Uhlan

thumb|Polish uhlans from the army of the [[Duchy of Warsaw, 1807–1815, January Suchodolski painting]]

Uhlan (; ; ; ; ) is a type of light cavalry, primarily armed with a lance. The uhlans started with the tartars in the Lithuanian irregular cavalry, that were later also adopted by other countries during the 18th century, including Poland, France, Russia, Prussia, Saxony, and Austria. The term "lancer" was often used interchangeably with "uhlan"; the lancer regiments later formed for the British Army were directly inspired by the uhlans of other armies (even though they were never known by that name).

Uhlans traditionally wore a double-breasted short-tailed jacket with a coloured plastron panel at the front, a coloured sash, and a square-topped Polish lancer cap (, also called ). This cap or cavalry helmet was derived from a traditional Polish cap design, formalised and stylised for military use. Their lances were traditionally topped with a small, swallow-tailed flag (pennon) just below the spearhead.

Etymology

There are several suggested etymologies for the word uhlan. In the Turkic languages, means 'young man' or 'boy'. It is probable that this entered Polish via Tatar and was styled as . The Polish spelling was then adopted by German, French, and other European languages.

History

Origins

Uhlans frequently adopted the practice of the original Lithuanian lancers of attaching pennons to lances to look more awe-inspiring.

In the Polish army during the 16th century, a division developed between units of hussars who used a long lance, called in Polish and later , and units of light cavalry, known as Cossack cavalry, which used a short lance of the type, also called in Polish a “small ”. The difference between them was significant. The former measured from 4.5 to 5.5 meters in length, while the latter ranged from 2.5 to 2.85 meters. The was also used by units of medium-armored cavalry, the Pancerni, which evolved from the Cossack cavalry. In Lithuania, the rohatyna was commonly used by all kinds of cavalry, even in units of Petyhorcy, who also fought with a longer lance. Above all, however, it was employed by Tatar cavalry units, formed by the Tatars settled in Lithuania by the Grand Duke Vytautas, for whom it was the primary weapon, alongside a bow. All units of Polish-Lithuanian light cavalry were modeled on the art of war of the Crimean Tatars, with whom they mainly clashed throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, and used mainly bows alongside rohatyna.

The was fitted with a blade shaped like an elongated leaf or a triangle, with a lateral barb bent downward. It usually had a colorful silk pennant attached. Unlike the , it could be used to deliver blows not only couched under the arm, but also overhand and from a distance. Light cavalry also fought with a shorter (1.8–2.1 m) and more slender (spear), likewise adopted from the Tatars.

The Great Northern War exposed the deep crisis of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as well as its military weakness. The reforms of the 1717 Silent Sejm reduced the size of the Polish–Lithuanian army, including the cavalry, yet they also became a stimulus for the emergence of a new formation of uhlans. Above all, they preserved a substantial proportion of cavalry, which continued to make up about half of the army, whereas in Western armies this share was much smaller. Secondly, they maintained the importance of the lance, which had disappeared in other armies. A short lance also began to be used by hussars, although the honorific name , referring to the chivalric tradition, was still retained.

Electorate of Saxony

Augustus II the Strong, Elector of Saxony and from 1694 also King of Poland, impressed by the military theories of Chevalier de Folard, who proclaimed the superiority of cold steel over firearms, and by observing the effectiveness of Tatar cavalry units in the Polish–Lithuanian army during the Tarnogród Confederation, mainly the one lead by Aleksander Ułan, began to form cavalry similar units in the Saxon army. This was facilitated by the reduction in the size of the Polish army, which released many well-trained soldiers from military service. However, the first units of this kind began to be formed only toward the end of his reign. On 28 February 1735, during the struggle for the Polish throne against Stanisław Leszczyński, he incorporated into his army the private Tatar light banners of Crown regimentarz Józef Potocki, who had defected to his side. He formed them into a regiment of uhlans; this was the first time the term appeared as the proper name of a separate military formation. though not as mounted cavalry.

Poland: Presidential Mounted Cavalry Squadron of Polish Armed Forces (Polish: )
Lithuania: Grand Duchess Birutė Uhlan Battalion (Lithuanian: ) this unit has the historic title, but not the cavalry role. It is a combat battalion.

In popular culture

Video games

In Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, one of the 12 playable character classes is named "Uhlan" and wields Lances and Spears.
Many light to medium Battlemech and combined arms regiments in the BattleTech/MechWarrior universe use uhlans in their unit names (e.g., the 1st Kathil Uhlans).
Age of Empires III: uhlans are the primary cavalry unit of the German civilization.
Mount & Blade: With Fire & Sword: A lance-armed light cavalryman called an "oglan" can be found in service of the Crimean Khanate.
Total War: Empire features uhlans as a playable unit. They are armed with lances.

Literature and film

Uhlans are mentioned in Arthur Conan Doyle's short story "The Lord of Chateau Noir".
The 19th century German pulp-fiction novel (″The Uhlan's Love″) by Karl May.
In Leo Tolstoy's seminal work War and Peace, uhlans appear several times from the start of Book III.
In Guy de Maupassant's short story "Father Milon", 16 uhlan soldiers of the Prussian army are killed by the old protagonist, Father Milon.
In Joseph Roth's 1932 novel The Radeztky March, the protagonist is an officer of the Austro-Hungarian uhlans.
In the 1943 film The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff is an officer of the uhlans.
In Graham Greene's 1958 novel Our Man in Havana, Dr. Hasselbacher is an ex-uhlan officer.
In Gunther Grass's 1959 novel The Tin Drum, the protagonist Oskar Matzerath frequently refers to the Polish uhlans as well as their misreported charge on 1 September 1939.
In Italo Calvino's 1979 novel If on a winter's night a traveler, Gritzvi (Outside the town of Malbork) prizes his uhlan helmet and is reluctant to leave it in Ponko's care.
In the science fiction short story He Walked Around the Horses by H. Beam Piper, Prussian uhlans play an important role, it is they who first meet the diplomat Benjamin Bathurst who had slipped from our world into an Alternative History timeline.
Anton Hofmiller, the narrator of Stefan Zweig's Beware of Pity, is an officer in an uhlan regiment in 1913 Austria-Hungary.
Battle Picture Weeklys popular feature "Charley's War", by Pat Mills & Joe Colquhoun, had uhlans playing a major role in episodes 252 & 253.
In Star Trek the Romulan equivalent of an ensign is an uhlan.

Culture

Traditional Polish and Ukrainian song .

Sports and organisations

"Black Uhlan of the Rhine" – the nickname of a heavyweight champion Max Schmeling.
Valparaiso University's sports teams were nicknamed "Uhlans" until World War II, then changed to "Crusaders".
The Black Uhlans is the name of one of Australia's Outlaw motorcycle clubs that has been active since 1970.

References

Bibliography

External links

The Uhlan
Etymology OnLine