Winged hussars

The Polish Hussars or Winged hussar's were the horse mounted soldiers in the Polish army used from the 16th to 18th centuries. The hussars started as Serbian mercenaries. Winged hussars were famous for their ability to win when outnumbered. In the 17th century they were useful against any enemy they were put against. Most of them came from noble families. Service in the winged hussars was voluntary. The early success they had made the morale (will to fight) of the winged hussars very high. They were seen in Poland as having protection from the heavens.

They, along with the horses they rode, went through large amounts of training. Winged hussars were well off nobles (rich mostly because of how valuable horses were). An example of this is that the punishment for selling a horse to another country in Poland was death. Hussars were put into formations of around 300.

 How they fought 
When winged hussars were in battle they would initially charge from a distance, this made them harder to hit with guns and other ranged weapons. Being spaced out also made it easy to cancel the charge. They used sabres, also very long lances - around 6 metres, much longer than the pikes used by infantry. When they were about to hit the enemy army, the hussars would close in next to each other with the gap between one shoulder to the next described as being no more than a horses width. This made sure there were no gaps in the charge that the enemy could use. While close together in tight formation however they were easier to hit with guns. For this reason they would save closing in together till the last moment. After they broke through the enemy's lines they would turn around for another charge if needed. This way of attacking was useful against any enemy the winged hussars would face up to the 18th century.

 Why they stopped being used 
Winged hussars declined in the 18th century when guns became more accurate and powerful. Hussars also began to lose their will to fight when Poland fought on both sides of the Great Northern War.

 References 

Category:Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth