Austro-Hungarian cavalry regiments were named after the inhaber (regimental owner or proprietor) who was not always the commander. During the 1790s it was named after Josef Mezaros, during the 1890s it was named after Archduke Otto Franz, and during World War I it was named after the war hero Brudermann.[4]
On 1 November 1791, the regiment was formed in a strength of four divisions. In addition, the Chevauxlegers regiments "Kaiser", "Karaiczay", "Lobkowitz" and "Levenehr" (the latter disbanded in 1860 as Dragoon Regiment No. 4) had to give up their Uhlan divisions.[5]
In 1801, a core of batches and men was handed over to the newly established Uhlan Regiment No. 3. Carbines were issued to troops in the two flank divisions to provide additional fire support to the lancers of the central divisions who led the cavalry charge.[8]
In 1809, the cavalry (Uhlans) was incorporated into the Franconian Legion[9]
1860 The 4th Division, which had been surplus after the reshuffle of the cavalry, was transferred to the newly formed Volunteer Uhlan Regiment (later Count Trani No. 13).
Additions
Since its formation, the regiment was recruited from Galicia[10]
1853: Addition from the district of the Infantry Regiment No. 56 (Wadowice))
1857–60: Addition from the districts of the Infantry Regiments No. 20 and 56 (Nový-Sandez and Wadowice)
1867–89: Addition from the districts of infantry regiments No. 13 and 56 (Krakow and Wadowice).
From 1890 onwards, the regiment was assigned to the 1st Corps (Military Territorial District of Krakow) with the addition
Peace garrisons
1791 Sáros-Patak, then Rosenau
1793–94 Lodi
1798–99 Straubing
1801–05 Pardubice
1806 Gabel, then Bischof-Teinitz
1807–09 Klattau
1810 Pardubice
1811 Gaja, then Gyöngyös
1812–13 Nagy-Tapolcsán
1814–15 Debreczin
1815 St. Florian
1816 Oradea
1817 Vienna
1818 Saaz
1843 Vienna
1845–48 Pardubice
1849 Neusohl
1850 St. Georgen, then Beraun
1851 St. Georgen
1854 Krakow
1855–59 Wessely
1860 Wessely
1862 Moravian New Town
1863–66 Tarnów
1866 Lugos
1868 Temesvár
1871 Oedenburg
1876 Tarnów
1880 Krakow
1895 Vienna
1899 Monastyryska
1914 Staff, I. Div.: Lviv – II. Div.: Mosty Wielkie (Galicia/today Ukraine) Regimental
In 1795, detachments of the regiment fought at Savona and San Giacomo, where Captain Brochowsky earned the Order of Maria Theresa. Battles at Voltri and Loano.[17]
1796 Six squadrons fought at Voltri, Milessimo, Codogno and Lodi. There, Captain von Domokos covered the retreat of the Sebottendorf Corps with the Lieutenant Colonel – 2nd Squadron and earned the Order of Maria Theresa. After the fighting at the beginning of August, two squadrons joined the Davidivich Corps, the others the main army. The latter then fought at Calliano, Bassano, Castellaro and la Favorita and were pushed with the rest of Wurmser's troops into the fortress of Mantua, in the defense of which they participated. The 2nd Majors Division fought at Caldiero, Arcole and Rivoli.[18]
1797 After the capitulation of Mantua, the six squadrons that had been deployed there moved to the hereditary lands.[19] The 2nd Majors Division withdrew to Carinthia and had no combat activity. After the armistice, a squadron was used in the occupation of Dalmatia.
1799 Commanded back to Germany, the regiment fought in the Battle of Ostrach. Later it was detached to the Sztáray Corps, which remained on the Middle Rhine, where it performed patrol and patrol duty. The regiment was involved in the defence of the posts at Kehl.
1800 battles at Möskirch, Biberach, Schwabmünchen, in the Battle of Neresheim and at Odelzhausen. In June, Lieutenant Colonel Wallmoden undertook a foray into the Murg and Kinzig valleys. In late autumn, the regiment was stationed near Regensburg, from where detachments undertook various expeditions, for example under cavalry captain Karl Wilhelm von Scheibler, whose detachment was involved in a skirmish with a French cuirassier regiment near Oettingen in Bavaria.[20]
1805 Six squadrons were in Kienmayer's corps in Germany. The Lieutenant Colonel Division belonged to the Reserve Corps, joined Archduke Ferdinand's corps after the Battle of Ulm and fought in the Battle of Stecken. On the retreat of the corps (now Corps Merveldt) to Ober-Steyer, Captain Freiherr von Mengen distinguished himself with a detachment squadron in the liberation of two infantry battalions of the Arriérgarde that had already been cut off, for which he was awarded the Military Maria Theresa Order. Captain Scheibler, who had distinguished himself during the retreat by raising an enemy post in Urfahr, was promoted out of turn to major in the Rosenberg-Chevauxlegers regiment.
1809 Assigned to the II Corps Kolowrat in Germany. Here, Major Graf Mensdorff distinguished himself in the battle of the vanguard at Ursensollen-Amberg. Detachments of the regiment took part in the capture of the city of Hof and the battles near Regensburg. Here, on 21 April, a squadron was surrounded by French cavalry, but was able to free itself from the encirclement, albeit with heavy losses. Later, six squadrons were transferred to the Sommariva Division, where they took part in various battles and carried out patrols in detachments. In July, it was transferred to Bohemia, where the 1st Majors Division was already located. This had already taken part in the operations against Saxony, the battles at Gefrees, Nuremberg and other battles. Lieutenant Colonel Mensdorff was awarded the Military Maria Theresa Order, Captain Mengen was promoted to major in the Uhlan Regiment No. 3.[21]
In 1813, the regiment was stationed in Inner Austria with three divisions. Two divisions were engaged in the defence of Loibl, divisions of the Lieutenant Colonel Division at Feistritz, Lippa and Krainberg. In the further advance into Italy, detachments fought at Bassano del Grappa and San Marco; two squadrons were in front of Palmanova.[22]
In 1814, the regiment was distributed in the vicinity of Mantua to Po and carried out several skirmishes. At Volta, Lieutenant Fausch succeeded in freeing a company of the 10th Feldjäger Battalion, which had already been cut off. A squadron took part in the battle at Monzambano.
1848 The regiment took part in the suppression of the uprising in Prague and then moved under Field Marshal Prince Windisch-Graetz to subjugate Vienna, where it fought in the Battle of Schwechat. During the advance to Hungary, the Lieutenants-Colonel's Division fought a battle near Bábolna.[24]
In 1849, detachments took part in the battles of Waitzen and Schemnitz, as well as in the Battle of Kápolna, in which the 2nd Majors Division excelled. Battles at Kál and Eger-Farmos. A patrol detachment under Colonel Almásy was ambushed near Losoncz and suffered great losses. One division fought at Hatvan and Puszta-Csem (Komárno). In the summer campaign, 51/2 squadrons were partly at Komárn, partly at the Váh and took part in the battles at Vásárút, Böös, Aszód, and the Battle of Pered. Then they came to the siege of Komárno, where they remained until the end of the campaign. In the Battle of Puszta-Herkály on 3 August, the regiment under the command of Count Nostitz covered the retreat of three battalions and all the artillery. In the process, it suffered heavy losses. Half a squadron took part in the campaign of the Southern Army under Banus Joseph Jelačić von Bužim, the 1st Majors Division moved from Bohemia to Hungary in June and was assigned to the Russian Paniutine Division.[25]
Sardinian War
In 1859 the regiment was in Italy, individual detachments led outposts and patrol duties. Battles at Borgo Vercelli, and Novara. At the Battle of Magenta, the regiment was only used with the 4th Squadron. In the Battle of Solferino, the unit fought with distinction.[26]
Austro-Prussian War
1866 Five squadrons were on outpost duty with the troops under Field Marshal Lieutenant Rzikowsky on the Galician-Prussian border. In the Battle of Auschwitz, the 4th and 5th Squadrons distinguished themselves under Moritz Ritter von Lehman.[27] The 6th Squadron fought at Kenty, Dziedzitz, Goczalkowice and in pursuit of Klapka's Legion.[28]
World War I
In the First World War, the regiment was initially used as a cavalry unit as a closed unit. In particular, the regiment distinguished itself in the Battle of Jaroslawice on 21 August 1914. Since the 4th Cavalry Division, to which the regiment belonged, was to remain as a cavalry unit, it can be assumed, regardless of any infantry operations in the meantime, that the regiment was able to retain its cavalry status until the end of the war.
After the proclamation of Poland as an independent state in October 1918, the soldiers of Polish and Ruthenian origin were called upon by the interim government to cease hostilities and return home. As a rule, this request was followed. Thus, the unit was withdrawn from its previous high command, the Austro-Hungarian War Ministry, and could not be demobilized by it and at best theoretically disbanded. Whether, when and where such a dissolution took place, or whether the Uhlans were immediately incorporated into the new Polish army, is not known at present.
Affiliation and composition August 1914
XI Corps – 4th Cavalry Division – 21st Cavalry Brigade
1790: yellow czapka, grass-green kurtka,[30] red facings, white tight trousers, yellow buttons[31]
1798: imperial yellow czapka, dark green kurtka and trousers, ponceau red facings, yellow buttons[32]
1865: yellow tartarka, light blue ulanka and trousers, madder red facings, yellow buttons
1868: imperial yellow Tatarka, light blue Ulanka, madder red boot trousers and facings, yellow buttons
1876: imperial yellow czapka, light blue ulanka, madder red facingsand boot trousers, yellow buttons
During World War I Rudolf von Brudermann refused to replace the blue ulankas and red trousers with standard issue hechtgrau uniforms because he believed camouflage was incompatible with courage.
Outline
A regiment in the Austro-Hungarian cavalry usually originally consisted of three to four (in exceptional cases more) divisions. (Division was used here to describe a unit in battalion strength. The correct division was called an infantry or cavalry troop division.) Each division had three squadrons. The number of riders in the individual subunits fluctuated, but was usually around 160 riders per squadron.
The individual divisions were named after their formal leaders:[33]
the 1st Division was the Colonel Division
the 2nd Division was the Lieutenant Colonel Division
the 3rd Division was the Majors Division
the 4th Division was the 2nd Majors Division
the 5th Division (if any) was the 3rd Majors Division
Due to the constant renaming, the regimental histories of the Austro-Hungarian cavalry are very difficult to follow. In addition, there is the constant and apparently arbitrary, sometimes multiple reclassification of the associations. (For example: K.u.k. Dragoon Regiment "Prince of Windisch-Graetz" No. 14)
In the course of the army reform, the cavalry regiments were reduced to two divisions from 1860 onwards.
Further reading
Obstlt. Alphons Frhr. v. Wrede: Geschichte der K.u.K. Wehrmacht von 1618 bis Ende des XIX Jh. Wien 1898–1905.
Georg Schreiber: Des Kaisers Reiterei. Österreichische Kavallerie in 4 Jahrhunderten. Mit einem Geleitwort von Alois Podhajsky. Speidel, Wien 1967.
B. M. Buchmann: Österreich und das Osmanische Reich. WUV-Univ.-Verl., Wien 1999.
Allmayer-Beck/Lessing: Die k.u.k. Armee 1848–1914. Bertelsmann, München 1974.
György Ságvári: Das Buch der Husaren. Magyar Könyvklub, Budapest 1999.
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