Polish hussars

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The Polish Hussars (Polish: Husaria) were the main type of cavalry of Polish Army (and later, the Polish-Lithuanian Army) between the 16th and 18th centuries. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had adopted the hussars from Hungary. When the unit type was first adopted, it was a light cavalry formation, and later it transformed into heavy cavalry. Until the 18th century it was the elite unit of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Origins and usage outside Poland 1.2 In Poland 1.3 In Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth 2 Tactics 3 Weaponry 4 References 5 External links 6 See also

[edit] History

[edit] Origins and usage outside Poland

The word hussar (pronounced /həˈzɑr/, /həˈsɑr/, or /hʊˈzɑr/) derives from the Hungarian huszár which in turn derives from the Serbian word gusar (Cyrillic: гусар) meaning bandit, pirate. The hussar concept began in Serbia, near the end of the 14th century. At first, the mercenaries were called Racowie after the Serbian state (Rascia). Bands of Serbian warriors crossed into southern Hungary after the Ottoman invasion of Serbia in the late 14th and 15th centuries. They fought in small bands, but were reorganised into a strong, highly-trained and motivated formation during the reign of King Matthias I Corvinus of Hungary. Under his command the units took part in the war against the Ottoman Empire in 1485 and proved successful against the Turkish Spahis as well as Bohemians and Poles. After his death in 1490 many hussars fled to other Central and Western European countries and became the core of similar light cavalry formations created there. For instance, Austria hired Hungarian hussars as mercenaries for wars against the Ottoman Empire. Also Frederick the Great used hussar units extensively during the War of the Austrian Succession.

[edit] In Poland

While light hussars were adopted by all European militaries to counter infantry and artillery, the most spectacular were the heavy hussars of the Kingdom of Poland and later, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a state formed in 1569 after the Union of Lublin.

In 1500, the Polish Treasury books make first references to hussars. Early on, they were foreign mercenaries, from the Serbian state of Ras, and were called Racowie, a word meaning 'of Serbia'. "They came from the Serbian state of Ras." ^[1] Initially the first hussar units in the Kingdom of Poland were formed by the Sejm (Polish parliament) in 1503, which hired three banners of Hungarian mercenaries. Quickly recruitment also began among Polish and Lithuanian citizens. Being far more maneuvrable than the heavily armoured lancers previously employed, the hussars proved vital to the Polish Crown and Grand Duchy of Lithuania victories at Orsza (1514) and Obertyn (1531).

The Polish hussars were the leading or even elite branch of cavalry in the Polish army from the 1570s until 1776, when their duties and traditions by a parliament decree were passed on to the Uhlans. Most hussars were recruited from the wealthier part of the Polish nobility (szlachta). Each towarzysz (Polish for 'comrade') of hussars raised his own poczet or retinue. Several retinues were combined to form a hussar banner or company, (Chorągiew husarska).

[edit] In Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Over the course of the 1500s hussars in Hungary had become heavier in character: they had abandoned wooden shields and adopted plate metal body armour. When Stefan Batory, a Transylvanian-Hungarian prince, was elected king of Poland and later was accepted as a Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1576 he reorganized the Polish-Lithuanian hussars of his Royal Guard along Hungarian lines, making them a heavy formation, equipped with a long lance as their main weapon. By the reign of Batory (1576-1586) the hussars had replaced medieval-style lancers in the Polish Crown and Grand Duchy of Lithuania army, and they now formed the bulk of the Polish and Lithuanian cavalry. By the 1590s most Polish-Lithuanian hussar units had been reformed along the same 'heavy' Hungarian model. These Polish 'heavy' hussars were known in their homeland as husaria. In the 16th century, characteristic painted wings or winged claws began to appear on cavalry shields. Wings were originally attached to the saddle and later to the back. In 1645, Col. Szczodrowski was said to have used ostrich wings.

With the Battle of Lubiszew in 1577 the 'Golden Age' of the husaria began. Between then and the Battle of Vienna in 1683, the Polish-Lithuanian hussars fought countless actions against a variety of enemies, and rarely lost a battle. In the battles of Battle of Lubiszew in 1577, Byczyna (1588), Kokenhausen (1601), Kircholm (1605), Kłuszyn (1610), Trzciana (1629), Chocim (1673) and Lwów (1675), the Polish-Lithuanian hussars proved to be the decisive factor often against overwhelming odds. For instance, in the Battle of Kluszyn during Polish-Muscovite War the Russians outnumbered the Polish-Lithuanian army 5 to 1, yet were heavily defeated.

The hussars also suffered occasional defeats, particularly during the Khmelnytsky Uprising (Battle of Zhovti Vody, 1648). The role of the hussar changed over time towards a reconnaissance and advanced scout capacity but if anything their uniforms became more elaborate as their armour and heavier weapons were abandoned. In the 18th century, with improvements of infantry firearms, heavy cavalry, designed to charge into and break infantry units, had become increasingly obsolete, and hussars transformed from an elite unit to a parade one.

[edit] Tactics

The hussars represented the heavy cavalry of Poland. The heavy cavalry were known as Towarzysz husarski and the medium cavalry Towarzysz pancerny, each which commanded several units under them.

The Polish-Lithuanian hussars' primary battle tactic was the charge. They carried the charge to, and through the enemy. This was a key to their victories. They also tended to repeat the charge several times until the enemy formation broke (they had supply wagons with spare lances). The charging attack, and heavy weight of their armour and horses guaranteed victory for nearly two centuries. The hussars fought with a long lance, a koncerz (stabbing sword), a szabla (sabre), 1 or 2 pistols, and often with a carbine or arquebus, known in Polish as a bandolet. In addition, there was no West European stigma attached to the use of a bow and arrows, but the more English—like view was held (The English kept archers in high esteem). It is possible that the projectile weapons were used to weaken the enemy's infantry squares and to create a domino effect. The lighter Turkish—style saddle allowed for more armour to be used by both the horses and the warriors. Moreover, the horses were bred to be able to run very fast with a heavy load and to recover quickly (Half Arabian horses).

Polish Hussars were also famous for the huge 'wings' worn on their backs or attached to the saddles of their horses. The wings were made of a wooden frame and, most commonly, eagle feathers, although ostrich feathers were also worn.

There are several theories to explain their meaning. According to some they were designed to foil attacks by Tatar lassos; another theory has it that the vibrating of feathers attached to the wings during the charge made a strange sound that frightened enemy horses. In 1970s those theories were however abolished. When an adaptation of The Deluge, a Polish historical novel was made, it revealed that the wings attached to the riders' back almost threw them out of their saddles when their horses went faster than a trot (when attached to the saddle they slowed down the horse greatly). Most probably the wings were used only for parades and other special occasions, but probably never in battle.There is another possibility, however, that the wings were worn to make their own horses deaf to the wooden noise makers used by the Ottoman and the Crimean Tatars. As to the claim made on the US military and History channels by some historians and fiction writers (such as Tom Clancey) that a horse will not charge a wall of pikes, I provide a two—part answer: if the horse's eyes are covered, the horse will charge anything; even if, we assume that a pike held by one man and supported by placing one end in the ground can be at least as long as the lance supported by the joint strenght of a rider and the horse, the share momentum of the horse, the rider, and their armours would make the infnatryman—held pike near useless.^{[citation needed]}

On the other hand, pikes were not thought of in terms of a single soldier. Ranks of pikes, 3 or more, packed as tightly as possible, with the heads at different heights would provide a daunting challenge to cavalry and similar weapons continued to be used against them (see pike squares) into the Napoleanic War.

[edit] Weaponry

The hussars weapons were required to provide their own weapons, except for the lance which was provided by the King.

The hussars were arranged into formations known as kopia, which was also the word for the lances used by the hussars. The lance was the main weapon of the hussar. The lances were based of the Hungarian lance except the Polish lances were longer. They were commonly made from fir-wood, with the lance point being steel. They had a large wooden ball which served as the handle guard. The hussar's lance usually ranged from 4.5 to 5.5. meters. The kopia was adapted over time and eventually made to be hollow as to be lighter.

The hussars also carried a palasz (a type of broadsword) and a koncerz. Later, during the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, sabres became very popular for the hussars to carry. The sabres were known as karabela.

Their armor consisted of light helmets (zischagge), breast plates, back plates and arm protection, either mail sleeves or pauldrons. Their armor was light, usually around 15 kg, allowing them to be quick and for their horses to gallop at full speed.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Polish Winged Hussars

• Reenactment a Polish reenactment information site
• Husaria.us a Los Angeles based Polish Hussar reenactment group and reference library
• [1] The first Los Angeles based website for this portrayal
• About hussar's armor (Polish)

[edit] See also

• Polish cavalry
• Towarzysz
• Towarzysz pancerny
• Poczet
• Pocztowy
• Offices in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth