Croats (military unit)

Croats
Active17th century
CountryHabsburg monarchy
Allegiance Catholic League
Branchlight cavalry
Typeauxiliary[1]
Roleoff-battlefield
EquipmentCarbine and pistols
Engagements
Commanders
Initial structuresCount of Tilly
First regular regimentsAlbrecht von Wallenstein
17th-century depiction of a Croatian cavalryman (Ein Croatischer Stängel Reüter)
Nikola Zrinski in a battle against the Ottomans

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 side of the Catholic League in the Thirty Years' War. 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, Wallachians, Poles, Cossacks, Albanians and Tatars.[7][8]

  1. ^ Brady 2009, p. 387.
  2. ^ Guthrie 2002, p. 113.
  3. ^ Lunde 2014, p. 114.
  4. ^ Brzezinski 2001, p. 23.
  5. ^ Wilson 2009, p. 545.
  6. ^ Brzezinski 2001, p. 24.
  7. ^ a b Brnardic 2010, p. 38.
  8. ^ Aladár Ballagi (1883), "Wallenstein's kroatische Arkebusiere", Ungarische Revue (in German), vol. 3, F. A. Brockhaus, p. 716