Tracing its organization back to 1810, Regimiento de Caballería N°3 “Húsares” of the Chilean army is one of the few horse-mounted cavalry units in the world.
And yes, they used to be comparable to Central/Eastern European hussars of the same era and one unit even sported an all-black uniform and wore the common Prussian skulls, calling themselves the Húsares de la Muerte. Check out this drawing of a Chilean Húsares de la gran Guardia, circa 1812.
Looks right out of The Duelists.
Based in Angol along the Nahuelbuta Mountain range, the Chilean hussars’ special capability is still needed in the same way that the German and Austrian army to this day maintains pack horses for use with mountain troops in the Alps and the U.S. Marines and SOCOM still have horse riding/packing schools and courses– it still works.
Of course, even with 212 years of history under their saddles, their kit has been upgraded to reflect the times, even if they still have some Prussian/Hungarian throwbacks.
Check out the below to see the in action.