Graf Renard Uhlanen

I thought I had finished the Saxon SYW army but two small units escaped my notice so here they are and they are beautiful figures from Eureka. This is Uhlanen Renard.

The Uhlanen were maintained by the Polish Commonwealth and hired into Saxon service. They participated in all campaigns from 1757 onwards. Initially with the Austrian armies, later on with the Reichsarmee in Saxony. After the death of King August III, they were returned to Poland. Two Pulks were kept on Warsaw's provisions budget in March 1757. Each Pulk had 6 Hoffahnen (court-banners), 1 banner counting 75 men. They were especially recruited in Lithuania and from Tartars. It seems that their tactical role was to scout and skirmish in support of the Saxon Chevaulegers.

On May 17 1745, the unit counted 8 Hoffahnen when it entered Silesia with the Austro-Saxon Army. On December 15, it was present at the Battle of Kesseldorf, together with the Belwedowsky, Rudnicki and Bertuszewski regiments under the command of von Sybilsky. In 1746, after the Treaty of Dresden (December 25 1745), the unit returned to Poland.

By 1757, the unit counted 603 men and 575 horses.

During the Seven Years' War, the regiment was commanded by Renard and then in 1759 by Schiebel

Of note during the SYW, in 1758, the unit was with Daun's army at the relief of the siege of Olmütz. On June 17, along with the Löwenstein Chevauxlegers and Dessewffy Hussars, under the command of the Count de Stainville, they routed the Bayreuth Dragoons near Gross-Wisternitz. Also, in 1760, the unit was attached to the Lacy Corps. On July 20, during the relief of the siege of Dresden, along with the Esterhazy Hussars under Brentano, they evicted the Mohring Hussars from Leuben, coming close to the capture of Frederick the Great at the nearby headquarters on the Grune Wiese.

In 1764, the unit was transferred to the Polish Army and renamed "5th Pulk Przedniej Straży (5th Pulk of the Forward Guard).

In 1792, the unit was involved in the Russo-Polish War and in the Kościuszko Insurection, taking part in the battles of Mir, Zelwa, Maciejowice and Praga.