The first equestrian units of the Poles formed almost at the same time as the Polish state. In the second half of the 10th - beginning of the 11th centuries, Poland on the map of the Middle Ages was a small state. Most of it was occupied by individual Slavic tribes. In the north, the kingdom of Poland bordered on Prussians and knights' orders, in the east - with Kievan Rus, in the south - with the Hungarian kingdom.
Historians know about the so-called "chain guards" of the times of Meshko the First and Boleslav the Brave. Due to its strong cavalry, the kingdom of Poland was not perceived by the Order of the Teutons and Swordsmen as an adversary. But the neighbors - the Lithuanians - before the formation of their own principality did not have heavy horseback formations, but there was light cavalry, armed with darts and batons. Therefore, they could not stop the heavy order of cavalry, which allowed the orders to seize some territories of the Slavs and Prussians.
Polish hussars - irregular cavalry
At the Battle of Grunwald on July 15, 1410, between the Knights' orders and the Kingdom of Poland in alliance with the Principality of Lithuania, the Tatar cavalry made a huge contribution to the victory, which, with its pressure, broke through the defenses of the crusaders.
During the Thirty Years War with Sweden, 1630-1660, the Polish army hired irregular cavalry from Lithuanians, Tatars, Serbs, Hungarians and other nationalities. They were excellent warriors who knew how to use any convenient circumstance, but did not like to fight with the slender ranks of the enemy. However, Sweden, which did not have this kind of troops, was afraid to seriously engage with such cavalry until the approach of the allies - the Zaporozhye Cossacks.
At the beginning of the 16th century, the Polish cavalry consisted of heavily armed horseback units and light irregular units, which included Tatars, Cossacks, Serbs, Lithuanians, Moldavians and other nationalities. These military units have proven themselves in many battles and battles. The creation of Polish cavalry irregular units on an ongoing basis has become a matter of time.
The Commonwealth is a new entity on the map of Europe
When Poland and Lithuania united, the so-called Rzeczpospolita appeared , which needed new cavalry units to protect the southern and eastern borders, lighter than lance, consisting of natural horsemen. The new border defense system was called Obrona Potochna, and Pyotr Myszkowski was appointed its first chief. So the first appeared Polish hussars. At the very beginning of the formation of these military units, foreigners, for example Serbs, were recruited into them, and later they began to take Poles there too.
Hussar units were divided into spearmen and archers, since in the initial stages of organizing border defense there were not enough heavy horsemen. Therefore, light hussar units learned to fight in both dense and loose formations.
A little later, the hussars became common military formations throughout the Commonwealth. The Polish army owned them along with the knightly cavalry. Each lancer or comrade (in Polish means "companion") was obliged to appear in the army along with several archers, who were called paholiki. There could be from 2 to 14 people or more. There were often cases when a lancer could come by himself, without accompanying persons. Weapons were bought by a comrade because the weapons were diverse.
In the mid-16th century, due to the massive proliferation of firearms in Europe, the demand for heavy cavalry is rapidly declining. Therefore, the famous Polish king Stefan Batory, the cleverest diplomat and skilled commander, began to reform the army, including the cavalry.
The origin of the elite Polish cavalry units
The hussar units famous among the Polish gentry are gradually turning into cuirassier cavalry. These elite compounds began to accept wealthy landowners. Each of them was supposed to bring with them 4 paholiks. Polish winged hussars were required to possess a good horse. Going to war, they were obliged to wield a spear, armor and elbow pads, a helmet, a short gun, a saber or broadsword. As a rule, comrades put on the skins of various animals on top of the armor. In old paintings, you can often see how the winged hussar is dressed in the skin of a leopard, leopard, bear, wolf and other animals.
Winged guard
Companions and paholics often wore a wing structure over the lat. It could be the wings of a turkey, eagle or goose. Initially, small wings were made, which were mounted on the backboard or on the bow of the saddle. It is believed that during the movement the feathers made an unpleasant sound for the enemy’s unprepared horses. Enemy horses were furious, refused to obey the orders of the riders - and the enemy system fell into different uncontrolled parts.
In the 17th century, the hussar’s uniform changed: the wings became large and began to attach to the back of the armor and hang over the rider’s head. Thanks to this, the wings have additional features - protecting the horse from the lasso and softening the blow when it falls. Some researchers believe that large wings and animal skins, worn on the armor of a warrior, should have demoralized the opponent. There is historical evidence for this conjecture.
One of the participants in the battle of Vienna in 1683 compared the Polish regiments, in particular the winged cavalry, which led an attack on the Turkish army, with the angelic army that came down from heaven in order to punish sinners. Other historians believe that this tradition came from distant Asia and spread to the Ottoman Empire.
Formation of Polish hussar units
The hussar banner was the elite of the army of the Commonwealth. The captain was managing the banner, his assistant was a lieutenant, the governor was lower, and the shorter command was the smallest command post.
There has never been a lot of winged guards, since it is very expensive to maintain one such warrior (horse, armor and weapons). For the money you could buy a thousand guns and charges for them, or ten 6-pound guns. Therefore, in each army corps there were no more than two regiments or squadrons of winged hussars (no more than 700-800 people).
Equipment of the Polish hussars
The outfitters continued to be equipped at the expense of their comrades; they armed themselves with a variety of weapons. Horse compounds numbered 50-120 cavalry. While in European states, copies were gradually abandoned, winged hussars continued to use them. The length of the spear was 6-6.5 meters, and it was a very formidable weapon.
In the 17th century, firearms were still primitive. After firing a pistol or shotgun from a long distance, a bullet very rarely hit the target, and reloading took a lot of time. At the same time, the winged hussar managed to overcome the distance to the enemy and, with his multi-meter spear, demolished the enemy, who did not have time to reload the weapon and could not get a saber or sword, which still could not withstand the length of the spear and the force of the cavalry strike.
In many historical battles, thanks to this fact, bloody battles were won, for example, the battle of Klushino in 1610 against the Swedes or the battle with the Russians near Chudovo in 1660.
In addition to spears, the hussar had a saber, a 1.7-meter-long sword for piercing enemy armor and two pistols mounted in holsters at the saddle's bows.
The hussar’s uniform was very beautiful, he had gilded images on his chest: on the left - the Virgin, on the right - the Catholic cross. But in addition to beauty, he had to protect his master. Hussar armor could withstand a direct shot from the musket at a distance of twenty steps, and from the back they were impenetrable for a direct shot from a pistol.
Disadvantages of the Polish Hussars
However, without auxiliary infantry and light cavalry, the winged hussar turned out to be easy prey for the lightly armed horseman, who, having the ability to maneuver, left the hussar's strike line and beat him from the flank or rear. It was in this way that Polish troops were defeated, which included the hussar units of General Gordon, under the command of Sokolnitsky and Baron Odt in the battle of Slobodishche with the Zaporozhye Cossack regiments.
Also, one fact is known in official history when Marshal Wallenstein prayed to King Sigismund III to send him not the promised 10,000-12,000 winged hussars, but as many Cossacks.
Polish hussar as a prototype of the Russian Horse Guards
Polish winged horsemen became the prototype when the first Russian hussar elite cavalry was created in the first half of the 17th century. The Russian hussar detachment of 735 horsemen was created in 1634. It consisted of three cavalry groups under the command of Prince Khovansky, Prince Meshheretsky and captain Rylsky. This unit served in Tula.
In history, a case is known when in 1654 about one thousand winged hussars under the command of Kilsky crossed to the Russian side.
18th century Poland and the Napoleonic army
At the turn of the 18-19 centuries, the Polish units, together with the French troops carried out military campaigns against Italy and Germany. These military formations were called the Danube and Italian legions. It was they who became the basis for the creation of the famous Vistula Legion. In 1809, the Polish army of the 18th century was replenished with two hussar regiments created by Marshal Poniatowski in Galicia. But in 1812, Ponyatovsky commanded three hussar divisions. Of course, these were not those winged hussars that terrified medieval Europe, but light cavalry.
Also, the Polish hussars served in parts of the Napoleonic troops:
- two hussar regiments as part of Brunus corps;
- one regiment of hussars in the Subervi brigade;
- in 1813-1814, the Polish light cavalrymen were in the state of the 8th corps of Poniatowski and in the 4th corps of Kelerman.
The regiments of the Polish army were valued among Napoleonic marshals. For example, the corps of Poniatowski, who advanced to the Old Smolensky tract, forced Field Marshal Kutuzov to retreat from the Shevardinsky redoubt on September 5, 1812. This was the beginning of the battle of Borodino, in which the Poles were able to successfully take the village of Utitsa.
Poland and its cavalry in the 20th century
After the defeat and overthrow of Napoleon in 1814, Poland was practically absent on the map of Europe. It was divided into parts between Russia and Austria-Hungary, as well as the Prussian Kingdom.
Poland gained its independence only in 1917, at the same time it again formed the hussar horse regiments. Although back in 1914, the Polish hussar units fought against the Russian Empire on the side of Austria. The Polish legion was then commanded by Pilsudski. These same hussars took an active part in the civil war in Russia in Siberia under the army of Kolchak. Hussar units were seen in battles with the army of Tukhachevsky in 1920.
The history of the Polish winged hussars ended in 1939, after a month of bloody battles and cavalry attacks with sabers against tanks, the capital of Poland, Warsaw, was surrendered.
Interesting historical facts about winged hussars
In the 16-19 centuries, Polish hussar cavalrymen bore two more interesting names: in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth they were called Elears, and enemies were called flying hussars, who, because of the wings behind their backs, really flew over the battlefield.
Also, flying hussars amazed everyone with their appearance. Reached ridiculous oddities. So, the troops of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, who became near Kazan, were very confused when they saw foreign Cossacks - hussars, hung with feathers and skins of various animals, from leopards to bears. Most soldiers thought they saw Indians in front of them, not modern cavalrymen.
As in our time, almost all children want to become paratroopers or astronauts, so at the beginning of the 19th century, almost all Polish youth wanted to be hussars. But it was an elite unit, the best were taken there. They were obliged to have high growth and athletic build, good cavalry and military training, as well as decent financial resources, since the hussar had to dress beautifully and expensively (the elite after all!), Contain a horse, and sometimes several horses, possess all necessary equipment and weapons, and the last but not least factor - fearlessness. After all, it was not for nothing that Lannes, the marshal of the Napoleonic army, said at one time that the hussar, who was thirty years old and had not yet been killed, was a waste, not a hussar.
The memory of winged cavalry
But winged hussars are not completely gone. For the Polish people, these warriors were noble, courageous and brave defenders of their country and their land. For their time, these equestrian units were indeed the “absolute weapon” in the solution of various military conflicts.
The noble and elite winged guard regiments are deeply remembered not only by the Poles, but also by all the inhabitants of neighboring states. They were and remain the national heroes of all generations of Polish youth.
Even now, in our time, in the Polish army there is a combat unit of helicopters called “Winged Hussar”. Recently, these helicopters have undergone deep modernization and rearmament with anti-tank missiles and new fire control systems. This Polish helicopter is considered one of the best combat aircraft in the world .