The most formidable Polish cavalry unit in the Napoleonic era was the Vistula Lansjer Regiment. In Spain it was referred to as los infernos picadores (the infernal lansjers). The soldiers of this regiment proved to be the most indomitable of all the Poles fighting in Napoleon's army.

A short description of the Vistula L ansjer Regiment
. The Vistula Lansjer Regiment was one of the oldest and most battle-hardened Polish cavalry units of the Napoleonic era. It was formed at the turn of 1799/1800 in Strasbourg as part of the Danube Legion. During its later service it underwent several reorganisations and was given different names, but its structure and personnel basically remained unchanged.

The regiment was successively named: Regiment of Legionary Cavalry (1798), Regiment of Danube Cavalry (1800), I Regimento de Cacciatorii a Cavallo Polacchi (1802), Régiment Lanciers Polonais (1807), Regiment of Polish-Italian Legion Lansjers (1807), Regiment of Vistula Legion Lansjers (1808), Regiment of Vistula Legion Lansjers (1808), 7th Regiment of Line Lansjers (1811).

The four-squadron regiment was made up of old killers ready for anything, Kościuszko's seasoned soldiers from the battles of Zieleniec and Dubienka, refugees and volunteer prisoners of war from the partitioning armies, veterans of the Polish, Italian and Danube Legions, and even participants in the San Domingo expedition. Alongside the old stalwarts, the ranks also included itinerant travellers seeking adventure, happiness or a way of life in the army. They all formed a harmonious and cohesive unit of soldiers with an iron discipline developed through years of fighting, standing in battle one for the other, sparing no blood, able to take down any opponent with swords, lances and hooves.

The Vistula Lansjer Regiment - the most loyal regiment of Napoleon's army
. A significant number of the regiment's soldiers fought not only against the partitioners of the Republic, but also against the Italians, Neapolitans and the English. They fought battles against the regular army and anti-Napoleonic partisans, experienced years of privation, hunger and cold, spent nights in the open, among mountains and rocks, in snowstorms, downpours and baking sun, in constant danger and without rest. The regiment fought on almost all European fronts: in Austria (1800), in Italy (1801-1807), in Spain (1808-1812) and, at the same time, parts of it in Russia (1812), Prussia and France (1813-1814). The regiment was, it should be noted, the last unit of the Imperial Army to salute Emperor Napoleon in close ranks in 1815 just before he was deported to the island of Saint Helena. The soldiers of the regiment proved more faithful to their ideals than the 'most faithful' French generals and guardsmen. They were equally intransigent towards the partitioners of the Republic. Many never came to terms with the fact that their homeland had collapsed and preferred an exile to a return to a divided country.

A bloody battle on the slopes of the Sierra de Mora

In fourteen years of combat operations, the Vistula Lansjer Regiment did not come off any battlefield defeated - with the exception of one incident on the Iberian Peninsula. Sent to the Spanish front, it fought hundreds of battles, clashes and skirmishes there.

In March 1809, he took part in an offensive manoeuvre against a Spanish grouping in the Toledo area. After three days of marching, on 23 March 1809, the 300-horse Lansjer regiment, part of General Horace Sébastiani's corps, was assigned an overnight stay in the small village of Orgaz about 10 km from the main French forces. However, the commander of the lansjers, Colonel Jan Konopka (1777-1814), arbitrarily led the regiment further to the more prosperous village of Los Yébenes. It lay on the southern slopes of the rocky Sierra de Mora hill, unfortunately in terrain extremely unfavourable for a possible defence or rapid retreat.

The overnight stay ended in a dramatic fight for life. The Spaniards overtook the French action and, at dawn, attacked the lone quartered regiment of lancers simultaneously from several directions. The sudden cavalry attack was taken by an alert company, which stopped the initial advance and gave time for the remaining lansjers to retreat towards the peaks. However, the escaping soldiers encountered the enemy there too, blocking the only possible route of retreat from the village.

The threat of dismemberment hung over the regiment. Five regiments of cavalry were attacking from the valley side; from the mountains, along a narrow road, two more, a select group of carabinieri, were advancing. For a moment, it seemed that - as Lieutenant Kajetan Wojciechowski recalled - "no one would get out of this crossing alive". Luckily for the Poles, in the narrowness of the road, the Carabinieri could only attack with the front of the column, so the first ranks of the column were immediately taken by lances, thrown back and stabbed to death. The following ranks, although surprised by the tough defence, were pushed by the mass of their own cavalry and attacked further. Thus, on the slopes of the four hundred-metre-high Sierra de Mora, overgrown with lush vegetation, a murderous pitched battle took place with sabres, batons, fists and pistol butts. At one point, '[...] the Spaniards perceived that the battle was not stopping [...] they began to hesitate. Their rear guard began to turn their horses and flee, while the front guard, giving us only a feeble resistance, got off their horses, scrambled up the mountain or threw themselves into an abyss. This way we had a slower and slower passage, but those [Spaniards] who jumped onto the rock, having taken to their rifles, let everyone pass through the bullets like through rods, and damaged us the most".

Loss of the pennants of the Vistula Lansjer Regiment
. The Lansjer regiments broke out of their trap, which was a remarkable feat in view of the sevenfold numerical superiority of the attacking Spaniards. Unfortunately, in the battle they lost 43 killed and 47 wounded taken prisoner. Also lost were the rolling stock, including the chancellery van with the squadron pennants hidden in it, of which only Colonel Jan Konopka and the administrative non-commissioned officer knew. The pennants accompanied the unit against imperial orders and in secret from the soldiers. Commanders of regiments going into combat in the field were obliged to deposit their banners in garrisons, but Colonel Jan Konopka - fearing the loss of the insignia (there were attacks by the Spanish even on French garrisons of several thousand strong) - ordered them to be carried in the regiment's stockade. He did not even inform his trusted officers of this, and so in the confusion of battle none of the Poles paid any attention to the regimental cart - the pennants fell into enemy hands.

Capturing the marks of the unit of the legendary 'los infernos picadores' ('the infernal lansjers', 'the horsemen from hell'), considered one of the most dangerous regiments of the imperial army, was a major success for the Spaniards. The Polish regiment - so far - has not been able to be smashed in any clash. The regiment has always managed to survive numerous ambushes against smaller units. This was also the case in the following years. However, as Lieutenant Kajetan Wojciechowski wrote just after the battle of Los Yébenes: "[...] Our loss is irreparable; for we have lost the emblem of our regiment, an emblem given to the regiment in the days of the French Revolution in Italy", arousing admiration and amazement among French soldiers in Spain.

Pennants of the Vistula Lansjer Regiment
The regiment had received four pennants seven years earlier, on 2 February 1802 in Parma, during its 'Italian service'. They were the pride of the regiment; the lansjeros called them banners, although formally they were not. This was contradicted by the small size of the panels, the fact that each squadron was given a separate insignia, and the simple technique of painting on canvas.

According to Lieutenant Wojciech Dobiecki, "an expedition arrived in Parma from the Minister of the Voyage with four banners sewn by the hand of the First Consul's wife [Josephine Bonaparte] attached in packs [...], rich and ornate, painted in colours, with Polish coats of arms".

War trophy in the Seville Cathedral
The blue, white and red rectangular pennant flaps, 60 x 80 cm in size, are decorated with gold ornament and surrounded by a gold fringe; the extreme side, the so-called free side, is cut out in a tricircle. In the centre of the central white area is a stylised composition consisting of sabres, a bundle of lictor's rods and a trumpet and a legion's cornet, all surrounded by a laurel and oak wreath. On the left side there is a ribbon at the top with a silver inscription: "RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE"; below, also on the ribbon is the inscription: "LÉGION POLONAISE". In each corner of the flap is placed the squadron number: "2.e ESCADRON" decorated with laurel branches. The right side of the pennant is a mirror image of the left side, but with inscriptions in Polish: "RZECZYPOSPOLOLITEY FRANCUZKIEY" and "LEGII POLSKIEY" and "2. SZWADRON". The lobe is attached to the spar with nails; it was surmounted by a pointed head of white metal, which has not survived.

Two of the lost pennants - of the 1st and 2nd squadrons - after the withdrawal of the Imperial troops from Spain in 1813 and various turns of fate, ended up as war trophies in the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Seville - the largest Gothic church in the world - and were on display there for many years.

In 1898, the pennant of the 1st Squadron was bought by an unnamed French collector of militaria, after which he donated it to the Army Museum in Paris. The presence of the pennant in the collection is confirmed by a laconic entry in the inventory book, but the exhibit was rarely displayed in the exhibition rooms.

The pennant of the Second Squadron in 1900 was finally placed in the Royal Chapel (Capilla Real), whose patron saint is King Ferdinand III the Holy, conqueror of Seville against the Moors. Unfortunately, the elementary rules for displaying the pennant lobes have not been observed. The positioning of the pennant spar in a vertical position released stresses on the upper part of the pennant panel, resulting in the weakening of the fibres and cracks in the canvas structure. In addition, the pennant was not protected with, for example, a glass panel and was therefore exposed to the damaging effects of changing weather conditions, dust and light.

According to information obtained in February 2023 from Spanish historian Luis Sorando Muzas, the pennant is not currently hanging, but has been stored for years in the archives at the town hall. Surely the pennant of the 2nd squadron of the legendary Vistula Lansjer deserves a better place of storage than the dark drawer of the municipal archives of the capital of Andalusia.

What fate befell the pennants of the 3rd and 4th squadrons is unknown. The pennant of the 3rd squadron is said to have been presented in May 1811 by the Spanish adjutant general Joaquín Blake y Joyes to a representative of the Cadiz authorities. At the time, from the mouth of an adjutant named Sebastian Llano, the words were said, among others: "[...] Of the three flags that were taken from the enemy, [one] I have the honour to present to Your Excellency as a tribute to the Nation [...]".

We should add that in the collection of the Museum of the Polish Army in Warsaw there is a richly embroidered silver and gold Spanish cavalry squadron pennant captured by the Vistula Lansjer in mid-1809, probably at the Battle of Talavera de la Rejna.