17th century In Russia, the
hussar formations (
companies) as the troops of the "New (Foreign) System" are mentioned in 1634. By 1654, these companies were deployed into a regiment under the command of Colonel Christopher Rylsky. In the spring of 1654, Rylsky's hussar regiment solemnly leaves Moscow, but a year later it disappears from the documents. Probably, it did not justify itself and was transferred to the
Reitar Order. {{Blockquote|
Our great sovereign, against his enemies of the state, gathers a host of many and uncountable, and the orders are different:Many thousands of spear companies are organized in
hussars;The other many thousands of spear companies are organized in hussars, cavalry, with a
fire fight, and in
Reitar formation;...Then our great sovereign has a military structure. In September 1660, the hussar companies were
organized in the Novgorod Grade by Prince Ivan Khovansky. These companies showed themselves splendidly in the battles of the
Russian–Polish War and in August 1661 they were deployed into a regiment, which received "hussar shafts" (spears) and armour from the
Armoury.
Gordon's diary speaks of three companies of hussars who participated in the Kozhukhov Campaign in 1694. The last mention of the hussars of this organization falls in 1701, when the hussars were recruited into the Novgorod Dragoon Regiment. There was also the Consolidated Lance–Reitar–Hussar Regiment of the
steward and Colonel Yakov Chelishchev. In 1701, this consolidated formation operated in the area of the
Pechersky Monastery "to save the district peasants of the
Pskov Uyezd", later it was reorganized into a garrison dragoon regiment, and in the period from 1713 to 1715 was in
Smolensk. The
Armoury has preserved Russian hussar armour of the 17th century. Russian hussars could also be supplied with
Reitar Armour. So, for example,
Prince Khovansky did in 1661, when he did not have time to receive the hussar
plate armour. As the prince wrote: "I have accepted 360 plates in the regiment. Of this number, 91 plates were given to the hussar, while by your (royal) decree, hussar armor will be sent to me, and the remaining 269 plates were given to the regiment of Colonel Davyd Zybin to the reitars... And hussar armor and
shishaks did not come to my regiment in July until the 7th, and a hussar cannot be without armor and shishaks and without handcuffs". Three units of hussars are recorded as having participated in the 1694 Kozhuhovskaya campaign. The last mention of these irregulars is recorded in 1701, when they were transferred to newly raised
Novgorod Dragoon Regiment of regular cavalry.
18th century In April 1707,
Peter I instructed the Serbian colonel Apostol Kichich (or Kigetsch) to form a
khorugv ("banner" or "squadron") of 300 men to serve on the Ottoman-Russian border, made up of Wallachian, Serbian and other South Slavic immigrants living in Southern Russia (
Novorossiya). The squadron consisted of Christians from
Hungary,
Serbia,
Moldova and
Wallachia. As a result, the four so–called "Volosh
Khorongv" or Hussar Volosh Regiments were formed under colonels Kichich, Vasily Tansky, Mikhail Brashevyan and Serbin. These participated in the
Great Northern War. By the time of the Prut Campaign in 1711, the number of Serbian, Wallachian and Polish hussars' regiments had increased to six. In 1711, prior to the
Pruth campaign, 6 regiments (4 khorugv's each) of hussars were subsequently formed, mainly from
Wallachia. Two other '
khorugv', for
guerilla warfare, were formed, one Polish and one Serbian, to serve against the
Ottomans. After the campaign, these regiments were reorganized into two hussar regiments. Later, 1,500 Wallachian hussars were left in Russian service, of which three regiments were formed under colonels Kichich, Tansky and Serbin. and one as cuirassier. The Serbian Hussar Regiment in 1783 entered the formation of the Olviopol Hussar Regiment.
19th century After 1787 hussar regiments were again raised and by the war with France of 1812 twelve were in existence. By 1833 these had increased in number to fourteen line regiments plus two of the Guard (Grodno Hussars and Elizavetgrad Hussars). After the reorganization of the cavalry dated 17 December 1812 all of the hussar regiments were reorganized into three divisions: 1st Hussar Division • Grodno Hussars • Elizavetgrad Hussars • Izyum Hussars • Sumy Hussars 2nd Hussar Division • Alexandria Hussars • Akhtyrka Hussars • Irkutsk hussar regiment • Mariupol Hussars 3rd Hussar Division • Belarusian Hussars • Lubny Hussars • Olviopol Hussars •
Pavlograd Hussars During the
First Patriotic War of 1812, the hussar formations served as the basis for the creation of a number of partisan detachments (detachments of light cavalry), which delivered surprise attacks on the communications of European troops. For the courage and heroism of the personnel of the hussar formations shown in battles against the
troops of Europe united by Napoleon, four regiments of hussars were awarded the
George Standards, 9 regiments –
George and Silver Pipes, 10 regiments – the badges "For Distinction" on the
shako, and the Grodno Hussar Regiment for distinctions in battle in the area of Klyastitsa was renamed to Klyastitsky General Yakov Kulnev Regiment. Later, the hussar regiments took part in the
abroad campaigns of the Russian Army in 1813–1814, in the
Russian–Turkish War of 1877–1878. In 1883, the Supreme decision was again made to rename the regiments, this time to
dragoon regiments. All regular Russian hussar and uhlan regiments (except the Imperial Guard) were converted to dragoons. All fourteen hussar regiments lost their traditional and distinctive uniforms as well as titles. The decision to abolish the traditions of the triumphant Russian army was very unpopular and widely opposed by military personnel. Many officers defiantly resigned, while others continued to wear makeshift versions of their former uniforms well into the mid-1880s. The new uniforms were designed in a simplified style, imitating the national semi-historical Russian costume, and were considered too simple and rustic. The reform left only two hussar regiments within the Imperial Guard (His Majesty's Hussar Life-Guards regiment and Grodno Life-Guards Hussar regiment) with their uniforms relatively unchanged. During the military reform of Nicholas II in 1907, some regiments were given back the name of the hussars. Before the Imperialist War, there were 20 hussar regiments in the Armed Forces of the Russian Empire. Later, the following hussar formations remained in the
Russian Imperial Army: • Grodno Hussar Regiment; • Elisavetgrad Hussar Regiment; • Izyum Hussar Regiment; • Sumy Hussar Regiment; • Alexandrian Hussar Regiment; • Akhtyrsky Hussar Regiment; • Irkutsk Hussar Regiment; • Mariupol Hussar Regiment; • Belarusian Hussar Regiment; • Lubensky Hussar Regiment; • Olviopol Hussar Regiment; •
Pavlograd Hussar Regiment; • Chernigov Hussar Regiment.
Disestablishment In 1907, after the defeat in
Russo-Japanese War (which to a degree was caused by the unpopular 1882 reform), the government of
Nicholas II decided to restore the prestige of the
Russian army. The previously re-converted hussar and uhlan regiments were restored in their historical titles. The new parade uniforms were generally based on those of pre-1882, though differed significantly in details. There were two Russian imperial guard Hussar regiments, that of "
His Majesty" and "Grodno". In November 1917, the 20 existing hussar regiments, along the remainder of the former Imperial Army, were disbanded. A former officer of the 1st Sumsky Hussar regiment recorded that his regiment survived until February 1918 when, however, the remaining officers and the Soldiers' Committee decided "…to mount and ride away in different directions to their respective homes". == Equipment ==