German rider
The German riders (also wrestling horses, " black riders ") were a class of troops that was newly formed during the time of the Schmalkaldic War .
Before the mixed had Equestrian kinds of Lanzierern , Kyrissern and Karabiniers passed. The German riders rode lighter horses than the Lanzierer and Kyrisser and were recruited especially in the north German plain west of the Oder . They were also called Ringer horses because they rode horses and wore less open iron hats ( "Dog Hat"), light trot Harnisch ( corselets ) or Koller with an iron gorget rather than the closed helmets and heavy iron armor of the remaining cavalry . Because of their black-painted ironwork, they were also called the "blacks".
The armament of the German riders consisted of swords and wheel lock pistols . They used to trot up to the enemy in deep piles to within pistol range, fire limb and swing around the wings behind the pile, so that their front maintained a constant fire. This tactic was called Caracolla .
Their great mobility made it easier for them to eat and at the same time enabled them to undertake independent activities; in them the riding spirit developed for the first time in the sense of the later cavalry. They could undertake long campaigns without foot soldiers, were skilled in the Little War and fought independent battles, e.g. B. in the battle of Sievershausen .
Margrave Albrecht Alkibiades of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and Elector Moritz of Saxony promoted the training of German riders. They were soon feared abroad, but also recruited because of their reputation as mercenaries . During the Huguenot Wars , they fought on both sides in every battle. At that time France was rightly called the “churchyard of the German nobility”, because a large part of the Brandenburg and Hessian nobility fell there.
The name of the German rider was later retained in French in the expression C'est un vieux reitre . In Polish rajtaria and in English reiters .
Well-known commanders of the German Riders:
Black riders
Black Horsemen were 16th century German cavalrymen who were armed with wheel lock pistols and swords. They were equipped with harness and iron hats or balaclavas . The name black rider comes from the fact that low-quality steel was used for the armor for reasons of cost and it was etched black so that it would not rust so quickly. Over time, these Black Riders were sought-after mercenaries at home and abroad. The English called them " swart reiters ".
In the last third of the 16th century, the arquebus riders emerged from the Black Riders .
