By Brian Glyn Williams - The Jamestown Foundation

The Ottomans usually considered the Poles to be inferior fighters and Sinan Pasha's claim that "the Poles
had little skills in military matters and relied on Transylvanian mercenaries to win their battles" is an
example of the typical disdain in which the Poles were held by the Turks. 97 The Tatars, who fought the
Poles on a more regular basis, had more respect for the prowess of these opponents who, like the
Russians, had adapted to conditions of the steppe.
The Tatars held the Polish heavy cavalry in particular respect. Thomas Barker's description of the Polish
hussars will show how formidable these riders must have appeared to the lightly armed Tatars.
The hussar was doubtlessly the most magnificent cavalryman in the Western World.
He was still heavily armored. His helmet included pieces covering the cheeks and
the back of the neck; a ridge extended downward to protect the nose. Some riders
were seen in brigandine. Their chests, backs, arms and thighs were encased in
beautifully engraved, glittering steel. 98
This heavy cavalry was often supported by light artillery making its charge all the more fearsome.
Sobieski's army was especially proficient in combining cannons and horse to overcome the cavalry
charges of both the Turks and the Tatars.
Although the Polish hussars were indeed capable of breaking a Tatar charge during combined Ottoman-
Tatar battles, the Poles increasingly relied on their Kwarciany (light cavalry) to fight off the Tatar
raiders who were usually too fast for the slow moving hussars. The light cavalry units, made up of
Cossacks, Wallachians, Moldavians and members of the lower gentry, were more effective on the
steppe where battles were usually fought at a faster pace.
Although these units were often able to catch small Tatar raiding parties on the run, they were no match
for the Tatars in open battle. During battle the Tatars were able to surround and destroy the Polish light
forces if they ventured out too far from their artillery support. 99
The Poles also used more unorthodox methods to defeat the Tatars. One of the most interesting was their
use of the defense wagons linked together with chains and often armed with small cannons known as tabors.
This defensive tactic, first used by the Hussites, was also adopted by the Russians, Cossacks and on
occasion the Austrians.
Sobieski used the tabor with great success on several occasions but it was his implementation of a system
emphasizing greater interdependence between infantry, cavalry and artillery that gave the Poles their greatest
advantage over the Tatar horsemen. As early as 1667, in the battle of Podhajce, Sobieski used
cavalry units placed between artillery posts to defeat an attacking Tatar army. 100 Sobieski later described the
battle in the following terms:
we have done very well. Not only have they been unable to capture any people,
they have not succeeded in taking any cattle either...They tried near Tarnopol and not a
few were killed. With so few troops to defend such a large and open country, and to
conserve the army, there could not have been a better way. 101
By 1689 it has been claimed that "even the remarkable Tatar cavalry was no match for the small, but well-
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