Several armies engaged in wars during the Napoleonic Wars, lancers were to be seen in many of the combatant nations as their value in shock tactics became clear. Polish lancers served with distinction in the Austrian, Prussian, Russian, and French armies, most famously in Napoleon’s French Imperial Guard.

At the Battle of Waterloo, Commander of the French 1st Corps, 4th Division General Durutte, who saw the battle from the high ground in front of Papelotte, would write later, “I had never before realized the great superiority of the lance over the sword.”