A Hussar’s Ballad

Most people know what a hussar is. But very few know that hussar regiments, strictly speaking, were not Russian. In point of fact, they were manned predominantly by Ukrainian recruits. Although hussar units included many Serbs, Moldavians, Albanians, and Hungarians, whom the tsarist government resettled in the mid-18th century in southern Ukraine — in so-called New Serbia and Slavic Serbia — the Ukrainians formed the bulk of these units.

The hussars, as a special branch of cavalry, emerged in Hungary in the 15th century. This name was applied to the Hungarian gentry’s mounted militia regiments consisting of companies with 20-25 men. The term itself comes from the Hungarian word hussar, which means “one in twenty.” Imitating the Hungarians, many European states — Poland, Austria, Prussia, France, etc., — formed hussar units in their armies. Russia began forming irregular hussar units modeled after Polish ones already in the 17th century. They were included as part of the regular army only in the second half of the 18th century.

In 1765, after the Ukrainian Slobodian Cossack Army was disbanded, five Sloboda units — Okhtyrka, Izium, Sumy, Ostrih, and Kharkiv — were transformed into provisional hussar regiments. This is how the Ukrainian writer Hryhoriy Kvitka-Osnovyanenko describes the transformation of the Cossacks into hussars: “Why should such brave fellows remain Cossacks? They were re-dressed and renamed hussars. The same gallantry, the same objective: to beat infidels without mercy, not to betray comrades-in-arms in an unequal battle with the enemy, and help neighbors in peacetime. They are cheerful, swashbuckling, well-disciplined, and bold in action, routing the enemy. They go home gaily. They are glad of the way things go, their households prosper, they court girls, and, having become exposed to things Muscovite during their campaigns, they are not averse to fooling the weak. Girls now have a new headache: they used to sing songs about Cossacks, but now that they have all turned into hussars, the old songs won’t do, and one must compose new songs. Many have already been written; this is what I remember: As a hussar was watering his horse,
A nice girl came round.
He kissed her,
And she cried...

Or this one: Hey, black-mustachioed hussar,
Why is your coat so short?
Hussar, stay out of my way
And don’t look at me.”

The Okhtyrka and Izium Hussar Regiments took an active part in the Russo-Turkish wars. They distinguished themselves on the Larga, near Kagula, and demonstrated exceptional gallantry and courage during the storming of the fortress of Izmail in 1790, when the Okhtyrka hussars captured six enemy standards.

In 1796, when the Life Guards Hussar Regiment was created in St. Petersburg, five more hussar regiments — Yelysavethrad, Pavlohrad, Mariupil, Oleksandriya, and Olviopol — were formed in what was known as New Russia (southern Ukraine). The first three were based on local lancer regiments formed already in 1764 on the basis of the Nova Sloboda, Bakhmut, and, partly, the Poltava and Myrhorod Cossack regiments. The entire personnel of these regiments thus consisted of Ukrainians. The Oleksandriya and Olviopol regiments were manned by foreign settlers of Balkan descent: Serbs, Bulgarians, Dalmatians, and Macedonians. However, as the numbers of these immigrants did not suffice to fully man the regiments, the ranks were also filled by the local Ukrainian populace, the former town and Zaporozhian Cossacks.

Since Russia was waging endless wars during this period, its army required new units, including hussar ones. Ukrainians also took part in their formation. For example, in May 1803 four squadrons withdrawn from the Oleksandriya, Yelysavethrad, Olviopol, and Pavlohrad regiments were used to form the Belarusian Hussar Regiment in Kyiv Province. On June 13, 1806, by a decree of the Military Collegium, the Grodno Hussar Regiment was formed on the basis of the Sumy Hussar Regiment’s 4th Squadron, and Y. P. Kulnev was appointed commanding officer. In 1807 A. P. Melisino was instructed to form the Lubny Hussar Regiment. This officer, earlier stationed in Sumy, was by far the best choice. A man of dauntless courage, he participated in the storming of Izmail, for which he was awarded the Cross of St. George, 4th class. The regiment was formed by November 1807 and was soon garrisoned in Lubny, Poltava Province.

Although hussar regiments were stationed all over the country, they never severed ties with the places after which they were named. The regiments were manned by people born in Kharkiv, Poltava, Kyiv, and other Ukrainian provinces. Some time later they began accepting recruits from Moscow, Vladimir and Yaroslav provinces, as well as “foreigners,” such as Germans, Poles, Lithuanians, et al.

An army hussar regiment consisted of 2 battalions with 5 squadrons each. A squadron had 150 hussars (NCOs and privates), commanding officer (captain — rotmistr), and 2 subaltern officers (senior lieutenant — poruchyk and lieutenant — cornet). The regiment’s total strength reached 1,500. The Life Guards Hussar Regiment had 5, instead of 10, squadrons and was not subdivided into battalions.

Owing to its origins, the hussar uniform looked considerably different from that of other cavalry branches. Since the first hussars came from Hungary, the hussar’s uniform featured many borrowings from the Hungarian national costume. Everyone liked this unusual and smart uniform, and it caught on in Russia. As the centuries passed, the uniform kept changing, all the while retaining its characteristic features.

The hussar uniform coat of 1812 consisted of the following items: a dolman, a woolen waist jacket with a standing collar, over which another jacket, a pelisse, was worn; tight breeches; and boots ornamented with a black woolen tassel. The waist belt was covered with a sash, a set of barreled cords. The black leathered shako [a stiff, cylindrical military dress hat with a metal plate in front, a short visor, and a plume] was adorned with a white plume, cords, and a pompom. The uniform also included a badge in the shape of a round black-ribboned rosette edged with orange, with a metal loop in the same color as the buttons.

A hussar private was usually armed with a belt-slung brass— or iron-hilt saber in an iron-rimmed leather scabbard. Where firearms were concerned, hussars were supposed to have two saddle pistols. Hussars were also armed with carbines, but according to an order issued on November 10, 1812, a squadron was to have only 16 blunderbusses.

Hussars were used as light cavalry in the enemy’s rear and flanks, as well as for reconnaissance and pursuit. They took part in a large number of military operations. Hussars made a very spectacular show in the wars against Napoleonic France. Hussar regiments saw action in all theaters of operations in 1812: the Life Guards, Okhtyrka, Izium, Sumy, Yelysavethrad, and Mariupol regiments in the main direction; the Grodno regiment in the Petersburg direction; and the Oleksandriya, Pavlohrad, and Lubny regiments in the Kyiv direction. The Belarusian and Olviopol hussar regiments also fought in the ranks of the Army of the Danube. Many hussar units were awarded collective decorations in honor of their exploits in the War of 1812: St. George’s medals were presented to the Life Guards and Izium hussar regiments, St. George’s trumpets to the Sumy regiment, and silver trumpets to the Grodno, Okhtyrka, Yelysavethrad, and Mariupol regiments. Those standards and trumpets bore an identical inscription: “For Distinguished Service in Defeating and Ousting the Foe from Russia in 1812.”

When the Russian troops reached the western border in December 1812 and the war ended, the hussars still had to fight against the French emperor’s army on the fields of Europe. In 1813 they saw action in the battles of Lutzen, Bautzen, Kulm, and Leipzig and did an extremely good job at Katzbach. Following a bold and resolute attack that determined the outcome of the battle, all the officers and troops of the four hussar regiments — Okhtyrka, Belarusian, Oleksandriya, and Mariupol — received a somewhat unusual award: metal ribbons on their shakos with the motto, “For Conspicuous Courage on August 14, 1813.” In 1814 the hussars entered France. After battles fought near Brienne, La Rothiere, Soudron, Montmirail, Krasnoye, and Fere-Champenoise, they marched triumphantly into Paris.

Undoubtedly, the most famous Okhtyrka hussar was Denys Davydov, a guerrilla and poet who sang praises to horses, sabers, and wine. At the beginning of the war he was a lieutenant-colonel in command of a battalion of the Okhtyrka Hussar Regiment in the army led by Bagration to whom he presented his plan for a guerrilla war shortly before the Battle of Borodino. The regiment formed the first guerrilla detachment under his command, which successfully fought at Vyazma (Smolensk province). As the 1814 campaign began, he was placed in command of the Okhtyrka Hussar Regiment, was promoted to major-general for gallantry in the Battle of La Rothiere on January 20, and entered Paris at the head of a hussar brigade.

In 1833 there were as many as 16 hussar regiments in the Russian Empire. For a long period the hussars did not have an opportunity to show their much-praised prowess. It seemed that only the Crimean War, which drew Russia into a conflict with France, Britain, and Turkey, could give the cavalry a chance to display its mettle. However, the invention and use of grooved rifles gave the infantry a serious edge over cavalry. Out of the 16 hussar regiments, only two — Kyiv and Ingermanland — participated in a large battle near Balaklava in the fall of 1854. Later, a surprise attack by the British cavalry commanded by Lord Cardigan forced the hussar regiments to retreat. The Russian- Turkish War of 1877-1878 again confirmed the gallantry of light cavalry: the Kyiv Hussar Regiment, stationed together with the Ingermanland regiment near Balaklava, successfully fought in the siege of Plevna.

Ukrainian hussar regiments, the worthy successors of Cossack units, were always on the frontlines of battles, displaying indomitable courage and heroism. Their glorious feats have gone down in the history of cavalry troops. The Russian army also used the Ukrainian Cossacks to form no less brilliant dragoon, uhlan, and cuirassier regiments, not to mention Cossack units proper. But this is another topic.