Waclaw Pawliszak - malarz

 Salvete Omnes,

[in Polish]

Pisalem juz wczesniej o Waclawie Pawliszaku (1866-1905) - tutaj, tutaj i tutaj .. 

A wczoraj, 18 stycznia, minęła kolejna rocznica zastrzelenia/postrzelenia ze skutkiem śmiertelnym i śmierci  19 stycznia  imć Wacława Pawliszaka, dobrze rozwijającego się polskiego malarza rodzajowego, zabitego strzalem w glowe z rewolweru Smith & Wesson przez wschodzą gwiazdę rzeźby polskiej Xawerego Dunikowskiego, którego cień  położy się na XX wiecznej rzeźbie polskiej.

Na wstępie artykuł z ''Nowości Ilustrowane'', z Krakowa (wtedy zabór austro-węgierski), z 28 stycznia 1905roku - 

I przy okazji trochę grafik i skanów obrazów mości Wacława z Muzeum Narodowego w Warszawie  i z Biblioteki Narodowej, jej wersji cyfrowej zwanej  Polona.

Pacem aeternam

Valete

Uhlans and lance circa 1760 -Anne Brown Military Collection

 Salvete Omnes,

a quick post - the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection (Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library) contains a vast number of military-related images from various periods.
In this 13 print collection by Johann Georg Hertel and Carl August Grossman we can 'corral' 5 prints that may show the Polish cavalrymen (Lithuanian Tatars et al) in the service of the -Polish-Saxon kings up until 1763 (when Augustus III died and uhlan regiments were recalled). The date - 1765 - is approximately one year after for these cavalry units to have been returned to Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, where they were re-incorporated into the army.
these three are the most telling as to a hypothesis that they show Polish uhlans from the Saxon royal army:

So in these three prints we can see kurtka, kontusz, katanka, szarawary, dzida (lance),and old Polish customs of head shaving and bowing as a sign of respect - kronoskaf side dedicated to the 7 Years War has two of these lance-bearing regiments described and reconstructed via illustrations - here and here.  

Nota bene according to the  sources the first time these Polish-Lithuanian Tatar lance cavalry banner were called uhlan cavalry occured in 1735. Upon capitulation of the Saxon army at Pirna in 1754 our king had three uhlan regiments - Rudnicki (fully Czymbaj Murza Rudnicki), Renard (who replaced Bronikowski) and Wilczewski - in Polish Crown territory.  In 1756 two regiments - Rudnicki and Renard - marched to join the Saxon corps in the Hapsburg Austrian army (they participated in the famous raid on Berlin under general Hadik) , while Wilczewski's regiment stayed in Poland. During the war additional uhlan regiment was created and by the winter 1762 there were four  royal uhlan regiments - the commander of one, count Renard, returned with the Saxon royal troops to Saxony, and those four uhlan regiments were led by four commanders - Jozef Bielak, Mustafa Korycki, Jozef Chojecki and Ahmed Skirmott.*
Thus in the early Spring of 1763 the story of Polish-Lithuanian uhlans on the Saxon royal kings service ended, and they rejoined the Polish-Lithuanian armies.

valete

*article by Grzegorz Szymborski, Jak Tatarzy ulanow stworzyli-historia polskiej fromacji wojskowej - many thanks Grzegorz.
Borawski Piotr, Tatarzy w dawnej Rzeczpospolitej, Warszawa 1986

Borawski&Dubinski, Tatarzy polscy. Dzieje , obrzedy, legendy, Warszawa 1986

 Ciesielski Tomasz, Armia koronna w czasach Augusta III, Warszawa 2009

Kryczynski Stanislaw, Tatarzy Litewscy, Rocznik Tatarski, vol.III, 1938

Trabski Maciej, Pulki przedniej strazy wojska koronnego w latach 1768-94.  Chorzow 2012

Grunwald 1410-2020

Salvete Omnes,
 

today's date - 15th of July - or the date of the battle of Grunwald is still very important for the Polish collective memory, traditions and history  (also in the memory of Belarus - known as Бі́тва пад Гру́нвальдам,  and Lithuanian - known as Žalgiris ).
 

Priest Jan Długosz, Wieniawa coat of arms and the most important Polish XV century chronicler, wrote a detailed  account of the battle  - in the link the English translation from de re militari site.

I would like to point that  the allied army under king Wladyslaw III Jagiello included between 1000 to 3000 Tatars of the Golden Horde under their emir Saladin Jalal al Din son of khan Tokhtamysh. At that time this princeling was a refugee from the civil wars inside the Horde and had been a vassal to prince Vitold of Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In fact, in 1411 Jalal al Din made his claim to the throne of the Golden Horse and did become the khan of the Golden Horde, albeit for a very short period.
 
The end of the XIV century was the time of the trek and settlement of various  groups of Muslim Tatars under their emirs and mirzas in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. They became one of the most frightful subjects within the realm and some of their descendants  live in eastern Polish Republic today.

 Vae victis

It took several more wars and the Reformation to finally end the Order rule in the Baltics, the state became secular duchy ruled by prince Albrecht Hohenzollern and as the so called Ducal Prussia the humble vassal to the Polish kings, this status lasted until AD 1657... ( I will not bore you with the details as you can easily read more on many Wikipedia pages devoted to the Prussia's history ).
So let us remember the event, its symbolic significance, marvel at the art devoted to its memory and pray for the souls of our ancestors.
 
Valete!

Defilada 2018 - winged hussars via Wataha Press lense

Salvete Omnes,

Radoslaw Sleszynski

continuing with the Polish Armed Forces parade in Warsaw 2018 I had asked Wataha Press from Poland, photoreporting group, and got their consent to share with you several of their staff photographer's pictures from the said parade - this being photographer Gosia Piotrowska.

ensign Wieslaw Wojciechowski

his beautiful mare

you can view more photos here
 For the first time in the history of XXI century reenactment the marching winged hussars were accompanied by reconstructed  mounted tympanist and trumpeters. Alex Jarmula was reenacting hetman's ensign (as shown in the famous Altomonte's painting showing battle of Vienna 1683)

During this parade Polish reenactors also portrayed horse archers - Polish Tatars -and pancerni medium cavalry of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth period.
During the parade the two types of infantry of the same period were  beautifully reenacted, I especially loved the Polish style infantry.
Valete!
all images@Wataha Press
ps
Marek Kalasinski's photos of Wieslaw Wojciechowski

***

Tadeusz Grabarczyk - Po racku, po husarsku z przyprawa tatarska...

Salve,
I forgot to add this link some time ago and I would like to correct my negligence today -
namely, profesor Tadeusz Grabarczyk was kind enough to 'publish' on his academia. edu page one of his  late medieval military history articles  titled ''Po racku, po husarsku, z przyprawą tatarską - początki przemian wojskowości polskiej u schyłku XV wieku'' or ''In the 'Serbian' manner, in the hussar one, with the Tatar equipment - the beginning of changes in Polish military at the end of XV century.''

Set during the  reign of our two Jagiellon  brothers - Jan I Olbracht and Aleksander I Jagiellon, the period saw the dawn of new era in the Polish military,  including the emergence of the winged hussar horseman in the Kingdom of Poland in the late XV century.
Setting the 'Serbian' horsemen aside, sorry, let me move to the hussar question. So, our author quotes a roll document from AD 1498 which is a description of a cavalryman armed and present for the roll ' in hussar manner' - ''item Kalbel podnym kon plesnywy zryza nanym panczer hunskop pekelhaub plechowicze trcze drzewcze po hussarsku.'' (a horseman named Kalbel, [mounted on] a roan horse, armour, mail coif, pekilhube helmet, maile[?] gaunlets/mittens, shield, light lance [serving] in hussar manner) This is probably one of the earliest instances of a hussar warrior and his equipment serving for the Polish king that is surviving in our Polish sources.

Also, the author points that in the late XV and early XVI centuries in Polish and Hungarian Kingdoms there was a clear distinction between the 'Serbian' horsemen - armed with shield and lance, and horsemen armed in hussar manner - with armour, lance and shield.

The Tatar armament/equipment aspect of this article has to do with the mercenary service of some Tatar horsemen who served as mounted archers within some of  the 'lances' of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania companies. Interestingly in the surviving sources quoted by the author the Tatar-equipped horsemen rode geldings, a trait characteristic of the Turco-Tatar peoples of the Eurasian steppe and their preference for the geldings in warfare.
 

enjoy

Uhlan - Kurhannoversches Scheither-Corps Ulan circa 1760

Salve,
quite interesting image surfaced on the Web - namely Wikipedia Commons - of an Uhlan (with a lance etc) that is described as a member of the Hanoverian army, a light cavalry unit known as Scheither-Corps (1758). Hanover fought on the side of Prussia and United Kingdom during the Seven Years War. However, the Seven Year War Project known as ''kronoskaf'' has a page devoted to the Scheither-Corps and there is no mention of any Uhlans.

He is dressed in a peculiar set of clothes, but his red 'czapka' with fur trim and feather (?) adornment, his red leather boots, red pants or ''szarawary'' are typical of the period for the Polish and Turkish cavalry, but the red dolman under his kaftan (by the way I think the artist had no concept of a ''kontusz'' or a kaftan with empty sleeves like the ancient Median kantuš) is more akin to the Bosniaken (Bosniaks),

light cavalry  with the Prussia,   armed with pikes/lances, sabre, perhaps pistols or carbine too.

In any event this uhlan reflects the fashion of Polish military of the first half of the XVIII century, although the dolman is a novum, for our Polish uhlans would wear a żupan under their kontusz or kurtka.  The similar uniforms were worn by the Polish Uhlans in Saxon service ( kronoskaf has two units reconstructed here and here), Gallica has an image of one Polish uhlan from 1736 (he appears to be wearing a kurtka), and there the uniform colours and lance pennon are generally the same (more on these early uhlans in the future) , so perhaps this horseman represents some rouge company that served with the Hanoverians, after having been taken prisoner or switched service under more profitable circumstances?

I like the way this artist represented the mount of this light cavalryman - a rather smaller, spirited war horse, and by the way a Luckner Hussar rides a similar horse, while perhaps it worth observing that quite similar mounts would appear in de Warnery's work on cavalry.

I should add that this uhlan is most likely  a towarzysz (following Polish miltiary tradition and enlistment), or a noble trooper thus armed with lance, as opposed to a pocztowy (retainer/trooper) that was armed with a carbine (cavalry musket) etc.

The officers of the 'Saxon'- Polish uhlan regiments wore a bow case hanging from their belts, perhaps a sing of their noble Tatar and equestrian tradition.

Finally, I played with this Uhlan a little bit, sketching with an ink pen (enjoying my manga Kuretake pen nibs & Hero manga fountain pen), and in the left corner included a sketch of the szarawary as they appeared in the period art, showing Polish cavalry etc. I did not give him a lance etc, as more sketches will come, I hope.

Enjoy

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth riders in de Bruyn's album - part II

Salve,

today I will share with you some more images by Abraham de Bruyn depicting the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth nobles and military figures. Today's display shows more Polish and Hungarian nobles, as well as includes horse warriors that also served in the Commonwealth forces: Hungarians, Wallachians, Tatars etc.
Hungarians, often present in Polish military, came en masse with king Bathory and distinguished themselves throughout his Livonian War and earlier, in the war with Royal city of Gdańsk.

Lithuanian and Ruthenian horsemen belong to cavalry units known then as 'jazda kozacka' and came from the equestrian nobility of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, today Belarus and Ukraine and yes, parts of Russia.  The 'jazda kozacka' also could and did include newly arrived settlers like Circassians and older populations like Polish Tatars.

..Lithuanian horseman  with a lance

.. Polish horseman,  perhaps a hussar retainer

.. Hungarian noble

.. Hungarian costume

.. typical Hungarian hussar

.. Wallachian hussar

..Wallachian light horsemen

.. Tatar

.. another image of a Tatar

..and another Ruthenian carrying a rohatyna lance

Additionally, our Commonwealth forces also included nobles, their retainers, and mercenary warriors from German speaking parts of Poland (Poland had large population of emigrants from war-torn Holy Roman Empire) and the Holy Roman Empire (including Polish speaking Silesia and Duchy of Pomerania). During XVI century large parts of the Commonwealth dressed in the same fashions as the German states, and newly acquired Livonian states had mostly German-speaking nobility dressed as in German states, so the Germans in de Bruyn's plates should be included as well. The third installment will include these plates.
ps
top image shows Polish noble and his retainer carrying a tuck

Risâle-i Tatar-i-Lech - Tatars of Poland 1557 AD

Salve,
I have not written specifically yet about the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Tatars but here and there I have been making references to their presence in our Polish history and culture.

 ''Risâle-i Tatar-i-Lech'' or the "Treatise on the Tatars of Poland" (not Lithuania!, mind you -:) ) is a Turkish language manuscript written in 1557/8 by an anonymous Polish Tatar pilgrim (bound for the Holy City of Mecca) for the Grand Vizier Rustem Pasha Opukovic (minister to greatest Ottoman emperor Kānūnī Sultān Suleimān). I re-discovered it (for you and I ) and now would like to share with you ( examples of English language  books that mention this work - Muslims in Poland , Religious Language of a Belorussian Tatar Kitab) - caveat - you need to read Polish or translate it word for word for it is a Polish XIX century translation:  Antoni Muchliński, ''Zdanie sprawy o Tatarach litewskich,'' published in ''Teka Wileńska,'' vol 5, 1858 printed by Marcinkowski Print Shop (Wilno -now Vilnus - was one of the centres of Polish culture in XIX century, and our scholar and famous XIX century Orientalist pan Antoni saw no reason to write Polish Tatars in his translation since Polish and Lithuanian were synonyms at that time for one nation - see Adam Mickiewicz, Invocation to 'Pan Tadeusz,' starting O Lithuania, my fatherland! You are like health; , unfortunately the most cruel XX century changed that)
 I will try and translate a few portions of the manuscript as it is an early portrait of our Tatars - and for me, this has more significance because my wife is of the Polish-Lithuanian Tatar ancestry.
                              +++

 But allow me use this happy moment of re-discovering this book and let us turn for a moment to the term ''Lipka Tatars''  as you will find no mention in the 'Risale Tatar-i-Lech' of Lipka (Turkish name for Duchy Lithuanian) in the ''Risâle-i Tatar-i-Lech'' and throw some light on the history of the term - so generously used by Nobel prize winner Henryk Sienkiewicz in his 'Trylogy.' - epic adventure novels set in XVII century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
                               *
The most esteemed Polish-Lithuanian Tatar scholar Stanisław Kryczyński [Radwan Coat of Arms)wrote in his groundbreaking monograph on the history of the Lithuanian Tatars (Warsaw 1938) that the term ''Lipkowie'' (plural for Lipka Tatars, singular is 'Lipek'/Libek') was a loan word from the Crimean Tatar/Ottoman Turkish diplomatic missives  (starting in the 1520s AD) to the Polish Kings [who at them sam time were Grand Dukes of Lithuania], where amongst others  when referring to the history of diplomatic relations between the parties the Turkish clerks called  'Libkanum beyi'  the famous (and quite treacherous but he was playing 'big politcs' with the Holy Roman Empire , Teutonic Knights, Golden Horde and his cousin our king Władysław Jagiellon's treacherous cousin Lithuanian prince Witold Kiejstutowicz (Vitold/Vytatuas but ''Wattad'' in Crimean Tatar), and 'Libka' was the name the Ottoman Sultan and/or the Crimean Khan chanceries used for Duchy of Lithuania .
Thus during the course of XVI century the Ottoman/Crimean writers in their diplomatic letters to Kings of Poland changed the name 'Litva-Tatari' to ''Libka Tatarlar'' and continued using it alone in the correspondence until in the 1650s when the Polish-Lithuanian chancery adopted the Turkish name for out Tatars and finally started using it as well. With the mutiny and rebellion of the Tatar and 'Czeremisi'/Cheremiss companies/banners in 1670s and these rebels crossing over to the Ottomans, the term Libkowie or Lipkowie was adopted into our everyday language denoting these turn-coat Tatar soldiers at first, and then all our Tatars  (variations are 'Libka,' 'Lipka,' 'Łubka,' 'Łupka Tatar')  - said Pan Kryczński.   But this only happened in 1670s and after.
Balkan historian and Ottoman politician Demetrie Kantemir in his "History of Ottoman State" published in 1745 (in German) wrote about this etymological transformation and thus introduced this term to the Western historiography.
Prior to this period -1670s-1740s, our writers, chroniclers, heraldry researchers and diplomats, court documents and private correspondence [ starting in XV century  until the 1650s-70s] used name ''Tatarzy Litewscy'' Lithuanian Tatars (to name a few more famous writers of the XV- mid XVII century period - Jan Długosz, Kromer, hetman Tarnowski, rotmistrz Pretwicz , Bielski, Heidenstein, Strykowski, Paprocki, Pasek, Sobieski, hetman Żólkiewski , Fredro  Łoś etc).

                              *

Another noted Polish-Lithuanian Tatar history scholar pan Piotr Borawski, in his monograph (Warszawa 1986) ''Tatarzy w Dawnej Rzeczypospolitej,'' goes even further and states that term ''Lipkowie'' was used for the Tatar/Cheremiss (Mari)/Cherkiess settlers who settled around castles of Bar (Podolia) now in Ukraine  and Ostróg (Volhynia) now Ostroh in Ukraine and in general around Podole/Podolia abd Wołyń /Volhynia during XVI century about and after Volhynia  became part of the Kingdom of Poland, so technically they were not part of the old , duke Vitold's Lithuanian Tatars, but rather new arrivals from the steppe, from the defunct Golden Horde, the Volga steppe and the north Pontic steppe [one day I will go into the various Tatar entities around the Pontic). He states further that term 'Lipkowie' was used for the Cheremiss settlers (who around 1610 reverted back to pastoralism across Polish Ukraine and further south once again) exclusively  in the Polish primary materials during the period, and later, during the Lipków's Rebellion this generic name  was transformed to the entire Commonwealth Tatar population; and that he is not sure, as sure was Kryczński before him, where the name comes from.   Please note that the majority of the rebellious companies some (3000 soldiers with families) that crossed over to the Ottomans  in 1671/72, came from the Polish Kingdom i.e., Volhynia and Podolia, and not from settlements further to the north, i.e., Duchy of Lithuania.  Also, in light of the  state of historiography in the German states (that prior to Jan Sobieski's reign German language writers had the most knowledge and info on Poland) between XV to mid-XVII centuries regarding Polish Kingdom and its inhabitants, one would be really fishing in the desert expecting that the German chroniclers and writers, contemporary to Jan Dlugosz or Marcin Bielski, or eg  works compiled in Sricptores Rerum Prussicarum, to have used name 'Lipka/Libka' for the Lithuanian Tatars during the XV or XVI centuries.
                              *
   Hence, using term Lipka (again the German variation of our Lipkowie/Lipek) for the  Lithuanian Tatars prior to the Lipka Rebelion of 1671/2 is not consistent with the historiography and it's use for Poland and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, unless it will be used when writing from the position of the Ottoman/Crimean Tatar historiography, and even then it would be appropriate to use it only for the period after 1520s. Especially use of the term 'Lipka' for the Polish-Lithuanian Tatars (often found in the English language books and articles) when referring to XV-XVI century and Polish-Teutonic Order wars is anachronistic and inappropriate.

Polish-Lithuanian towarzysz 1740s

Salve,
Polish-Lithuanian army of first half of XVIII century (time of the Saxon kings, or the so called ''Czasy Saskie'' - Saxon times) is not very well know to the general public, especially the national cavalry, due to various reasons - this blog deals, amongst other things, a bit with the Polish-Lithuanian and Saxon armies of the period, eg polish-lithuanian-army-in-1756-report  Here a discussion in Polish on hussaria history during XVIII century 
am sketching - in MyPaint and Gimp - a Polish-Lithuanian 'towarzysz' (comrade) cavalryman* from 1740s. According to mosci Bronislaw Gembarzewski this image comes from a tabacco box now in the National Museum in Warsaw. He wears a short ''kontusz'' over a ''żupan,'' Turkish style szarawary (shalwar) pants..

Polish-Lithuanian national cavalry or kontuszowa as they were called, used a variety of colorful garments during this period, and eventually the combination of kontusz and żupan with loose fighting pants would give rise to a national uniform during the second half of XVIII century. In these posts - uhlan  & Warnery uhlan I talked a bit about the horses, saddles and cavalrymen of this period.
And here a research article on the Polish-Lithuanian Tatar 'chorągwie' lent into the Saxon service during 1733-64
It should be noted that the article on the Saxon uhlans is but a sketch on the history of Polish-Lithuanian cavalry in Saxon service, and as such is incomplete, offers incorrect names of the commanders and regiments, and does not use any Polish sources, therefore should be treated lightly . Comprehensive article on the Saxon cavalry circa 1745 here (in German) Sachischen kavallerie
*Please note that this is only a sketcg - eg reins and stirrups missing, and obviously it needs more work...

The mid-XVIII century Uhlan, der Ulan, Ulan, Улан in the Prussian soldier writing

Salve.
long time ago I wrote this http://dariocaballeros.blogspot.com/2010/02/uani-introduction.html , so now let us jump to this remarkable book from the end of the XVIII century, when a Polish-Lithuanian Tatar (and Polish) lancer was yet to become the famous ulan [uhlan] of the Napoleonic wars. Note that Prussians were actually great importers of Polish horses in the XVI,  XVII and XVIII centuries,  and most likely the so called Trakehner horse breed was created by the Prussian breeders out of some foundation mares and sires that were of Polish imports in the XVIII century.

'Remarks on Cavalry; by the Prussian Major General of Hussars Warnery' for the first time published in 1781.


on the lance, the 'queen of cavalry battle':

“There was formerly in European armies, a species of cavalry called lancers: they were armed at all points; […] they were all noble or lived nobly, but they could not be employed on all occasions, they were too expensive, each of them was obliged to have two horses for his own person, a large one for battles and tournaments and another for marches and detachments; and beside these, one for the servant who had the care of them: and it was in consequence of the great expence that these troops were discontinued, when the armies were augmented
[our general is obviously simplifying the reason why heavy lancer of  XVI and early XVII centuries became obsolete in the Western European theater of war]. It is nevertheless certain, that the lance will always be the Queen of Arms for defensive of this nature of cavalry.”

About Polish-Lithuanian ulans:

“Ulans are nowhere to be found, except in Poland, unless you assimilate them with the pretended Prussian 'Bosniacks'; they have faithfully served the Kings of the House of Saxony [Saxon kings that also were the kings of Polish_Lithuanian Commonwealth in  a from of in personal union between the countries, similar to Wladyslaw Jagello] and the present one has three regiments of them in his service; they are well mounted and disciplined, and form an admirable corps of light cavalry: they ought to be all Tartars of Lithuania ( still Muslim), brave, faithful, and steady, and by no means drunkards. There are however amongst them a few Poles; the Respublica [Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth] has also a few corps or 'pulks,' but they are by no means in the same order that the others are. They have preserved their ancient institutions; the Towarischs [towarzysz] or Noble Comrades [who] have their Podstowy [pocztowy] or servants [retainers], who are Poles; the Towarisch are the masters, and the Podstowy the privates, as formerly in France, the latter perform the ordinary service. […] the arms of the masters are, a pike [a lance] with a banderole [pennon], (or small flag) a sabre and pistols; those of the servants the same as the Hussars [sabre, carbine, a pistol or two]. In an action the latter form in second line in two ranks, in small squadrons, and the masters attack or charge in single rank, which was the custom amongst all the Gen's d'Armes [knights and later lancers].”

“no light troops are better appointed or more active or allert on horseback, than the Polish Ulans: the equipage and appointments of the Ulan and his horse, are admirable, commodious and proper: and although I am not very partial to those of the Hungarians, yet I am persuaded it is very proper for several nations, particularly those in which it is national dress.”

a little on the Polish, Tatar, Moldavian horse and Hungarian too:
...Polish, Tartar, and Moldavian horses, answer better for them [service as light cavalry] than Hungarian, those being extremely degenerated within these fifty years; without doubt, for want of attention to procure stallions from Turkey, which are found to be the best in the Hungarian Haras (or studs,) and they never had any other, while the Turks were in possession of that country.
and when talking about a light horseman's steed  our general states :
[...] for Polish horses, as light, strong, and excellent for all the operations of war.
[...]In a course of 600 paces, a good German horse, in condition, will get before a Polish, Tartar, or other horse of that description : but if the course is continued to a greater distance, the latter will regain its ground, leave the other behind, and continue in wind for a much longer time : and should the heavy horse be forced a little beyond his wind, he becomes insensible to the bit and spur, and looses all his activity.

On a light horseman and his equipment, and Polish [sic!] saddles:
For a soldier to be really a light horseman, he must be able to turn his horse quick and short, when in full speed, to raise up and catch any thing from the ground; he will find himself much firmer in his feat, have greater command of his horse, and much more agility in the exercise of his arms, &c. by being mounted on an eastern saddle, that is to say, upon a Hungarian, Turkish, or Polish one [as one can see we Polish people had our own saddles similar to Hungarian and Turkish]; to those who have been accustomed to other saddles, they appear at first to be inconvenient, but they very soon find themselves perfectly at ease in them, and ever after, prefer them to all others; they are very light, cheap, and durable, and do not so often require repairing [sic!] as the others do.

Continuing:
A good goat or sheep's skin, should be used instead of a housse [textile], they will cover at the same time, the pistols and the portmanteau [in a Polish  and Hungarian fashion, I should add] ; the bridle also ought to be as light as possible, without any unnecessary buckles or straps; there should be but one attached to the pommel of the saddle, to strap on the cloak rolled up before the trooper, which will be very important, to protect his belly from a thrust with the bayonet or sword, the stirrups should be bronzed; and by these means, the trooper, on his arrival at camp or quarters, has but few straps and buckles to clean. He covers his arms, accoutrements, &c. with the goat-skin, and has time to attend to his horse and himself; in short, every thing should be light and proper, without affectation. I have been informed, that except as to the saddles, the English regiments of Eliott, and Burgoyne, are thus equipped.
The Hussars do not require tents, [...] no light troops are better appointed or more active or allert on horseback, than the Polish Ulans: the equipage and appointments of the Ulan and his horse, are admirable, commodious and proper...
 until the next time :)
ps
Juliusz Kossak's watercolor  is to show one of the foremost Polish light horse commander and 'zagończyk' (zagonchikh) of the XVIII century Kazimierz (Casimir) Pulaski, 'father of the American cavalry', hero of USA and Poland. Here our Kazimierz  is shown during the action against the Russians near the fortified and very Holy monastery of Częstochowa (where our only  Queen of Poland resides :) ),  that monastery  he successfully defended (for 2 years) against the Russian invaders and their Polish supporters during the Bar Confederacy 1768-72.
..the saddles come from the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw, and represent XVIII century Polish-Lithuanian saddlery, most likely from the old royal city of Lwow (Lviv) :)

Ułani - introduction

a Halan, Uhlan, der Ulan, Ułan, Улан - an introduction

Today there was one snowy day on the East Coast of the US of A. Good day to do some painting and reading, I suppose.

     I always wonder how our ancestors could cope with  the freezing winter months, when they liked to wage war and invade their neighbors like the winter 1664 campaign against the Grand Duchy of Muscovy aka Russia.  It was during this unfriendly season that they started serious military operation over the frozen swamps, lakes, and rivers across the large areas of the Northeastern Europe. Polish-Swedish Wars and Polish-Muscovy  (nota bene Poland stopped using Muscovy and adopted new name  'Russia' around 1772 or so) Wars of the XVI-XVIII ( 16-18th) centuries were conducted during all seasons, including the coldest months. I guess they, the people of the Northeastern Europe, were the exception to the rule in the European warfare of the early modern and modern eras. Only Polish-Lithuanian  and Mongolian-Tatar armies were able to defeat and capture Moscow and do that to the Russian in their wintry country while the Western European armies of Napoleon and  later the German armies of the notorious  psycho and murder of millions Hitler could not withstand the cold and snow, eventually perishing under the snow, sleet and ice.

Eh, so many horses died in those wars, and the Napoleonic defeat in 1812 had direct bearing on the collapse of the so called Old Polish Horse as viable breed/type. But it also spelled the beginning of the Polish Arabian breeding, so successful in the late XIX and XX (20th ) centuries.

And this leads me to this subject – 'Ułani' or English Uhlans (actually older form was 'Halani') - the Polish lance-armed, wearing a 'czapka' ('chapska' square-topped hat of the Great Steppe origin) and 'kurtka' (a double-breasted Polish cavalry jacket), cavalry. They appeared in Western military history during the War of Polish Succession (1733=38) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Polish_Succession in the army of the Saxon and Polish King. It took almost a 70 odd years for these uhlans to become famous due to their service with the Napoleonic armies. I will write about that some other time...
So I wanted to start this theme, and I will be returning to it every so often, because I found some early images of the Polish Uhlans from the XVIII ( 18^th ) century.
Two horsemen in full uniforms, showing all the distinctive characteristics of the early Uhlan uniforms. From Charles de Warnery's book on the light horsemen writtine in late XVIII century.

   For a moment let us return to the origin of the name - uhlan. I will skip for now all the Mongolian-Turkish origin of the word Ułan or oghlan, for sake of brevity and just turn to the origin of the cavalry formation name.

Polish name "Ułan" for these fine horse soldiers comes from the Polish-Lithuanian Tatar noble family surname 'Ułan,' and it was made especially famous and thus survived into the posterity because of one cavalry regiment commander named 'Aleksander Ułan' who was commanding the Polish cavalry 'pułk' - sort of a  regiment - in the Polish-Saxon king's service (during the Saxony-Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Union 1733-64) and this regiment was known via his surname as 'dzieci Ułanowe' (Ułan's children) and as such name was Germanized into 'der Uhlan'.

Nota bene there were several 'pulks' in the king's service but they all took this new name for light lance armed cavalry after Aleksander Ułan had died. They returned to Poland from Saxony in 1764, because our king Augustus had died, and they carried the name 'Ułan' in the Polish-Lithuanian army, during the Bar Confederation days and later after the Partitions
So after the Partitions of Poland (1772, 1793, 1795) some of the Polish cavalry regiments were forcibly incorporated into the practitioners' armies (Russia, Prussia and Austria), but only the Napoleonic wars made them Europe-famous and most desired in all European armies and beyond...

I must add that the first Ułan regiments were of the Polish (Lithuanian ) Tatars origin, who at first made the uniform to their liking and used their favorite weapon – a light lance (dzida or rohatyna) with a pennon, along with a sabre, pistol while the officers even carried bows as sign of prestige and rank.

In some not so distant future these Tatars and their history will be told here in some detail, or so I hope.
Pa ka
ps
 the picture that I use for my 'avatar' is of such pre-1795 Polish-Lithuanian uhlan officer - done some years ago.