02-20-2013, 09:58 PM
Something about the training of Polish hussars and their horses (horse and hussar riding it, was an integral combat "unit" on the battlefield - with the exception of battles in which hussars fought dismounted):
"Candidates" for future hussars started to train very early. We have primary sources which confirm that boys as young as between 9 and 11 years old were already training the art of mounted combat with lance, as well as horsemanship in general. We know that Tomasz Zamoyski in his childhood and early adolescence trained "chasing the ring" and horsemanship at least once a week - every Thursday. "Chasing the ring" was a kind of military exercise the aim of which was to hit a small ring hanging on a string from a wooden pole, while charging at full speed.
Of course individual training did not stop in childhood. Men who were already serving in husaria, continued to train. Military exercises and various kinds of tournaments and competitions were the main way of spending time by hussars - "instead of wasting time for drinking" (as Żurkowski wrote about Tomasz Zamoyski and his soldiers in 1612 - when Zamoyski was already a commanding officer - Rotamaster / Rittmeiser / Captain - of a husaria unit).
During the campaign against Russia in 1612, Tomasz Zamoyski and his soldiers had training excersises every single afternoon (after dinner), unless there was a battle or a march taking place. After they returned back home from the Russian campaign, Zamoyski:
"Lived in his house during Spring and Winter, spending time on reading books, entertainments, riding a horse every day, even when weather was terrible, together with his soldiers - mastering chasing the ring and other wartime excersises during those rides."
When in 1618 Tomasz Zamoyski arrived at the concentration area of the Polish army together with his private units:
"He frequently trained chasing the ring with them."
In 1619 in the city of Kiev, Zamoyski organized large-scale military exercises for all soldiers in the area, which included competitions with prizes for the winners (among the prizes to win were various weapons, horses and other military stuff). Those exercises included both individual and unit (group) training and competitions.
So there were prizes both for individual soldiers, and for entire units to win.
There were also tournaments similar to Medieval jousting. Some primary sources say, that Polish hussars sometimes liked to organize such tournaments with use of sharp weapons (rather than specially blunted).
Antonio Ansalone in 1629 in his work "Il cavaliere descritto in tre libri" admired the great skill of Polish soldiers in mounted exercises with various weapons. He described the technique of using lance in combat by Polish soldiers and he said that for them, tournaments were the substitute of warfare. He mentioned old-style jousting "across the fence" (campo aperto) originating from Poland (?) and resembling a bloody brawl with use of sharp lances. At that time everywhere else in Europe such fights were fought with use of blunted lances. According to Ansalone the Poles considered such horse races and fights not as entertainment but as a pretext for bloodshed and risking their lifes for no reason.
Ansalone apparently did not made this up entirely. For example in 1633 several dozen duads of cavalrymen volunteered to participate in jousting with use of sharp lances in order to honour the coronation of the new king (Władysław IV Vasa). However, the new king forbidded them to organize this risky competition.
However, a similar competition took place during the coronation of Stephen Batory in 1576, in which both Poles and Hungarians participated and fought with use of sharp lances.
In 1592 similar fights with use of sharp lances took place during the wedding of parents of Władysław II (Sigismund III Vasa and Anna of Habsbourg) - there were such competitions as chasing the ring, chasing "the hand" and duels with use of sharp lances. As the result of the latter (duels with sharp lances), 2 of the particpants were severely wounded in their stomachs.
A similar casualty was suffered during a similar jousting with sharp lances druing the coronation of Henry III of France in 1574 - one of participants was hurt in his loins.
Lance was only one of many weapons in using which hussars were trained. Extensive and intensive training of husaria included also fencing with various weapons, using firearms (both pistols and long firearms), often even bows. And apart from horsemanship, training included also exercises aimed at increasing the overall physical function, fitness, athleticism of young candidates for hussars (and later hussars).
Aside from individual training there was of course also - already mentioned - group training (unit training).
High level of quality individual training was required from candidates for hussars already during recruitment to this formation. Group training - however - was something that young hussars learned already after becoming recruits to this elite cavalry force.
Bartosz Paprocki in his work from 1578 describes some of unit exercises practiced by hussars and their horses. Required skills of each hussar and each horse were for example:
- every hussar had to know his specific position in a battle formation of his unit
- they had to learn to quickly follow orders, swiftly move to ordered places and charge
- how to alter formation during charge, how to widen and tighten their ranks during charge
- how to quickly & sharply change directions of the entire unit's movement during charge
- how to ably reform from line formation to wedge formation and inversely while charging
- how to coordinate actions of units according to orders of the supreme commander
Paprocki also recommended to carry out such group exercises with as many units as possible on every single day during Winter camps and during peacetime in general.
Some other authors recommended such exercises to take place twice or once a month (which was probably more realistic than proposition of Paprocki to train this everyday).
Other skills practiced by hussars during the unit exercises were also, for example:
- mounted drill
- faked retreat
- gradual giving ground by reserve (perhaps to cover the withdrawal of main forces)
- changing the direction of attack while charging
=============================================
Regarding the most important question for this thread - the training of horses.
It is obvious that group maneuvers and exercises of Polish cavalry described above, included the training of horses. However, exercises described so far were mostly about various forms of maneuvring while moving at full speed, or rapidly changing directions during movements.
But Stanisław Dunin Karwacki in his "De ordinanda Republica seu de corrigendis defectibus in statu Republicae Polonae" witten between 1704 and 1710 (times when quality of training of Polish-Lithuanian hussars was rapidly declining and already much lower than even in the 1670s - especially when it comes to group training), postulated the following:
"(...) At least cavalry should carry out field exercises, which were practiced by our ancestors, in order to make both their horses and themselves more fit for battle and more accustomed to various weapons. As far as I remember, when late king John III Sobieski was on Winter camps with his army at Bracław in Ukraine, he organized such exercises for his soldiers with lances, sabres and other weapons typical for cavalry. In my opinion this should be introduced again instead of carousals. Thanks to that, both soldiers and their horses were more fit for battle."
This indirectly indicates, that there were also other types of exercises for horses (and men of course, because men controlled their horses) aimed at accustomming them to battle.
There are primary sources which mention that horses had to be accustomed to various things - like noises and effects of gunpowder weapons. There are sources - especially from the 16th century and early 17th century - which mention that horses used by Crimean Tatars were not accustomed to gun fire, and that's why Polish soldiers considered firearms to be so useful while fighting against Tatars. According to sources, Tatar horses repeatedly panicked or at least got nervous (and this was visible in their behaviour) on the noices and effects (such as smoke) produced by gunpowder weapons.
Horses used by Polish soldiers, on the other hand, did not react to gun fire, as they were already accustomed to it. Similar training could make the horses accustomed to other things.
Untrained and unexperience horses react to smell of blood in strange ways. Etc.
If horses can get accustomed to such things, they surely can get accustomed to other risks of battle, including charging into solid objects. Plus of course, horses with proper genetic predispositions are always selected for such training and for becoming battle horses, thus surely they are already since the very birth to some extent adjusted to their future tasks.
=====================================================
"Chasing the ring" attempted by a modern reenactor (historically, much longer lances were used):
"Candidates" for future hussars started to train very early. We have primary sources which confirm that boys as young as between 9 and 11 years old were already training the art of mounted combat with lance, as well as horsemanship in general. We know that Tomasz Zamoyski in his childhood and early adolescence trained "chasing the ring" and horsemanship at least once a week - every Thursday. "Chasing the ring" was a kind of military exercise the aim of which was to hit a small ring hanging on a string from a wooden pole, while charging at full speed.
Of course individual training did not stop in childhood. Men who were already serving in husaria, continued to train. Military exercises and various kinds of tournaments and competitions were the main way of spending time by hussars - "instead of wasting time for drinking" (as Żurkowski wrote about Tomasz Zamoyski and his soldiers in 1612 - when Zamoyski was already a commanding officer - Rotamaster / Rittmeiser / Captain - of a husaria unit).
During the campaign against Russia in 1612, Tomasz Zamoyski and his soldiers had training excersises every single afternoon (after dinner), unless there was a battle or a march taking place. After they returned back home from the Russian campaign, Zamoyski:
"Lived in his house during Spring and Winter, spending time on reading books, entertainments, riding a horse every day, even when weather was terrible, together with his soldiers - mastering chasing the ring and other wartime excersises during those rides."
When in 1618 Tomasz Zamoyski arrived at the concentration area of the Polish army together with his private units:
"He frequently trained chasing the ring with them."
In 1619 in the city of Kiev, Zamoyski organized large-scale military exercises for all soldiers in the area, which included competitions with prizes for the winners (among the prizes to win were various weapons, horses and other military stuff). Those exercises included both individual and unit (group) training and competitions.
So there were prizes both for individual soldiers, and for entire units to win.
There were also tournaments similar to Medieval jousting. Some primary sources say, that Polish hussars sometimes liked to organize such tournaments with use of sharp weapons (rather than specially blunted).
Antonio Ansalone in 1629 in his work "Il cavaliere descritto in tre libri" admired the great skill of Polish soldiers in mounted exercises with various weapons. He described the technique of using lance in combat by Polish soldiers and he said that for them, tournaments were the substitute of warfare. He mentioned old-style jousting "across the fence" (campo aperto) originating from Poland (?) and resembling a bloody brawl with use of sharp lances. At that time everywhere else in Europe such fights were fought with use of blunted lances. According to Ansalone the Poles considered such horse races and fights not as entertainment but as a pretext for bloodshed and risking their lifes for no reason.
Ansalone apparently did not made this up entirely. For example in 1633 several dozen duads of cavalrymen volunteered to participate in jousting with use of sharp lances in order to honour the coronation of the new king (Władysław IV Vasa). However, the new king forbidded them to organize this risky competition.
However, a similar competition took place during the coronation of Stephen Batory in 1576, in which both Poles and Hungarians participated and fought with use of sharp lances.
In 1592 similar fights with use of sharp lances took place during the wedding of parents of Władysław II (Sigismund III Vasa and Anna of Habsbourg) - there were such competitions as chasing the ring, chasing "the hand" and duels with use of sharp lances. As the result of the latter (duels with sharp lances), 2 of the particpants were severely wounded in their stomachs.
A similar casualty was suffered during a similar jousting with sharp lances druing the coronation of Henry III of France in 1574 - one of participants was hurt in his loins.
Lance was only one of many weapons in using which hussars were trained. Extensive and intensive training of husaria included also fencing with various weapons, using firearms (both pistols and long firearms), often even bows. And apart from horsemanship, training included also exercises aimed at increasing the overall physical function, fitness, athleticism of young candidates for hussars (and later hussars).
Aside from individual training there was of course also - already mentioned - group training (unit training).
High level of quality individual training was required from candidates for hussars already during recruitment to this formation. Group training - however - was something that young hussars learned already after becoming recruits to this elite cavalry force.
Bartosz Paprocki in his work from 1578 describes some of unit exercises practiced by hussars and their horses. Required skills of each hussar and each horse were for example:
- every hussar had to know his specific position in a battle formation of his unit
- they had to learn to quickly follow orders, swiftly move to ordered places and charge
- how to alter formation during charge, how to widen and tighten their ranks during charge
- how to quickly & sharply change directions of the entire unit's movement during charge
- how to ably reform from line formation to wedge formation and inversely while charging
- how to coordinate actions of units according to orders of the supreme commander
Paprocki also recommended to carry out such group exercises with as many units as possible on every single day during Winter camps and during peacetime in general.
Some other authors recommended such exercises to take place twice or once a month (which was probably more realistic than proposition of Paprocki to train this everyday).
Other skills practiced by hussars during the unit exercises were also, for example:
- mounted drill
- faked retreat
- gradual giving ground by reserve (perhaps to cover the withdrawal of main forces)
- changing the direction of attack while charging
=============================================
Regarding the most important question for this thread - the training of horses.
It is obvious that group maneuvers and exercises of Polish cavalry described above, included the training of horses. However, exercises described so far were mostly about various forms of maneuvring while moving at full speed, or rapidly changing directions during movements.
But Stanisław Dunin Karwacki in his "De ordinanda Republica seu de corrigendis defectibus in statu Republicae Polonae" witten between 1704 and 1710 (times when quality of training of Polish-Lithuanian hussars was rapidly declining and already much lower than even in the 1670s - especially when it comes to group training), postulated the following:
"(...) At least cavalry should carry out field exercises, which were practiced by our ancestors, in order to make both their horses and themselves more fit for battle and more accustomed to various weapons. As far as I remember, when late king John III Sobieski was on Winter camps with his army at Bracław in Ukraine, he organized such exercises for his soldiers with lances, sabres and other weapons typical for cavalry. In my opinion this should be introduced again instead of carousals. Thanks to that, both soldiers and their horses were more fit for battle."
This indirectly indicates, that there were also other types of exercises for horses (and men of course, because men controlled their horses) aimed at accustomming them to battle.
There are primary sources which mention that horses had to be accustomed to various things - like noises and effects of gunpowder weapons. There are sources - especially from the 16th century and early 17th century - which mention that horses used by Crimean Tatars were not accustomed to gun fire, and that's why Polish soldiers considered firearms to be so useful while fighting against Tatars. According to sources, Tatar horses repeatedly panicked or at least got nervous (and this was visible in their behaviour) on the noices and effects (such as smoke) produced by gunpowder weapons.
Horses used by Polish soldiers, on the other hand, did not react to gun fire, as they were already accustomed to it. Similar training could make the horses accustomed to other things.
Untrained and unexperience horses react to smell of blood in strange ways. Etc.
If horses can get accustomed to such things, they surely can get accustomed to other risks of battle, including charging into solid objects. Plus of course, horses with proper genetic predispositions are always selected for such training and for becoming battle horses, thus surely they are already since the very birth to some extent adjusted to their future tasks.
=====================================================
"Chasing the ring" attempted by a modern reenactor (historically, much longer lances were used):