Polish Hussars

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Polish hussar first half of XVI century

The Polish Hussars (Polish: Husaria) were the main part of the 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 most famous elite unit of the Commonwealth.

1 History
2 History
3 Tactics
4 Gallery
5 See also

[edit] History

Commonwealth Hussar. Painting by Aleksander Orłowski.

[edit] History

The word hussar (IPA: /həˈzɑːr, həˈsɑːr/, or /hʊ-/) derives from the Hungarian huszár. Originally, it derives from the Serbian word gusar (Cyrillic: гусар) meaning bandit, pirate. Initially 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 the 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. While light hussars were adopted by all European militaries to counter infantry and artillery, the most spectacular were the heavy hussars of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Hussar origins we find in bands of Serbian warriors crossing into southern Hungary after the Ottoman invasion on Serbia in late 14th and 15th centuries. "The hussar concept began in Serbia, near the end of the 14th century. In the 16th century, 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. In 1500, the Polish Treasury books make reference to hussars. Early on, they were foreign mercenaries, and were called Racowie from 'Rascia' 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). By the reign of King Stefan Batory 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.

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 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 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.

With the Battle of Lubiszew in 1577 the 'Golden Age' of the husaria began. Until 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 have also suffered occasional defeats, particularly during the Chmielnicki Uprising (Battle of Żółte Wody, 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.

[edit] Tactics

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 szabla (sabre), 1 or 2 pistols, and often with a carbine or arquebus, known in Polish as a bandolet.

Polish Hussars were also famous for the huge 'wings' worn on their backs or attached to the saddles of their horses. 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. However, experiments carried out by re-enactors and movie-makers since the 1970s and more recently by Polish historians in 2001 contradict such ideas. Possibly the wings were worn only during parades and not during combat, but this explanation is also disputed.