In our prosaic and utilitarian age, when the military personnel of most states even go to dismissal in camouflage, it is difficult to imagine those times when the uniform was bright and expressed with one look its constant readiness to be brave in everything - in love, drink and death. Among the military vestments, the hussar uniform embroidered with cords was especially distinguished. It cannot be confused with any other form.
Where did the hussars come from
In fact, hussars first appeared not in Russia, but in Hungary, although it was precisely this kind of cavalry that managed to gain fame for Russian weapons in many wars, especially in the Napoleonic ones. As early as the fifteenth century, the so-called light Magyar riders. The morphology of the name of these troops has the Hungarian root "gus", meaning the number "20" in translation. Why it happened, philologists and historians are at a loss to explain today, but there are two main versions. According to one, few volunteered to go to the light cavalry, so every twentieth was taken for good luck. The second option concerns the rule according to which every feudal lord had to send one serf to every army from every twenty yards.
Then, after the Battle of Mochac in 1526, in which the Hungarians, Czechs and Croats were defeated by the Ottoman army, the hussars began to appear in different countries, in particular in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, where their distinguished wings were behind, very beautiful, but significantly reducing the fighting qualities of a rider.
The emergence of hussars in Russia
In Russia, this kind of cavalry appeared in the pre-Petrine era, its ancestor is Christopher Rylsky, a Pole, nobleman, who entered the service "service foreigner." His company acted quite successfully on the southern borders and in the suppression of riots. But the truly light Russian cavalry became an effective force when immigrants (Wallachians, Hungarians, Serbs and Georgians) appeared dressed in doloman. This happened during the reign of Anna Ioannovna, who invited foreigners to serve the Russian crown, and at the same time to share the features of tactics and methods of warfare.
Want to be beautiful - become a hussar
The Russian army is characterized by many borrowings of various useful, beautiful and convenient pieces used by other armies, sometimes even hostile ones. For example, the cap and the Circassian turned out to be like after the Caucasian wars, the word "there!", Meaning the acceptance of the command for execution, comes from the English "Yes, sir!" This beautiful sewing, galloons and, of course, twisted cords on the chest could not leave indifferent the military authorities and subordinate personnel. There were no substitutes then, real gold threads were required so that they would not fade from rains and other bad weather, these clothes should always look impeccable. Needless to say, the hussar uniform “flew a pretty penny”, and belonging to this privileged branch of the army testified to both wealth and aristocratic origin. For example, the famous cavalry-girl Durova was forced to serve in the Lithuanian Lancers Regiment; she, in the modern language, “did not pull” the Mariupol Hussars.
Doloman, sewn according to the charter
The main element that distinguishes the hussar uniform is called doloman. Despite the fact that the equipment was the concern of the military themselves, this short jacket was sewn in a very specific pattern, observing all the peculiarities of the colors of the regiment in which it was to serve. The word itself comes from the Hungarian “dulam,” which in turn has a Turkish etymology. This jacket reached only to the waist, the collar was upright, and there were certainly fifteen transverse twisted cords. In case of cold weather, which often happens with us, there was also a mentic, a jacket with a fur trim. The cords were fastened both on the doloman and on the mentics with the help of convex massive buttons. Different military units differed in the colors of the material from which the dolgans were sewn. They were white uniforms with yellow cuffs and galloons for the already mentioned Mariupol regiment, or dark green ones with turquoise cuffs and Pavlogradsky’s collar. How many hussar units - so many colors, and each of them, of course, became a matter of pride for each warrior. To drop the honor of a native regiment is worse than death. It was useless to look for cowards here.
Other items of hussar equipment
With all its significance, dolomans are not all the clothes of a hussar. At a minimum, we need leggings (sewn from cloth with buttons on the outer seams with leather inserts for the saddle), boots (short, in winter with a fur trim) raincoats (gray, with a standing collar and one button). There was also such a thing as a frog (bandoleer on a bandage) for bullets. A sack, a flat bag of the same purpose, of more operational use, was worn over the other shoulder.
And, of course, a shako. He was the same as an infantryman, but with a feather sultan, burdock and etiquettes (twisted cords). During the Patriotic War of 1812, our hussars often wore higher and dandy trophy shakos, attaching copper double-headed Russian eagles to them. This was forbidden by the charter, but the authorities showed indulgence to the heroes, looking at these pranks through their fingers.