Back Kroatische Reiterei German Kroataj kavaliroj Esperanto Hrvatsko konjaništvo (Habsburška Monarhija) Croatian Кроаты (кавалерия) Russian
| Croats | |
|---|---|
| Active | 17th century |
| Country | Habsburg monarchy |
| Allegiance |  Imperial Army |
| Branch | light cavalry |
| Type | auxiliary[1] |
| Role | off-battlefield |
| Equipment | Carbine and pistols |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Initial structures | Count of Tilly |
| First regular regiments | Albrecht von Wallenstein |
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The Croats, also known as Cravats or Crabats,[6] were 17th-century light cavalry forces in Central Europe, comparable to the hussars.[7] The Croats were initially irregular units loosely organized in bands. The first regular Croat regiment was established in 1625.
The most notable engagement of the Croats was their participation on the Habsburg side in the Thirty Years' War, serving in the Imperial Army or within the troops of the Catholic League. At the height of the Thirty Years' War, as many as 20,000 Croatian cavalry were in the service of the Imperial Army, including the majority of Wallenstein's harquebusiers.
The name came to be used as a generic term for light cavalry from the area of the Habsburg Military Frontier rather than an ethnic designation, and included ethnic Croats, Hungarians, Serbs, Wallachians, Poles, Cossacks, Albanians and Tatars.[7][8]
- ^ Brady 2009, p. 387.
- ^ Guthrie 2002, p. 113.
- ^ Lunde 2014, p. 114.
- ^ Brzezinski 2001, p. 23.
- ^ Wilson 2009, p. 545.
- ^ Brzezinski 2001, p. 24.
- ^ a b Brnardic 2010, p. 38.
- ^ Aladár Ballagi (1883), "Wallenstein's kroatische Arkebusiere", Ungarische Revue (in German), vol. 3, F. A. Brockhaus, p. 716