Origin not well known — The last among the Cossack chiefs faithful to Poland before her ultimate partition — Celebrated among the Cossacks — Comes late to the Confederation of Bar — His deadly hatred to the Russians — Raised by the sole ascendency of his character and his military talents to a command of small Corps composed of the Polish Nobles and the Polish chosen Cossacks — Performs extraordinary feats of valour — Beats successively several Russian Generals— Seldom gives Quarter — Takes in five months fifteen pieces of cannon, one hundred waggons, and two chests — Is the terror of the Russians — Advises to make an Insurrection among the Cossacks— Combines the Polish valour with the patience and cunning of the ancient Cossacks — Pressed by Sauvarof, fights a hard battle at Szrensk — Already victorious, receives a gun- shot in the leg — Deposed in the forest of Pszasnysz — Betrayed by a Jewish surgeon — Delivered to the Russians —Dies from ill-treatment— The ablest among the Confederate Chiefs.
The exploits of this, the last of the Cossack chiefs who remained faithful to Poland, are of sufficient importance to merit particular notice. Weakened and disorganized as were the Cossack body by the defection to Turkey of Nekrassa and his adherents, the remnant still constituted a formidable power, at the head of whom Sava immortalized his name by prodigies of valour, and by his consummate skill in the art of partisan warfare.
Sava was, originally, a Cossack of the Ukraine, but was animated by feelings of the most implacable hatred against all that bore the very name of Russian, and by a burning thirst for revenge against the barbarians who had murdered his relative and committed unheard-of atrocities in Poland. He enlisted into the confederation of Bar, and, in a short time, without name, without influence or protection, and by the sole aid of his natural genius and the ascendancy of his firm and energetic character, he acquired the friendship and esteem of the confederated chiefs, and created for himself a position of superior command.
Fighting after the manner of the ancient Cossacks, from whose traditions he had drawn the resources of his genius as a military tactician; subtle, persevering, and impenetrable in his plan of operations; at once cunning, daring, cautious, and intrepid; wary, active, and yet intangible to the enemy; suffering near him neither rival nor confidant, he spread carnage and destruction amongst the Russians, to whom he scarcely ever gave quarter or respite. He defeated in succession a number of Sauvarofs best lieutenants; gaining over them a series of brilliant advantages; seizing upon their baggage-trains, cutting off their communications; exterminating their detachments, and falling constantly either on the flanks or on the rear of their columns. He shifted about from place to place with almost fabulous rapidity, and allowed no rest, whether by day or night, to the Russian armies. All the expeditions attempted against him utterly failed one after the other, and Sauvarof himself, who by order of the Empress Catherine had put a price upon his head, could not refrain from testifying repeatedly his admiration of the outlawed Cossack chief.