The hussar dress was ostentatious and comprised plated body armour (cuirass, spaulders, bevors, and arm bracers) adorned by gold ornaments, a burgonet or lobster-tailed pot helmet and jackboots as well as versatile weaponry such as lances, long thrusting swords, sabres, pistols, carbines, maces, hatchets, war hammers, and horseman's picks.

The hussar formation proved effective against Swedish, Russian, and Ottoman forces, notably at the battles of Kircholm (1605), Klushino (1610), and Khotyn (1673).

Their military prowess peaked at the Siege of Vienna in 1683, when hussar banners participated in the largest cavalry charge in history and successfully repelled the Ottoman attack.

[4][5] Mercenary lancers of Serb origin, known as the Rascians, were frequently hired to counter Ottoman sipahi and deli cavalry.

[6] In the 15th century, the hussars based on those of Matthias Corvinus were adopted by some European armies to provide light, expendable cavalry units.

[6] The oldest reference of hussars in Polish records dates to the year 1500, when the Rascians were employed by Grand Treasurer Andrzej Kościelecki to serve under the banner of the royal household.

[8] As the Ottoman raids on the southeastern frontier intensified, the so-called Rascian Reform (1500–1501) during the reign of John I Albert solidified the role of an early hussar in Polish ranks.

Over the course of the 16th century, hussars in Hungary became heavier in character: they abandoned wooden shields and adopted metal-plated body armour.

When Bathory was elected king of Poland and later accepted as a Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1576, he reorganized the hussars of his Royal Guard into a heavy formation equipped with a long lance as their main weapon.

In the battles of Lubiszew in 1577, Byczyna (1588), Kokenhausen (1601), Kircholm (1605), Klushino (1610), Chocim (1621), Martynów (1624), Trzciana (1629), Ochmatów (1644), Beresteczko (1651), Połonka (1660), Cudnów (1660), Khotyn (1673), Lwów (1675), Vienna (1683), and Párkány (1683), they proved to be the decisive factor against often overwhelming odds.

These arcs, together with bristling feathers sticking out of them, were dyed in various colours in imitation of laurel branches or palm leaves, and were a strangely beautiful sight to behold – Jędrzej Kitowicz (1728–1804).

The Towarzysz husarski (Companion) commanded his own poczet (kopia) consisting of two to five similarly armed retainers and other servants (czeladnicy) who tended to his horses, food, supplies, repairs and fodder and often participated in battle.

They tended to repeat the charge several times until the enemy formation broke (the Polish hussars had supply wagons with spare lances).

The hussars fought with a kopia (lance), a koncerz (stabbing sword), a szabla (sabre), set of two to six pistols, often a carbine or arquebus (known in Polish as a bandolet) and sometimes a warhammer or light battle-axe.

As a result, a horse could walk hundreds of kilometres loaded with over 100 kg (220 lb) (the hussar with their armour and weapons) and instantly charge.

The hussar's lances usually ranged from 4.5 to 6.2 metres (15 to 20 ft) in length and were provided by the King or the banner's owner, not by the regular soldiers.

At the height of their prowess, from 1576 to 1653, hussar armour consisted of a comb-like zischagge (szyszak), burgonet or morion helmets with a hemispherical skull, 'cheekpieces' with a heart-shaped cut in the middle, neck-guard of several plates secured by sliding rivets, and adjustable nasal terminating in a leaf-shaped visor.

The hussar armour was light, usually around 15 kilograms (33 lb), allowing them to be relatively quick and for their horses to gallop at full speed for long periods.

A rarely-used Sarmatian karacena armour (of iron scales riveted to a leather support) might have consisted of a scale helmet, cuirass, gorget, leg and shoulder protection and became popular during the reign of King John Sobieski, but perhaps due to costs and weight, remained popular mostly with the winged hussar commanding officers.