Yemelyan Pugachev

Yemelyan Pugachev was the son of a small Cossack land owner, who would go on to lead a major Cossack revolt to in Russia against tsarina Catherine II, claiming to be a rightful heir to the Russian throne. Pugachev began his military career at the age of 17 in the year 1759, fighting in the Seven Years War in Prussia and becoming the equivalent of a company commander by 1770. In 1770, Pugachev fell ill and deserted. Pugachev was arrested, but escaped fleeing to an independent Cossack community on the Terek River. Pugachev was arrested and escaped multiple times during his time as a fugitive, once while as an envoy for a group protesting the Russian government's treatment of the cossacks.

It was during his time as a fugitive that Pugachev got the idea of impersonating the overthrown tsar Peter III, who was actually murdered by Catherine the II herself in 1762. In 1774, Pugachev gathered an army of cossacks and peasant and lower-class followers, promising reform. Pugachev's army grew so large that they seized large amounts of land between the Volga and the Urals. Pugachev's army captured numerous firearms and artillery, making them a formidable threat, seizing the city of Kazan in July, 1774. The rebellion lasted until September 1774, when Pugachev's army was defeated by Imperial Russian forces and Pugachev was captured. Pugachev was later beheaded and drawn and quartered on January 21st, 1775.