Chevau-Leger de la garde du roi

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Standard of the Chevau-Leger de la garde

The Chevau-léger de la garde du roi (German: Light riders of the royal guard ) were a cavalry unit in the garden of the King of France ( Maison militaire du roi ) during the Ancien Régime .

Uniform from 1786
Last Uniform (1787)

history

The company of the Chevau-légers , so called to differentiate them from the heavy cavalry (cavalerie lourde), the gendarmes of the guard , was founded by King Henri III. de Navarre, who was King of France as Henry IV from 1589 , was built in the last years of the Huguenot War.

In 1593 the company was admitted to the royal guard and was assigned the tasks of the two companies "Gentilhommes à bec de corbin" ( noblemen with the raven's beak - a polearm at the top with a type iron raven's beak was provided). This Garde à cheval (Mounted Guard) had been led by Count Jean Baptiste Gibert de Lhène (or d'Haleine) de la Jaminière, Lord of la Guyardière, as Capitaine ( captain ). The post of "Capitaine" was from now on reserved for the king. The actual commander was designated as a captain-lieutenant .

The Chevau-légers occupied third place in the Guard Cavalry, behind the Garde du corps du roi and the Gendarmes de la garde .

staff

After bourgeois applicants were allowed to buy a job at the Chevau-légers for a long time for a lot of money (which brought them to hereditary nobility after five years of service without objection), this practice was abandoned at the instigation of the higher nobility. Admission was now only reserved for the aristocracy. The common guardsman was on a par with a sous-lieutenant in the line cavalry.

The workforce fluctuated from 120 when it was founded to 248 men (including officers and functionaries) under Louis XIV. This number was not exceeded even afterwards.

In 1740 the company consisted of:

  • 1 captain-lieutenant (as deputy commander)
  • 2 sous-lieutenants (lieutenants)
  • 4 Sous-lieutenants de cornet (cornet lieutenants and bearers of the unfurled standards)
  • 10 Caporals (NCOs)
  • 2 Docteurs de champ ( field scissors )
  • 8 brigadiers
  • 8 sous-brigadiers ( sub-brigadiers )
  • 4 Portes d'etendards ( NCOs as bearers of the rolled-up standards )
  • 4 Aides des docteurs ( Unterfeldschere )
  • 4 trompettists (trumpeters)
  • 1 timbalist (timpanist)

Skirmishes

The company was deployed in the Battle of Dettingen in 1744 and almost completely destroyed. During the re-establishment, the captain-lieutenant (i.e. the real commander of the troops, since the captain was the king himself), the Duke of Chaulnes and Maréchal de France , only accepted people whose nobility was at least two hundred years old.

Whereabouts

The unsuitability for warlike actions and the high costs that the unit caused led to the fact that during the reign of Louis XVI. The abolition of the company was demanded from a higher authority. It was only thanks to the reputation and influence of their captain lieutenant , the Duke of Aquillion, that this demand could be rejected. By decree, the company was initially reduced to 23 officers and NCOs and 40 horsemen on January 18, 1776. On September 30, 1787, the Chevau-légers de la garde were then dissolved.

uniform

The uniform was red with a white vest, white trousers and black badge paint . From 1786 the badge color appears in white.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ so the captain
  2. ↑ People who exercise a function are also called functioners
  3. ↑ Team rank in the non-commissioned officer service

literature

  • Bernard Barbiche: Les Institutions de la monarchie française à l'époque moderne. XVIe - XVIIIe siècle. Presses Universitaires de France, Paris 1999, ISBN 2-13-048195-7 .
  • Gilbert Bodinier: Les Gardes du corps de Louis XVI. Étude institutionalnelle, sociale et politique, dictionnaire biographique. Editions Mémoire & Documents et al., Versailles et al. 2005, ISBN 2-914611-35-8 .
  • Jean Chagniot: Maison militaire du roi. In: Lucien Bély (ed.): Dictionnaire de l'Ancien régime. Presses Universitaires de France, Paris 1996, ISBN 2-13-047731-3 .
  • Hervé Drévillon: L'Impôt you sang. Le métier des armes sous Louis XIV. Tallandier, Paris 2005, ISBN 2-8473-4247-8 .
  • Léon de Forges de Parny: Les Gardes du corps du roi. Devaye, Cannes 1972.
  • François Grouvel: Histoire des Gardes du Corps du Roi pendant la Période Révolutionnaire. FGC, Coudoux 1998.
  • Liliane Funcken , Fred Funcken : Le costume et les armes des soldats de tous les temps. Volume 1: The pharaoh à Louis XV. Casterman, Tournai 1966.
  • Liliane Funcken, Fred Funcken: L'uniforme et les armes des soldats de la Guerre en dentelles. Volume 1: France, maison du roi et infanterie sous Louis XV et Louis XVI, Grande-Bretagne et Prusse, infanterie, 1700 à 1800. Casterman, Paris 1975, ISBN 2-203-14315-0 .
  • David C. O'Brien: Traditional virtues, Feudal ties and Royal Guards: The Culture of Service in the Eighteen-Century "Maison Militaire du Roi". In: French History. Vol. 17, No. 1, ISSN  0269-1191 , pp. 19-47, doi : 10.1093 / fh / 17.1.19 .
  • Rigo [di: Albert Rigondaud]: Le Plumet. L'uniformes et les drapeaux de l'armée de l'Ancien régime et du 1er Empire. Paris 1971.