The Polish Winged Hussars and the ‘Military Revolution’ in the East | Evolution of Warfare

Polish wingless stars dominated Eastern European theaters of war for much of the early modern period, while Western European warcraft of this period relied on pike-based infantry tactics and heavy shooting. Eastern armies continue to rely on cavalry on the battlefields of Italy and France. Germany and Flanders heavy cavalry, such as knights and lancers, found a counterattack in the combination of pikes and muskets. According to historian Jeffrey Parker, the battles of Western Europe were mainly won with infantry in Eastern Europe, on the contrary, cavalry remained key, not only was the Polish cavalry in particular frequently outmatched. the muscovites and ottomans on their

east

ern and southern fronts respectively, but also defeated western powers such as the swedes under gustavus adolphus, so some scholars argue that early modern western

military

doctrine lacked a crucial component, viz. a cavalry unit like the Polish Star Wing that frequently and successfully charged home with steel in hand it is not surprising that the Star Winged eventually influenced the art of Western

warfare

and did so in a lasting way to properly understand this development the period between 1550 and 1620 is key this video will analyze how contemporary historiography analyzes the first successes of the

polish

lithuanian who stars in september 1605 carl 9th ​​of sweden abandoned the siege of riga and pursued a small

polish

force by the divine the swedes reached to the poles near the town of kircholm historian and expert on the polish-swedish wars robert frost highlights the fact that on the morning of september 27 carl's 11,000 men were arranged in squares of 30 by 30 men arranged in a typical Western four-line order of battle with four infantry battalions in the first line and six in the third line, fearing the superiority of the enemy cavalry, Carl had his own horsemen forming the second and fourth lines to charge and retreat through Their own formation, the Poles under their leader Jan Karal Kordkievich brought a completely different army to the battlefield, numbering only 3,600 men. in total 2,600 of which were cavalry and 1,000 infantry, being outnumbered almost three to one, the Poles intended to remove the Swedes from their superior position, Kotkiewicz sent his light cavalry to a skirmish between the two armies and ordered his forces closing ranks so he looked even smaller than he was after four hours of waiting he pretended to retreat unwilling to let the poles escape karl pushed towards the plane the swedish cavalry of the second line deployed on the wings to provide flanking cover while the infantry of the first line closed and advanced to the end of the slope with nine field guns.

The Poles who had been waiting for exactly this move suddenly turned their horses and crashed into one of the Swedish infantry squares. This was not intended to subdue the Swedish infantry but to cause disorder throughout. The Poles were aware that they had to win on the flanks. They quickly attacked with numbers particularly on the Polish Lithuanian left supported by constant fire from 900 to 1,200 infantry. who sars and Cossack horsemen charged against 720 Swedish cavalrymen who were protecting the flanks of Charles' army after a brief resistance the Swedish cavalry was destroyed and while the infantry of the third line fled in disorder in half an hour the Swedish cavalry retreated by both flanks while the Lithuanian light cavalry pursued them the

hussars

were able to attack the infantry in the Swedish center the Swedish infantry were now separated into three groups facing combined attacks from the firepower of the Polish infantry and the shock attacks of the

hussars

the The result was a massacre the Swedish infantry was largely massacred where Kirchholm was just one of The Poles achieved many decisive victories throughout the so-called Northern Wars and a series of conflicts fought in northern and north

east

ern Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries;

However, despite such successes, many historians, including the Swede Peter Mikhail Englund, have noted that the heavy reliance on heavy cavalry was a characteristic of a supposed eastern backwardness. This view on heavy spearmen was shared by many contemporary Western tacticians, for example the famous Orange Maori, who made significant advances in contemporary tactics, completely banned the use of mounted spearmen in their

military

reforms of the Dutch Army of 1597. Because views like Maurits's were so dominant, many saw heavy cavalry as a medieval veteran unfit for the early modern battlefield. All this has been widely discussed in the debate on the military

r

evolution

.

A modern research paradigm analyzing changes in

warfare

and their impact on modernization. From society at large, Michael Roberts and Jeffrey Parker, among many, published extensively on this topic and generally argued that the Spanish, Dutch and Swedish reforms were of utmost importance in changing the war; On the contrary, in his opinion, the eastern states did not adopt the so-called gunpowder and infantry. sufficient

r

evolution

, this means that they did not depend on infantry equipped with pikes and muskets and only built a few star-shaped fortresses, that is, modern Italian-style forts with thick walls that could withstand artillery fire for a long time;

However, more recent academic work tends to disagree. with the feeling of eastern backwardness robert frost, for example, considering the events of the battle of kirchholm note quote sarcastically if eastern european methods were backward, they were remarkably effective end of quote this raises the question of what exactly made the Polish heavy cavalry were as effective and how exactly they deal with Western pike and shot tactics. The origins of the Polish Heavy Hussars lie in a lighter cavalry unit confusingly called Hussars. These lighthouse stars were mainly found in Serbia, Ukraine and Russia. The Polish Heaviosaurus is sometimes also known as medium cavalry.

Therefore, only during the 16th and 17th centuries, Frost argues that they were not the last remnants of the Middle Ages, but quite the opposite, their techniques and weaponry were a response to changes in contemporary warfare, as were formations. Westerners of pikes and shot from the Poles. The stars were mounted on a cross between relatively small but very fast and quite resistant eastern and western horses. These mounts were different from the medieval steed or the slower, heavier mounts used by contemporary Western horsemen. The main weapon of the

winged

stars was the spear in question. One and a half meters longer than a medieval variant, however, it was built much lighter, which meant that strength was sacrificed for weight, as a result the Polish spear often broke on contact, but in reality they were intended to do exactly what the hussars used to attack repeatedly.

When the Alans broke, they simply got a new one from the supply train for clashes with the cavalry. The hussars usually issued a straight and pointed sword, similar to a rapier, but rigid and much longer, which was used as a kind of spear held in front of the enemy. soldier, each hussar also wielded the curved saber which inflicted devastating slashing wounds, especially on unprotected infantry. Finally, many of those carrying bows much lighter than the firearms used by Western cavalry, could be shot while galloping by an expert horseman, furthermore, they could be fired in any direction and over the heads of the front ranks of a formation. that a firearm could not later the hussars also carried pistols some scholars think that polish tactics only worked in the east michael roberts and richard halley, for example, both pointed to the vast plains and steps of the east as ideal terrain for the Polish tactics and the constant threat of Tatar raiders from the south who were very capable of attacking the heart of the Polish-Lithuanian community the Tatars reached Bresclitovsk in 1500 Minsk in 1505 and further to Vilno in 1510 The arrival of the Ottomans in the south of The Carpathians after 1526 meant that the Poles were facing another great power, so it is true that cavalry was essential for both Polish Lithuanian and Muscovite defense against the constant threat of Tatar attacks.

It was also of great importance. importance in the operation against the Turks, but it is simply a mistake to think that the Polish stars only fought in the steps of the northern wars the Poles and the Muscovites fought against the Swedes around the Baltic Sea the terrain of this region is radically different from the eastern passes roughly at the latitude of scotland but without the benefits of a maritime climate which softens scottish winters the climate around the baltic sea is continental summers are short and hot winters are long and cold, heavy rain dominates in spring and autumn, often making the few, poor roads almost impassable, although the terrain is relatively flat, much of it was forest or bulk and drained by an immense network of rivers and lakes, but even in these conditions, Polish cavalry units led to military success given the great distances these armies had to cover between each other.

Their main areas of operation the cavalry was actually superior to the slow moving infantry in a direct line Vilno and Slomansk are 430 kilometers apart Asma is 580 kilometers from Vilno and 625 kilometers from Bryansk In addition to these in early modern terms vast Distances The nature of the terrain added to the advantage of cavalry Robert Frost's notes quote as late as 1750 half of Lithuania consisted of forests and swamps in the border areas with Moscow, where most of the fighting took place. , this increased to 70, so it seems that the cavalry was not backward at all. It fit these specific conditions very well.

Another recurring argument for the supposed delay of the war in the East was the absence of Italian-style star fortresses and the assumption that the war in the East consisted mainly of pitched battles, although it is true that in Eastern Europe there were few structures. defensive. In the design of the star fortress, the strongpoints that existed were of vital importance, they usually controlled important roads; However, as in the west, pitched battles were quite rare, with most fighting occurring in and around major cities or in raids, with cavalry traditionally playing a minor role. In siege warfare, a siege in the west would force the army to dig extensive earthworks to secure its position.

These trench systems were called contra and circumvallation and required a lot of work to build, maintain and defend in the east, however, the cavalry served to secure the besieger's positions against enemy sorties. or the cavalry of the relief forces was therefore anything but useless in siege warfare, as is often perceived at Cokenhausen in 1601, for example, Polish cavalry defeated a Swedish relief army by maintaining the direction of the siege Cavalry was also beneficial for advanced defense, for example in disrupting or distracting relief operations. In 1581 during the Livonian War, 5,600 Polish army covered the eastern flank of the Polish army under the command of King Bhattori against the attacking Muscovites, forcing them to march in a wide arc northeast toward Novogorod, away from the main direction of their operations, meanwhile, 2,000 A strong Polish force invaded Muscovy as far as the opera house.

Another vital benefit of cavalry units was their ability to secure supplies, as in the west the Poles brought huge trains of supplies to sieges, but it was often impossible to feed a large body of men for a long period. The problems of transportation over long distances, especially in the rainy autumn, did not tempt merchants to make the long journey with more supplies, so the army had to search for food in very distant places. This was done by teams of carters and servants escorted around the Calvary to protect and enforce the supply of the locals during the siege of mockery in October 1581, the surveys ordered each company to send a fifth of their forces to form groups of 120 horse assault.

These units managed to hold the army before the mocking walls for five months from an astonishingly wide area while venturing further and further to find supplies in September 1581 they traveled 40 to 70 kilometers in one direction in December 210 to 280 kilometers in January up to 350 kilometers in one direction The round trip tookalmost a month. An infantry army would have abandoned the siege or starved. These supply problems made it difficult to keep a large force together over a period of time, as well as quickly gather a large army to defend against an incoming attack. a pitched battle was almost impossible in these vast territories, so the major pitched battles that took place were almost always the result of attempts to relieve besieged cities;

However, if there was a pitched battle, the Poles demonstrated that their cavalry was very capable of defeating the enemies. A famous example is the Battle of Crushino, on July 4, 1610, near the village of Klushino, an outnumbered and outgunned Polish army demonstrated that it could go toe-to-toe with a Western-style army of some 5,500 Poles, led by About 1,000 light Cossack cavalry and 200 footmen faced a force of 25 to 30,000 Muscovites and another five to seven thousand Western mercenaries led by the experienced commander Jacob de la Gardie, who spent two years in the Netherlands. Learning from the Maori of Orange, who by the way would later become the tutor of Gustavus Adolphus, the Polish stars, unable to flank the enemy and take advantage of their superior maneuverability, decided to charge the Moscow left flank composed of light cavalry, the head of some units charged.

Against the mass of Moscow horses 8 to 10 times the hussars were hampered by a stockade that had been only partially demolished, the spaces were only large enough for 10 horses to pass in close order, which prevented them from attacking in their usual extended formation, at the same time that the constant fire of the enemy infantry caused numerous casualties to the Moscow horsemen. However, we were beginning to crack, the Swedish cavalry attempted to support them by deploying the so-called snail, a harassment tactic frequently used in the west as they advanced, the hussars exposed this tactic as ineffective. Samuel Maskievich, a contemporary witness, describes his experience in the following way: they gave us the victory because when they came towards us they were in some disarray and immediately having fired their carbines they moved away towards the rear of their formation to reload and the next line advanced firing we did not wait but at that moment everyone had emptied their pieces and seeing that they were beginning to retreat, we charged with only our sabers in our hands.

Not being able to reload while the next rank had not yet fired, they fled, we collided with the entire Moscow force. still arrayed in battle order at the entrance to their camp, plunging them into this order as the Moscow cavalry fled the Poles turned on the Swedes their hussars, many of whom had already smashed their lances, had little chance of defeating the mercenaries. Westerners into Swedish service alone at this point, however, a small force of infantry and two guns that had become stuck Down in the forest arrived to rescue the situation while the infantry and guns fired into the stockade and enemy lines, The Poles sent one of their last companies of USARs whose spears were still intact.

Samuel Maskievich describes it as follows. Quote all Swedish. the foreign infantry was in battle order protected by stakes next to their camp they broke this infantry having attacked it with courage we supported them having broken our lances we could only join the attack with our sabers in our hands end of the meeting the Poles decisively defeated the swedes enter mercenaries historian robert frost notes quote vela gardee had instructed Moscow troops in Western methods, especially pike tactics, and there were native Moscow units of Western-style mounted archibazirs led by foreigners at the end of the clicheno quote concluding quote si klushino proved something was that Western methods were not magic elixir end of quote klushino demonstrated that Eastern tactics in general and cavalry in particular were not out of fashion, they were not an ancient vestige of the bygone medieval era, similar to the tactics of pike and shot in the west, was an eastern response to the new problems posed by the evolution of early times.

However, in modern warfare, in 1621, 11 years later, Gustavus Adolphus entered the scene. His reformed Swedish army posed a new challenge to the Poles. own cavalry to charge home with steel in hand instead of using the caracone thus imitating the Poles in that sense, but how Gustavus managed to deal with the star enamel will be explained in detail and how this affected his later campaigns in Germany during the 30 years war. covered in two separate videos, however, even when facing the reformed army of the Swedish king, the hussars did not become useless, they were still invaluable in battles, traits and ambushes, the

winged

stars would continue to achieve victories for many years, the most famous perhaps in Vienna in 1683, when the Ottomans almost conquered the city but then the winged hussars arrived.