Russian Uhlan Regiments
of the Napoleonic Period

1803-1814

by Emmanouil Vovsi

Introduction by George Nafziger

As long as men have been riding horses there have been lancers, be they medieval knights, winged hussars, cossacks, or uhlans. Their effectiveness and popularity varied from nationality to nationality and from period to period. The western European tradition of lancers all but vanished with the close of the 17th Century only to reemerge in the early 19th Century after a reintroduction of the form from the East.

Though the Russian Cossacks were noted for carrying lances, it was the Poles that were responsible for the beginning of the uhlan regiments in the Russian line cavalry. The lance was the Polish national weapon and with the conquest of Polish territories in the late 18th Century, Russia obtained a large numbers of trained lancers.

The effectiveness of the lancer (or uhlan) became apparent because of the talent of the Poles and by the mid-19th Century having uhlan regiments was quite the rage, with even England raising a number of lancer regiments. Unfortunately, not all lancers were as good as the Poles. The French lancer regiments organized in 1811-1812 were often derided "dragoons with sticks." They were organized from dragoon regiments and never quite got the hang of the lance. On the other hand, the Russian uhlans were excellent troops capable of many missions, including standing in line of battle as well as the multitude of skirmish and reconnaissance duties.

The uhlan's principal weapon, the lance, permitted him the first blow at an opponent, but once a close melee has begun, swords were preferable and the lance was a disadvantage. The Russian,, were to become so enthralled with the lance that in 1812 parts of their hussar regiments were equipped with it. In addition, to rapidly create more uhlan regiments a number of dragoon regiments were converted to the purpose These uhlans were among the Russiar cavalry facing Engish uhlans at Balaklava forty years later.

The uhlan disappeared under the machine guns and howitzers of Worlc War I, though the Poles clung to then until panzers arrived on the Polish plain in 1939. World War II saw the end of cavalry, and it confirmed the uselessnes,, of the uhlan in modern warfare.

Uhlans

by Emmanouil Vovsi

The Decree of September 11, 1803, redesignated the newly forming and as of yet incomplete Odessa Hussar Regiment as the Life Guard Uhlan Regiment Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovitch Regiment. Prior to 1803 there were two light cavalry regiments armed with lances, the Polish Horse Regiment and the Lithuanian Tartar Horse Regiment. On March 29, 1803 the Lithuanian Tartar Regiment was divided in two, forming the Lithuanian Horse Regiment and the Tartar Horse Regiment. These two new regiments had only five squadrons each, while the Polish Horse Regiment remained at ten squadrons. In 1806 the uhlans were issued lances.

One year later, on September 10, 1804, the Regiment, under the command of Major General Baron Egor Meller-Zakomelsky, was introduced to its patron, the Grand Duke Constantine. The Regiment contained 10 squadrons, divided into two five squadron battalions. It contained 69 officers, 141 NCOs, 1,320 uhlans and 209 noncombatants, for a total of 1,739 men. [1]

In his book, An Article on the History of the Life Guard Uhlan Empress's Regiment, Coronet Alexandrovsky describes a story about how the uhlans appeared in Russia stating: "In 1803 an Austrian Uhlan officer by the name of Count Palphi was attached to the Austrian mission in St. Petersburg. The inspector of Cavalry, the Grand Duke Constantine, was most impressed by his uniform and the Czar Alexander I placed the Odessa Hussar Regiment at his disposal with the idea of reorganizing it into an uhlan regiment."'

The word "Uhlan" first appears in the Russian army with a project under Catherine 11 for the organization of a New Russian Land Militia. In 1764 consideration was given to forming a cavalry regiment armed with swords and lances (the lances were to be as in the Austrian army, but without the pennants). The regiment was to be designated as an uhlan regiment, like other similar European regiments. However, when the regiment was formed it was designated the Elisabethgrad Lancer Regiment.

Paul I ordered General Dombrovsky to create a horse regiment armed in the manner of the Polish regiments. Only the first rank was to be armed with lances and known as "companions." The regiment was known as the Polish Horse Companion Regiment. About the same time the Lithuanian Tartar Horse Regiment was formed along the same lines.

Before 1803 the term "uhlan" was not used in the Russian army, but as of 1801 both the Polish and Lithuanian Tartar Regiments were armed and uniformed like uhlans. It was not until November 1807 that these two regiments formally adopted the name "uhlan."

The style of the new uhlan regiments was based on the style used by the Poles in their lancer regiments. The kurtka or jacket was dark blue with crimson facings. The short shirt tails were in the Polish style. The turnbacks, lapel, pointed cuff facings and the piping on the seams of the kurtka's back and sleeves were crimson. The buttons and epaulets were of white wool. In 1803 the Regiment adopted breeches cut in the "Lasalle" style.

A crimson double band and piping ran down both legs. In 1803 the fur "confederatka," worn by the two other lance armed regiments, was replaced by the square topped shapska headdress. The shapska had a leather turban with a visor and a square top. The neck of the square topped shapska was wrapped with a white kitish-witish (cords). The cord joined the squared top at the angle over the right shoulder where a white button held it in place. The cord then continued to tangle over the uhlan's shoulder, passing under the epaulet and attached itself to the first button on the left of the jacket. The shapska had a white plume.

On campaign they wore gray riding breeches. The actual use of lances did not occur until 1806 when the Life Uhlan Regiment adopted a lance with a black shaft and the others adopted lances with red shafts. They carried a curved saber similar to that of the hussars, and two pistols. Their harness work and horse trappings were like those of the hussars, but their schabraque was like that of the dragoons.

Their under officers wore silver boutonnieres and the trumpeters had swallows nests and white chevrons on their sleeves. The trumpeters wore red plumes. The regimental colors worn in 1802 are shown in the accompanying tables.

The distinctive color for the Grand Duke Constantine Uhlan Regiment was scarlet (red). Their epaulets were mixed yellow and scarlet wool. Their buttons were yellow and they wore boutonnieres that were scarlet with a yellow stripe on their cuffs and collars. Their great coat was replaced by a cape with a scarlet collar.

This regiment was armed like a hussar regiment and had sixteen rifled carbines assigned to the flankers.

The schabraque was dark blue trimmed with scarlet. The boutonnieres of the officers were bordered with gold. The cords on the shapska were silver mixed with black and orange. The bandoleer of the bullet pouch and their sword head a golden stripe.

At Austerlitz, fought on December 2, 1805, the Life Guard Uhlan Regiment had its baptism of fire. On April 17, 1807, the Volinski Regiment was organized. Initially it was formed as a horse regiment, but on November 11, 1807, all horse regiments were ordered to take the name "Uhlan."

At this time the tails of the uhlan kurtka were changed to be like those worn by the cuirassiers. The Life Guard Uhlans had worn this cut kurtka since they were formed. In November 1807 the Light Horse Regiments Lithuanian, Tartar, Polish, and Volynsk were converted into Uhlan regiments.

On August 18, 1808 the Tchougouiev Cossacks became the Tchougouiev Uhlan Regiment. On October 18, 1809 the uhlan regiments were reorganized into regiments with ten squadrons and a depot squadron. On December 12, 1809 the Grand Duke Constantine Uhlans passed into the Guard. The ten squadron regiment was broken in two and became the Guard Uhlan Regiment and the Guard Dragoon Regiment.

Before 1808 the Horse and Uhlan Regiments had pennants on their lances that had two colored longitudinal stripes. In 1808 the pennants were revised so that the pennants of the 1st and 2nd Battalions were different. The pennants for the I st Battalion were a single color, except for Volynsk. That of the 2nd Battalion had four stripes of two colors. The top and bottom stripes were broad and of different colors. The two stripes in the middle were narrow and of opposite colors, forming an alternating color pattern.

The plumes of the shapskas were lengthened and made of horse hair with cords. The rooster feather plumes were abandoned. The cords were now of a single color. The fringe of the epaulets was white and yellow for the rank and file.

In 1807 the Volhynie Horse Regiment was raised. It adopted the uniform of the Grand Duke Constantine Uhlans, but without the boutonnieres on the cuffs and collars. It had crimson distinctives and white buttons.

The differences between the uniforms of the three older regiments were very slight and became less when, in 1807, they all adopted black lance shafts. In 1807 all of the regimental officers adopted epaulets like those worn by the other cavalry regiments.

At the same time the troopers adopted fringeless epaulets and by the end of the year the Volhynie Regiment adopted the term "Uhlan." The other three regiments followed their example in short order.

In 1809 the boutonnieres of the under officers were moved up higher on the collars and the Grand Duke Constantine Regiment was transferred to the Guard where it underwent several changes.

In 1809 the Life Guard Uhlan Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich Regiment was assigned to the Russian Imperial Guard as a result of its actions in the 1805 Austrian Campaign, the 180607 Polish Campaign, and the 1808-09 Campaign in Finland. The regiment was divided in half, the 1st Battalion becoming the Life Guard Uhlan Regiment and the 2nd Battalion becoming the Life Guard Dragoon Regiment. The Life Guard Uhlan Regiment did not change its uniform as a result of this reorganization. Indeed, its uniform was to remain unchanged over the entire period from its organization in 1803 to 1825.

In 1811 all the Russian uhlan regiments adopted a new peakless fatigue cap.' In 1812 there were further changes in the uniforms of the line uhlan regiments. The shapska had its top enlarged and its plume was lengthened to 42.3 cm (14.5 cm wide at top and 4.5 cm wide at the base). The collars on the kurtka were cut lower and closed with a catch and eye arrangement in the front.'

On December 17, 1812, the entire Russian cavalry establishment was reorganized. The light cavalry regiments no longer had two battalions of five squadrons each. All cavalry regiments were uniformly organized with seven squadrons, one being a reserve squadron and the remaining six being organized into two three-squadron divisions.

In 1812 the bandoleer worn by the officers and their sword belts were changed to varnished, white leather. The gold and silver ornaments of the officers were replaced by orange or white cloth and the collars were hooked at the top. The plumes became thinner and the jacket of the trumpeters was now completely striped.

At the same time the pompons and cords of the shapskas were changed to the color of the piping. The trim of the schabraques was changed to the regimental color, red or crimson. The ornaments on the officers' shapskas were changed to match the colors of their buttons. The pennants of the uhlan regiments were standardized across all of the uhlan regiments.

In 1812 the Russians realized the usefulness of the uhlan regiments and converted six dragoon regiments into uhlan regiments. Each regiment was organized with six field squadrons and a depot squadron. The changes occurred on December 17, 1812, the lamburg, Orienburg, Siberian, Zitomir, Vladimir, Voulin, Taganrog and Serpukhov Dragoons converted into Uhlan Regiments. On August 30, 1815 the Zitomir Uhlans were renamed the Borisogleb Uhlans.

The uhlan regiments were then organized into three uhlan divisions. The I st Division contained the Lithuanian Uhlan Regiment, lamburg, Orienburg, and Siberian Uhlan Regiments. The 2nd Uhlan Division contained the Polish, Zitomir, Vladimir, and Tartar Uhlan Regiments. The 3rd Uhlan Division contained the Voulin, Chuguev (raised in 1808), Taganrog, and Serpukhov Uhlan Regiments .5

As these regiments were actively engaged in a campaign against the French from 1812 to 1814 the conversion to the ordered uniform went very slowly. As a result, dragoon equipment was frequently intermixed with uhlan equipment as supplies of one article and another arrived and slowly replaced existing equipment in the former dragoon regiments or stocks of old dragoon equipment in the depots was used up. Eyewitness accounts only indicate a truly "uhlan" uniform appearing in these regiments in late 1814.

In 1814 the leather leggings "pantalo ns a l'hongroise" used on parade were abolished. After the 1812-1814 campaigns the kurtka adopted lapels colored like the tails following the Polish example and as were used by the horse regiments before 1808. In addition, the riding breeches replaced the buttons down the outer seam with piping and a double stripe of the regimental color. [6]

(Note: The titles in the footnotes are translated from the original Russian or French.)

Footnotes

[1] K.V.Alexandrovsky, An Article on the History of the Life Guard Uhlan Empress's Regiment, 1897, St. Petersburg.
[2] Ibid.
[3] V.V.Zvegintsov, The Russian Army, Parts 1-4, 1967-1973, Paris.
[4] A.V.Viskovatov, The Historical Description of the Clothes and Arms of the Russian Troops, Parts 9-10, 1900, St. Petersburg.
[5] Ibid.
[6] V. Zvegintsov, The Russian Army, Parts 1-4, 1967-1973, Paris.

More Russian Uhlans

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