page_title: Lancer
section_title: 17th, 18th, and 19th century lancers
hierarchical_section_title: Lancer / 17th, 18th, and 19th century lancers
caption_attribution_description: English: Charge of Poznań Cavalery during November Uprising by Juliusz KossakPolski: Juliusz Kossak – Szarża jazdy poznańskiej pod Rajogrodem 1886
context_page_description: A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used in mounted warfare by the Assyrians as early as 700 BC and subsequently by Greek, Persian, Gallic, Chinese, and Roman horsemen. The weapon was widely used in Asia and Europe during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance by armoured cavalry, before being adopted by light cavalry in Europe and Central Asia. In a modern context, a lancer regiment usually denotes an armoured unit.
context_section_description: The lancer (called ułan in Polish and Ulan in German) had become a common sight in almost every European, Ottoman, and Indian army during this time, but, with the exception of the Ottoman troops, they increasingly discarded the heavy armour to give greater freedom of movement in combat. The Polish "winged" lancers were amongst the last to abandon the armour in Europe. There was debate over the value of the lance in mounted combat during the 18th century and most armies had few lancer units by the beginning of the 19th century. 
  However, during the Napoleonic Wars, lancers were to be seen in many of the combatant nations as their value in shock tactics became clear. During the wars, the Poles became a ready source of recruitment for several armies, willingly or unwillingly. Polish lancers served with distinction in the Austrian, Prussian, Russian and French armies, most famously in Napoleon's French Imperial Guard as the 1er Regiment de Chevau-Legers-Lanciers de la Garde Impériale.
  At the Battle of Waterloo, French lances were "nearly three meters (about nine feet, ten inches) long, weighed three kilograms (about six pounds, ten ounces), and had a steel point on a wooden staff," according to historian Alessandro Barbero. He adds that they were "terrifyingly efficient." Commander of the French 1st Corps, 4th Division General Durutte, who saw the battle from the high ground in front of Papelotte, would write later, "I had never before realized the great superiority of the lance over the sword."
  In the Siege of Los Angeles (1846), during the war between Mexico and the United States, a company of Californio lancers temporarily recaptured the town, expelling a company of U.S. Marines.
  Although having substantial impact in the charge, lancers could be vulnerable to other cavalry at close quarters, where the lance proved a clumsy and easily deflected weapon when employed against sabres. By the late 19th century, many cavalry regiments in European and Asian armies were composed of troopers with lances, as primary weapons, in the front rank and horsemen with sabres only in the second: the lances for the initial shock and sabres for the subsequent mêlée that would follow suit.
caption: Charge of the Polish uhlans at the city of Poznań during the November Uprising 1831
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