Imperial Guard (Napoleon I)
Under the direct command of Napoleon, the formation expanded considerably over time and acted as his personal bodyguard and tactical reserve.
The Imperial Guard was divided into a general staff and infantry, cavalry and artillery regiments along with battalions of sappers and marines.
The Young Guard was virtually annihilated in the Battle of Krasnoi during the French invasion of Russia.
These formations had for principal purpose the security of the executive and legislative branches of the French Republic and gathered a small number of soldiers, about a thousand.
The Grenadiers of the Old Guard were known to complain in the presence of the Emperor, giving them the nickname Les Grognards, the Grumblers.
Completely outnumbered, it faced terrible fire from the British lines, and began to retreat.
It has been suggested that this was in fact said by another general of the Guard, Claude-Étienne Michel, during their last stand at the Battle of Waterloo.
The retort to a request to surrender may have been "La Garde meurt, elle ne se rend pas!"
It also included an Inspector of Reviews, a Commissioner of War, 24 aides-de-camp, and other specialist officers, NCOs, and privates.
After Napoleon's failure in the Invasion of Russia, only a few troops from the initial force remained, and the army had to be rebuilt using Peninsular War veterans.
By 1813, the unit was designated to join the Old Guard as a reward of their long service in both Spain and Russia.
Originally raised as part of the Dutch Royal Guard when Louis Bonaparte, brother to Napoleon, was made King of Holland.
It was disbanded 15 February 1813 after certain issues with staff and personnel, however was re-raised on 8 April 1815 to the replace the Fusilier-Grenadiers de la Garde Impériale.
[5] The Fusiliers-Chasseurs were created on 19 October 1806 from the 1st battalions of the Vélites of the Grenadiers and Chasseurs of the Guard; the regiment was to be 1,200 men strong.
The Imperial Guard cavalry constituted a corps in itself and had its own commander, with seasoned cavalrymen like Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bessières and generals Frédéric Henri Walther or Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty successively at its helm.
Classed as heavy cavalry, the regiment did not wear a cuirass, but was known for its distinctive bearskin head-dress and black horses.
It was the Chasseurs that usually provided personal escort to Napoleon, and he often wore the uniform of the regiment in recognition of this service.
The dragoon regiments of the line distinguished themselves in the German campaign of 1805, and so Napoleon decided (in a decree of 15 April 1806) to reorganize the cavalry of the Guard and create within it a regiment of dragoons (Régiment de Dragons de la Garde Impériale), made up of three squadrons, headed by 60 officers personally selected by Napoleon.
The unit's numbers rose to 1269 in 1807 with the addition of two new squadrons, and on 9 December 1813 it was attached to the Guard's 3rd regiment of éclaireurs.
The dragoons' uniform and weaponry was the same as those of the Guard's mounted grenadiers, only in green rather than blue, and (in place of the bonnet à poil) a copper helmet with a hanging mane in the Neo-Greek Minerve style, and a red plume.
In Article 1 of a decree of 4 December 1813, he created three regiments of Éclaireurs à Cheval de la Garde Impériale (mounted scouts of the Guard) as counterparts to the Cossacks.
They joined the army on 1 January 1814, just in time to participate in the Six Days Campaign, and were disbanded after Napoleon's first abdication.
The 2e Regiment d'Eclaireurs à Cheval was attached to the Dragons de L'Imperatrice (Empress' Dragoons).
Over the years their casualties were replaced from French cavalry regiments, or from any vaguely Middle Eastern related nationalities.
Raised from sailors of the French navy who had distinguished themselves, the battalion of Marins wore a distinctive, elaborate uniform resembling that of the hussars.
