The Black Sea host played a crucial role in the
Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1797. As a result,
Catherine II rewarded them with the
Kuban land in the
North Caucasus (north of the
Kuban River, south of the
Yeya River and east of the
Sea of Azov) by her decree of June 30, 1792. At that time the area was inhabited by
Nogain steppe nomads. When Russia annexed the Crimean Khanate in 1783 it inherited the Crimean claim to this land. South of the Kuban were
Circassians. Renamed the Black Sea Cossack Host in honor of the victories during the Russo-Turkish War, a total of 25,000 people made the migration in 1792–1794 from Ukraine, settling in the regions north of the Kuban River. Initially, the Black Sea Cossacks adhered to Zaporozhian traditions, such as the democratic election of the host government, but in time they adopted many Russian ways. Instead of a central
Sich, they formed a defence line from the inlet of the Kuban River into the
Black Sea to the inlet of the
Bolshaya Laba River, and colonised the land north of this line with
stanitsas., SW UkraineThe Cossacks founded the administrative centre of
Yekaterinodar (literally "Catherine's gift") in 1794. At the same time, however, the Black Sea Cossacks also sent men to many major campaigns of the Russian Empire, such as the suppression of the Polish
Kościuszko Uprising in 1794 and the ill-fated
Persian Expedition of 1796 where nearly half of the Cossacks died from hunger and disease. The Host sent the 9th
plastun (infantry) and 1st joint cavalry regiments as well as the first
Leib Guards (elite)
sotnia to aid the Russian Army during the
Patriotic War of 1812. The new host also participated in the
Russo-Persian War (1826–1828) where they stormed the last remaining Ottoman bastion of the northern Black Sea Coast, the fortress of
Anapa, which fell on June 12, 1828. In the course of the
Crimean War, the Cossacks foiled attempts by allied forces to land on the
Taman Peninsula, whilst the 2nd and 5th plastun battalions took part in the
Defence of Sevastopol (1854–1855). , a part of the monument of
Antin Holovaty in
Odessa As the years went by, the Black Sea Cossacks continued their systematic penetration into the mountainous regions of the
Northern Caucasus. Taking an active part in the finale of the
Russian conquest of the Northern Caucasus (1817–1864), they settled regions as these were conquered. To aid them, a total of 70,000 additional ex-Zaporozhians from the
Bug,
Yekaterinoslav, and finally the
Azov Cossack Host migrated there in the mid 19th century. All three hosts needed to be removed to vacate space for the colonisation of
New Russia, and with the increasing weakness of the Ottoman Empire as well as the formation of independent
buffer states in the Balkans, the need for further Cossack defensive presence in New Russia had ended. They migrated to the Kuban in 1860 and merged with the
Caucasus Line Cossack Host, which consisted of migrated
Don Cossack elements. Finally, in 1864, the Black Sea Cossacks and the Azov Cossacks were united into the
Kuban Cossack Host, ninety years after the destruction of the
Zaporozhian Sich. ==Administration==