Difference between the Pospolite ruszenie and the Winged Hussars in Poland?

Hello I'm new to the forum and new to Polish History but have a great interest in late 16th to mid 17th century history.

I know very little about Polish History (English sources are hard to come by) but am eager to learn!

My question is what was the difference between Szlachta in the Pospolite ruszenie and the Szlachta who were Winged Hussars and formed their own poczet?

They were amateur warriors

Child warriors in Poland


They were professional warriors.

/husaria.jpg - Pro warriors in Poland

Simple.

Hi!

Main diffrence was recrutation system and requirement regarding weapons. Winged Hussars "banner" was professional unit on king or aristocracy service or was formed by a nobleman(usually rich and experienced soldier) appointed by a king or hetman. Such man was obligated to find recruits for his unit and take care about their equipment. Of course commander prefered rich(lower cost of arming such unit),.experienced and proven soldiers because they became his brothers-in-arms. Noone would like to go to war with weak, badly equipped cowards. Commander was also given money for payments and for buying lances(the only part of Hussars arms provided by state). Of course every Hussar carried more or less similar weapons, such details like number of pistols, type of breastplate, shoes, or tiger/leopard/wolf skins depended from soldiers preferences and purse.

"Pospolite ruszenie" was just obligation of all noblemans for military service. No matter what arms did you carry or how disciplinated r experienced you were - you had to serve in army. Usually it was rallied when regular army wasnt enough to deal with enemy. Last time Polish parliment/king did it in 1656 after their massive failure during Battle of Warsaw against Swedes.

***Le Sigh*** My favorite subject for drawing. The Husaria making the West safe from the washed masses of Islam! : )
(And Im not Polish descent-am Boheme. And can trace teutonic -who got their papers handed to them by the Husaria )

So would a Winged Hussar banner be made up of nobility and those in direct service to the Szlachta like squires?

I'm slightly confused about the concept of the Pospolite ruszenie. Wouldn't all Szlachta be required to serve or provide some military function in the form of Towarzysz pancerny or Hussar depending on their social standing within the nobility?

I'm trying to understand the varying levels of competence within the Szlachta regarding warfare...

Exactly. I forgot to mention that every man chosen to serve by commander had to upkeep few additional mens(plus as you said squires). They were called "pocztowi". So recrutation proces looked like that: commander->companions+their"czeladź"(squires)->pocztowi + their squires


Recrutation to Hussars and "Pancerni" units looked just like i described above. Such unit was well-trained, disciplined, had clear chain of command and was equipped by certain pattern.

Now try to imagine that every able men in your city is called to service. No matter whats your physical condition, how rich you are, whats your motivations - everyone comes with his horse and weapons he is able to purchase. That was pospilite ruszenie. They were not suited for long and hard campaigns because everyone wanted to back to home on harvest and generaly speaking - to take care about their own business.

Of course we have to note the fact that "pospolite ruszenie" not everywhere was the same. On borderland where people were constantly threated by Tatars/Turks raids noblemans knew how to fight, what weapon they should carry, how important discipline was etc. On the other hand we have example of pospolite ruszenie from Greater-Poland. In 1655 they capitualted without a single shoot when they saw incoming Swedes. Why? Because they were inexperienced soldiers, not used to military service because Greater-Poland was untouched by wars since XV century.

Once every so often, the local commanders were obliged to call "pospolite ruszenie" for the purpose of review and enumeration. The results were often disappointing: many poor men - so-called "szlachta zagrodowa" or "szaraczkowa szlachta" - would come with no horse, no retinue, with obsolete weapons, or just with clubs or sticks. North east Masovia and Podlasie come to mind.

Here is one interesting registry list:
Chorągiew Ziemska Smoleńska 5 stycznia 1633 roku - Banner (squadron) of Smolensk Land, January 5, 1633
Organization of Smolensk Land militia is quite interesting, as it was quite different than in other lands:

- The Smoileńsk fortress was a gateway to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and also the perfect base for offensives against Moscow, therefore it was subject to special protection;

- Lands in the province (voivodship) of Smolensk were properties of the state (although there were some exceptions to this), even if its former owner from the Muscovite times went to the Polish side. The king handed out the estates to the gentry just for life or with inheritance rights. The estates could not be donated, sold or pledged without the consent of the king. Estates could be inherited only in the male line, and after the family expired, the estate became the property of the Commonwealth again. The fief privilege implied the duty to defend the state;

- The landowner was obliged to keep in the local castle (Smoleńsk?) a household with a journeyman or a farmer with a musket and other infantry weapons - as a kind of support to the castle crew - and the pantry for six months;

- During the war, a nobleman (szlachcic) had to fight in person or by deputy.

The registry represents alphabetical list of retinues, including those who served in mercenary banners and the losses during the siege (after January 5, 1633)

The list is organized as follows:

- entry number in the register
- name of the owner of the retinue
- his office
- those present/absent (1/0)
- number of journeymen
- number of householders (farmers, peasants)
- killed, shot, missing, taken prisoner
- additional sources

The details are presented here:

gosiewski.pl/inne/Smolensk-alfabetycznie.htm

If anyone is still intrested here is short video about Winged Hussars banner made by Polish reenactment group.

youtu.be/AyJdeSslnys

Sabaton - Winged Hussars (Lyrics English & Deutsch)

youtu.be/75zmIj_4LFQ

Glory and freedom to Poland! True Poland!

[MOVED FROM]

Hey guys:
To learn little more about Polish Hussars please see:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_hussars
During 200 years in battles they never lose; please see also battle with Russia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Klushino.