Maksymilian Gierymski - some sketches

 Salvete Omnes,

there was this uprising in Polish Russia back in 1863 - and the hopeless struggle known as January Uprising drew 200,000 young men to the guerilla-like armies of the Polish insurgents. One of these soldiers was a very young student Maksymilian Gierymski from Warsaw, the capital of Russian Poland (Congress Kingdom). 

Young Giermyski, born in 1846 AD, participated in the guerilla warfare against the Russian Imperial army, and this more than a year long field service must have been imprinted in his mind's eye, and thus influenced his art too - as evidenced by his sketches and paintings. Maestro Gierymski did not live long and tragically succumbed to tuberculosis in 1874AD, his untimely death cut down his developing artistic career .  But that is every Earthling's destiny - to live and to  die one day for certain. C'est la vie.

Here are some of his sketches  - horses, Russian Cossacks, uhlans and Polish guerillas. 

In the future I will share some more of Max Giermyski's works - eg as related to Mazepa, both the Byron's poem and historic Mazepa in the certain Polish 17th century memoir.

Valete

Maltese painter of Romania, Egypt and Ottoman Empire

 Salvete Omnes,

I am always looking for fresh images showing old Balkan and Danubian Europe, and Ottomans etc, and via wiki commons we can enjoy the fabulous gallery of works by an amazingly sure-handed painter from Malta - Amadeo Preziosi -1816-82.
There are plenty of his watercolors and chromolithorgaphs to peruse and marvel at.

What draws me to his art, per my blog's equestrian interests, is the number of images showing horse and oxen wagons, as well as camels (in his Egyptian book),  and these historic renderings do offer plenty of interest to me.

here, I have corralled some, more you can find on the wiki gallery  devoted to Amadeo Preziosi's art.

1860s Romanian cavalry & military etc

Valete

Ulani W Meksyku

 Salvete Omnes,

[in Polish]

 

Stanisław hrabia Wodzicki 'Z ułanami cesarza Maksymiljana w Meksyku : wspomnienia oficera' - można albo przeczytać z ekranu, lub wydrukować sobie ze strony Biblioteki Narodowej  Polona.

Książka została także wznowiona jako repritnt,   przez wydawnictwo Miles, niestety z 'koszmarna' okładką bo to obraz Kossaka pokazujący  lansjerów nadwiślańskich w Hiszpanii z epoki Napoleona I[sic!], - tutaj ich strona z książką. 

Hrabia Wodzicki należał do 2 szwadrony owego regimentu ułanów legion austriackiego, i pozostawił nam wspomnienia ciekawe, oprócz walk i trudów wojny także pełne szczegółów ówczesnego życia w Meksyku, okiem polskiego kawalera i oficera, który jak się sam przyznaje był zapalonym karciarzem i hazardzista, w wyniku swych pasji   karnawale stracił wszystko, w tym swoje prywatne konie wierzchowe. Ale nauczył się hiszpańskiego w niecały miesiąc..

Valete

Union 'green' cavalryman - by William Forse Scott

Slavete Omnes,
the American horse soldiers and their equine companions have been always of great interest to me.
I have read many works on the subject, from the Spanish conquistadors at the dawn of horse in the Americas to the Special Forces in Afghanistan during the post 9-11 wars and campaigns of the XXI century US Army.

today, we will take a quick look at the trooper of the Union cavalry  and his military equipment, before he would become a seasoned cavalryman.
There is quite a bit of primary sources on the subject, and  I should use one such book comfortably available for your perusal on the Archive world library platform.

William Forse Scott, veteran of the Iowa 4th Cavalry Regiment during the Civil War wrote The Story of Cavalry Regiment (1893) wrote about mustering, equipping and training the regiment at Camp Harlan, Iowa during the fall of 1681 and winter months of 1862.
 
But first the horses of the regiment:

Nota bene, the saddles and bridles came in January 1861 as recalled William F. Scott .

Trooper's equipment:
 
The trooper's weapons included the heavy US Dragoon sabre and: 
the appearance at Camp Harlan upon marching to the field: 

the amazingly wonderful armor and other additions

and finally what happened to all of this equipment upon some experience in campaigning or the 'rough school of war'

 
maestro Don Troiani is my most favorite painter of the American - Yankee and Southern - during the Civil War - you can find his page with many paintings on Facebook.

Valete

James Fillis - ecuyer on Archive.org

Salvete Omnes,
our 2019 is rapidly closing, with the beautiful holiday of Christmas still several days away.
so on the gift giving and receiving note perhaps you may be interested in this 'libre' collection of two translations of the European ecuyer James Fillis' famous French work on equitation -

Principes de dressage et d'équitation - the 2nd, 1891 edition - the photos of exercises come from that edition, eye friendly  -
below ecuyer Fillis in the Russian cavalry school uniform?


Breaking and riding, with military commentaries  (American edition here) was translated by captain Horace Hayes, one of my favorite XIX century writers on horse.

Grundsätze der Dressur und Reitkunst was translated by Gustav Goebel( the published 1918 version).

 In pre-war Poland it was published under the title Zasady ujeżdżania i jazdy konnej in 1930.


 

 

 

 

 
Valete
ps
I think I will post the entire chapter on the army horse.