United States Hussar (Deaths Head) Totenkopf

Did the US Hussars use lances?

Only early hussars would have carried lances. Long before the Civil War most mounted troops with lances would have been classified as lancers. The classic hussar used a saber for their weapon. However there are exceptions to every rule and the Fremont Hussars (later the Benton Hussars) early in the Civil War carried lances at first. Lancers were usually considered medium cavalry while hussars were light cavalry.
 
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Only early hussars would have carried lances. Long before the Civil War the most mounted troops with lances would have been classified as lancers. The classic hussar used a saber for their weapon. However there are exceptions to every rule and the Fremont Hussars (later the Benton Hussars) early in the Civil War carried lances at first. Lancers were usually considered medium cavalry while hussars were light cavalry.
Thanks for that, I was certain that I read an article a few years back about civil war cavalry using lances, I may be wrong but I think that there was an issue with the quality of the lances being used, they were inferior to the European lances or something along those lines.
 
There were several Confederate mounted units that called themselves hussars or had been pre war hussar militia units. Georgia was one of the areas with many hussar units during the pre war period. Here are a few of the kjnown Confederate hussar units.

Georgia Hussars
Richmond Hussars Doughterty (Georgia)
Effingham Hussars (Georgia)
Culpepper Hussars (Georgia, possibly hussars in name only)
Gibbs Hussars (Georgia, possibly hussars in name only)
Stonewall Hussars (Georgia, possibly hussars in name only)
German Hussar (Charlton)
 
A color plate by Ron Field from an article, American Hussars, he wrote about Militia Hussar units , 1810-65.
Anyone care to name them? Hint the hussar on the right is from the War of 1812 era but the remainder are Civil War era. One is from a Southern State.

hussars 2.jpg
 
Two troops of regular cavalry were armed with lances as an experiment in the 1840s but the idea didn't catch on. During the Mexican war, some members of the Mexican spy company carried lances and a few lancer militia units flourished before the civil war, the union bought 4,000 lances from contractors at the start of the CW most of them ended up surplus to requirements, only a handful of lancer regiments were raised and a few saw active service. The 1st Michigan Cavalry, who grandly called themselves the 1st United States Lancers, modelled themselves on the British 16th Lancers. The Michigan Lancers were fully equipped with lances as well as standard issue carbines, pistols and equipment, they were later disbanded because of the number of Canadians in their ranks, it was thought that if Britain entered the war on the side of the South against the Union, then the Canadians may well cause trouble out of loyalty to their mother country.

Robin Smith, American Civil War Union Army
 
A color plate by Ron Field from an article, American Hussars, he wrote about Militia Hussar units , 1810-65.
Anyone care to name them? Hint the hussar on the right is from the War of 1812 era but the remainder are Civil War era. One is from a Southern State.

View attachment 116300

@major bill it would be great if you could start a thread with the colour plates of unusual CW uniforms, a kind of guess the uniform/flag type of thing.
 
Charleston Mercury, September 11, 1861, p. 2.
 

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The gentleman with his arms crossed.

The man with his arms crossed is an enlisted man of 3rd Regiment (Hussars) New York State Militia, circa 1860. His uniform is sort of like the French Hussars of that time frame. Many American militia companies used the uniforms worn by French Hussars as a basis for their uniforms.
 
Another depiction of them. In this one the officer wears the pelisse while most of the other plates only show the 3rd Regiment wearing their dolmans. The braid across the front of the dolman was a light defense against saber cuts. The fur lined pelisse with braiding was a sort of light weight shield over the non saber arm to defend against saber cuts. Shoulder straps were originally a defensive devices as well. The fur cap was to help deflect a saber and the cap bad was also to tangle up a saber thrust from above.

hussar 6.jpg
 
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