SWEDISH CAVALRY CUIRASSIERS 30 YEARS WAR

The Thirty Years' War, fought in 1618-1648, was one of the most important conflicts of the 17th century, which had a huge impact on the relationship of power between the then powers. In some simplification, it can be assumed that the peace ending it, i.e. the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, made France (along with the Pyrenean Peace of 1659) a leading power in the Old Continent, and significantly weakened the position of the Habsburgs in Europe. It is also worth remembering that the great winner of the Thirty Years' War was also Sweden, which owed its superpower position primarily to its great army. Its profound reforms were carried out by Gustav II Adolf of the Vasa dynasty, ruling in the years 1611-1632. This outstanding ruler made significant changes to the Swedish cavalry, which of course also affected heavy cavalry (for example, "cuirassiers"). First of all, a cornet of 115-125 people became the basic organizational unit. Most often, 8 cornet formed a cavalry regiment of about 920-1000 people. There were also introduced "staffs" of cornet and regiments, which significantly improved the command of these units. It is worth adding that although the heavy Swedish cavalry was armed with firearms during the reign of Gustav II Adolf and during the Thirty Years' War, its tactic of using caracol was abandoned in favor of a charge. Perhaps this change of tactics resulted from the experience gained from clashes with the Polish hussars. It should also be added that Gustav II Adolf saw the cavalry on the battlefield as a very important weapon and the one that could decide the fate of the battle. Its quality can be seen in the battles at Breitenfeld (1631) or at Lützen (1632), which, however, ended with the death of Gustav II Adolf, who was nicknamed the Lion of the North during his lifetime.