Stand up and fight!

One of the most frightening sights in 18th/19th century battlefields was a charge of Polish hussars. These units of light cavalry often went out on patrol into the enemy’s territory. Engaged in combat, they immediately assumed their battle array with their front to the enemy. Before the enemy managed to cool down and face the attacking cavalry, fiercely charging hussars were already on the move. The speed and fury with which they attacked were part of their tactics; they wanted to “catch” the enemy performing manoeuvres before he managed to assume his battle array. At first, hussars would fire an aimed salvo from short rifles from a distance of about 100 m, targeting officers. Soldiers, trained to fight in battle arrays, became an armed crowd when deprived of commanders. Next, at full gallop, hussars would take out their guns and their sabres would hang loosely on slings at their wrists. They would fire their guns at the last moment, almost in their enemy’s faces and then, holding their guns in their left hands, they would take their sabres and finish their work. The most murderous impact of the light cavalry took place at that time: hussars would wreak havoc not at the time of their spectacular charges but afterwards, when they slaughtered scared and fleeing soldiers, deprived of their commanders. Attacks of hussars, “riders from nowhere”, had a major psychological impact because it scared and incapacitated the enemy within several dozen seconds. Fear was a hussar’s best ally.