Husaria Cavalry Overture

Composer:Julie Giroux
Grade: Grade 5
Instrumentation: Concert Band

The Husaria Cavalry, often referred to as “The Winged Cavalry,” was the pride and glory of the Polish military from 1550 to 1683. They were an elite fighting force earning one third more salary than the other enlisted men. They were offered political offices, titles, many privileges, and even land after six years of service. Many of the sons of the highest born nobility were enlisted in the Husaria as well. Only those who demonstrated great fighting and equestrian skills were accepted. Their weaponry consisted of an astonishing lance of up to 20 feet in length, thus outreaching infantry pikes, allowing them to strike straight through to the enemy. They also carried a sabre or rapier with a six-foot blade as well as a pair of pistols, a short carbine, a bow, arrows, and a wide variety of other weapons, the most lethal of which was the “czekan,” a long, steel armor-crushing hammer. The ultimate weapon of the Husaria was psychological. In addition to wearing helmets, thick steel breastplates, and shoulder and arm guards, they also wore wings; great wooden arcs bristling with eagle feathers attached to their shoulders or the backs of their saddles. Over their shoulders they wore the skin of a tiger or leopard as a cloak. Their harnesses, saddles and horse cloths were embroidered and embellished with gold and gems. Their boots were painted with gold. Their long lances were painted with stripes and decorated with a five-foot long silk pennant which, along with the wings and jingling jewels and gear, made a frightful sound described as “an Evil Hiss.” They even painted their horses red and white on occasions. The sight and sounds alone of the elite regiment at a full charge could strike fear in the bravest of men. For over a century, the Husaria were the “Lords of the Battlefield,” delivering the decisive blow in many an important engagement. At Kircholm (1605), 4,000 Poles accounted for 14,000 Swedes. At Klushino (1610), 6,000 Poles (of which only 200 were infantry) defeated 30,000 Muscovite and 5,000 German and Scottish mercenaries. In 1656, 5,500 Husaria defeated 13,000 Swedes. Outside Vienna in 1683, the Winged Cavalry saved Europe from the, until then, unstoppable might of the Ottoman Empire. Husaria Cavalry Overture is a tribute to these gallant men and their horses! J.G.

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