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When we think of fierce warriors from our past the Roman Legions Vikings and the Japanese Samurai come to mind
but the winged Horsemen are not commonly known yet these shock troops were one of
the most devastating cavalrymen to ever mount a horse the winged Horsemen also known as the
winged hussars were a specialized Cavalry unit that has spectacular victories thanks to their
unparalleled horse riding skills uniquely designed lances and fierce tactics they won against most
opponents even when heavily outnumbered but their seemingly Invincible prowess wouldn't last forever
who were the winged Horsemen where did they hail from and what happened to them let's try and find
out hello I'm Mike droberg a Marine Corps veteran filmmaker history Enthusiast and investigator of
the supernatural we will answer these questions on today's episode of Forgotten history [Music]
the winged Horsemen are of Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth Fame however their roots are
said to lie abroad namely in Serbia after the battle of Kosovo in 1389 when Serbia suffered
a heavy defeat from the Ottoman Empire Serbian Knights called usars sought revenge in the Turks
that's how they made their way to Poland which were at odds with the Ottomans records from the
16th century list Serbian mercenaries having served as hussars in the Polish military then
in 1576 when the Hungarian Stefan batory became king of Poland he adopted the hussars as a new
polish unit so although the newly created Cavalry was polish its roots were indeed International
thanks to their incredible horseback riding skills tactics and lances during the first two centuries
of their existence they would usually defeat their enemies while sustaining minimal casualties
while often being heavily outnumbered that is the reason their status in Polish history is legendary
throughout their existence their gear remained mainly unchanged They Carried a lance a sword and
sometimes pistols of these weapons the Lance was the most important as it allowed for the unit's
trademark attack their deadly charge historian Dr radislaw sikora explains the uniqueness of the
hussar lance one of the reasons that the European armies were turning to firearms and away from
Cavalry Charges was the appearance of pikemen or infantry equipped with two-handed Pikes that made
the charges of Lance bearing Knights largely obsolete a knight's one-handed Lance as the other hand had
to steer the horse couldn't be as heavy as a pike and therefore had to be shorter consequently the
knights can reach beyond the Pikes so charging was out of the question but the winged Horsemen found
a way to get around this a quite crafty one they devised a hollow Lance something revolutionary at
the time Not only was it much lighter than the traditional one but it also broke less easily
that's right according to the laws of physics a hollow Lance is more robust than a full one and
thanks to the lower weight the length could also be extended suddenly the hussar's lance could be
over six meters long longer than the pikeman's pike which averaged about 5 meters in length this
clever weapon was glued from two Hollow pieces of a pole cut in half lengthwise to make it more
resilient it would sometimes be wrapped in hemp fiber and the end of the hussar Lance had a steel
tip truly the hassar Lance was a Lethal Weapon in the Battle of Polonka on the 28th of June in 1660
a single Blow from it impaled six Russian footmen and the Battle of Chocim on the 7th of September
1621 hassar lances impaled up to three or four mounted Turks at once the hussars would charge
an enemy unit at full Gallop wreaking havoc impaling trampling and scaring living crap
out of all those who lived to tell the tale if needed after passing through the ranks they
turn around and charge again after the Lance is broke they'd use their swords or pistols to fight
still employing the horses to trample the enemy The Venetian Envoy hieronimo lippomano
wrote in 1575 during the battle the polls would do everything possible but look as if there was
more of them than there really was to frighten the enemy they dress horses and Feathers attach
Eagle wings to themselves and put leopard or bear skins on their shoulders the sight of the
Wings which were attached to wooden slats with Eagle falcon or vulture feathers and fastened
to their backs would scare off enemy Horses The Predator skins Were Meant to Spook enemy soldiers
as did the red war paint they put on their steeds all in all the sarge must have been quite a sight
to see in battle thanks to their prowess and the Art of War the hussars were capable of defeating
a great variety of enemies to include the Russians Ottomans and the Mongols the hassar's charge was
unlike any other in the world for the better part of their approach they'd be in loose formation
waiting to tighten their ranks just before reaching the enemy this meant that trying to hit
the horsemen with Firearms which was not accurate as they are today were highly ineffective against
the fast-moving targets then in the Final Phase of the charge the hussar rank which was typically 100
strong were tightened and the enemy Musketeers only had enough time to take one shot before
the Pikeman came in front of them to protect them with their Pikes as Musketeers and pikemen often
fought together so the first good shot opportunity was usually their last moreover musketeer firing
accuracy was also hindered by the psychological effect of the charging hussars coming straight
at them encountering a speeding wall of impaling lances and trampling horses must have been a truly
horrific experience due to the Charter's immense Effectiveness it was typically used to break enemy
ranks in the decisive phase of a battle hussars were also deadly because they were an elite unit
joining the hussars was an expensive Endeavor you needed the finances to possess the right horse
and gear to join them as well as the resources to replenish your War losses this High entry
level meant that there was never more than ten thousand of them at any one time usually only a
few thousand most hassars came from well-off noble families hussar service was voluntary often Laden
with success and provided great social Prestige the hussars were seen as the best of the best in
the Polish military and the morale of the hussars was famously high that is one of the reasons why
they can win when they were highly outnumbered another reason was the hussar horse the breed
of horse used by the hussars was a special one a hybrid of the Polish horses and horses from turkey
and Persia fast maneuverable and of high stamina the hassar speed played a crucial role in The
Winged Horsemen's victories Not only was the value of such a horse huge comparable to that of a whole
village but it was also subject to a strict law of ownership and was forbidden under penalty of death
to sell one abroad these outstanding horses were trained arduously to be fit for battle they had to
be able to Halt abruptly and to turn around using very little space further trading ensued when they
became part of a unit so that they could perfect riding in a group the hussar soldiers themselves
were also well trained for combat their fighting education started when they were very young and
it was customary for a retired hussar to teach the children of noblemen the basics of fencing
or handling a lance after they joined the winged Horsemen it was practiced in battle that made
their skills perfect and practice was easy to come by for the era they lived in was filled with
one of the first battles occurred when the swedes sought to capture the city of Riga
which at that time lied within the borders of Poland the Polish Commander Jan Karol Chodkiewicz
tricked and lured the enemy into the open the two armies met near kircholm today's Salaspils a
town 20 kilometers away from Riga there the Swedes took an advantageous position on a slope behind
the stream after informing his far outnumbered troops 3500 against 11 000 bought his plan showed
Chodkiewicz pretended to retreat the swedes pursued and then to their surprise were counter-attacked by
the poles including the hussars charging downhill the battle ended with a spectacular victory for
the Polish forces another example of their victory was in the Battle chocim in 1621 a 200
000 strong invading ottoman Army moved to conquer all of Poland the Polish forces less
than a hundred thousand men decided to confront the Turks in a fortified War camp near the town
of chocim or khotyn in today's Western Ukraine the battle lasted for over a month with the polls
mainly defending the camp eventually stopping the Turks March an especially famous episode of
the battle occurred when the Turks broke into the ramparts on the 7th of September it was
then that about 600 hussars moved out of the camp and charged the enemy soldiers around 10
000 of them and made them flee all the way back to their own Camp because of triumphs like these
the hassars used to say that they were under the protection from the heavens themselves but this
heavenly protection wasn't going to last forever as time went on the hassar's opponents learned how
to fight against them one tactic for example was to use the so-called Frisian horses a portable
and spiked anti-cavorary obstacle that could be placed on the battlefield to protect the shooters
when used correctly Frisian horses completely blocked any possibility of a successful charge
by this horse as was demonstrated at the Battle of kilszow in 1702 also in that fated battle sometimes
called the beginning of the tsar's demise their Swedish opponents used new faster shooting muskets
which were more lethal to the horsemen the hussars eventually left the battlefield and the fight was
lost by the Polish troops and their Saxon allies this happened only 18 years after one of the
hussar's greatest triumphs the Battle of Vienna also during that war poles occasionally fought on
both sides and ignoble act which proved detrimental to the morale of the Polish troops including the
hussars after that war the Horsemen's attitude was never the same their reputation had also suffered
as the quality of the soldiers seeking to join the Hussars decreased this as well as the use
of anti-cavalry weapons and the Improvement of the firearms and the slumping polish economy were the
main reasons behind the end of the hussars they officially ceased to exist in 1776 by decree of
the Polish Parliament today the remnants of their legacy can still be seen in museums
and their Spirit still lives on with the Polish land forces of the 11th armored Cavalry division
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