Patrick Gordon

Patrick Gordon (1635–1699) was a Scottish soldier who became a Russian general. Born in Aberdeenshire, he served Sweden and Poland before joining the Russian army in 1661.

A major-general by 1678 and commander at Kiev, in 1689 his troops turned the Moscow coup in Peter the Great's favour against Sophia, and his movable rampart helped take Azov in 1696. Peter made him a trusted adviser and organizer of his Western-style army, and Gordon secured Muscovy's first permanent Catholic church. He died in Moscow, leaving a detailed diary.