Napoleon considered the lances an obsolete weapon until he saw with his own eyes what use these weapons were made by Poles in the Battle of Hohenlinden 1800.e.g. Uhlan Pawlikowski alone took more than 50 german infantry prisoner, previously killing two of their officers and several privates. In front of the entire French army, he led his captives. He chased them on horseback like a flock of sheep, beating with the blunt back of the lance those prisoners who were moving out of the line.
But in fact already in the Italian campaign, when the French army were frightened by Suvorov Cossacks, the cavalry of the Polish Legions was the only one who “chased Cossacks, like wolve is chasing a sheep”. Poles were already using lances then.
Comment by damianb8322 from [Waterloo Polish Lancers charge](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMAB7Xkyl7E) video
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Napoleon considered the lances an obsolete weapon until he saw with his own eyes what use these weapons were made by Poles in the Battle of Hohenlinden 1800.e.g. Uhlan Pawlikowski alone took more than 50 german infantry prisoner, previously killing two of their officers and several privates. In front of the entire French army, he led his captives. He chased them on horseback like a flock of sheep, beating with the blunt back of the lance those prisoners who were moving out of the line.
After the Battle of Wagram the Chevaux-légers were finally equipped with lances which other Western European armies began to copy.
But in fact already in the Italian campaign, when the French army were frightened by Suvorov Cossacks, the cavalry of the Polish Legions was the only one who “chased Cossacks, like wolve is chasing a sheep”. Poles were already using lances then.
Comment by damianb8322 from [Waterloo Polish Lancers charge](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMAB7Xkyl7E) video
If you want to learn sth more about French most loyal ally in history:
https://youtu.be/07t11ePV3iA?si=PeKJfUkeNq_s12Uv
[Honorable mentions:](https://imgur.com/Y4Xhux5)
Poles with lances are too powerful
Stupid Napoleon, everyone knows you shouldn’t spec out of lances until you can start mass-producing machine guns.