back to the times of the Kościuszko Uprising at the end of the 18th century, when a
group of approximately 2,000 Poles, gathered in the territory of Ottoman Moldavia and
Wallachia, formed loose military units, waiting for the imminent outbreak of another conflict
between Turkey and Russia or Austria. With the motto of “Za wolność naszą i waszą” (“For
our freedom and yours”), Poles accepted this concept and tried to create units that would
fight for the re-establishment of Poland. The concept of organization and combat adopted
by the Poles was quite simple and consisted in creating strong units, proudly and historically
called legions, composed of Poles fighting alone or in the service of a friendly state against

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 Romantic warriors of Crimean War

one or more partitioning states. This assistance was to be rewarded with the fact that the ally
would create a strong Polish formation, which at some point would start fighting on its own
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and for its territory, usually in the company of a previously aided ally. There were quite a lot
of such divisions created by Poles, especially in the time between national uprisings, when the
international situation was suitable. Some of them were irregular formations, organized spon-
taneously, usually without a well-thought-out plan of action in the long term and without
logistic support. It resulted from the romantic approach to the Polish or foreign struggle for
national liberation.9
Michal Czajkowski was sent from Paris to Istanbul by Prince Adam Czartoryski, the leader
of the conservative faction of the Polish emigrants, called the Hotel Lambert after the Prince’s
residence in Paris. From 1842 to 1850 Czajkowski led the Eastern Agency of Hotel Lambert.
Czajkowski actively supported anti-Russian activities in Bosnia, Serbia and the Caucasus. In
the years following the unsuccessful revolutions of 1848, he helped arrange for political asylum
for refugee Polish and Hungarian revolutionaries. Czajkowski’s and other Poles’ presence in
Ottoman lands was detrimental for the European Concert of 1815. After the Napoleonic Wars,
European states agreed to act in solidarity to suppress revolutionary movements in Europe, but
Polish and Hungarian revolutionaries could take shelter in Ottoman territory with the support
of Britain and France. One of the most controversial points between the Russian and Ottoman
Empires in the long 19th century was the question of Polish and Hungarian emigrants. Russian
and Austrian efforts to have him extradited back to his homeland and conflicts with Hotel
Lambert eventually led to his conversion to Islam in December 1850.10 He took the Muslim
name of Mehmed Sadık and was called Sadık Efendi.
For Czajkowski Constantinople (Istanbul) meant the “Capital of the Slavic Empire”.11 For
long years before his conversion, he was trying to expand his political network in Istanbul, but he
was not welcomed by the Sublime Porte as he was not an official representative.12 Napoleon III,
who was a supporter of the 1848 uprisings – obviously in line with French interests – sponsored
the Polish presence in Europe especially in Istanbul. Russian embassy in Istanbul along with the
various Russian agents was following Czajkowski but they were desperate as he was a French
protégé.13 Czajkowski aimed to conscript more revolutionaries to the Ottoman-Polish cause
but they were harshly deferred by the Russian diplomatic corps in Istanbul.14 Communication
between the Sublime Porte and Czajkowski was unofficial and through the French envoys in
Istanbul.
The Ottoman government declared war to Russia in October 1853 and in in November
1853, Sadık Efendi was promoted to the rank of mirmiran (between brigadier and major-general,
this rank was given to civilians) and thus he became a pasha. He was given authority to recruit a
Cossack Cavalry Regiment. Sadık Pasha travelled to various places in the Balkans to meet with
Cossacks and other communities to attract them to his Cossack regiment. Especially in his travels
to Bulgaria and Dobruja, he met with Cossacks who had fled from Ukraine and from Russian
pressure.15
First, he visited most of the Cossack settlements and identified talented political agents to settle
them at different points; Ludwik Zwierkowski in Belgrade, Czerny in Serbia, Karakrak Bey and
Franciszka Zacha in Caucasus, Jan Ludwik Gradowicz in Moravia, Juliusz Korsak in Bosnia, Jozef
Zukowski and Antoni Ilinski (Iskender Pasha) in Dobruja, and Michal Budzynski and Butkiewicz
in Bulgaria.16 In addition to these, moveable agent units were formed that provided swift and
direct communication with the Balkans. Constantinople was their main station, but these units also
worked in other strategic points. Sefels de Soldenhoff, Horwat Jelenski, Gregorowicz, Wolanski,
Rozumowski and Boleslaw Wieloglowski were some of them, who worked in these units.17 By
the beginning of the war, he had established one of the largest political and intelligence networks

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 Saadet Büyük Güler
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Figure 20.1 Sadyk Pasha receiving Cossacks from Dobruja, at Shumla. Illustrated London News, 6 May 1854

in Ottoman lands through the engagement of his political ties to Czartoryski and his military
obligations to the Sublime Porte.
As it was the name – Cossack Cavalry Regiment – Sadık Pasha tried to engage with the
Cossacks in Dobruja and Polish refugees in the Ottoman Empire at first. When he realized the
inadequate in number of units, Sadık Pasha had to find new human sources and secondly, he
recruited Bulgarians and Serbians. After all he had explored the practicality to recruit anyone
that could bear weapons that would require training and discipline process.18 Recruits included
prisoners, bandits (hayduks), irregular armed groups (bashibozuks). Sadık Pasha was quick to
train and discipline such elements. The regiment was given different names like Cossack Cavalry
Regiment, Cossack Dragon Army, Christian Army of the Sultan, Kazak Taifesi (the Cossack Lot),
Cossack Soldiers, Balkan Cossacks, Sultan’s Cossack Regiment. It was attached to the Grand
Army of Rumelia (Figure 20.1).
After the Cossack Regiment was established, its tasks were assigned by Ömer Pasha, com-
mander of the Rumelian army. The main task of the regiment was to maintain law and order.
Starting from the 1848 revolutions, Ottomans and allies had a concern that Slavic countries in
the Balkans might merge with the Russian causes, especially in Serbia.The Russian engagements
with the local leaders and propaganda against Ottomans were triggering this anxiety.19 Therefore,
Ottomans strengthened the defences of Vidin and Silistria20 and Ömer Pasha ordered Sadık Pasha
to keep order in the region.The Cossack Regiment could follow the developments in Serbia and
finally at the significant phase of the war, Cossack regiments backlashed the Russian troops that
were communicating with Serbia and the Serbian Prince reaffirmed his loyalty to the Sultan.21
Sadık Pasha’s arrival at Wallachia formed an intelligence network by organizing agents for espi-
onage network. Krzysztof Dach gives the names of some agents like Captain Teohar, Por. Baronts
and Por. Andreiescu.22 While he commanded his regiment, he also transferred all the political,
economic and military news via units. He was the prominent and successful coordinator of intel-
ligence activities.23 Hence, it is apparent that the regiment was carrying the police task with the
intelligence services.
Nekrasov Cossacks and Dobruja Cossacks who had fled from Russia and found refuge in the
Ottoman Empire would join the regiment with their own horses. They were uniformed and

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 Romantic warriors of Crimean War

armed for their squadrons. Sadık Pasha was ordered to organize them as 1,600 riders (actual
numbers varied) and they would be divided into six squadrons. The regiment included Poles,
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Slovenians and other foreigners living in the Ottoman Empire, regardless of their religion and
ethnicity. Sadık Pasha considered the establishment of the corps in Istanbul as well (Figure 20.2).24
Shumen was the headquarters of the Rumelian army and Sadık Pasha was stationed in Shumen,
but his regiment was constantly on the move along the Danube among Vidin, Ruse, Shumen and
Silistria. Sadık Pasha was stressed because his regiment was divided into various military stations,
not to mention the single units that were working for keeping order as well as for gathering
intelligence.25 He almost lost control of his troops and this actually caused some tensions between
himself and Ömer Pasha.
In the summer of 1854, Sadık Pasha served under Hasan Hakkı Pasha (Kel Hasan Pasha). One
thousand infantry, 1,500 cavalry and six cannons were stationed under the command of Sadık
Pasha.26 Many Polish volunteers from Britain and France also joined the regiment while the
war was going on as part of the French and British deployment.27 English and French officers
were concerned as the Ottomans from the possible Russian cavalry assault from Giurgiu by
General Anrep, General Paczkowski and General Boguszewski. Two regiments of lancers made
a few charges very great and deadly for the Ottoman troops. Although Hasan Pasha tirelessly

Figure 20.2 Polish cavalryman in the service of the sultan. L’Illustration, 1855, nr 657

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 Saadet Büyük Güler

defended his army and moved forward, the struggle continued into the darkness of the night.
Reinforcement was needed.While Sadık Pasha was having dinner with Ömer Pasha in Shumen a
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telegraph order arrived, calling Sadık Pasha with his Cossacks to Ruse as soon as possible. At that
time, they were camping about 15 kilometres away from Shumen. He went to his camp at 22.00
at night. At 04.00 in the morning four squadrons of regular Cossacks were prepared for battle.
In the second day’s morning they were in Ruse. After some rest they were taken to the island
of Ramadan at night. Ömer Pasha also came to the Ramadan Island on Danube. Hasan Pasha
wanted his Cossacks to go to the left bank of the river into Wallachia. Turkish artillery assaults
were growing through the fortifications on the islands and from the opposite side of the Danube.
Sadık Pasha was assigned to explore safe passages and to pass the Nekrasov Cossacks towards the
Fratesti encampment of Russians. Sadık Pasha deceived the Russians with Dobruja Cossacks and
Ismail Pasha could capture the islands, whereas reserve corps under the command of Giritlioglu
Mehmed Pasha attacked from the western flank of the river.28 In the end, Sadık Pasha lost many
soldiers, many officers, a few amateur Englishmen, but the Ottomans became masters of the
islands on the Danube and that would facilitate operations in Wallachia.
Sadık Pasha’s role during the siege of Silistria was more or less related to his intelligence ser-
vices. Sadık Pasha’s intelligence services supported Ottoman Army commanders for their assaults.
During the war it was evident that Cossacks – especially Nekrasov Cossacks – of Russia and
Ottomans were “communicating” with each other.Therefore, they were vital characters for espi-
onage though they could be considered as “double agents” from a contemporary point of view.
Dobruja Cossacks were valuable sources for the Russian army.29 On the other hand, Sadık Pasha
used the same Cossacks for the Ottoman cause. In an instance, a deserter from the Russian army, a
hussar from the Pavlograzdsky regiment, Ivan Vasilyev could reach Alfatar, where Sadık Pasha was
staying with his Cossacks at night.Vasilyev was also the messenger of Paskevich and he wanted to
inform them that Russians had withdrawn from the siege of Silistria; they were to move imme-
diately to the left flank of the Danube. Sadık Pasha reported the situation immediately to Ömer
Pasha and sent the deserter to his aide-de-camp Mehmed Hilmi Bey (Luboradzki).The day after
Halim Pasha came with 54 squadrons of regular cavalry and with four batteries of horse artil-
lery, Russians were in number 7,000 horsemen. In conformity with seniority and rank, Halim
Pasha took command of the battle force and Sadık Pasha marched with nine squadrons along
with Halim Pasha. Detailed numbers of squadrons were 79 regular cavalry (10,000 riders) and
1,500 irregulars (bashibozuks) with 36 harmats/armata. They marched to Silistria more than 60
kilometres until they saw the residents of Adakoy and Kara Orman. Halim Pasha took assurance
from the residents that Russians went to the left bank of the Danube and they were ascertained
when they saw the bridge on Danube was destroyed near Ostrov. Seeing a small Russian encamp-
ment on the right side of the river, Halim Pasha and Sadık Pasha divided their forces into two
groups and repelled Russians from the right bank of the river. This escalated concern of the
enemy.30 The Cossack Regiment also fought along with the troops of Giritlioğlu Mehmed Pasha
to disturb the enemy flanks. Nevertheless, after they saw the fierce Russian assault, they had to
retreat to Ömer Pasha’s encampment in Medgidia. After receiving reinforcement, the Cossack
regiment returned to Silistria to help Musa Pasha to end the Russian siege. Russian forces lifted
the siege of Silistria in June 1854 and began to evacuate the principalities. Meanwhile Austria
began to occupy the principalities together with the Ottomans.
In August 1854, Sadık Pasha’s Cossacks together with other Ottoman troops occupied the
abandoned Bucharest, centre of Wallachia. Cossacks patrolled the city and its surroundings. Sadyk
managed the city well, prevented the looting of citizens’ estates and controlled the cholera epi-
demic in it. Here Sadık Pasha’s tasks were administrative rather than military. After the removal
of the Russian army, banditry became a significant problem in the principalities and some of the

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army units were joining them. Sadık Pasha was expected to enrol these bandits in the Cossack
regiment and establish order in Bucharest. One of the most interesting banditry groups was a
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British origin “Black Band” that was supported by the British military for a while but after the
Russian retreat British Government cut all ties with the group. It took months for Sadık Pasha
to convince them to be part of his regiment but at the end most of the members had no choice
since Ömer Pasha applied strict rules in the Principalities.31 His second task in the principalities
was to apply strict quarantine rules to prevent the spread of cholera.32 Wallachia was positioned
on the most strategic location for Ottomans, they could not afford any rebellions during the war
and thus Sadık Pasha played his auxiliary role through this administrative task.33
The tasks of the Cossack regiment were various: maintaining order, quarantine, engaging in
distractions and ambushes for the enemies and lastly providing intelligence services.The Cossack
Regiment, composed of members of different communities, was unusual for the Ottomans
though they adopted the idea. Ironically, Cossacks and Poles, fighting against the “tyranny” and
“the police state” of the Czar, became the largest police force of the Ottomans in the Balkans.
The Porte realized their rapid response capacity and tried to establish more Cossack regiments
in Anatolia as well to secure the order. Czajkowski’s major achievement was his fast training and
discipline of the militias.
The achievements of the Cossack regiment were acknowledged by the Sublime Porte. Sultan
Abdulmejid sent a firman to appreciate the achievements of the Cossack Cavalry Regiment.
Ömer Pasha whispered to Sadık Pasha’s ear: “You and your Cossacks were really the eyes, ears,
intelligence and arms of the entire army.You managed the Cossack spirit, bravery and experience
very well.You, Slavs, are always the best”. Sadık Pasha had close relations with him, thought that
Ömer Pasha never forgot his Slavic origin.34 The main part of Sadık Pasha’s mission in the region
was over but still there was a significant need for reinforcements in the army.
“After the successful defence of Silistria, during which Sadık Pasha confirmed his organiza-
tional and commanding abilities, he received another award, namely the permission to form the
2nd Cossack Regiment of the Sultan”.35 In October 1854, with the approval of Ömer Pasha and
the Ottoman War Minister (Serasker), the Ottoman government agreed to form another Cossack
regiment that would include Poles sent by Prince Czartoryski. Command of the 2nd regiment
was entrusted to Count Wladyslaw Zamoyski. Sadyk Pasha became the commander-in-chief of
both regiments. However, the Sublime Porte had given assurances to Austria that these Poles
would not be deployed in the principalities but in Dobruja. If need be, they could be sent dir-
ectly from Dobruja to Bessarabia.36 According to the agreement between the Ottoman foreign
ministry and the allied embassies, the second regiment would also be called Cossack regiment
and not a Polish regiment. Thus, the idea of forming a Polish legion was rejected not only by
Austria but also by France and Britain. Defence of Silistria and his regiment’s achievements
became a very significant turning point for Sadık Pasha because not only he obtained the full
appreciation of Ottoman Sultan – the Sultan was his vital ally for his sacred mission of recon-
struction of Poland – but also, he felt that his dreams could be materialized.37 After so many years
of Russian victories, now Sadık Pasha could see that Russians were not invincible. In his letter to
the grand vizier in November 1854, Sadık Pasha wrote: “If only I had two more regiments, they
could do the job of twenty cavalry regiments”.38 Nevertheless, his plans to fight in Ukraine with
his Cossack regiment would not materialize due to great power interferences and differences of
opinion with Hotel Lambert and its representative Count Zamoyski.
In September 1854, after the Austrians entered the city, Sadık Pasha had to leave this post
and went with the Cossacks to Braila, getting ready for subsequent military operations behind
the River Prut, that is, on the territory of Russia. However, the Ottomans did not have the

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Figure 20.3 Michal Czajkowski during the November Uprising 1830–1831. Unknown artist, public
domain, via Wikimedia Commons

means and the allies the intention to wage war on Russian hinterlands far from seashore. The
allies decided to destroy the Russian naval base in Sevastopol and the new front of the war was
opened in Crimea. Due Austrian pressure the Sublime Porte withdrew the Cossacks from Braila
to Dobruja.
In August 1855 again due to Austrian pressure, the Ottoman command decided to send the
Cossacks to the Caucasus front and both regiments were ordered to march to Burgas to wait for
transport ships. Sadık Pasha tried to o delay the embarkation of the regiments until late autumn,
when the trip would have to be postponed due to weather conditions. At the same time, he
counted on the intervention of France regarding the regiments and thus a change of Turkey’s
decision. Eventually the trip to Asia was cancelled (Figures 20.3 and 20.4).
On 11 September 1855 the famous Polish romantic poet Adam Mickiewicz came from Paris
to Burgas, while Sadık Pasha was staying with his regiment in the Burgas camp. Mickiewicz
wanted to work with Sadık Pasha. The poet, during his stay in Paris, had formed a secret mission
on the purpose of strengthening Polish army and its political power in the Ottoman Empire.39
Mickiewicz’s main purpose was to go to the East, unite Polish population there and establish
a strong legion with the assistance of France and Britain and eventually establish the Polish
State.40 Stronger legion meant to include Jews in Sadık Pasha’s regiment in the Ottoman Empire.
Although Sadık Pasha approved this, the project of enlarging the regiment and the idea of
establishing a greater Slavic legion was suspended because of Wladyslaw Zamoyski41 and this
made Mickiewicz disappointed, although he knew that the relations between Sadık Pasha and
Zamoyski were quite problematic,42 he was disappointed by their personal rivalry.43 Mickiewicz
could not achieve his aim.
Meanwhile the British and Ottoman governments made an agreement to create a “Turkish
Contingent”, a division under British pay and command. The 2nd Regiment of Sultan Cossacks

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Figure 20.4 Michal Czajkowski as Sadık Pasha in Ottoman Service. Antoni Oleszczyński, public domain,
via Wikimedia Commons

was dissolved and incorporated into the division. This division would be also dissolved after the
Paris Peace in 1856.
Sadık Pasha wrote to Grand Vizier Mustafa Reshid Pasha that no matter how weak the pol-
itical situation of Poland was, the Poles who came to the Ottoman Empire would try to pre-
vent Serbs and other Slavs from being thrown into the arms of the Russians.44 In his memoirs,
while depicting his dream, he actually reflects on his own dreams. “I had a dream of our Polish
cause; Poles made friends with Slavs, they came together and embraced each other, we were like
decorated Easter eggs, neither of us mentioned about Resurrection of Jesus, but we mentioned
Resurrection of Slavs”.45 The Crimean War was full of contradictions, as Slavic Unity could be
established by crushing the largest Slavic military. Though at the end, all of those remained as no
more than an aesthetic desire. No surprise that Sadık Pasha started living in Ukraine two years
after he retired from his military career in the Ottoman Empire in 1870. The Czar amnestied
him in 1872.
The idea of the romantic warrior fighting against Russian tyranny for the unity of Slavic
nations ended with the Paris Peace Conference in 1856. Poles or Slavic nations in general could
not obtain anything from the anti-Russian coalition. The next decade experienced Count
Ignatyev’s Russian expansionism with the support of the Slavic nations and perhaps they had to
rely on Russia as they were used but not credited by the western governments.

Notes
1 Sadık Pasha underlines that he had efforts to guarantee Poland’s future. Nazır (2016: 131).
2 Chudzikowska (1982: 11–20).
3 Czajkowski (1898: 7–8).
4 Miller (2003: 50–51).

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 Saadet Büyük Güler

5 Letter written from Sadık Pasha to Mustafa Reshid Pasha. For details, see Nazır (2016: 131).
6 Łątka (1985: 67–68).
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7 Zlatanov (2019: 47).

8 Lewak (1935: 75).
9 Krzysztof Karbownik quotes from Jerzy Skowronek that a group of approximately 2,000 Poles gathered
to Moldo-Wallachia in the Ottoman Empire, formed loose military units waiting for the imminent out-
break of another conflict between Turkey and Russia or Austria. See Karbownik (2012: 215).
10 Badem (2011: 94).
11 Rami (2019: 1535).
12 The day he came to Istanbul, he went directly to the French Embassy in Therapia (Tarabya) (Kara 2016:
13).
13 Canning noticed that large French protection on Czajkowski as he was also welcoming the revolu-
tionary states – like Sardinia – in Istanbul and facilitating secret meetings with Sublime Port. Canning
to Palmerston, 4 February 1849, FO78.772.
14 Canning to Palmerston, 4 February 1849, TNA FO 78.772.
15 Stoichev (1944: 18) cited by Büyük (2013: 35–36).
16 Czajkowski (1962: 11–12).
17 Czajkowski (1962: 11–12).
18 Ivan Kr. Stoichev, Kazak Alayat na Czajkowski [The Cossack Regiment of Czajkowski], Sofia 1944,
Chapter 3.
19 Stratford Canning to Lord Palmerston, 6 December 1848, TNA FO 78. 737.
20 Slade (2012: 64).
21 BOA. HR.MKT. 78–38.
22 Some other names of soldiers can be found in Büyük (2013) Maliye Nezareti Masraf Defteri, defter no:
10668.
23 Dach (1985: 41).
24 Czajkowski (1962: 16).
25 BOA. HR.MKT. 172/43.
26 Stoichev (1944: 48–49).
27 Badem (2011: 96).
28 Czajkowski (1962: 81–84).
29 Köremezli (2013: 254).
30 Czajkowski (1962: 63–64).
31 Dach (1985: 58).
32 Dach (1985: 58).
33 Karbownik (2012: 221).
34 Czajkowski (1962: 65–66).
35 Karbownik (2012: 221). Sadık Pasha thought that the commander of this second regiment would be
Witold Czartoryski – Adam Czartoryski’s son. Ibid. 221.
36 Badem (2011: 97).
37 Büyük (2013: 56–57).
38 BOA. HR.MKT. 95–46.
39 Arslantekin Köycü (2005: 18).
40 Stoichev (1944: 50–54).
41 Wladyslaw Zamoyski (1803–1868) was one of the members in 1831 Uprising and official representa-
tive of the Hotel Lambert group. Under the Czartoryski’s interests, he went to England and represented
Polish freedom ideas there.When the Crimean War exploded, he came to the Ottoman lands. For details,
see Nowak (2002) and Orzelska-Konarska (1971).
42 Władyslaw Zamoyski came to the Ottoman Empire to represent Hotel Lambert and Adam Czartoryski.
After that a rivalry between him and Sadık Pasha began to be felt, especially when the idea of establishing
the second regiment emerged. Zamoyski’s aim was to create a Polish Legion, while Czajkowski’s aim was
to create the Polish Legion with the help of Cossacks. The Cossack formation was useful for Zamoyski,
but it could be used to accomplish this Polish Legion task. See Wierzbicki (2008: 110–112).
43 Stoichev (1944: 53–54).
44 Anafarta (1979: 119).
45 Czajkowski (1898: 22).

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 Romantic warriors of Crimean War

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