Josyp Mykhailovych Chajka (1631-) was a Ukrainian mercenary who was active in Eastern Europe during "the Deluge" of the mid-17th century.
Biography[]
Josyp Mykhailovych Chajka was born in Horochów, Volhynia, Poland-Lithuania (now Horokhiv, Volyn Oblast, Ukraine) in 1631 to a family of Catholicized and Polonized Ruthenians. Amid the chaos of the Khmelnytsky Uprising, Chajka decided to seek his fortune as a mercenary. In 1655, his travels took him through a Cossack village where he helped the French exile Jacques de Clermont and his associates fight off and kill the bandits Kyrylo Y. Ilchenko, Serhij Y. Bilyk, Myron V. Vorona, Artur I. Dovhan, Yehor E. Butenko, and Anatolij V. Yaremchuk. De Clermont thanked Chajka, and he then told him about the situation in Eastern Europe, and about his own past: he was a French soldier of noble stock who was framed for attempting to assassinate King Louis XIV of France and was forced to wander across the fields of Europe. He told Chajka, "These are troubled times, and a mercenary, especially one that has known command, is worth his weight in gold. Start with small jobs, I would say - take your time to get accustomed, and understand the local affairs. Wipe out some bandits, do some freelance jobs - escort a merchant convoy or protect a village...After that you'll earn a reward, maybe even get yourself an estate, which by turns would also bring you some coin. Once you gather some loyal warriors and earn a name for yourself, you might lay siege to a stronghold, throw your backing behind a claimant to the throne, or even start a rebellion yourself!" When Chajka asked him about the land itself, De Clermont told him, "'Tis nothing short of a battlefield between the Swedes, the Poles, the Russians, and the Cossacks. Oh, and the Crimeans too would love to grab their share. If you are asking for my counsel - visit the cities, where you can buy arms and supplies, and learn the latest news...The local rulers, lords, mayors, and even village elders might give you jobs of various kinds. My sincere advice, though - do not take on more than you can handle. And yes, don't get me wrong, but visiting the odd pub can be quite useful. There one can find all manner of men who could help you on your way, and you might hire some skilled warriors, or even test your strength against others for pay." Chajka then thanked De Clermont and decided to take his leave, and De Clermont suggested that he should set his path to Zamoshye and take in the town, whilst also recommending the fine city of Smolensk.
Chajka then set out by himself, and, along the way, he was ambushed by German P. Tsitnikov's band of looters south of Lyudinovo. By himself, Chajka killed Tsitnikov, Androniki S. Penkin, German I. Kamenskikh, Matvei V. Maysak, Yakov T. Syukosev, and Vasil R. Smolyaninov. He proceeded to ride north to Lyudinovo, where village elder Andrei T. Samsonov hired Chajka to fight off a gang of cattle thieves who terrorized the town at night. Aided by two townspeople, he patrolled the perimeter of the town, killing the looters Valentin A. Sutulin, Boris A. Chebotaryov, Onufri V. Kirillovsky, and a few others. He then visited Zamoshye on 24 March 1655 and introduced himself to the village elder Bogdan D. Averin before riding out of town, intent on searching for the spoilers who terrorized Lyudinovo. He proceeded to hunt bandits south of Zamoshye, killing Miron Y. Malyshev, Bogdan S. Vedeneyev, Yevgeniy L. Netrebov, Kvetoslav R. Rogozin, Lavrentiy Y. Kuzmich, Pyotr R. Dobrynin, Yuriy D. Sabantsev, Onufri V. Senkin, and Arseni S. Abramov. At midnight on 24-25 March, Chajka returned to Lyudinovo in time for the cattle thieves Demian A. Arshavin and Anatoliy Y. Osinov to arrive, and he slew them both. He grew suspicious on finding purses of gold on their bodies, believing that they either got the gold from a previous victim, or had been paid to assassinate him.
This task complete, Chajka decided to wander and explore more of Eastern Europe, and he visited Russia's Bryansk Fortress along the way, meeting Mayor Arseni T. Denisov and Warlord Fyodor Volkonsky. Volkonsky hired Chajka to help him collect a debt of 4,000 thaler from his debtor, Prince Andrei Khovansky, promising him a fifth of the collected debt if Chajka would head to Pskov and recover it. Chajka agreed, and he headed north, passing through Rudnya and meeting Prince Aleksey Trubetskoy, visiting Trubetskoy's fief of Loknya, aiding Lavrenti N. Startsev's Muscovite cavalry patrol in killing two bandits southeast of Pskov on 27 March 1655. He then made his way to Pskov that same day, and he met with Prince Andrei, who refused to pay back the money, claiming that it was Volkonsky who owed him instead. Chajka was forced to bribe Prince Andrei with 820 thalers to convince him to repay the debt, and he rode south to return to Volkonsky. He found that Zamoshye had been sacked by Prince Semyon Urusov, and he met Prince Semyon before returning to Volkonsky and giving him 3,200 thalers; Chajka was allowed to keep 800, although this left him with a net loss of 20 thalers due to his having to bribe Khovansky.