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Lancers
A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used for mounted warfare in Assyria as early as and subsequently by Persia, India, Egypt, China, Greece, and Rome. The weapon was widely used throughout Eurasia during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance by heavy cavalry, but fell out of general use in the late 16th century before its revival by light cavalry in the 19th century. 17th, 18th, and 19th century lancers The lancer ( Polish: ''ułan'', German: ''Ulan'', French: ''uhlan'') had become a common sight in the majority of European, Ottoman, and Indian cavalry forces 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 European units to abandon their armour. There was debate over the value of the lance in mounted combat during the 17th and 18th centuries, with most armies having very few lancer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry in the roles of reconnaissance, screening, and skirmishing in many armies, or as heavy cavalry for decisive shock attacks in other armies. An individual soldier in the cavalry is known by a number of designations depending on era and tactics, such as cavalryman, horseman, trooper, cataphract, knight, hussar, uhlan, mamluk, cuirassier, lancer, dragoon, or horse archer. The designation of ''cavalry'' was not usually given to any military forces that used other animals for mounts, such as camels or elephants. Infantry who moved on horseback, but dismounted to fight on foot, were known in the early 17th to the early 18th century as ''dragoons'', a class of mounted infantry which in most armies later evolved into standard cavalry while retain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armies of the Seventh Coalition. One of these was a British-led coalition consisting of units from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Hanover, Brunswick, and Nassau, under the command of the Duke of Wellington (referred to by many authors as ''the Anglo-allied army'' or ''Wellington's army''). The other was composed of three corps of the Prussian army under the command of Field Marshal von Blücher (the fourth corps of this army fought at the Battle of Wavre on the same day). The battle marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle was contemporaneously known as the Battle of Mont Saint-Jean (France) or La Belle Alliance ("the Beautiful Alliance" – Prussia). Upon Napoleon's return to power in March 1815, many states that had previously opposed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lance
A lance is a spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior or cavalry soldier (lancer). In ancient and medieval warfare, it evolved into the leading weapon in cavalry charges, and was unsuited for throwing or for repeated thrusting, unlike similar weapons of the javelin and pike family typically used by infantry. Lances were often equipped with a vamplate, a small circular plate to prevent the hand sliding up the shaft upon impact, and beginning in the late 14th century were used in conjunction with a lance rest attached to the breastplate. Though best known as a military and sporting weapon carried by European knights and men-at-arms, the use of lances was widespread throughout Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa wherever suitable mounts were available. Lancers of the medieval period also carried secondary weapons such as swords, battle axes, war hammers, maces and daggers for use in hand-to-hand combat, since the lance was often a one-use-per-engagement weapon; assu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1st Polish Light Cavalry Regiment Of The Imperial Guard
The 1st Polish Light Cavalry Lancers Regiment of the Imperial Guard ( ''/'' ) was a foreign Polish light cavalry lancers regiment which served as part of Napoleon's Imperial Guard during the Napoleonic Wars. The regiment, as part of Napoleon's Imperial Guard, fought in many battles, distinguishing itself at Wagram, Beresina, Hanau and especially Somosierra. On at least three occasions, light-horsemen of the Regiment saved Napoleon's life. Origins The Polish 1st Light Cavalry Regiment of the Imperial Guard, under the command of Wincenty Krasiński, was created by a decree of Napoleon's, and signed on 9 April 1807 in Finckenstein (now Kamieniec Suski in northeast Poland): Beginning Polish efforts to form a prestigious detachment of the Imperial Guard began in 1804. Napoleon agreed to this during the Polish Campaign of 1806, when he was escorted by a "Polish Honor Guard" comprising aristocratic youths from the Society of Friends of the Fatherland, leaders of which wou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heavy Cavalry
Heavy cavalry was a class of cavalry intended to deliver a battlefield charge and also to act as a tactical reserve; they are also often termed '' shock cavalry''. Although their equipment differed greatly depending on the region and historical period, heavy cavalry were generally mounted on large powerful warhorses, wore body armor, and armed with either lances, swords, maces, flails (disputed), battle axes, or war hammers; their mounts may also have been protected by barding. They were distinct from light cavalry, who were intended for scouting, screening, and skirmishing. History of heavy cavalry Persians Iranian tribes such as the Massagetae were believed to be the originator of the class of heavy cavalry known as cataphract. During the time of Achaemenid Persia cavalry was the elite arm of service (as was the case in most civilizations), and many Persian horsemen such as the bodyguard unit of Cyrus the Younger were rather heavily armoured by the standar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Czapka
Czapka (, ; also spelt ''chapka'' or ''schapska'' ) is a Polish, Belarusian, and Russian generic word for a cap. However, it is perhaps best known to English speakers as a word for the 19th-century Polish cavalry headgear, consisting of a high, four-pointed cap with regimental insignia on the front (full name in Polish: ''czapka rogatywka'', initially: ''konfederatka'') to which feathers or rosettes were sometimes added. History Origins This headdress developed initially as a square-topped variant of a shako. In its early, compact form from 1784 onwards the czapka was introduced by Austrian uhlans, during the time Galicia was under Habsburg rule. Its use was spread from eastern Europe by the Polish Legion, fighting for the French in the Napoleonic Wars, and became popular not only among Napoleon's French and allied forces, such as Westphalia, Bavaria, Saxony, and Naples, but also among the armies of his enemies. The Grand Duchy of Warsaw used them for infantry and artiller ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chevau-léger Lancier Du 2e Régiment By Bellange
The Chevau-légers (from French ''cheval''—horse—and ''léger''—light) was a generic French name for several units of light and medium cavalry. Their history began in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, when the heavy cavalry forces of the French ''Compagnies d'Ordonnance'' were undergoing a massive structural reorganization. Initially, the companies combined the ''gendarmes'' (fully armoured men-at-arms) along with lighter ''coutiliers'' and "archers" in the same mounted formation, with the better armoured men forming the foremost ranks. However, as time passed the lighter horsemen were increasingly separated into independent formations of "medium" cavalry, bearing lighter armour and much shorter lances than the ''gendarmes''. These lighter formations eventually gained the name of ''chevau légers''. A similar development also happened in the organization of the Austrian and Spanish cavalry with the growth of ''caballería ligera'' formations. Their original similariti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sash
A sash is a large and usually colorful ribbon or band of material worn around the body, either draping from one shoulder to the opposing hip and back up, or else running around the waist. The sash around the waist may be worn in daily attire, but the sash from shoulder to hip is worn on ceremonial occasions only. Ceremonial sashes are also found in a V-shaped format, draping straight from both shoulders down, intersecting and forming an angle over the chest or abdomen. Military use Old Europe In the mid- and late-16th century waist and shoulder sashes came up as mark of (high) military rank or to show personal affection to a political party or nation. During the Thirty Years' War the distinctive sash colour of the House of Habsburg was red while their French opponents wore white or blue sashes and the Swedish voted for blue sashes. Beginning from the end of the 17th century, commissioned officers in the British Army wore waist sashes of crimson silk. The original officer's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kurtka
A kurtka () is the generic word for a jacket in a number of European languages, most notably in Polish and Russian. Etymology The word itself is a Slavic diminutive of the original Hungarian word ''kurta'', which in turn was derived of the Latin word ''curtus'', "excurtus", meaning short (see Alejandro Cioranescu: Diccionario Etimologico Rumano). Military uniforms In terms of military uniforms, the kurtka was a type of close fitting double breasted jacket, cut to the waist and often worn with a plastron, a contrasting-coloured panel of cloth covering the chest. It was worn by lancers and uhlans, a type of light cavalry which had its origins in the Lipka Tatars who served the kings of Poland, but were widely copied by the armies of many western nations from the start of the 19th century along with their distinctive style of dress. The lancer's kurtka developed from a jacket called a ''kontusz'', which during the late 18th century became shortened into the kurtka. Martial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imperial Guard (Napoleon I)
The Imperial Guard (French: ''Garde Impériale'') was originally a small group of elite soldiers of the French Army under the direct command of Napoleon I, but grew considerably over time. It acted as his bodyguard and tactical reserve, and he was careful of its use in battle. The Guard was divided into the staff, infantry, cavalry, and artillery regiments, as well as battalions of sappers and marines. The guard itself as a whole distinguished between the experienced veterans and less experienced members by being separated into three sections: the Old Guard, Middle Guard and Young Guard. History The Guard had its origin in the Consular Guard (''Garde des consuls''), created November 28, 1799, by the union of the Guard of the Directory (''Garde du Directoire exécutif'') and the Grenadiers of the Legislature (''Grenadiers près de la Représentation nationale''). These formations had for principal purpose the security of the executive and legislative branches of the French ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mêlée
A melee ( or , French: mêlée ) or pell-mell is disorganized hand-to-hand combat in battles fought at abnormally close range with little central control once it starts. In military aviation, a melee has been defined as " air battle in which several aircraft, both friend and foe, are confusingly intermingled". History of the term In the 1579 translation of Plutarch's '' Lives of the noble Grecians and Romanes'', Sir Thomas North uses the term '' to refer to a disorganized retreat. The phrase was later used in its current spelling in Shakespeare's ''Richard III'', 1594: The phrase comes from the French expression ''pêle-mêle'', a rhyme based on the old French ''mesler'', meaning to mix or mingle. The French term ''melee'' was first used in English in c. 1640 (also derived from the old French ''mesler'', but the Old French stem survives in ''medley'' and '' meddle''). Lord Nelson described his tactics for the Battle of Trafalgar as inducing a "pell mell battle" focused o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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