Polish cavalry
The first Polish cavalry was created by the Duke of Polans - Mieszko I, who united the West Slav tribes in the area of modern Poland.
The basic tactical unit of the army was a banner (chorągiew), that is, a group of approximately 50 men financed by a noble clan, a notable person or a land owner.
In addition, the Polish forces were helped by Lithuanian light cavalry of Eastern origins and by Tartar skirmishers, who used mostly hit-and-run tactics.
Under eastern influence, the armament of the cavalrymen was lightened and their speed and mobility increased, which added to the successes of the Polish cavalry in numerous wars against the Tsardom of Russia, Ottomans and the Tartars.
Being far more manoeuvrable than the heavily armoured lancers previously employed, the hussars proved vital to the Polish victories at Orsza (1514) and Obertyn (1531).
In the battles of Byczyna (1588), Kokenhausen (1601), Kluszyn (1610), Gniew (1626), Chocim (1673) and Lwów (1675), the Polish hussars proved to be the decisive factor often against overwhelming odds.
Because of the extreme cost, lackluster pay, fame and prestige that surrounded the hussars, almost all of them were members of the upper level nobility (szlachta).
The uhlans were light cavalry armed with lances, sabres and pistols, which gave them enough power and at the same time adding to their versatility and manoeuvrability.
After the creation of Duchy of Warsaw, many Poles volunteered for the Polish cavalry units fighting in the Napoleonic Wars alongside the French army.
Finally, the Polish cavalry detachments were also present in Haiti, where they helped the French administration to quell a slave revolt.
During his advance on Madrid, Napoleon was blocked on 30 November 1808 by 9,000 Spaniards under General San Juan in the valley of Somosierra in the Sierra de Guadarrama.
Impatient to proceed towards Madrid, Napoleon ordered his Polish light cavalry escort of some 87 troops, led by Jan Kozietulski, to charge the Spaniards.
The lack of advanced military equipment on both sides of the front made the cavalry a decisive weapon in breaking the enemy lines and encircling the Russian units.
The battle was a complete disaster for the Soviet 1st Cavalry Army which sustained heavy casualties and barely avoided being totally surrounded.
In contrast with its traditional role in armed conflicts of the past (even in the Polish-Soviet War), the cavalry was no longer seen as a unit capable of breaking through enemy lines.
[3] The Polish cavalry did not discard the lance as a weapon until 1934 or 1937 and continued to use it for training purposes up to the outbreak of World War II.
In this role, the Polish cavalry proved itself a successful measure in filling the gaps in the front and covering the withdrawal of friendly units.
In other places people are forming reenactment groups that continues, often with help of army, the traditions of local cavalry units.
During this action, elements of the 18th Pomeranian Uhlan Regiment met a large group of German infantry resting in the woods near the village of Krojanty.
They were shown the battlefield, the corpses of Polish cavalrymen and their horses, alongside German tanks that had arrived at the field of battle only after the engagement.
One of the Italian correspondents sent home an article,[6] in which he described the bravery and heroism of Polish soldiers, who charged German tanks with their sabres and lances.
Other possible source of the myth is a quote from Heinz Guderian's memoirs, in which he asserted that the Pomeranian Brigade had charged on German tanks with swords and lances.
[1] Even such prominent German writers as Günter Grass, later accused of anti-Polonism by Jan Józef Lipski among others, were falling victims to this Nazi deception.
Grass wrote the following passage, somewhat metaphorically, in his famous novel The Tin Drum: On 1 September 2009 Sir Simon Jenkins, writing for The Guardian newspaper's website, characterised the notion of pitting Polish cavalry against tanks as "the most romantic and idiotic act of suicide of modern war.
"[9] On 21 September 2009, The Guardian was forced to publish an admission that his article "repeated a myth of the second world war, fostered by Nazi propagandists, when it said that Polish lancers turned their horses to face Hitler's panzers.
