Austrian 10th Hussars - Wagram 1809

Regiment of the Day

Today we look at the magnificent Austrian 4th Hussars, who fought as part of Nordman's Advanced Guard Division at Wagram, 1809.

2 bases light cavalry - Hussars. Figures by warrior miniatures.

The Austrian Hussars offer a number of very colourful regiments to model - each regiment being distinguished by the colour of the jacket, the colour of the trousers, the collars and cuffs, and also a separate colour for the shako.

As an officer in any of these respective armies of the time, you would be expected to memorize all of these details, somehow.

Just to confuse the issue, the extra stylish uniforms of the Hussars, which evolved during the 1700's, were adopted by most armies of the different nations by the early 1800s. So, you will also find French, British, Russian, Prussian .. and a host of other nations, fielding Hussars in similarly dressed styles, and a wide range of individual colours per regiment.

To tell them apart on the battlefield, it would not be enough to see the colour of their jackets - one would have to closely examine the colour of the plume, and the finer details of the cockade on the shako before making a determination. Not overly practical you wouldn't think !

This regiment has light blue jackets, with matching light blue pants, red facings, and a green shako. Quite a mad combination of colours !

Hussars of all nations wear the unusual pelisse - a short but sturdy fur lined jacket that is worn flung nonchalantly over the left shoulder, to provide protection both a dash of style, and also protection against sabre cuts.

References to the fur edging on the pelisse suggests that it is black for this unit - could be correct, could be misleading. Black looks pretty good on these light blue jackets anyway.

Fast and hard hitting - Hussars are great troops to keep in reserve and exploit gaps in the enemy line.

A small unit like this represents around 6 to 8 squadrons of cavalry - approx 1000+ horse, and is more than capable of taking on a medium sized infantry unit of twice their number  .. with a good chance of breaking their line.

If you can find a gap in the enemy line, these hussars are just the unit to send charging through.

Huzzah !

Note here on the right hand side of the figures, they also carry personal firearms - short cavalry carbines, making these units ideal for countering enemy skirmish activity.

In our house rules, each base of light cavalry sharing a sabot base in support of an infantry unit - nullifies 1 enemy skirmish marker attempting to harrass the supported unit. Dragoons and other medium cavalry nullify 1 enemy skirmish base for every 2 bases in support.

A closer view of the pelisse - yellow braided frogging on the jackets.  Also, all Austrian cavalry appear to have red saddlecloths, edged in yellow (or possibly gold edging for officers).

Black over yellow plume completes the explosion of colour for this unit.

Underside of the base, with ID markings to find the unit number when the figures are in the storage box.