Cossack cavalry

Cossack cavalry (Polish: jazda kozacka) was a light and highly mobile cavalry formation with standardized arms and equipment, created in the Polish Crown Army in the mid-1500s to counter the recurring Tatar raids on Polish–Lithuanian territory. The main founder of this formation is considered to be Bernard Pretwicz, starosta of Bar and Terebovlia. The Cossack evolved in the mid-17th century into the formation known as the pancerni, and as such survived in the Polish Army until 1776.

Cossack cavalry's armament and fighting style were modelled on that of the Tatar forces, which at the time consisted almost entirely of lightly armed horsemen. The name of this cavalry was borrowed from the Crimean Tatar language, just like the term that, in the same period, came to be applied to the Zaporozhian Cossacks. Cossack cavalry had no other connection to the Zaporozhian Cossacks.

A mercenary unit of Cossack cavalry commanded by Aleksander Lisowski, known as the Lisowczyks, gained particular fame throughout Europe.