Editing Cossacks (section)

== Culture and organization ==
In early times, an ataman (later called [[hetman]]) commanded a Cossack band. He was elected by the Host members at a Cossack ''[[rada]],'' as were the other important officials: the judge, the scribe, the lesser officials, and the clergy. The ataman's symbol of power was a ceremonial mace, a ''[[Bulawa|bulava]]''. Today, Russian Cossacks are led by atamans, and Ukrainian Cossacks by hetmans.

[[File:Kozak na stanowisku.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|''Cossack on duty'' (portrayal of 16th–17th century), painting by [[Józef Brandt]]]]

After the Polish–Russian [[Treaty of Andrusovo]] split Ukraine along the Dnieper River in 1667, Ukrainian Cossacks were known as Left-bank and Right-bank Cossacks. The ataman had [[executive power]]s, and in wartime was the supreme commander in the field. [[Legislature|Legislative power]] was given to the Band Assembly (''Rada''). The senior officers were called ''starshyna''. In the absence of written [[law]]s, the Cossacks were governed by the "Cossack Traditions" – the common, unwritten law.

Cossack society and government were heavily militarized. The nation was called a host (''vois'ko'', or ''viys'ko'', translated as "army"). The people and territories were subdivided into [[regiment]]al and company districts, and village posts (''polky'', ''sotni'', and ''stanytsi''). A unit of a Cossack troop could be called a [[Kurin]]. Each Cossack settlement, alone or in conjunction with neighboring settlements, formed military units and regiments of light cavalry or, in the case of Siberian Cossacks, mounted infantry. They could respond to a threat on very short notice.

A high regard for education was a tradition among the Cossacks of Ukraine. In 1654, when [[Macarius III Ibn al-Za'im]], the [[Patriarch of Antioch]], traveled to Moscow through Ukraine, his son, [[Paul of Aleppo|Deacon Paul Allepscius]], wrote the following report:
{{blockquote|All over the land of Rus', i.e., among the Cossacks, we have noticed a remarkable feature which made us marvel; all of them, with the exception of only a few among them, even the majority of their wives and daughters, can read and know the order of the church-services as well as the church melodies. Besides that, their priests take care and educate the orphans, not allowing them to wander in the streets ignorant and unattended.<ref>Лощиц, Юрий. Сковорода. Vol. 13. Мол. гвардия, 1972. p. 17.</ref>}}

===Groupings===
Russian Cossacks are divided into two broad groups: the Stepnoy (Ru:Степной), those of the Steppes, and the Kavkas (Ru:Кавкас), those of the Caucasus. In 1917 the Caucasians were divided into two hosts, the Kuban and the Terek; while the Steppe were divided into 8 hosts, the Don (the largest), Siberia, Orenburg, Astrakhan, Trans-Baikal, Semiretchi, Amur, and Ussurki voiskos.

=== Settlements ===
Russian Cossacks founded numerous settlements (''[[stanitsa]]s'') and fortresses along troublesome borders. These included the forts Verny ([[Almaty]], [[Kazakhstan]]) in south Central Asia; [[Grozny]] in North Caucasus; Fort Alexandrovsk ([[Fort Shevchenko]], Kazakhstan); [[Krasnovodsk]] ([[Türkmenbaşy, Turkmenistan|Turkmenbashi]], [[Turkmenistan]]); Novonikolayevskaya stanitsa ([[Bautino]], Kazakhstan); [[Blagoveshchensk]]; and towns and settlements along the [[Ural River|Ural]], [[Ishim River|Ishim]], [[Irtysh]], [[Ob River|Ob]], [[Yenisei River|Yenisei]], [[Lena River|Lena]], [[Amur River|Amur]], [[Anadyr River|Anadyr]] ([[Chukchi Peninsula|Chukotka]]), and [[Ussuri River]]s. A group of [[Albazin Cossacks]] settled in [[China]] as early as 1685.

Cossacks interacted with nearby peoples and exchanged cultural influences (the Terek Cossacks, for example, were heavily influenced by the culture of North Caucasian tribes). They also frequently intermarried with local non-Cossack settlers and local inhabitants, regardless of race or origin, sometimes setting aside religious restrictions.{{efn|name=Kaznakov_quote|"Сопредельные с ними (поселенцами – Ред.) по 'Горькой линии' казаки ... поголовно обучались Киргизскому наречию и переняли некоторые, впрочем, безвредные привычки кочевого народа."<br/>
"''Among [settlers nearby] the 'Gor'kaya Liniya' Cossacks ... everyone learnt Kyrgys' language and adopted some customs, though harmless, of the nomadic people''."<ref name=Kaznakov_1875>{{cite report |script-title=ru:Генерал-губернатор Казнаков в докладе Александру&nbsp;III |trans-title=Report of Governor-General Kaznakov to Tzar Alexander&nbsp;III |author=Kaznakov |year=1875}}</ref>}} [[War bride]]s brought from distant lands were also common in Cossack families. General Bogaevsky, a commander in the Russian [[Volunteer Army]], mentions in his 1918 memoir that one of his Cossacks, Sotnik Khoperski, was a native Chinese who had been brought back as a child from Manchuria during the [[Russian-Japanese War]] of 1904–1905 and adopted and raised by a Cossack family.<ref>Богаевский А.П. Ледяной поход. Воспоминания 1918 г.</ref>

Cossacks initially relied on raiding, herding, fishing and hunting, despising agriculture as lowly. After the defeat of Stenka Razin in 1672, the Cossacks began transitioning to agriculture, but this would remain a secondary concern for Cossacks until the late 19th century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=S. O'Rourke |title=Warriors and Peasants: The Don Cossacks in Late Imperial Russia |date=2000 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-230-59974-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=William Penn Cresson |title=The Cossacks |date=2016 |publisher=Wentworth |isbn=978-1-329-91984-6}}</ref>

===Family life===
[[File:Novosibirsk-Karimov.jpg|thumb|Siberian Cossack family in [[Novosibirsk]]]]

Historically, when Cossack men fought in permanent wars far from home, women took over the role of family leaders. Women were also called upon to physically defend their villages and towns from enemy attacks. In some cases, they raided and disarmed neighboring villages composed of other ethnic groups. [[Leo Tolstoy]] described such Cossack female chauvinism in his novel, [[The Cossacks (novel)|''The Cossacks'']]. Relations between the sexes within the ''stanitsas'' were relatively egalitarian. The American historian Thomas Barrett wrote "The history of Cossack women complicates general notions of patriarchy within Russian society".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Barrett |first1=Thomas |title=At the Edge of Empire: The Terek Cossacks and the North Caucasus Frontier, 1700-1860 |date=1999 |publisher=Avalon Publishing |location=New York |isbn=0-8133-3671-6 |page=131}}</ref>

When the Malorossian Cossack regiments were disbanded, those Cossacks who were not promoted to nobility, or did not join other estates, were united into a [[Malorossian Cossacks|civil Cossack estate]]. [[Sergei Korolev]]'s mother was the daughter of a leader of the civil estate of the Zaporozhian Sich.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://yablor.ru/blogs/12-yanvarya-1907-goda-rodilsya-sergey-pavlovich-ko/169210 |script-title=ru:12 января 1907 года родился Сергей Павлович Корольов |trans-title=On 12 January 1907 Sergei Pavlovich Korolev was born |language=ru |website=Yablor.ru |date=12 January 2010 |access-date=2 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003224458/http://yablor.ru/blogs/12-yanvarya-1907-goda-rodilsya-sergey-pavlovich-ko/169210 |archive-date=3 October 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Popular image===
[[File:1900 - Kozachka by Vasylkivsky.tif|thumb|Portrait of a Cossack woman by Ukrainian artist [[Serhii Vasylkivsky]]]]
Cossacks have long appealed to [[Romanticism|romantics]] as idealizing freedom and resistance to external authority, and their military exploits against their enemies have contributed to this favorable image. For others, Cossacks are a symbol of repression, for their role in suppressing popular uprisings in the Russian Empire, during the [[Khmelnytsky Uprising]] of 1648–1657, and in [[pogrom]]s, including those perpetrated by the Terek Cossacks during the Russian revolution and by various Cossack atamans in Ukraine in 1919, among them atamans [[Danylo Terpylo|Zeleny]], [[Nykyfor Hryhoriv|Hryhoriv]], and [[Ivan Semesenko|Semosenko]].<ref name="heifetz">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/slaughterofjewsi00heifuoft |title=The Slaughter of the Jews in Ukraine in 1919 |publisher=Thomas Seltzer, Inc. |author=Heifetz, Elias |year=1921 |pages=65–66, 139 |access-date=2014-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112005602/https://archive.org/details/slaughterofjewsi00heifuoft |archive-date=2013-11-12 |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Stanislaw Maslowski (1853-1926), Cossacks Dance, 1883.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|''Cossacks Dance – [[Kozachok]]'' by [[Stanisław Masłowski]], [[oil painting|oil]] on canvas 1883<ref>Reproduction first published in "Album malarzy polskich", 1885, vol. 11, M. Robiczek Publ., [[Warsaw]]</ref>]]
[[File:Kozacka piesn.jpg|thumb|left|Ostap Kindrachuk, Ukrainian Cossack, playing the [[bandura]] in traditional dress]]

Literary reflections of Cossack culture abound in [[Russian literature|Russian]], [[Ukrainian literature|Ukrainian]], and [[Polish literature]], particularly in the works of [[Nikolai Gogol]] (''[[Taras Bulba]]''), [[Taras Shevchenko]], [[Mikhail Sholokhov]] ([[And Quiet Flows the Don]]), [[Henryk Sienkiewicz]] (''[[With Fire and Sword]]''). One of [[Leo Tolstoy]]'s first novellas, ''[[The Cossacks (novel)|The Cossacks]]'', depicts their autonomy and estrangement from Moscow and from centralized rule. Many of [[Isaac Babel]]'s stories (for instance, those in [[Red Cavalry]]) depict Cossack soldiers, and were based on Babel's experiences as a war correspondent attached to the [[1st Cavalry Army]].

Polish Romantic literature also commonly dealt with Cossack themes. Some of the Polish writers of this period (for instance, [[Michał Czajkowski]] and [[Józef Bohdan Zaleski]]) were known as "Cossacophiles" who wholeheartedly celebrated the Cossack history and lifestyle in their works. Others, such as [[Henryk Rzewuski]] and [[Michał Grabowski]], were more critical in their approach.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Grabowicz |first1=George |title=Between History and Myth: Perceptions of the Cossack Past in Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian Romantic Literature |url=http://lab.chass.utoronto.ca/rescentre/slavic/ukr/Cossacks/Grabowicz-Cossack%20Past.pdf |website=University of Toronto |publisher=Slavica Publishers |access-date=24 June 2020 |archive-date=26 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626131723/http://lab.chass.utoronto.ca/rescentre/slavic/ukr/Cossacks/Grabowicz-Cossack%20Past.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the literature of Western Europe, Cossacks appear in [[Lord Byron|Byron's]] poem "[[Mazeppa (poem)|Mazeppa]]", [[Alfred Tennyson|Tennyson's]] "[[The Charge of the Light Brigade (poem)|The Charge of the Light Brigade]]", and [[Richard Connell]]'s short story "[[The Most Dangerous Game]]". In many{{quantify|date=January 2015}} stories by adventure writer [[Harold Lamb]], the main character is a Cossack.

During the Imperial period, Cossacks acquired an image as the ferocious defenders of the antisemitic Russian state. Still, during the Soviet era, Jews were encouraged to admire Cossacks as the antitheses of the "parasitic" and "feeble dwellers of the shtetl."{{r|estraikh}} A number of Yiddish writers, including [[Khaim Melamud]], {{ill|Shmuel Gordon|ru|Гордон, Самуил Вульфович}}, {{ill|Viktor Fink|ru|Финк, Виктор Григорьевич}}, and {{ill|Shmuel Godiner|ru|Годинер, Самуил Давидович|he|שמואל ניסן גודינר}}, presented fictionalized accounts of peaceful Jewish-Cossack coexistence, while efforts were made by the pro-Soviet press to present Khmelnytsky as a heroic figure and Cossacks as liberators from the Nazis.{{r|estraikh}}

Historiography interprets Cossackdom in imperial and colonial terms.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Plokhy |first1=Serhii |author-link1=Serhii Plokhii |title=The Cossack Myth: History and Nationhood in the Age of Empires |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LFCM2Ai0FBcC |series=New Studies in European History |edition=Reprint |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2012 |page=357 |isbn=978-1-107-02210-2 |access-date=2015-01-27 |quote=...&nbsp;the Russian used by the Ukrainian elite of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries ... was strongly influenced by the military and bureaucratic terminology of the period (the hallmark of the Cossack elite's imperial experience) ... The increasing influence of Russian ... gave evidence of the new cultural situation in the Hetmanate, which had all the hallmarks of a colonial setting. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150517173423/https://books.google.com/books?id=LFCM2Ai0FBcC |archive-date=2015-05-17 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Khodarkovsky |first1=Michael |title=Russia's Steppe Frontier: The Making of a Colonial Empire, 1500–1800 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ti51WfA68RYC |series=Indiana-Michigan series in Russian and East European studies |edition=Reprint |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-253-21770-7 |access-date=2015-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405143208/http://books.google.com/books?id=Ti51WfA68RYC |archive-date=2015-04-05 |url-status=live }}</ref> In Ukraine, where Cossackdom represents historical and cultural heritage, some people have begun attempting to recreate the images of Ukrainian Cossacks. Traditional Ukrainian culture is often tied in with the Cossacks, and the Ukrainian government actively supports{{when|date=January 2015}} these attempts.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} The traditional Cossack ''[[bulawa|bulava]]'' serves as a symbol of the Ukrainian presidency, and the island of [[Khortytsia]], the origin and center of the [[Zaporozhian Sich]], has been restored. The video game [[Cossacks: European Wars]] is a Ukrainian-made game series influenced by Cossack culture.

Cossacks are also mentioned outside Europe. The Japanese anime [[The Doraemons]], part of the larger [[Doraemon]] anime series, has a Cossack character, Dora-nichov, who is from Russia.

===Music===
The official military march of Russian Cossacks units is ''Cossacks in Berlin'', composed by [[Dmitry Pokrass]] and Daniil Pokrass, with lyrics being made by Caesar Solodar. Solodar was present when Field Marshal [[Wilhelm Keitel]] signed the act of surrender to Allied forces. That same day, he left for Moscow and by the evening of 9 May, the song was written.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sovmusic.ru/text.php?fname=edutpobe|title=SovMusic.ru - Казаки в Берлине|access-date=2020-07-07|archive-date=2020-07-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707081156/http://sovmusic.ru/text.php?fname=edutpobe|url-status=live}}</ref> The lyrics detail an interaction between a Cossack and a girl from Berlin.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://armchairgeneral.com/rkkaww2//Multimedia/ww2/comments/war_cheering/Cossacks.txt |title=Archived copy |access-date=2020-07-08 |archive-date=2021-01-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125192317/http://armchairgeneral.com/rkkaww2/Multimedia/ww2/comments/war_cheering/Cossacks.txt |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://xn--80abjd7bf.xn--80acgfbsl1azdqr.xn--p1ai/%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%B0/%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BD%D0%B8/%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B8 |title=Казаки в Берлине - Песни военных лет и о войне - Медиа - 75-летие Победы |access-date=2020-07-08 |archive-date=2020-07-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708014149/https://xn--80abjd7bf.xn--80acgfbsl1azdqr.xn--p1ai/%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%B0/%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BD%D0%B8/%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B8 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The S. Tvorun arrangement of the [[Zaporizhian March]] (known as the ''Cossack march'') is one of the main marches of the [[Armed Forces of Ukraine]], replacing ''[[Farewell of Slavianka]]'' in 1991 as the official sendoff music for army recruits. The [[Kuban Cossack Choir]] is a leading [[Ethnic Russian music|folkloric]] ensemble that reflects the dances and folklore of the Kuban Cossack.

The second movement of [[Mily Balakirev]]'s Second Symphony is marked "Scherzo alla Cosacca", which means "scherzo in the style of the Cossacks".

===Ranks===
{{main|Registered Cossacks of the Russian Federation#Cossack ranks and insignia}}
[[File:Kuban patch.jpg|thumb|Modern Kuban Cossack armed forces patch of the Russian military]]
The Russian Empire organized its Cossacks into several ''voiskos'' (hosts), which lived along the Russian border and internal borders between Russian and non-Russian peoples. Each host originally had its own leadership, ranks, regalia, and uniforms. By the late 19th century, ranks were standardized following the example of the [[Imperial Russian Army]]. The ranks and insignia were kept after the 1988 law allowing the hosts to reform, and the 2005 law legally recognizing the hosts as a combat service. They are given below as per all military tickets that are standard for the Russian Army.

{| class="wikitable" style="width:50%;"
|-
!Modern Cossack rank
!Equivalent modern Russian Army
!Equivalent foreign rank
|-
| Kazak
| [[Ryadovoy]]
| [[Private (rank)|Private]]
|-
| Prikazny
| [[Gefreiter#Yefreytor in Russia and the post-Soviet states|Yefreitor]]
| [[Lance Corporal]]
|-
| Mladshy Uryadnik
| [[Junior sergeant#Russia|Mladshy Serzhant]]
| [[Corporal]]
|-
| Uryadnik
| Serzhant
| [[Sergeant]]
|-
| Starshy Uryadnik
| [[Sergeant#Russia|Starshy Serzhant]]
| [[Senior Sergeant]]
|-
| Mladshy Vakhmistr
| 
|[[Warrant officer|Junior Warrant Officer]]
|-
| Vakhmistr
| [[Praporshchik]]
| [[Warrant Officer]]
|-
| Starshy Vakhmistr
| [[Starshy praporshchik|Starshy Praporshchik]]
| [[Senior Warrant Officer]]
|-
| Podkhorunzhy
| Mládshiy Leytenánt
| [[Junior Lieutenant]]
|-
| [[Khorunzhy]]
| [[Lieutenant#Russia|Leytenant]]
| [[Lieutenant]]
|-
| [[Sotnik]]
| [[Senior lieutenant#Russian Federation|Starshy Leytenant]]
| [[Senior Lieutenant]]
|-
| Podyesaul
| Kapitan
| [[Captain]]
|-
| [[Yesaul]]
| [[Major (rank)|Mayor]]
| [[Major (rank)|Major]]
|-
| Voiskovy Starshyna
| [[Podpolkovnik]]
| [[Lieutenant-Colonel]]
|-
| Kazachy Polkovnik
| [[Polkovnik]]
| [[Colonel]]
|-
| Kazachy General*
| General
| [[General]]
|-
| [[Ataman]]
|
| [[Commander]]
|}
<small><nowiki>*</nowiki>Rank presently absent in the Russian Army<br/>
<nowiki>*</nowiki>The application of the ranks Polkovnik and General is only stable for small hosts. Large hosts are divided into divisions, and consequently the Russian Army sub-ranks [[Major general#Russia|General-mayor]], [[Lieutenant General#Lieutenant general ranks by country|General-leytenant]] and General-polkovnik are used to distinguish the atamans' hierarchy of command, the supreme ataman having the highest rank available. In this case, the shoulder insignia has a dedicated one-, two- and three-star alignment, as is normal in the Russian Army. Otherwise, it will be blank.</small>

As with the ranks Polkovnik and General, the Colonel ranks are only stable for small hosts, being given to atamans of regional and district status. The smallest unit, the ''[[stanitsa]]'', is commanded by a Yesaul. If the region or district lacks any other ''stanitsa''s, the rank Polkovnik is applied automatically, but with no stars on the shoulder. As the hosts continue to grow, starless shoulder patches are becoming increasingly rare.

In addition, the supreme ataman of the largest [[Don Cossack Host]] is officially titled [[Marshal#Military|Marshal]], and so wears insignia derived from the [[Marshal#Marshal ranks by country|Russian/Soviet Marshal ranks]], including the diamond Marshal Star. This is because the Don Cossack [[Ataman|Supreme Ataman]] is recognized as the official head of all Cossack armies, including those outside the present Russian borders. He also has the authority to recognize and dissolve new hosts.

=== Uniforms ===
[[File:Orenburg cossack.jpg|thumb|Cossack officer from [[Orenburg]], with [[shashka]], early 1900s]]
[[File:Siberian Cossack 190x.jpg|thumb|[[Siberian Cossack]] {{circa|1890s}}]]

Cossacks were expected to provide their own uniforms. While these were sometimes manufactured in bulk by factories owned by the individual host, families often handed down garments or made them within the household. Accordingly, individual items might vary from those laid down by regulation, or be of obsolete pattern. Each host had distinctive uniform colourings. Similar uniforms are in service today amongst the Cossacks of Russia.

For most hosts, the basic uniform consisted of the standard loose-fitting [[tunics]] and wide trousers typical of Russian regular troops from 1881 to 1908,<ref>{{cite book |first1=A. |last1=Ivanov|page=[https://archive.org/details/russojapanesewar00ivan/page/n46 45] |title=The Russo-Japanese War 1904–05 |url=https://archive.org/details/russojapanesewar00ivan |url-access=limited |isbn=978-1-84176-708-6 |date=2004-07-25|publisher=Bloomsbury USA }}</ref> and shown in the two photographs opposite. In marked contrast the two Caucasian hosts (Kuban and Terek) wore the very long, open-fronted, ''[[cherkesska]]'' coats with ornamental cartridge loops and coloured ''beshmet''s (waistcoats). These have come to epitomize the popular image of the Cossacks. Most hosts wore [[Papakha|fleece hats]] with coloured cloth tops in full dress, and round caps with or without peaks for ordinary duties. These caps were worn sharply slanted to one side by the rank-and-file of Cossack regiments, over hair trimmed longer than that of ordinary Russian soldiers. The two Caucasian hosts wore high fleece caps on most occasions, together with black felt cloaks (''burke'') in bad weather.<ref name=Shenk>{{cite book |last1=Shenk |first1=Colonel V. K. |year=1910–1911 |title=Tablitsi Form' Obmundirovaniya Russkoi Armi |publisher=Imperial Russian War Ministry}}</ref>

Until 1909, Cossack regiments in summer wore white ''[[gymnasterka]]s'' (blouses)<ref>{{cite book |first1=Borris |last1=Mollo |pages=[https://archive.org/details/uniformsofimperi00moll/page/140 140]–141 |title=Uniforms of the Imperial Russian Army |isbn=978-0-7137-0920-9 |year=1979 |publisher=Blandford Press |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/uniformsofimperi00moll}}</ref> and cap covers of standard Russian army pattern. The shoulder straps and cap bands were in the host colour, as detailed below. From 1910 to 1918, they wore a khaki-grey jacket for field wear. The dress uniform had blue or green [[breeches]] with broad, coloured stripes in the host colour, which were often worn with the service jacket.

While most Cossacks served as [[cavalry]], several of the larger hosts had [[infantry]] and [[artillery]] units. Three regiments of Cossacks formed part of the [[Imperial Guard (Russia)|Imperial Guard]], as well as the ''Konvoi''—the tsar's mounted escort. The Imperial Guard regiments wore tailored, government-issue uniforms, which were colourful and elaborate. For example, the ''Konvoi'' wore scarlet ''cherkesska''s, white ''beshmet''s, and red crowns on their fleece hats.<ref>{{cite book|first=Vladimir A.|last=Emmanuel|page=8|title=The Russian Imperial Cavalry in 1914|date=2 April 2013|publisher=Winged Hussar |isbn=978-0-9889532-1-5}}</ref> The Guard Cossacks of His Majesty and the Ataman's Guard Cossacks, both drawn from the Don Host, wore red, and light blue, coats respectively.<ref>{{cite book|first=Vladimir A.|last=Emmanuel|pages=18–19|title=The Russian Imperial Cavalry in 1914|date=2 April 2013|publisher=Winged Hussar |isbn=978-0-9889532-1-5}}</ref> The Combined Cossack Guard Regiment, comprising representative detachments from each of the remaining hosts, wore red, light blue, crimson, or orange coats, according to squadron.<ref>{{cite book|first=Vladimir A.|last=Emmanuel|page=17|title=The Russian Imperial Cavalry in 1914|date=2 April 2013|publisher=Winged Hussar |isbn=978-0-9889532-1-5}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Host
!Year est.
!Cherkesska (long coat) or tunic
!Beshmet (waistcoat)
!Trousers
!Fleece Hat
!Shoulder Straps
|-
| [[Don Cossacks]] || 1570 || blue tunic || none || blue with red stripes || red crown || blue
|-
| [[Ural Cossacks]] || 1571 || blue tunic || none || blue with crimson stripes || crimson crown || crimson
|-
| [[Terek Cossacks]] || 1577 || grey-brown cherkesska || light blue || grey || light blue crown || light blue
|-
| [[Kuban Cossacks]] || 1864|| black cherkesska || red || grey || red crown || red
|-
| [[Orenburg Cossacks]] || 1744 || green tunic || none || green with light blue stripes || light blue crown || light blue
|-
| [[Astrakhan Cossacks]] || 1750 || blue tunic || none || blue with yellow stripes || yellow crown || yellow
|-
| [[Siberian Cossacks]] || 1750s || green tunic || none || green with red stripes || red crown || red
|-
| [[Baikal Cossacks|Transbaikal Cossacks]] || 1851 || green tunic || none || green with yellow stripes || yellow crown || yellow
|-
| [[Amur Cossacks]] || 1858 || green tunic || none || green with yellow stripes || yellow crown || green
|-
| [[Semiryechensk Cossacks]] || 1867 || green tunic || none || green with crimson stripes || crimson crown || crimson
|-
| [[Ussuri Cossacks]] || 1889 || green tunic || none || green with yellow stripes || yellow crown || yellow
|-
|colspan="7" style="text-align: center;" | '''Source:''' All details are based on the 1909–1914 dress uniforms portrayed in coloured plates published by the Imperial War Ministry (Shenk 1910–1911).<ref name=Shenk/>
|}