The charge of winged hussars
Heavily armed armoured lancers with huge wings on their back participated in many victorious battles including the largest cavalry charge in history – the battle of Vienna (1683) where 20.000 Polish and Austrian-German cavalry, including 3000 hussars, led by Polish King Jan III Sobieski crushed the Ottoman forces. Since then, victorious winged hussars have been frequently portrayed by such painters as Piotr Michałowski (1800-1855), Juliusz Kossak (1824-1899) and Wojciech Kossak (1856-1842) among others and became the icon of Polish military.
