The Bug Cossack Host was a Cossack host and irregular army within Tsarist Russia, which used to be located along the Southern Buh River. The 2nd Bug Regiment was led by Ataman Pyotr Mikhailovich Skarzhinsky. The 1st regiment was commanded by Ivan Kasperov. In 1788, the two regiments merged into one Bug Cossack. The combined regiment was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Pytor Mikhailovich Skarzhinsky, who would become the first ataman of the Bug Cossack army.