 Chernov and gave birth to a son in 1803.Some accounts claim that she ran away from her home with a Cossack officer in 1805.In 1807, at the age of twenty-four she disguised herself as a boy, deserted her son and husband, and bringing her horse Alkid, enlisted in the "Polish Horse Regiment" (later classified as Uhlans) under the alias "Alexander Sokolov".