Ussuri Cossack Host

(redirected from Ussuri Cossacks)
Also found in: Wikipedia.

Ussuri Cossack Host


a cossack host in prerevolutionary Russia living in Primor’e Oblast, in the area extending south from Khabarovsk along the Ussuri and Sungari rivers and in the area around Lake Khanka. The Ussuri Cossack Host was formed in 1889 from half an infantry battalion of the Amur Cossack Host, and its ranks were filled out with settlers from the Don, Kuban’, and other hosts. Its administration was located first in Vladivostok and then in Iman (now Dal’nerechensk). The acting ataman of the host, who was also the military governor of the oblast, was subordinate to the governor-general of the Amur region, who was the ex officio ataman of the Amur and Ussuri cossack hosts.

The lands of the host totaled 674,000 hectares (ha). As of 1916, the population was 39,900, of whom 34,100 were cossacks. The population lived in six stanitsy (large cossack villages), which combined 76 settlements. The minimum allotment of usable land to each family was 17.6 ha.

In peacetime, the Ussuri Cossack Host contributed one cavalry squadron (three sotni, or troops) and a platoon to the lifeguards of the Combined Cossack Regiment (a total of 592 men). The host guarded the border, delivered mail, and carried out police duties. It took part in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05. During World War I it contributed one cavalry regiment (six sotni), one cavalry squadron (three sotni), one guards platoon, and six special sotni (a total of 2,514 men). During the Civil War of 1918–20, many of the Ussuri Cossacks fought with the White Guards.

The Ussuri Cossack Host was abolished in 1922.


Kazach’i voiska. Compiled by V. Kh. Kazin. [St. Petersburg, 1912.] (Handbook of the imperial headquarters.)