Abstract

Esprit de corps is an extremely interesting research topic, as it is related to the group self-awareness of the soldiers in a given unit or sometimes even in the entire formation. A sense of uniqueness, elitism and pride in the past have been of great importance both in the training process and in maintaining high combat value in the face of battle. However, it should be noted that the “spirit of the corps” most often develops in difficult situations – it is “forged in the heat of battle”. Of course, in the long run, it is also possible to educate such a community in the conditions of peace service, especially by charismatic commanders. The article describes the esprit de corps of the Polish cavalry from the times of the constitutional Kingdom of Poland and the November Uprising. As a result of the source material analysis, which was mainly based on memoirs and the previous archival research, the conclusion was drawn that in the years 1815-1831 an emotional community was formed within the cavalry corps, in both cavalry formations as well as in the individual regiments. It should be noted that until the outbreak of the November Uprising, the spirit-building process was hampered by the prior disbandment of the army of the Duchy of Warsaw and the Polish army units of the French Empire, and, in addition, due to the strict adherence to regulations. Consequently, the general cavalry esprit de corps at that time manifested itself primarily through cultivating and disseminating the memories of the events of the Napoleonic era. A strong impulse to build a “spirit of the corps” emerged after the November Night and during the combat with the Russian army, in the course of which the cavalry often distinguished itself. And even though the defeat of the November Uprising disrupted this process, it still became one of the constituent parts of the esprit de corps in the cavalry of the Second Polish Republic.