 Initially numbering 2336 people (including 687 women), the new Host was the only Cossack force in Russia which had a Naval role, acting as a coast guard for the Caucasus and Crimean coasts, by defending them from Turkish and Circassian raiders.The remaining Cossacks who managed to escape the Sultan's vengeance, but did not return to Russia moved to the Danube Delta, where in 1830 they numbered 1,095 families.Over the years they were joined by other peasants fleeing serfdom in the Russian Empire.