Cossack rabble were mostly Ukrainian peasants and poor people who fled to the "wild lands" and began to call themselves Cossacks. These former serfs, peasants, urban poor, herdsmen, and disenchanted clergy who went to seek their fortunes elsewhere, could eventually become true Cossacks but in times of rebellion they formed huge untrained and poorly armed mobs. The most common weapons were: maces, axes, spears, pitchforks, scythes and other makeshift arms. As the masses of Cossack rabble were uncontrollable on the battlefield they were used to fulfill secondary and auxiliary roles. However, due to their tenacity and will to fight the Cossack rabble did well when directly assaulting an enemy or while defending natural or man-made fortifications, such as a wagon train.