"Mounted gentleman a-sword 's worth a warlord" - Polish noblemen boasted. Winged hussars in steel armor
constituted the core of Polish army. Infantry, being a significant part of other European armies, was merely an ancillary force in Poland. By June 1702
the King's army comprised 12 regiments of cavalerja narodowa (people's cavalry). There were 9 gonfalons (squadrons) in each regiment; each gonfalon
comprised 150 to 600 soldiers. Colonels were actual masters of the regiments - they maintained and equipped their soldiers. Any Polish tycoon took a
pride in his own heavy cavalry. A cavalryman was armed with a saber, a pair of pistols, a short musket, and a lance. He wore a steel helmet and a
half-armor. Special feather-decorated wings protected his back from saber swings. Often they put on skins over their armor.
