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| iwanoski_start [2025/11/16 22:16] – [Reading the Text] adminaccount | iwanoski_start [Unknown date] (current) – external edit (Unknown date) 127.0.0.1 |
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| | ====== Iwanowski "New Fencing System for the Cavalry" ====== |
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| | These are a bunch of notes I'll keep here as I work through the translation of Iwanowski's 1834 text. None of these notes are organisation in any way at the moment. They represent me trying to understand the text. |
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| | ===== Structure of the Text ===== |
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| | There are three sections to Iwanowski's text and one addendum which I feel is important to include as it provides a different perspective. |
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| | Iwanowski's text consists of: |
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| | * An introduction by an unnamed former general praising Iwanowski's work. |
| | * Iwanowski's thoughts on the shape and weight of the cavalry sabre itself. |
| | * Instructions and exercises for for the use of the sabre on horseback. This is broken down further in [[iwanowski-sixarticles|six "articles"]] with a preface and additional notes: |
| | * Article I: Preliminary actions in a forward facing (neutral?) position. |
| | * Article II: Actions on the right side (mostly). |
| | * Article III: Actions on the left side. |
| | * Article IV: Actions on the left and on the right |
| | * Article V: Cavalry versus infantry |
| | * Article VI: Manoeuvres on horseback |
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| | In addition to this, I intend to include Bouvres' book review and critique as it provides a balanced view from the perspective of a different branch of the cavalry. I intend to make comparisons with the 1829 cavalry ordinances for a view on what Ivanowski may be reacting to. |
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| | ==== Reading the Text ==== |
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| | Gotta read the **Additions** as these provide context and explanation for the exercises in the main part of the book. For example, it is here that it is made clear that the **six movements** exercise is a cutting rose. Ivanowski even numbers the cuts here, by explicitly calling for cuts 4, 5, 6. This section is where the system is laid out, beyond merely stepping through the exercises and hoping the reader can put it all together. |
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| | Lots of tactical advice. "In this situation, do this...." |
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| | <WRAP tip>2025-11-11 -- It's beginning to appear that Ivanowski's "New System" is not so much a change in the nature of mounted swordsmanship but a change in the way it's taught. Compare Ivanowski's [[https://sleech.info/lef/doku.php?id=iwanowski-sixarticles|Six Articles]] with the lesson plan from the [[https://sleech.info/lef/doku.php?id=lef_ivanowski_ordonnance|1829 Ordonannce]]. Iwanowski introduces a greater number of strikes, particularly the six movements, which seem to be adopted from British mounted swordsmanship. otherwise, his actions match and mirror those of the //Ordonnance// very closely.</WRAP> |
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| | ----- |
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| | ===== Wider Context ===== |
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| | We know Iwanowski was an officer in the 7th Polish Lancers Refiment during the wars of Napoleon but we do not know much more. There is a contemporary boom review and critique of his text in a popular magazine of the time by Bouvres, a former officer in the 14th //chasseurs légères//. He provides an interesting perspective on Iwanowski's text. |
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| | Iwanowski published in 1834 and may be seen as a reaction to the five (or six?) volumes of the official //Ordonnance sur l'exercice et les évolutions de la cavalerie// of December 1829. A similar ordinance for infantry in appeared in 1831. These ordinances update with experience gained during the Napoleonic wars, the previous //Ordonnance de 1 vendemiaire XIII// (23 September 1804). We know these ordinances were still in use in 1851 as there appeared in this year an explanatory guide to them. |
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| | The decades following the Napoleonic wars were a time of consolidation and reorganisation. The lessons learned in the experience of actually fighting the wars, and where theory worked or collapsed, are being worked into the military thinking on how to fight the next wars. |
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| | <WRAP help>Comparison of Iwanowski, the official ordinances, and Bertrand's [[https://www.longedgepress.com/pdfs/escrime-militaire-bertrand-translation.pdf|Fencing Applied to the Military Art]] (1801) may prove useful. The volume of the //Ordonnance sur l'exercice et les évolutions de la cavalerie, du 6 décembre 1829// for //Carabiners et Cuirassiers// contains [[lef_ivanowski_ordonnance|lessons for learning mounted swordsmanship on foot]] before practising mounted (:!: I don't have the volume with mounted exercises). These are on pp.28-37, 68-79 of the PDF.</WRAP> |
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| | <WRAP help>Comparison with Alexandre Muller's [[http://www.middleages.hu/treatises/Theory%20of%20Fencing%20on%20Horseback,%20Alexandre%20Muller%20Final.pdf|Theory on fencing on Horseback]] (1816) may also prove useful in order to give one more data point to evaluate how different Ivanowski is to the usual manner of training and fighting mounted. (Note that there is a text which calls itself "A Refutation" of Muller's ideas also published in 1816. This seems a common practice and supports a longer, semi-public discourse.)</WRAP> |
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| | <WRAP help>Looking at the hats worn by the figures in the text, they are very definitely those of the Lancer regiments. Is there a significance in this beyond the mere fact that Iwanowski was a lancer himself?</WRAP> |
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| | ===== Research Plan ===== |
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| | I'm stumbling my way to developing a research plan to manage the rabbit holes this text guides the reader towards. So far, it looks a little like this. |
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| | {{ :screenshot_20251102_112521_simplemind_pro.jpg |}} |
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