Uhlan
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Uhlans (as in German; also spelled "Ulan", Polish: Ułan) were originally Polish light cavalry soldiers armed with lances; later they also served in the Prussian and Austrian armies. Similar troops also existed in other European armies, where they were rather known as "lancers".
Uhlans typically wore a double-breasted jacket (kurta) with a coloured panel (plastron) at the front, a coloured sash, and a square-topped Polish lancer cap (czapka). Their lances usually had small swallow-tailed flags (known as the lance pennon) just below the spearhead.
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History
Origins
The name itself comes from Mongolian or Tartar words oglan or uhuan meaning brave warrior, or rather from Turkish oghlan 'youngster' (the Crimean Tartar khanate became tributary to the Ottomans, the leading Muslim culture in Europe, and the greatest military challenge since the Great Khan's Mongol hordes, which mainly recruited boys from minorities to be raised as cadets).
Once the Tartar militarymen had settled in Poland and Lithuania in the late 14th century, the Poles started incorporating much of their military vocabulary and many of their traditions along with their strategy and tactics. This included the formation of light cavalry units. Initially composed mostly of Tartars and Lithuanians, the uhlan units first served as skirmishers during various battles of late Middle Ages. Their tasks were to conduct reconnaissance in advance of the heavier cavalry (knights, later Hussars and Pancerni), and to probe enemy defences.
18th Century
The first Uhlan regiments were created in the early 18th century. As the development of firearms made heavy armor obsolete, lighter units became the core of the army. King Stanisław August of Poland formed a royal guards regiment equipped with lances, szablas and pistols and dressed in kurtas and czapkas. This unit became the prototype for many other units of the Polish cavalry, who started to arm themselves with equipment modelled after Uhlan regiment - and the mediaeval Tartars.
During the period preceding the Partitions of Poland, Uhlan formations were created in most surrounding states. Their speed and mobility was the major factor behind their popularity. However the Uhlan regiment formed by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1740 was used ineptly, employing heavy-cavalry tactics against fortified positions. It failed to distinguish itself in the First Silesian War, and was disbanded shortly afterwards. The Austrian empire also formed an Uhlan Regiment in 1784, the Uhlan-pulk, composed primarily of Poles. Ordinary Uhlan regiments of Austrian cavalrymen were raised in 1791.
19th Century
After the start of the Napoleonic Wars, uhlan formations were raised in large numbers by the Duchy of Warsaw. Also the Vistulan Legion and the Szwoleżerowie Gwardii, Polish expeditionary corps fighting alongside the French in Spain and Germany, spread the popularity of the Polish model of light cavalry. After the Battle of Somosierra, Napoleon Bonaparte said that one Polish cavalryman was worth ten French soldiers. The French light cavalry units, Napoleon's chevau-legeres, were modelled after the Uhlans. Following the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807 the Uhlans were reintroduced in Prussian service. After the fall of Napoleon similar units were formed in many states throughout Europe, including the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain.
The traditions of the Polish uhlans were preserved during the Kingdom of Poland. They fought both in the November Uprising of 1830 and in the January Uprising of 1863.
World War I
German Uhlans
In 1914 the Imperial German Army included nineteen Uhlan regiments, three of which were Guard regiments. The senior of these was Ulanen-Regiment Kaiser Alexander III. von Rusland which was first raised in 1745. All German Uhlan regiments wore Polish style czapkas and tunics with plastron fronts, both in coloured parade uniforms and the field grey service dress introduced in 1910. Because German hussar, dragoon and cuirassier regiments carried also carried lances in 1914 there was a tendency among their French and British opponents to describe all German cavalry as "uhlans". After seeing mounted action during the early weeks of World War I the Uhlan regiments were either dismounted to serve as "cavalry rifles" in the trenches of the Western Front, or transferred to the Eastern Front where more primitive conditions made it possible for horse cavalry to still play a useful role. All nineteen German Uhlan regiments were disbanded in 1918-19.
Austrian Uhlans
There were eleven regiments of uhlans in the Austro-Hungarian cavalry, largely recruited in the Polish speaking parts of the Empire. They wore czapkas but otherwise were dressed in the blue tunics and red breeches of the Austro-Hungarian dragoons, without Polish features.
Russian Uhlans
The Imperial Russian Army had converted its seventeen line Uhlan regiments to dragoons in 1881, but in 1910 they had their traditional lances, titles and uniforms returned to them. During this period only the two Uhlan regiments of the Imperial Guard retained their original distinctions.
Polish Uhlans
Józef Piłsudski's Polish Legions had a small Uhlan detachment. Commanded by Władysław Belina-Prażmowski, they were modelled after the Uhlans of the Napoleonic period. This unit was the first element of the Central Powers to enter Polish lands during World War I. After the rebirth of Poland in 1918, Uhlan formations were raised in all parts of the country. They fought with distinction in the Greater Poland Uprising, the Polish-Ukrainian War and the Polish-Bolshevik War. Although equipped with modern horse-drawn artillery and trained in infantry tactics, the Uhlan formations kept their sabres, their lances and their ability to charge the enemy. Among other battles, the Uhlan units took part in the Battle of Komarów of 1920, the last pure cavalry battle in history.
Interwar
In the period between the world wars, the Polish cavalry was reformed, with some units retaining their Uhlan traditions. However in contrast with its traditional role, the cavalry was no longer seen as a unit capable of breaking through enemy lines. Instead it was used as a mobile reserve and employed infantry tactics: the soldiers dismounted before the battle and fought as infantry (dragoon), yet retained the high mobility of cavalry. Technically speaking, in 1939 Poland had 11 brigades of mounted infantry and no units of cavalry as such.
World War II
Although the cavalrymen retained their sabres, after 1937 the lance was no longer standard issue, but was issued to cavalrymen as an optional weapon of choice. Instead the cavalry units were equipped with 75mm field guns, light tanks, 37mm anti-tank guns, 40mm anti-aircraft guns, as well as anti-tank rifles and other modern weapons. Although there were cavalry charges during World War II and many were successful, they were an exception rather than a rule.