Winged Hussars Junior Paper Charlotte Fuentes Word Count: 1527
Winged Hussars
Junior Paper
Charlotte Fuentes Word count: 1527 Winged Hussars
An elite shock cavalry group that was formed in the 16th century became one of the most unstoppable group of warriors in the 17th century; little over a century after their creation they held possibly the biggest cavalry charge in history.
The Winged Hussars were practically unstoppable. They won almost every battle they were in. In 1576, the Winged Hussars officially came to be, with all their armour from beginning to end. A little over a century after the birth of the Winged Hussars, the Siege of Vienna began.
It is believed that the Winged Hussars originated in Eastern Rome around the 10th century. The Winged Hussars were partially from the gusars
(Serbia), they had light armour, while the usars (another part of the Winged
Hussars) had heavier armour of chain-mail shirts and helmets, shields, and of course, lances.
The Winged Hussars could also carry various “back-up weapons”. This included a mace, long sword, war-hammer, saber, sometimes composite bows.
Later they added pistols and musketoons to their weapon arsenal. In 1576 A.D., the shields disappeared, breastplates were added, and the lances were modified to be longer. These were the Winged Hussars. Their lances were longer than other lances at that time, but were hollow so they wouldn’t weigh so much.
They also had wings as part of their armour, these wings were what gave them their name, Winged Hussars. Two pieces of wood, looking like antenne, with feathers on their sides. These were attached to the back of the
Winged Hussars’ armour or their saddle.
The reason for these “wings” has a few theories behind it. One side believes it was there as an extra piece of armour if an attack from behind was to occur, while some others believed differently. The Winged Hussars were known as a shock cavalry group and the wings on their armour would make noise to trick the opponent’s horses into thinking the enemy was bigger than they really were. This would “shock” the horses, ergo, shock group. A third theory is that the wings prevented them from being lassoed.
The main time the Winged Hussars were present was from the 16th century to the 18th century, though they didn’t die quickly like some, they slowly disappeared and aren’t really recognized in history. It is believed that they officially disappeared in the 18th century, but they never really did. They only became modern.
The Winged Hussars were a very strong group, almost impossible to defeat in battle. During their time, they were considered an “elite group”. Not surprising considering they defeated Ivan the Terrible, Russia’s first Tsar, in winter.
On July 4, 1610 the Winged Hussars won their battle against the
Russians. While having approximately thirty thousand more Russians than the
Winged Hussars, they proved how strong they really are.
This battle took place during the Polish-Muscovite war, this war lasted from 1609 until 1618. This specific battle started when the Russians teamed with Sweden to battle Poland.
After Poland took over Moscow, one of the Polish royalties, a prince to be exact, became the new tsar. The prince’s father, King Sigismund Ⅲ
Władysław Ⅳ wanted to convert the Russians to Catholicism. After this, there were a couple uprisings against Polish people and some of Poland’s forces had been run out of Moscow.
When the Polish-Muscovite war finally came to an end, the Truce of
Delino was made. This truce gave Poland some parts of Russia, such as Smolensk. This not only ended the war, but also helped Russia improve and eventually chose a strong leader that would help them later on.
The Winged Hussars also battled the Crimean forces’. This is known as the battle of Hodów. Four-hundred Winged Hussars against over twenty-five-thousand of the Crimean forces’ individuals, and the Winged
Hussars won in less than a day. With limited time, and no supplies, the Winged
Hussars began to counter attack the Crimean forces.
When the battle ended, there were at most 100 fallen Winged Hussars while thousands of the opposing team fell before their retreat. As this was in
June of 1694 and the fight against Ivan the Terrible was in July 1610, the Siege of Vienna was 11 years before the battle of Hodów and 73 years after the battle between Ivan the Terrible and the Winged Hussars.
On June 11, 1694, Crimean forces managed to herd the Winged Hussars into a village named Hodow. There, the Winged Hussars took advantage of their surroundings before the opponent arrived. Although the Crimean forces retreated over six hours after the beginning of the battle, their ammunition ran out near the beginning. It is widely believed that after the Crimean Forces ran out of ammunition, they used the heads of the Winged Hussars’ arrows as ammunition.
The Winged Hussars’ armour was able to protect the person wearing it from at least a bullet, sometimes two, so even if they were hit, there’s a chance it wasn’t fatal.
The Battle of Hodów started when the Crimean Forces tried to invade/raid Poland. At the time the Winged Hussars were being led by a man who is believed to be named Zahorowski Konstanty. After attacking about
2.25% of the Crimean forces troops, he realized how out number they were and started to fall back towards Hodów.
After they arrived at Hodów, they started to make an enclosed barrier.
They then took advantage of their weapons that weren’t close ranged. The
Crimean Forces, as previously stated, ran out of ammunition. If they hadn’t, there is a chance they could have won.
If the Crimean Forces had won their battle against the Winged Hussars, they would have possibly raided the rest of Poland and/or have taken control.
When the Siege of Vienna ended, it’s hard to believe that someone had probably beaten the Winged Hussars. However, for 125 years, they remained unbeaten.
The Siege of Vienna was the biggest cavalry charge, not only for the
Winged Hussars, but possibly in warfare’s history as well. No one else in the history of calvary warfare has won almost every battle they were in like the
Winged Hussars have.
The Ottoman Turks began the Siege of Vienna in July, 1683, but on
September 12, 1683, two months later, the Winged Hussars saved Vienna.
The Ottoman Turks at the time were being led by Kara Mustafa. The commander had demanded that Vienna surrender, at the same time, John Ⅲ
Sobieski sent military troops (or in this case, enemy troops) to Vienna. This was the day the Siege of Vienna began.
Kara Mustafa fought back against John Ⅲ Sobieski’s troops because he wanted to take over Vienna before Sobiski’s troops even showed up. When the
Winged Hussars arrived, they came from the other side of Vienna in comparison to the Ottoman Turks. Though the Ottoman Turk’s group was big, they were cornered between two strong defense teams, and many of them fell before their retreat. After Kara Mustafa’s failure, he was no longer the commander of the
Ottoman Turks. Two men pulled on a rope that strangled him as his execution.
16 years after the Siege of Vienna, Hungary was no longer under the
Ottoman Turks control.
After that in 1699, the Treaty of Karlowitz was signed by the empire the
Winged Hussars belonged to and the Ottoman Empire. This treaty was signed as a fact of the Ottoman Empire no longer taking control of Europe.
If the Ottoman Turks had beaten the Winged Hussars, they might have also controlled Europe. However, the Ottoman Turks’ loss in the Siege of
Vienna started the Ottoman Empire’s decline. The Winged Hussars once again saved their homeland.
The strength shown is only part of the reason the Winged Hussars were so victorious. The rest was intelligence. In the Battle of Hodów they used the remains of a slightly destroyed village to help them achieve victory, despite being severely outnumbered.
One of the techniques they used often was to try and break the formation of the opponent. By separating the force, they weakened their enemy, and it proved to be effective. The technique they used in the Battle of Hodów was to attack one part, and though they were driven to a village, they still came out successful.
The Winged Hussars have won almost every single battle they’ve been in from the very beginning, and they’re still not gone. Though it’s true people no longer use a calvary, there is a group that is the present day equivalent of the Winged Hussars in Poland.
The battles here were only some of the big parts of the Winged Hussars career. They’ve fought and won under nearly impossible odds, and didn’t show any sign of stopping. There are few people who can even begin to compare themselves to this group.
With all this being said, the Winged Hussars may have set a world record that no one can beat in the battle of Vienna, shown power in their fight against Russia, and proved their strength in the Battle of Hodow. This is a group that, if given more attention, would be an unforgettable legend.
Annotated Bibliography
Primary Sources:
“15 Things You Should Know About The Polish Winged Hussars.” Realm of History, 14 Aug. 2019, www.realmofhistory.com/2018/02/14/15-facts-polish-winged-hussars/. Gilbert, Kimutai.
“Battle of Vienna - Important Battles Throughout History.” WorldAtlas, 30 May 2017, www.worldatlas.com/articles/battle-of-vienna.html. Mandal, Dattatreya. “10 Greatest Battles Won Against Overwhelming Odds.”
HEXAPOLIS, 11 Jan. 2018, www.hexapolis.com/2014/10/26/10-greatest-battles-won-against-overwhelming-o
dds/2/. Telewizja Polska S.A. “Outnumbered Polish Hussars Defeated Russian Army 409 Years
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Secondary Sources:
AncientPages.com, and Danger Lurking In The Woods – Strange And Unexplained
Sightings – Part 2
“Winged Hussars: Facts And History About The Polish Warriors, Their Armor And
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“Ivan the Terrible Facts.” History of Russia, 2 July 2011,
historyofrussia.org/ivan-the-terrible-facts/.
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