Towarzysz husarski or Husarz (Hussar companion), was the name of a type of heavy cavalryman in Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

.

The Polish hussars

Polish Hussars

The Polish Hussars were the main type of cavalry of the first Polish Army, later also introduced into the Army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, between the 16th and 18th centuries...

 were the leading or even elite branch of cavalry in the Polish army from the 1570s until 1776, when their duties and traditions by a parliament decree were passed on to the Uhlans. Most hussars were recruited from the wealthier part of the Polish nobility (szlachta

Szlachta

The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...

).

Each towarzysz of hussars raised his own poczet

Poczet

Poczet was the smallest organized unit of soldiers in Kingdom of Poland and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from the 15th until the 18th century. The name of a medium or heavy-cavalry soldiers in poczet was pocztowy.In the cavalry, each poczet was commanded by a towarzysz husarski or towarzysz...

 or retinue. Several retinues were combined to form a hussar banner or Company

Company (military unit)

A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–225 soldiers and usually commanded by a Captain, Major or Commandant. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure...

, (Chorągiew husarska).

For more information see: Hussars.

See also

• Polish cavalry
  Polish cavalry
  The Polish cavalry can trace its origins back to the days of Medieval mounted knights. Poland had always been a country of flatlands and fields and mounted forces operate well in this environment...
  
  
• Towarzysz
  Towarzysz
  A Towarzysz was sort of a junior cavalry officer or rather knight-officer in the autorament narodowy Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth National army, both in cavalry and infantry, from the 16th century until 1794 AD....
  
  
• Towarzysz pancerny
  Towarzysz pancerny
  Towarzysz pancerny was a medium-cavalryman in 16th-18th century Poland, named for his chainmail armor...
  
  
• Poczet
  Poczet
  Poczet was the smallest organized unit of soldiers in Kingdom of Poland and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from the 15th until the 18th century. The name of a medium or heavy-cavalry soldiers in poczet was pocztowy.In the cavalry, each poczet was commanded by a towarzysz husarski or towarzysz...
  
  
• Pocztowy
• Offices in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth