Zakhary (Kharyton or Kharko) Oleksiyovych Chepiha ( ua, Захарій (Харитон / Харко) Олексійович Чепіга), sometimes transliterated Chepiga, alternative surname: Kulish ( ua, Куліш) (1725 – 14 January 1797) was, after

Sydir Bily Sidor Bely or Sydir Bily (1716 — 20 July 1788) was Kosh ataman of the Black Sea Cossack Host. Biography Bily was born in 1716 to a Cossack family near Kherson. He studied in the Kiev-Mohyla Academy after which he joined the Sich as a young man ...

, the second Kosh ataman of the

Black Sea Cossack Host Black Sea Cossack Host (russian: Черномо́рское каза́чье во́йско; uk, Чорномо́рське коза́цьке ві́йсько ), also known as Chernomoriya (russian: Черномо́рия), was a Cossack host ...

. Chepiha was born in

Chernihiv Oblast Chernihiv Oblast ( uk, Черні́гівська о́бласть, translit=Chernihivska oblast; also referred to as Chernihivshchyna, uk, Черні́гівщина, translit=Chernihivshchyna) is an oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. T ...

. He arrived at the

Zaporozhian Sich The Zaporozhian Sich ( ua, Запорозька Січ, ; also uk, Вольностi Вiйська Запорозького Низового, ; Free lands of the Zaporozhian Host the Lower) was a semi-autonomous polity and proto-state of Cos ...

in 1740 and at its demise in 1775 was a Cossack

polkovnyk ''Polkovnik'' (russian: полковник, lit=regimentary; pl, pułkownik) is a military rank used mostly in Slavic-speaking countries which corresponds to a colonel in English-speaking states and oberst in several German-speaking and Scandin ...

. He retired with the title of Captain. In 1783 he made an unsuccessful attempt at organizing a cohort of volunteer cossacks from the

Zaporozhia Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запоріжжя) or Zaporozhye (russian: Запорожье) is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper River. It is the administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia has a populatio ...

. After meeting up with

Catherine II , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...

in 1787, he was one of the cossacks to convince the Empress in allowing the formation of the Host of the Loyal Zaporozhians, later known as the

. Soon afterwards the

Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) The Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792 involved an unsuccessful attempt by the Ottoman Empire to regain lands lost to the Russian Empire in the course of the previous Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774). It took place concomitantly with the Austro ...

broke out, and the new cossack host received its battle christening on the

Southern Bug , ''Pivdennyi Buh'' , name_etymology = , image = Sunset S Bug Vinnitsa 2007 G1.jpg , image_size = 270 , image_caption = Southern Bug River in the vicinity of Vinnytsia, Ukraine , map = PietinisBug ...

river during the

Battle of Ochakov The second siege of Ochakov (now Ochakiv, Ukraine) was one of the major events of the Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792). It was known as "Özi Kuşatması" in Turkish. In 1788, Russian forces led by Prince Grigory Potemkin and General Alexand ...

. During a campaign in 1788, Chepiha was wounded by a bullet to the shoulder. After Sydor Bily's death, he was proclaimed the Host's

ataman Ataman (variants: ''otaman'', ''wataman'', ''vataman''; Russian: атаман, uk, отаман) was a title of Cossack and haidamak leaders of various kinds. In the Russian Empire, the term was the official title of the supreme military comman ...

. He took part in the storming of

Izmail Izmail (, , translit. ''Izmail,'' formerly Тучков ("Tuchkov"); ro, Ismail or ''Smil''; pl, Izmaił, bg, Исмаил) is a city and municipality on the Danube river in Odesa Oblast in south-western Ukraine. It serves as the administra ...

in 1790 and the battle of Babodah in 1791. For his efforts, Chepiha received the rank of the

Order of St. George The Order of Saint George (russian: Орден Святого Георгия, Orden Svyatogo Georgiya) is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. Originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) a ...

. In 1792 he took part in the resettlement of the Black Sea Cossacks to the

Kuban Kuban (Russian language, Russian and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Кубань; ady, Пшызэ) is a historical and geographical region of Southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Pontic–Caspian steppe, ...

. He died in 1797 and was buried in

Yekaterinodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern ...

References

Further reading