Where do hussars come from?
The first hussars appeared around 1550 in Hungary, 330 years ago, counting from our time, and therefore, until now, in all states, the hussar uniform is nothing more than a Hungarian folk costume (outfit).
The word hussar in Hungarian means the flying horseman. Indeed, the first hussars were strong and dexterous riders. They gathered in squads (regiments) to repel various enemies with which Hungary had to fight, and constantly won. The glory of the Hungarian hussars soon spread throughout Europe and, little by little, all the peoples, at first neighboring with Hungary, somehow: Poles, Serbs, and then others adopted hussars modeled on the Hungarian ones. All the hussars of that time wore wings on the back of their uniform, as a consequence of their very name: flying horsemen.
Where do Russian hussars come from?
In Russia, hussars first appeared in the reign of Emperor Peter the Great, in 1723.
Under Peter the Great, many residents came to Russia from the neighboring Slavic land - Serbia. They settled in Ukraine, i.e. in the south of Russia. Since these Serbs had many horses and were excellent riders, the sovereign ordered to form a hussar regiment from them, including 340 people. After Peter the Great, from these hussars, little by little, many regiments were formed, but they all consisted of foreigners: Serbs and other Slavs. So, in 1762, in the year of the accession to the throne of Empress Catherine II (who died in 1796), there were already 12 hussar regiments, and they all settled in the south of Russia, i.e. in Ukraine and Little Russia.
A distinctive feature of the hussars of that time was that they wore a long mustache and whiskey, combed to the back of the head, while all other troops were not allowed to let go of the mustache, but were ordered to wear powdered wigs. Although the hussar officers wore wigs, they wore only one long curl on the left side.
Founding of the Life Hussar Squadron
In 1775, on March 21, Empress Catherine II ordered Major Shterich to form a Leib-Hussar squadron for his convoy, choosing for this the best people and horses from the 12 Hussar regiments that existed then in southern Russia. Major Sterich in that same year presented to the Empress in Moscow the detachment he had formed and was appointed commander of this squadron.
From Moscow, the life-hussars were transferred to Petersburg, where they stood during the entire reign of Empress Catherine; on solemn occasions she never went out of town except with the accompaniment of a platoon of the Leib-Hussar squadron.
In 1796, Emperor Paul I, upon his accession to the throne, ordered from the Leib-Hussar squadron to form a four-squadron regiment, the commander of which he appointed Lieutenant Colonel Kologrivov. At the same time, the Tsar transferred the regiment to the cities of Tsarskoe Selo and Pavlovsk, and ordered the first squadron to be called His Majesty's squadron.
Military actions of the Life-Hussar regiment
The first campaign in which the regiment participated was the war of Russia together with Austria against the French emperor Napoleon I, in 1805. In the battle of Austerlitz, the Life Hussars overturned and scattered the French Guards cavalry, and, with the swiftness of their attacks, surprised Napoleon himself. Then, in 1807, the Leib-Hussar regiment again opposed Napoleon, and in the battle of Friedland, again crushed the French cavalry and saved the retreat of our army. The Life Hussars returned from this campaign with 112 St. George Crosses.
During the Patriotic War in 1812, when Napoleon invaded Russia, the Leib-Hussar regiment covered itself with a new glory of military valor. Throughout the course of the war, he was in many battles with the French cavalry, namely in three big battles, such as: at Vitebsk, Borodino, and Krasny. At Krasnoye, he recaptured the battery and the banner from the enemy. As a reward for the distinctions shown in the Patriotic War, the Leib-Hussar regiment was awarded three St. George's standards by Emperor Alexander I. When Napoleon was expelled from Russia, Emperor Alexander I decided to pursue the enemy as far as France, and to all peace proposals he replied that he would sign peace only in Paris. As a result, the Life Hussars, along with all the guards, went to France. This was in 1813. Our troops had to fight the French for more than a year. And since the war passed in the areas of other states, especially in Germany, the Life Hussars, who were in the vanguard almost all the time, with dignity supported their military glory, the exemplary performance of the outpost and intelligence service.
Our regiment especially distinguished itself in two bloody battles: at Kulm and at Leipzig, where during an attack at the head of the regiment our brave regimental commander Lieutenant General Shevich was killed by a cannonball. In this glorious deed, we lost officers: three killed and six seriously wounded.
Continuation of the war with the French in 1814
From Germany, Napoleon fled to France. Our troops followed him. In France, the Life Hussars again took part in many glorious battles, which ended in constant defeat of the enemy, and finally, on March 19, 1814, together with the entire guard entered Paris, which surrendered to our troops after a two-day battle. Napoleon himself surrendered to our sovereign a few days later. This was followed by a march of Russian troops from Paris to Russia, and the Life Hussars arrived in Tsarskoe Selo the next year, 1815.
Hike to Turkey
The next campaign, in which the Leib-Hussar regiment participated, was the war against Turkey, in 1828 and 1829, during the reign of Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich. Arriving in Turkey, the Life Hussars stood for a whole year in reserve, on the Danube River, but were not in action. In memory of the Turkish campaign, the lower ranks were awarded special medals.
In Poland
Two years later, namely in 1830, the Life Hussars again came out from Tsarskoe Selo against the rebellious Poland. Here our regiment, before the capture of Warsaw, constantly maintained outposts from the guards corps and was almost daily in hot battles with the rebel cavalry. Finally, near Warsaw, the Life Hussars covered themselves with new glory - during the battle under the walls of the city, the Life Dragoon Regiment (now the Horse Grenadier) suddenly found itself surrounded by three Polish cavalry regiments. The dragoons fought back with desperate courage; the regimental commander was wounded in the head with a saber, almost all the officers were killed and the staff at the standard were chopped off, and the standard non-commissioned officers were hacked; the regiment perished. At this time, the commander of the Life Hussars, Senior Colonel Musin-Pushkin, hit the already triumphant Poles with his regiment. A terrible felling ensued. The rebels fled and sought salvation within the walls of Warsaw itself, where they jumped through the gap. The hussars rushed after them. The brave captain Sleptsov, wounded in 12 places and all covered in blood, with his 5 squadron, first burst into the city and in the streets he chopped to the right and left the Poles galloping in disorder. But, having flown into Warsaw, the hussars could not turn back, and therefore rushed straight ahead and jumped out into the opposite gate. Although the Polish regiments were destroyed, the dragoons were rescued and their standards were repulsed by the hussars, but for that we suffered great damage: we lost Captain Sleptsov and four officers, in addition, we lost 47 lower ranks and 142 horses. For the feat of this, the Sovereign Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich granted the regiment silver trumpets with St. George ribbons and with the inscription: "For the capture of Warsaw on August 26, 1831"
Hike to Hungary
In 1848, our regiment again launched a campaign against Hungary, but only managed to cross the border, when Hungary was already conquered by our other troops.
In 1855, Emperor Nicholas I died, and the successfully reigning Emperor Alexander Nikolaevich ascended the throne. Our regiment began to be called His Majesty's Life Guards Hussar Regiment, since the Sovereign, at his birth, was appointed chief of the Life Hussar Regiment, which he commanded several times both at reviews and on exercises.
Hike during the Crimean War
Under the successfully reigning Sovereign Emperor, in the Crimean War, His Majesty's Life Guards Hussar regiment set out for Poland, where it stood on the Austrian border from 1854 to 1856, in which he returned to Tsarskoe Selo. On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the patronage of the regiment of Sovereign Emperor Alexander Nikolaevich, held on April 17, 1868, His Majesty's Life Guards Hussar regiment received a standard.
Centenary Regiment Anniversary
On February 19, 1875, the regiment celebrated the centenary of its existence. The Emperor was pleased to see representatives of all times at the holiday, and therefore a foot platoon was appointed, the lower ranks of which were dressed in all uniforms worn by the Life Hussars since 1775.
The holiday began with a prayer service, after which the Sovereign Emperor hung on the standard the St. Andrew's ribbons granted to the regiment that day. Then the regiment marched in a ceremonial march with variable gaits, and the Sovereign Emperor deigned to personally command the parade. At the end of the ceremony, His Majesty turned to the regiment and said: "Thank you hussars for your 100-year brave and loyal service," adjutants. The words of the Tsar Chef have forever cut into the hearts of the hussars and they will remember the speech of the adored Monarch to the grave.
March 1877 in Turkey
In 1877, a war broke out with the Turks. It seemed that the guards corps would not be destined to participate in this glorious campaign. Our brave army with its Commander-in-Chief crosses the Danube at Zimnitsa. The Turkish cities of Nikopol, Tarnovo, Gabrovo, Selvi, Lovcha and others surrender one after another to our heroes - General Gurko, at the head of an insignificant detachment, crosses the Balkans and dashing raids into Juranli, Eski Zagr, Yeni-Zagr and Adrianople, surprises Russia and Europe. But near Plevna, menacing clouds are gathering on our right flank, and the forward movement is halted. All efforts to take possession of this fortified camp remain in vain. Several times the brave regiments of the 9th and 11th Army Corps try to take the city by storm, but in vain.
Here the guards are destined to commemorate their combat activities for the first time. Indeed, upon the arrival of the Guard in Turkey, it is directed directly to Plevna, namely to Gorny Dubnyak. On October 12, the Jaeger and Life Guards Hussar regiments were ordered to seize the village of Telish, a bloody battle continues for 5 hours, several times the hussars go on the attack.
The brave lieutenant Snezhkov, at the head of the squadron, jumps over the trenches occupied by the Turks, chops right and left, and this creates panic and commotion in the Turkish army. Hussars everywhere show amazing courage. Towards evening, the hussars move forward, cover the retreat of the gamekeepers and, dismounting under a hail of bullets, collect the wounded and killed. For this case, the Sovereign Emperor granted a distinction to the regiment: on the caps there is an inscription for Telish on October 12. After Telish, the regiment went out with the vanguard on the Sofiysky highway, took part in many battles. The regiment maintains an outpost and intelligence service all the time. With numerous skirmishes with the Circassians, Bashi-bazouks and Turkish cavalry, they everywhere show extraordinary courage, daring and knowledge of cavalry affairs. In one of these skirmishes, the beloved and respected by his comrades, the regimental adjutant Lieutenant Count Vladimir Bobrinsky, was killed.
Then the regiment passes in the winter after the extraordinary difficulties of the Balkans at Amur Gach and directly engages in battle with the Turks, namely: at Dolny Komarts, Sofia and Philipopolis and other places. Everywhere hussars show amazing courage and thus have preserved their centuries-old military glory in the eyes of the Tsar and the fatherland. In 1878 the regiment was already returning to Tsarskoe Selo.
