Winged Hussars - Deadliest Cavalry in The History of Mankind 🇵🇱 | American Reacts

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]This is crazy.

[00:00:01]>> Longer than the 6 m? That is so cool.

[00:00:06]You're kidding. No way. No way. What an insane video.

[00:00:12]What is up? Welcome back. Today we're reacting to a video titled Winged Hussars, deadliest cavalry force in the history of mankind. I love war. I love history. And so, deadliest cavalry force? Yeah, I'm clicking on that.

[00:00:25]What's up? If you haven't met me yet, my name is Aaron and this is Aaron Arnold Reacts. Through this channel I'm discovering everything about Europe, people, culture, sports, history, anything you can imagine I will be watching and reacting to because everything is so awesome and beautiful.

[00:00:40]The goals of this channel are to laugh together, to learn together, and to have fun together. I release videos every single day, so you will always have something to watch. So, make sure to hit like and subscribe. Now, let's get into the video.

[00:01:01]I love it already.

[00:01:10]Oh my gosh.

[00:01:22]All right, first off, this is insane.

[00:01:24]Horseback battle, I love it. Can somebody give me some background? What's the time frame on this? When did this happen? When was this cavalry force even around? Like what time period are we talking here? Who was the head of it?

[00:01:36]Their outfits look incredibly interesting and unique. It seems like they have some of the most unique outfits in all of history, from what I'm seeing.

[00:01:50]Look at that.

[00:01:59]Oh my gosh.

[00:02:03]Cavalry throughout the history has been one of the most important factors when it came to winning battles.

[00:02:08]There have been a lot of famous cavalry units that have been romanticized in the ancient times, such as Persian cataphracts or companion cavalry during the reign of Alexander the Great.

[00:02:19]Both are noteworthy and have been important building stones of Persian and Macedon empires. Okay.

[00:02:25]>> However, not a single cavalry unit had as much of an impact on a country's dominance over their neighbors for centuries as the famed Winged Hussars.

[00:02:36]Hussars.

[00:02:37]>> Real quick, those outfits are insane.

[00:02:39]Let me go back really fast to the leader here. Hold on. Winged Hussars.

[00:02:45]Look at that outfit. So, he's got the hat, he's got the fur on, he's got like a battle axe. This is crazy. By the way, that kind of looks like Malbork Castle in Poland. I know Poland uses a lot of brick in a lot of their ancient and famous castles and architecture is brick. So, anyways, that's what it looks like to me. Winged Hussars were a heavy cavalry formation active in Poland and in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from the 1503 to 1702. Oh, okay. Wow, 200 years.

[00:03:13]>> during hurricane of horses and steel, which made the Polish Hussars to be respected and held in a high regard even during the Napoleonic era long after their disbandment.

[00:03:25]Their epithet is derived from a large rear wings, which were intended to demoralize the enemy during the charge and also just face it because they looked unique and freaking cool.

[00:03:36]Contrary to the popular belief, Hussars originated in the mercenary units of exiled warriors from the Balkan region of Europe. Oh. Mercenary lancers of Serbian origin, known as the Rascians, were frequently hired to counter the Ottoman sipahi and Delhi cavalry.

[00:03:53]Wow. In the 15th century, the Hussars based on those of Matthias Corvinus were adopted by some European armies to provide light and expendable cavalry units.

[00:04:03]Wait, real quick. Corvinus, isn't that a Hungarian um person? I know there's a university in Hungary called Matthias Corvinus. So, is this Hungarian cavalry force? He said it's Balkan, Serbian. Is it Polish? I'm I'm a bit confused what what uh country this comes from. The true Winged Hussar arrived with the reforms of the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, Stephen Báthory, in the 1570s. Wow.

[00:04:28]>> was later led by King John III Sobieski.

[00:04:31]Most Hussars were recruited from the wealthier Polish nobility known as szlachta. Each Hussar, towarzysz or comrade in English, raised his own poczet or retinue.

[00:04:42]Several retinues were combined to form a Hussar banner or company.

[00:04:47]Wow.

[00:04:47]>> course of the 16th century, Hussars became heavier in character. They abandoned wooden shields and adopted metal-plated body armor.

[00:04:55]Hussars had to provide the arms and the armor for themselves and their retainers, except for the lance which was provided by the king.

[00:05:03]Wow. The lance was the main offensive weapon of the Hussar and also the key reason for their successes on the battlefield.

[00:05:11]Oh my gosh, the lance. I mean, imagine somebody charging at you with a horse going I don't even know how fast, 60 km an hour or something, and this huge spear, this lance. That is frightening.

[00:05:23]One of the reasons that the European armies were turning to firearms and away from the cavalry charges was the appearance of pikemen or infantry equipped with two-handed pikes.

[00:05:34]That infantry made the charges of lance-bearing knights largely obsolete.

[00:05:39]A knight's one-handed lance couldn't be as heavy as the pike and therefore had to be shorter. Consequently, the knights couldn't reach beyond the pikes, so charging was out of the question. Hmm.

[00:05:50]But the winged horsemen found a way to get around this, a quite crafty one.

[00:05:55]They devised a hollow lance, something revolutionary at the time. Not only it was 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.

[00:06:09]Also, thanks to the lower weight, the length could be extended. Suddenly, the Hussars Oh my gosh. Is that an actual replica? Look how long it is. So, they made them hollow so they'd be lighter, but it also didn't break as much because of that, due to physics. That's insane.

[00:06:25]How do they know this stuff back then?

[00:06:26]That's what always blows my mind.

[00:06:28]Hussar's lance could be over 6 m long, longer than the 6 m? Pikeman's pike, which average around 5 m in length.

[00:06:38]>> gosh. There were reports of Hussars impaling up to six Russians or Turks with a single charge.

[00:06:44]Moreover, the szabla or saber in English was carried on the left side and several types of the sabers were known to Winged Hussars, including the renowned szabla husarska.

[00:06:56]Some Hussars used battle axes and even war hammers.

[00:07:00]Later, they proved their adaptability when they embraced pistols.

[00:07:04]What?

[00:07:05]>> themselves with an armor made of steel, which was light, weighing around 15 kg.

[00:07:11]For riding, they used light Turkish saddles.

[00:07:15]The lightness of their attire allowed the Hussar horses to gallop at a full speed for a long time.

[00:07:21]The Hussars used a special breed of horses. They were a cross between Polish and Tatar horses.

[00:07:27]Wow.

[00:07:27]>> were famous for their endurance, speed, and maneuverability.

[00:07:31]The purpose of the shock cavalry was to inflict as much physical damage as possible with a single charge. But great military minds of the past realized that the emotional factor is as important as the physical one. That's why Winged Hussars started polishing their armor so it became more visible and bright. It is also the reason why they wore leopard or bear skins on their shoulders and the most importantly, why they attached eagle wings to themselves, hence getting the name the Winged Hussars.

[00:08:01]That is so cool. Eagle wings, furs, and skins. They polished their armor. This is an entire mind game. It wasn't just brutal force. It was mental warfare.

[00:08:12]Wow. In an era where it was unlikely that you would ever see a neighboring city, what were you supposed to make of the rapidly approaching heavily armored legion of vengeful, glittering angels?

[00:08:25]The only problem was that the only wealthy nobles could have afforded the Hussar equipment and a horse.

[00:08:30]For example, the Hussar horse was worth more than an entire village. Therefore, Winged Hussars were a very important but also precious unit and hardly expandable. This high entry level meant that there were never more than 10,000 of them at any one time, usually only a few thousand.

[00:08:49]Besides the famous Battle of Vienna in 1683, the Winged Hussars won most of the battles they fought. In 1610 at the Battle of Klushino, 5,000 Winged Hussars defeated the Russian army of 35,000 soldiers and You're kidding.

[00:09:07]5,000 beat 35,000. This is an insane cavalry force. Like, I'm learning so much. I had I've never even heard of this unit before and here we are learning about insane battles. I love it. And overwhelming odds of being outnumbered five to one.

[00:09:23]Later, they marched into Moscow, captured it, and held onto it for two years at peace. What?

[00:09:29]>> And even the greatest military minds of history, such as Napoleon Bonaparte and warlike superpowers, such as German Empire in World War I and Third Reich in World War II were unable to recreate. In 1621 at the Battle of Khotyn, 45,000 Poles repelled the invasion of 170,000 Ottoman Turks. What?

[00:09:53]>> entrenched themselves and the Ottomans laid the siege. However, the winged hussars counterattacks were devastating to the Ottoman army. On one occasion, 600 winged hussars charged against 10,000 Ottomans. They broke their lines [music] and drove the Ottoman Janissaries back to their camp.

[00:10:11]Perhaps the most famous was the Battle of Vienna in 1683.

[00:10:16]The Ottoman Emp- This is a legendary battle. I can't wait to hear what he has to say.

[00:10:21]Empire was just days away from conquering Vienna and putting the Christianity Europe in danger, possibly establishing a new hegemony over the central and Christian Europe. However, the king of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, John III Sobieski, arrived just in time to save the day. He led 18,000 horsemen to charge down the hills, which became the largest cavalry charge in history. Wow.

[00:10:48]>> was so decisive that it eventually led to the decline of Ottoman Empire and created a power vacuum in the region, which was later used by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1694 at the Battle of Hodów, 400 winged hussars stood up against the 40,000 Crimean Tatars and defeated them. Woah, how many? against the 40 4 at the Battle of Hodów, 400 winged hussars >> 400 >> against the 40,000 Crimean Tatars and defeated them.

[00:11:20]>> The Poles nicknamed the battle the Polish Thermopylae.

[00:11:24]This is crazy. This unit was insane. I mean, have you ever seen the movie The 300? It's like these Roman gladiators who are fighting the Persians and there's only 300 of them. Like they should remake that with the 400 winged hussars of Poland. But they actually won. That's the crazy part. Oh my gosh.

[00:11:40]The end of the hussars' glory came a few years after their greatest victory at the Battle of Vienna. In 1702 at the Battle of Kliszów, the Swedish army led by the famous Charles XII destroyed the winged hussars.

[00:11:56]Wow.

[00:11:56]>> signal of the downfall of the famed cavalry. After nearly two centuries of dominance, the adversaries of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth started adapting and learned how to counter this unstoppable force of steel and flesh.

[00:12:11]The hussars' opponents began using so-called Friesian horses. These were spiked obstacles that stopped cavalry charges.

[00:12:20]Oh my gosh. I mean, imagine a cavalry charge coming into that. No way. No way.

[00:12:25]Firearms improved rapidly and caused more [music] damage to the horsemen.

[00:12:29]Their reputation had also suffered as the quality of the soldiers seeking to join them visibly decreased, as well as the slumping Polish economy, were the main reasons behind the end of the hussars. From then on, the winged hussars took only part in ceremonies as they became too expensive to raise and obsolete in the new modern warfare, which led to the public giving them a mocking nickname, the funeral soldiers.

[00:12:55]Oh.

[00:12:56]>> parliament abolished them in 1776.

[00:12:59]Yet, after the partition of Poland, the tradition of skilled hussars lived on, some of which kept a fear-mongering reputation while serving in Napoleon's armies.

[00:13:09]Wow.

[00:13:10]>> Today, the hussars are but a memory that conjures the lost glory of Poland's early modern period. Some of their accessories have become prized elements of the museum collections. At Kórnik Castle, there are three lances. At the Wawel Royal Castle, you can see a winged suit of armor. Wow.

[00:13:29]>> display at Warsaw Polish Army Museum is an ornate hussars' horse tack for parades. The Polish hussars are depicted on the commemorative 200 złoty gold coin.

[00:13:41]That is so cool. Wow.

[00:13:43]>> And the badge of the Polish army's first armored division is inspired by the armor of the winged hussars.

[00:13:50]Despite their fall from grace, their unique innovative design and legendary fearsomeness means that their [music] image has continued to last through all sorts of stories for the last 230 odd years since their dissolution.

[00:14:05]No doubt, the hussars will continue to [music] inspire many for years to come.

[00:14:11]The winged hussars were the deadliest cavalry in the history of humankind.

[00:14:15]They won most of the battles they fought, even when outnumbered by the enemy. The sight of the winged hussars inflicted fear in the hearts of the opponents.

[00:14:25]They achieved a legendary reputation.

[00:14:28]The stories about their feats circulated across the Europe, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire. Wow.

[00:14:34]>> Everyone knew and feared the angels of death.

[00:14:39]The angels of death. What an insane video. I learned so much in that video that I honestly didn't know about. I've never even heard of the winged hussars.

[00:14:48]Maybe shame on me for that, but I am so grateful that I've heard of them now.

[00:14:52]Um, let's just look at this image real quick as we as we wrap this up. If you've heard of them before, let me know. Um, if you have any more more information or if there's any other videos just like this you want to see.

[00:15:02]I'm learning all about Polish history and about European history, culture, sports, anything you can imagine. I am discovering Europe and I want you right there with me. So, if you enjoyed this video, if you want to see more videos just like this one, make sure to hit like and subscribe, and I will see you in the next video.

[00:15:20]Cheers.