Petyhorcy

Petyhorcy (singular: Petyhorzec, la, pientho-horcensis, ) was a type of regular medium-armoured light cavalry exclusively in the Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army during the 17th and 18th centuries. The petyhorcy are viewed as the Lithuanian equivalent of the Royal Polish Army's Armoured Companion, or as a cavalry type that was between the Winged Hussars and the Armoured Companion. They were organised in Banners. Originally, the Petyhorcy were spear-armed cavalry from Circassia.

The Petyhorcy were supposed to finish off and defeat the enemy line that was breached by the Winged Hussars. While the Winged Hussars were more prestigious, the Petyhorcy enjoyed high reputation, hence their banner's rotmistras were frequently high-ranking officials. In fact, the Petyhorcy developed in the late 16th-century from the mounted shooters who protected the hussars.

Etymology

The name of the Petyhorcy comes from Mount Beshtau (in Turkic languages, means five and means mountain). The name of the Russian city of Pyatigorsk is also derived from it. Tadeusz Czacki wrote that the Petyhorcy originated from the Carpathian Mountains, but that is false.

Beginnings

Initially it was formed from Kazarians who came to Lithuania from under the rule of the Russian Tsardom (and hence were sometimes referred to simply as , 'Kazarians'). Initially formed by Caucasian mountaineers ('), the light cavalry units were with time also joined by Lithuanian Tartars and local landed gentry. Much like other steppe units, the petyhorcy units were initially armoured only in light Chain mail cap and , a type of steel arm protectors. The offensive armament included a lance, possibly identical to the long lance used by Winged Hussars. The first such units were formed during the reign of king Stephen Báthory. A commander of one of such units, Temruk Szymkowic, was recorded as a rotmistrz already during the reign of Sigismund II Augustus, but it is uncertain whether he commanded a Kazarian unit at that time.

At the time of Stephen Báthory, the light resembled the Petyhorcy.

17th century

With time the unit type evolved into medium cavalry, almost identical to the Armoured companion. The armour used by those later units included a full chainmail armour with and arm protectors and often also a , a round Turkish-style shield. In the 17th century the chainmail was gradually replaced by cuirasses. The offensive armament used by Petyhorcy included a 3 to 4-metre-long lance of bear spear (), as well as a Szabla, two pistols and a musket carbine or an eastern-type bow.

Similar to the Winged Hussars, their armour was chain mail, while their equipment consisted of a shield, lance and bow, the latter only when fighting the Ottoman army. In the mid-17th century, this type of cavalry was usually called the Cossack-type cavalry.

In 1614, the army led by Jacob De la Gardie had two petyhorcy banners, whose commanders were Jaromir Plecki and Stanisław Wolski.

In 1673, the Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army had 18 petyhorcy banners, totalling 1,980 horses. In early 1676, there were 22 petyhorcy rota with 2,670 horses, but in the later part of the year, this shrunk to 20 rota of 2,430 horses. In 1690, the Lithuanian Army officially had 620 petyhorcy.

18th century

In 1717, in the Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army, the petyhorcy were the most numerous cavalry, having a total of 26 banners. During the military reforms of 1775–1776, all Hussar and Petyhorcy flags, of which there were 32 in total, were merged into two National Cavalry brigades of 16 flags each. The second one was the 2nd Lithuanian National Cavalry Brigade, also called the 2nd (Pinsk) Petyhorcy Brigade, which had about 380 soldiers. In 1789, it numbered 1635 and was composed of 17–32 banners. This brigade was deployed in the eastern lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, on the Russian border. During wartime, the brigade was redeployed. During the War of 1792, part of the brigade's banners were located in the Russian occupation zone and hence were disbanded. The last time the Petyhorcy fought were in the Kościuszko Uprising.

In the 18th century, the petyhorcy were armed with a lance, backsword and pistols or carbine.

References

Sources

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*{{Cite web, last=Rakutis, first=Valdas, date=2021, title=Petihorai, url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/petihorai/, website= Vle.lt, language=lt

Lithuanian cavalry
16th- and 17th-century warrior types
18th- and 19th-century warrior types
Cavalry units and formations of Lithuania