Petyhorcy was a type of 16-18th century medium-armoured cavalry

Cavalry

Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

 in Great Duchy of Lithuania and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...

. Initially it was formed from Circassians which came to Lithuania from under the rule of the Russian Tsardom (and hence were sometimes referred to simply as Czerkiesi - Circassians). The name is a corrupted Russian-language reference to a region of "Pyatigorye" ("Five Mountains", Beshtau

Beshtau

Beshtau is an isolated five-domed igneous mountain near Pyatigorsk in the Northern Caucasus....

) in Caucasus

Caucasus

The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...

, which corresponds to the city of Pyatigorsk

Pyatigorsk

Pyatigorsk is a city in Stavropol Krai on the Podkumok River, about from Mineralnye Vody. Since January 19, 2010 it has been the administrative center of the North Caucasian Federal District of Russia...

.

Initially formed by Caucasian mountaineers, the light cavalry units were with time also joined by Lithuanian Tartars and local landed gentry

Szlachta

The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...

. Much like other steppe units, the petyhorcy units were initially armoured only in light misiurka (chainmail

Chainmail

Mail is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh.-History:Mail was a highly successful type of armour and was used by nearly every metalworking culture....

 cap) and karwasz, a type of steel arm protectors. The offensive armament included a lance

Lance

A Lance is a pole weapon or spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior. The lance is longer, stout and heavier than an infantry spear, and unsuited for throwing, or for rapid thrusting. Lances did not have tips designed to intentionally break off or bend, unlike many throwing weapons of the...

, possibly identical to the long lance used by Polish Winged Hussars. The first such units were formed during the reign of king Stefan Batory

Stefan Batory

Stephen Báthory was a Hungarian noble Prince of Transylvania , then King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania . He was a member of the Somlyó branch of the noble Hungarian Báthory family...

. A commander of one of such units, cerain Temruk Szymkowic, was recorded as a rotmistrz already during the reign of Sigismund August, but it is uncertain whether he commanded a circassian unit at that time.

With time the unit type evolved into medium cavalry, almost identical to Polish pancerni

Towarzysz pancerny

Towarzysz pancerny was a medium-cavalryman in 16th-18th century Poland, named for his chainmail armor...

. The armour used by those later units included a full chainmail armour with misiurka and arm protectors and often also a kalkan, a round Turkish-style shield. In 17th century the chainmail was gradually replaced by cuirass

Cuirass

A cuirass is a piece of armour, formed of a single or multiple pieces of metal or other rigid material, which covers the front of the torso...

es. The offensive armament in use by Petyhorcy included a 3 to 4-metres-long lance of bear spear

Bear spear

Bear spear was a medieval type of spear used in hunting for bears and other large animals. The sharpened head of a bear spear was enlarged and usually had a form of a bay leaf. Right under the head there was a short crosspiece that helped fixing the spear in the body of an animal.Basically, the...

 (rohatyna), as well as a Polish sabre

Szabla

Szabla is the Polish word for sabre. It specifically refers to an Eastern European one-edged sabre-like mêlée weapon with a curved blade and, in most cases, a two-bladed tip called a feather . Initially used by light cavalry, with time it also evolved into a variety of arms used both for martial...

, two pistol

Pistol

When distinguished as a subset of handguns, a pistol is a handgun with a chamber that is integral with the barrel, as opposed to a revolver, wherein the chamber is separate from the barrel as a revolving cylinder. Typically, pistols have an effective range of about 100 feet.-History:The pistol...

s and a musket carbine or an eastern-type bow.

Following the military reforms of 1776 the Petyhorcy banners

Choragiew

Chorągiew was the basic administrative unit of the Polish cavalry from the 14th century. An alternative name until the 17th century was Rota.The name may derive from Slavic word Khorugv ....

 were reformed into Petyhorcy Brigade of National Cavalry (Petyhorska Brygada Kawalerii Narodowej), otherwise known as the 2nd National Cavalry Brigade of the Grand Duchy. It ceased to exist following the fall of the Kościuszko Uprising

Kosciuszko Uprising

The Kościuszko Uprising was an uprising against Imperial Russia and the Kingdom of Prussia led by Tadeusz Kościuszko in Poland, Belarus and Lithuania in 1794...

.