Napoleonic Basic: Hussars and Chasseurs

A quick introduction to the uses of light cavalry, mainily n the French army, but it's applicable to the other nations too! Sorry for the delay, and enjoy!

[NapoleonicWargaming]

It seems the end of the video got cut off! So I'll say here, thanks for watching, I hope you're enjoying these videos and your support is really greatly received! Thank you so much, and see you on the next video!

[praetoriandorn]

This is what I love about the Napoleonic era; it wasn't just about fighting ability, it was also about how cool you looked individually and as a unit.

[paulbrockhurst]

"Any hussar who is not dead by the age of thirty is a blackguard." : Compte de Lassalle.

[thomasvertommen]

Good vid, just a slight correction; the French didn't have to live of the land, because they didn't have the same kind of supply systems. It's the inverse; they lived of the land and as such, they didn't need the same type of supply systems. It comes down from the military doctrine that Napoleon worked out in Northern Italy (and here, it was the one case when it was because of the bad supply situation). The fact that the French didn't have large supply collumns following them around, their armies moved at lightning speeds compared to other nations. That's why the French, especially in the early decades of the Napleonic wars (let's say... 1792-1808), outmanoeuvred and outflanked the armies of the Austrians, Russians and Prussians alike; the French made progress that didn't seem feasible to the coalition armies. This however did lead to a "hard counter" in the Russian scorched earth tactics.

[bradwhitcomb]

Forgot to mention, small men on small horses. Lt. Cav tended to be shorter than Hvy Cav.

[freedomtosayno]

Scouting, screening, combat, and pursuit. British hussars rarely skirmished especially when battle was joined during the Napoleonic wars. The best hussars were Austrian (Hungarian, where they started) and the French.

[micahbragg]

Those hussar uniforms are unmatched in all of military history.

[jimpollard]

If you were a subsistence farmer, the absolute worst disaster that could befall you, other than perhaps the plague, was the passage of a French army through your area.

[start]

8:53 - Leo Tolstoy, "War and Peace" 2016, Great Britain, TVseries, it is Nikolai Rostov (Jack Andrew Lowden) - Pavlogradsky hussar regiment uniform of the Russian army.

[raymadi]

Love your channel, so informative and great history lesson

[lelouche]

Being a Hussar meant you probably had the most swagger, and probably got laid more than the chasseurs.

[MB-ocnw]

Hussar uniforms must have been fanny magnets back in the day. Very dashing

[NextStitch]

First french hussars established by hungarian Laszló Bercsényi who fought in Rákóczi's War of Independence against Habsburg Austria because France supported the kuruc rebbellion. The 1st Parachute Hussars Regiment in the French Army still called Bercheny.

[mickymantle]

I have a Hussars Lion Head sabre buckle found by detector in Belarus. Also a heap of buttons - including Imperial Guard / 61st / 108th Line regiments + Sappers Buttons etc; found near banks of the Berezina.

[Edward-Plantagenet]

Yes it did clip. Interesting vid. We play BP with most, if not all, brigades deployed as Blinds (cards, some of which are real brigades, some of which are not) then use spotting distances to see whether the brigade is either 'confirmed' (as being a real brigade whereupon it's marked as being 'real' ) or 'identified' where the spotting unit is close enough to actually make out what the specific units are (this happens at arty max range). Provides a very useful role for light cavalry. It's just a pity that in BP that broken units are just removed from play and that there's no routing units for light cavalry to run down.

[bashkillszombies]

I'm not even into wargaming - but I enjoyed this for it's historic value.

[philRminiatures]

Splendid figures, colors...and illustrations!

[szalard]

You spoke that the Hussars were not used during the battles, because their style of fighting, their weapons, etc., was not fitted for direct charges, and even against heavy cavalry.
Still in the 1848-49 Hungarian-Austro-Russian war (called the Hungarian Freedom War), the Hungarian hussars were used against infantry in battle formations or Austrian heavy cavalry, because this was almost the only Hungarian cavalry unit, which they could use. The Hungarians had though very few lancers and cuirassiers (a few hundreds), but more than 10 000 Hussars, the Hussars being the traditional Hungarian cavalry by excellanse. And in many battles the Hungarian hussars managed to defeat infantry and heavy cavalry. For example in the battles of Szolnok, Mezőkövesd, Piski, Nagyszeben or Komárom.
So, when it was no other choice, the Hussars excelled also during the pitched battles.

[nannerbreads]

Thanks for the video, I’m reading War & Peace and found this info to be helpful!!!

[ColonelBummleigh]

Quality stuff.
Much appreciated