Foot Guard

Description

During preparations for the war with Turkey in 1646, King Władysław IV organized a significant recruitment of foreign troops, primarily infantry and dragoons. At the end of that year, the king was forced by the Sejm to disband most of these units. However, he was allowed to retain a 1,200-strong foreign infantry regiment as part of his Court Guard (i.e., those paid from the royal estates). This was a strong and well-trained unit, composed of armored pikemen and musketeers, divided into six or eight companies. Most of its officers were veterans of previous wars fought by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Before the outbreak of the Khmelnytsky Uprising, the commander of the guard was Colonel Samuel Osiński, Lithuanian Grand Camp-Master.