In our last issue, covering the cavalry: Cuirassiers and Dragoons, (i.e. what we would call the heavy cavalry) we saw that the Prussian cavalry in 1806 was divided into cavalry and light cavalry. The light cavalry was represented by eleven regiments of Hussars and a corps of lancers known as the Towarczys. During the Campaign of 1806-07, some of the Prussian light cavalry performed very well and managed to survive the debacle after the Jena-Auerstadt battles. The Prussian light cavalry is to be credited with the capture of the only two eagles lost to the Prussians by the French army during that campaign. We find the Towarczys at the battle of Eylau (February 8, 1807) with Lestoc's small Corps successfully charging Morand's infantry, in the process capturing one Eagle of the 51st of the line. On June 10, 1807, at Heilsberg, the Prittwitz Hussars took one Eagle of the 55th of the Line. There is little tactical difference between the Prussian light cavalry and that of the other countries, with the possible exception of scouting and reconnaissance. The Prussian light cavalry appears to have been considerably less active than their French counterpart in scouting. So, we can say that the Prussian light cavalry was more battle oriented than that of the French. As was true for all the other countries' light cavalries, the Prussian Hussars and Towarczys were armed with a curved sword some 3 feet 5 inches long (1.016 meter), held in a wood scabbard covered with black leather, and reinforced with iron fittings. The sword had an iron guard and a black leather knot. The sword belt was of natural leather (that of the officers had a lace trim) and was always worn over the waist sash. All troopers were armed with a pair of pistols and a carbine, those of the carabiniers were rifled. More Light Cavalry Introduction Hussars Towarczys More 1806 Prussian Uniforms Part II: The Cavalry Introduction The Cuirassiers The Dragoons Uniform Illustration: Horseman of the Regiment von Beeren (slow: 136K) Uniform Illustration: Dragoons and Cuirassiers (slow: 105K) Back to Empire, Eagles, & Lions Table of Contents Vol. 2 No. 6 Back to EEL List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1994 by Emperor's Headquarters This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com