Dragons de la Garde impériale
|
Dragons de la Garde impériale |
|
|---|---|
 Officers of the Dragons de la Garde impériale receive their orders from an aide de camp, painting by Henri Dupray |
|
| active | 1806 to 1815 |
| Country |
 France
|
| Armed forces |
 Napoleonic Army
|
| Armed forces | Guard impériale |
| Branch of service | Cavalerie de la Garde impériale |
| Type | Heavy cavalry |
| Strength | 1032 |
| Insinuation | Vieille Guard |
| Location | Paris |
| Nickname | "Dragons de l'Impératrice" "Muscadins" |
| Butcher | Coalition wars |
| commander | |
| commander | Last: Major Laurent Hoffmayer |
| Important commanders |
Jean-Thomas Arrighi de Casanova |
The Dragons de la Garde impériale (German: Dragoons of the Imperial Guard) were a regiment of heavy cavalry of the Garde impériale of the First Empire . The troops were formed by imperial decree of April 15, 1806. The regiment also bore the name Dragons de l'Impératrice (Dragoons of the Empress) in honor of Joséphine de Beauharnais , who was the regiment owner. The regiment, together with the Grenadiers à cheval de la Garde impériale, formed the heavy cavalry brigade of the Imperial Guard.
reputation
The regiment des dragons de la Garde impériale , formed from the best soldiers of the line cavalry, received praise from its commanding officer, Général comte Philippe-Antoine d'Ornano :
“Les hommes sont très beaux, les chevaux bons, forts et bien entretenus. Les officiers, sous-officiers et soldats, animés d'un excellent esprit et d'une discipline parfaite, ont une apparence magnifique. "
" (Handsome men, good horses, strong and well cared for. Officers, NCOs and soldiers embody an excellent spirit and perfect discipline, they have a wonderful appearance.) "
On February 13, 1814, Napoléon wrote to his Minister Savary :
“The dragoons distinguished themselves with an effectiveness comparable to these novels at the time of the knighthood, when a single armed rider on a war horse was able to offer resistance to 300 or 400 opponents. The enemy seemed to have been struck by a singular horror ... "
They were given a decisive role in the military planning of 1814. They had fully met the expectations placed on them - for example in the battle of Montmirail , the battle of Château-Thierry and in the battle of Saint-Dizier .
Even during the first restoration , the Napoleonic corps spirit was very pronounced among the soldiers and officers. Louis-Michel Letort de Lorville was appointed lieutenant-général by the king , but still retained his post as major in what is now the “Régiment des dragons de France”, which would actually have been a maréchal de camp . The soldiers continued to hold the memory of the emperor in high honor. They even went so far as to publicly refer to the king as a "fat pig," which earned them the enmity of the royal family.
After Napoleon's return from the island of Elba , the dragoons greeted him enthusiastically.
Structure and organization
The organization of the troops remained unchanged until 1811, when Napoléon decided not to call any more Veliten for the Grenadiers à pied de la Garde impériale , Dragoons and Chasseurs à cheval de la Garde impériale . The escadron of the Vélites-dragons was disbanded on January 1, 1812 and the staff was distributed among the escadrons of the Old Guard or the regiments of the line cavalry.
The heavily decimated regiment was preferably replenished in January 1813. Six escadrons were formed with a total of 91 officers and 1537 riders. Four of them were assigned to the Old Guard and two to the Young Guard. The 6th Escadron was called Seconds dragons .
In November 1813 the guard cavalry, including the Gardes d'honneur , had a total strength of 7958 riders and was commanded by Général Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty .
Letort and his 473 Dragoons of the Old Guard were assigned to the 3rd Guards Cavalry Division of Général Frédéric Henri Walther , the two escadrons in the Young Guard under Major Pinteville to the 1st Division of Comte d'Ornano .
At the beginning of the campaign in France at the end of January 1814, the six escadrons belonged to the 2nd Guards Cavalry Division under the command of Maréchal d'Empire Édouard Mortier . At the same time, a 460 rider strong detachment was posted to Paris. It belonged to the Guards Cavalry Department, commanded by Général Charles Lefebvre-Desnouettes and assigned to the Corps of Maréchal Michel Ney .
During the Battle of Montmirail on February 11, 1814, the guard cavalry consisted of three divisions under Général Nansouty. The two escadrons of the Young Guard with a total of 260 riders were assigned to the 2nd Division of Levesque de Laferrière under Général Letort. The 3rd Division included the four Escadrons of the Old Guard with a total of 406 riders in the Dautancourt Brigade . A few days later the regiment was reunited in the 2nd Division. On March 15, 1814, the 500 Guard Dragons and the 2nd e régiment des éclaireurs de la Garde impériale formed a brigade in the Exelmans division . On the evening of the first day of the Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube , the remaining 260 Guard Dragons joined the column of Général Lefebvre-Desnouettes.
Rule of the Hundred Days to Dissolution
During the First Restoration , the regiment was kept in service and renamed the Corps royal des dragons de France . It consisted of four escadrons and was stationed in Tours . After Napoleon's return during the reign of the Hundred Days , the regiment was reintegrated into the Imperial Guard of the Army of the Hundred Days . The strength was set at 50 officers, 779 riders and 969 horses (including 227 reserve horses for the officers).
The Dragons de la Garde impériale were dissolved on December 16, 1815 after Napoléon's final abdication. The regiment owner Joséphine de Beauharnais died on May 29, 1814 in Malmaison Castle . Every year until the death of the last of the Guard Dragons, May 29 was celebrated as a day of remembrance.
Calls
Campaign in Prussia and Poland
Despite some unresolved difficulties in the organization, two escadrons under the chief d'escadron Jolivet left Paris in 1806 and joined the Grande Armée to take part in the campaign against Prussia and Poland. When Napoléon entered Berlin on October 27, they paraded at the head of the guard cavalry. A few months later the guard dragons were reinforced by a contingent of 200 riders and were tasked with maintaining security around Berlin. There were several exchanges of fire with Prussian partisans . They were led by the Colonel major and later Général Louis-Michel Letort de Lorville.
The Prussians were defeated, but not the Russians. After the bloody victory in the Battle of Eylau with 30,000 French casualties, Napoléon was also able to decisively defeat them in the Battle of Friedland . The Guard Dragons had formed the left wing of the Guard Cavalry during this battle, but without taking part in the fighting.
On the Iberian Peninsula
In 1808 France declared war on Spain. After the defeats at the Battle of Bailén and the Battle of Vimeiro , Napoleon was forced to intervene personally to rectify the situation. He therefore raised his best troops, which included parts of the imperial guard with the guard dragons. The campaign developed quickly, on July 14, 1808, the dragoons were used with the army corps of Maréchal Jean-Baptiste Bessières in the battle of Medina de Rioseco. When the Tirailleurs of the Mouton Division were thrown back by Spanish carabiniers, the General Lasalle took the lead in the guards cavalry and rectified the situation.
In the further course of the operations, the Guard Dragons pursued the English, who withdrew to A Coruña . When Mayorga and Leon were fighting instead. At the end of December 1808 the dragoons came to the Esla River , which the English tried to cross.
The dragoons then also crossed the river, but despite all French efforts, the English were able to escape on their ships. In January 1809, most of the regiment returned to France. Only a detachement remained in the barracks of Valladolid in order to fight guerrillas from here .
Meanwhile, Napoleon had to contend with difficulties that the campaign in Germany and Austria brought with it. He was forced to restructure the Armée d'Espagne (Spanish Army), which also meant that all Guard Dragons had finally left Spain. In November two escadrons were relocated to Spain, where the Spanish gave them the name cabezas de oro (heads of gold), later caballeros de oro (golden riders).
In 1810, during the Napoleonic Wars on the Iberian Peninsula, the Guards Dragons were assigned to the Armée du Nord in the Guards Cavalry Division under Général Louis Lepic . The staff was 16 officers and 305 horsemen, 110 of whom were Vélites without any combat experience. By the end of the year the number had shrunk to 298 and by July 1811 to 287 riders. In the meantime the battle at Fuentes de Oñoro had taken place. On May 5th, the Maréchal Masséna asked the Armée du Nord for support. Bessières then sent the 800 Grenadiers à cheval and Dragons de la Garde impériale under the command of Lepic to help. When the French infantry got into trouble, Masséna ordered Lepic to attack in order to rectify the situation. However, the orderly reported to Maréchal Masséna that the Général Lepic refused, as he was only taking orders from his direct superior, Maréchal Bessières.
"Le général Lepic m'a déclaré qu'il ne reconnaissait ici que le duc d'Istrie [Bessières], et qu'il ne tirerait pas le sabre du fourreau sans son ordre."
" (Général Lepic explained to me that he had not heard from the Duke of Istria (Bessières) and that he would not pull the saber out of its scabbard without his order.) "
As a result, Wellington and his troops were ultimately able to claim the village and the victory.
Battle of Wagram
At the beginning of the campaign in Germany, only part of the regiment was assigned to the Grande Armée. The Austrian resistance in the Battle of Aspern and the associated high French losses in this defeat forced Napoléon to strengthen his troops. The Détachement of the Gardedragoner in Spain was united with the troops in the Grande Armée. Then the Dragons de l'Impératrice fought on July 5 and 6, 1809 in the battle of Wagram , where they were assigned to the Guards Cavalry Division under Général Walther.
On the second day of the fight, Napoléon decided to attack the Austrian center more intensively. He gave Général Macdonald the order to march with his strong infantry corps into the right flank of the enemy. The guard cavalry was ready to assist. In the course of the battle, Macdonald Walther requested the use of the cavalry. The latter, however, without orders from Napoleon or Bessières, refused, and so the cavalry stayed in place.
Russian campaign
In June 1812 the Russian campaign began . The Imperial Guard formed the framework of the Grande Armée. On September 14th, the French forces reached Moscow . The Guard Dragons had not been in combat until then, but the losses were considerable. From June 1st to September 5th the regiment lost 417 riders, which made up 34% of the total.
On September 25, 1812, Major Louis-Ignace Marthod carried out a reconnaissance ride with an Escadron in the vicinity of Moscow. In the town of Bourzowo they met a group of Cossacks who were able to drive them to flight. However, Russian reinforcements arrived and the Guard Dragons were soon encircled. They were able to fight their way through an alley, but the commander and about 20 dragoons were wounded and captured.
The French left Moscow on October 23, 1812. On October 25, after the battle of Malojaroslawez , Napoleon, accompanied by some officers, made the way back to Kaluga , with the group having withdrawn from the guard. When suddenly the Cossacks attacked, they could be driven away by the guards dragons hurrying under Letort.
The Prussian general Ferdinand von Grabowski wrote:
“The guard dragons, without horses, walked ahead of us in their white coats and appeared to us in the shadows like many ghosts. They dragged themselves away with great effort, depressed by tiredness, but they nevertheless showed exemplary perseverance. "
In the Battle of the Beresina , 91 Guard Dragons were captured by Russia.
Campaign in Germany
During the first phase of the campaign in Germany in 1813, the Guard Dragons fought in the Battle of Lützen , the Battle of Bautzen and the Battle of Dresden . On September 17th Major Pinteville was wounded in the face by a shrapnel.
During the Battle of Leipzig attacked on 16 October at 15:00 of Général de brigade Letort with the regiment at the height of dozing three squadrons cut Austrian Cuirassiers and took a large number of them captive. Attack followed counterattack. Napoléon ordered Letort to support the infantry of Oudinot with a force of 800 horsemen of the Old Guard - dragoons, lancers, hunters on horseback and grenadiers on horseback - which had meanwhile formed squares for defense. The riders formed two columns and pushed themselves between two squares, where they developed with a width of 50 horses. An attack by Austrian cuirassiers could thus be repulsed and the situation cleared.
From October 19, Napoleon felt compelled to march back to France because of the superiority of the Allies. The Bavarian General Carl Philipp von Wrede stood in the way of the French on October 30th in the Battle of Hanau . The French guard cavalry, commanded by Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty , was posted next to the artillery of Général Drouot .
The guard cavalry repulsed the first attack of the Bavarian horsemen except for the Cossacks standing further back - just in time before the French artillery position would have been overrun. The victory cost the Dragoons, who had participated in all the attacks, a high price: ten officers were killed or wounded. The Chef d'escadron Testot-Ferry was wounded by 22 saber blows, the General Letort's horse was shot under him.
Campaign in France
In 1814 Napoleon had been forced by the Allies to leave Germany, so the war shifted to French territory. For this reason, the emperor strengthened his troops by calling on the veterans of the Armée d'Espagne from the Spanish War of Independence and establishing a number of new regiments. The Gardedragonern was assigned the 2nd e régiment des éclaireurs de la Garde impériale , which from then on was called Éclaireurs-dragons . In the meantime the Allies had crossed the French border, and Napoleon decided to oppose them with his armed forces. The Guard Dragons were not used in this first phase of the French campaign. It was not until the Battle of Champaubert that a department attacked a Russian square under Capitaine Leblanc. The next day the battle of Montmirail took place. At the height of the battle in the afternoon, Maréchal Mortier's troops reached the battlefield, prompting Napoléon to use the Guard Cavalry against the Russians, a task that fell to the Guard Dragons , with the Mamelouks de la Garde impériale fighting alongside . The attack surprised the infantrymen of General von der Osten-Sacken , who fled in a panic into the surrounding woods. At the end of the day the Dragoons had killed six and a number of wounded. They then attacked three Russian infantry squares at Viels-Maisons and smashed them.
Napoléon wrote:
"... ma garde à pied, mes dragons, mes grenadiers à cheval ont fait des miracles ..."
" (... my guards on foot, my dragoons, my grenadiers on horseback have performed a miracle ...) "
The Chef d'escadron de Saint-Léger was made Chevalier des Ordre de la Réunion , and Letort de Lorville was promoted to Général de division on the battlefield that same day .
In the battle of Château-Thierry, the dragoons attacked two Russian infantry regiments and drove them apart. On February 18, the Württemberg infantry was defeated by the French cavalry in the battle of Montereau . An Escadron from the Guard Dragon was also deployed. The dragoons were then used in the battle of Craonne and on March 20, 1814 in the battle of Arcis-sur-Aube , in which they repulsed an attack by Austrian hussars .
The guard cavalry was then assigned to pursue the troops of the Russian general Ferdinand von Wintzingerode , who was then defeated in the battle near Saint-Dizier . On March 30, the Allies stood before Paris. At this time there were still some dragoons in the cavalry brigade of Général Dautancourt, which carried out a few attacks in the battle of Paris . All efforts were in vain, however, on March 31, 1814 the allied troops entered the city.
Campaign in Belgium
After the brief episode of the First Restoration, in which the regiment was called Corps royal des dragons de France , it was reintegrated into the Imperial Guard with its old name after Napoleon's return and the beginning of the rule of the Hundred Days . The Général d'Ornano, after a duel not yet recovered from an injury suffered, became second in command, Général Letort de Lorville took over command at the beginning of the campaign to Belgium. On June 1, 1815, the regiment was assigned to the 2nd Division of the Guard Cavalry under Général Guyot . It consisted of 63 officers and 910 horsemen.
In the battle near Gilly on June 15, Letort was sent with four escadrons of the guard cavalry against the Prussian vanguard and was able to force them to retreat. He was hit in the abdomen by a bullet and died the next day. At the Battle of Ligny , the Guards Dragons, together with the Grenadiers à cheval and the cuirassiers of Jacques-Antoine-Adrien Delort , rode the last attack against the Prussian lines. The Capitaine Tiercé was killed.
On June 18, the last act of the campaign took place with the Battle of Waterloo . The Guards Dragons regiment under the command of Major Laurent Hoffmayer was used against the British infantry squares on Mont-Saint-Jean. After three unsuccessful attacks, the losses were considerable. The Capitaine Hérissant and two lieutenants were killed, the Chef d'escadron François, the Capitaine Leblanc and five lieutenants were wounded. On July 1, 1815, the regiment consisted of only 24 officers and 275 horsemen. It recorded total casualties of 39 officers and 597 riders of fallen, wounded, prisoners and deserters.
Commanders
When the regiment was set up, Colonel Jean-Thomas Arrighi de Casanova , a cousin of Napoléon, became the first in command. From September 13, 1806 to October 8, 1809 Edmé Nicolas Fiteau and Louis-Michel Letort de Lorville held the posts of major colonel and major.
In 1809, after the Battle of Aspern , Arrighi and Fiteau left the regiment to take over the 3 e régiment de cuirassiers and the 2 e régiment de cuirassiers . Subsequently, the General Raymond Gaspard de Bonardi , comte de Saint-Sulpice, took over the regiment. Letort de Lorville became colonel major and Louis-Ignace Marthod became major.
During the Russian campaign, Marthod fell seriously wounded into Russian captivity, where he died on October 5, 1812.
The Général Philippe-Antoine d'Ornano initially remained on the battlefield in the battle of Krasnoye because he was believed to be dead, but was then rescued and on January 21, 1813, after a sudden illness, Général Bonardi was his successor. On February 3, 1813, Pierre Alexis de Pinteville and on October 6 of the same year Louis-Claude Chouard was appointed major.
During the restoration, d'Ornano kept the post of commandant of the "Corps royal des dragons de France". On December 1, 1814, after the dissolution of the 2 e régiment des éclaireurs de la Garde impériale , its commander, Colonel Laurent Hoffmayer, was appointed major.
After Napoléon's return from the island of Elba, d'Ornano remained Colonel, Letort de Lorville Colonel-major and Hoffmayer Major. After d'Ornano had dueled with the Général Bonet and was seriously wounded, he could not take over the regimental command during the campaign to Belgium. The regiment was therefore initially led by Colonel-major Letort de Lorville, until this also failed after the battle of Ligny. The last in command was thus Major Hoffmayer.
Laurent Hoffmayer
Pierre Alexis de Pinteville
.jpg)
Uniforms
The cut of the uniforms and the armament corresponded to those of the Grenadiers à cheval de la Garde impériale , with the exception of the color of the uniform skirt - which was green for the Dragoons and blue for the Grenadiers - and the headgear. The uniform was designed under the leadership of Colonel Arrighi and presented to the Emperor, who approved it without hesitation.
Teams
The helmet had a shape called à la Minerve and was derived from an image showing the Roman goddess Minerva with a helmet of this type. The bell of the helmet was made of brass and tilted backwards. A cowhide trim was placed around the foot, imitating a leopard skin. The visor was made of leather and also covered with the imitation leopard skin. The edge of the shade was framed with a brass rail. The crest of the helmet had an imperial eagle embossed on the front and a palm of victory on each side. At the top was a black horsehair tassel with a neck made of heron feathers. The black horsehair tail was also attached to the ridge. The helmet had sheepskin chin straps that were covered with brass scales and fastened to the edge of the helmet under a rosette. On the left side of the helmet was a red plume of feathers that was inserted into a sleeve and 35 centimeters high.
The small uniform (tenue de ville) consisted of the tunic of the large uniform without the white borders, with red piping on the lap pocket and red lap envelopes with an embroidered golden grenade. The buttons were made of brass with a crowned imperial eagle as a decoration. In addition - depending on the summer or winter months - white or green pants. The half-boots usually used could be replaced by those à la Souvarov , but the soldiers had to bear the costs themselves. The helmet was exchanged for a hat with a cockade, which was supplied by the hatmaker Boutrais.
The camp cap (called bonnet de police - a kind of boat ) was made of green cloth (called drap de berry ) and had a bright red grenade sewn onto the front. Some later models had a white border with a white garnet embroidered on it.
The large uniform (grande tenue) consisted of the helmet, the tunic (Colette), including a white vest . A light red aiguillette (shoulder cords as a badge of the guard - not to be confused with the Fourragère ) was worn on the right shoulder . The trousers were made of white suede or sheepskin. This included black, cowhide cuirassier boots.
The large suit was only worn on special occasions, otherwise the discounts were closed and held in place by a row of buttons. In the field, the dragoons wore the second version of the large uniform, the difference between which until 1811 was only the trousers made of white wool. After that, they were replaced by gray pants. The tenue d'écurie was worn for stable service: a green vest with gray overpants that were closed on the side with 36 buttons. For the cold season there was a round coat (manteau à rotonde) made of white fabric with a green collar. This was replaced in 1813 by a gray hooded coat, called a capote , and, unlike the previous model, had sleeves and light red piping .
Trumpeter and Kettle Drum
In 1806 and 1807 the uniform of the trumpeters differed from that of the riders in the sky blue color of the tunic. The collar, lap cuffs, buttonholes, and pocket flaps were lined with gold braid, the aiguillette was plaited gold and light blue. The trompette major (baton trumpeter) differed from the common trumpeters in that it had a double border and an aiguillette with more gold.
The helmet had a white instead of a black horsehair fluff at the tip of the comb, and the horsehair tail was also white. The plume on the left was blue.
The second set, called surtout , was made entirely of blue cloth, the collar and lapels were lined with gold braids, the pocket flaps were decorated with orange-red passepoils. After 1810, the collar and lapels turned carmoisine red.
On the occasion of Napoléon's wedding to Marie-Louise of Austria , the uniform was completely redesigned. The blue skirt with the white lapels turned white with light blue lapels and lap envelopes - supposedly it was supposed to remind the new empress of the Austrian uniforms of her homeland. The passepoils, which were interwoven with gold, also turned light blue. On the right shoulder sat a counterpulette in sky blue, attached to it a light blue aiguillette interwoven with gold. The large uniform was rarely worn because it was very sensitive to dirt. The second set was sky blue with crimson markings. With only one row of buttons, a reduced aiguillette was worn for this.
The kettlebell uniform was particularly extravagant. Inspired by the Egyptian Mameluks, they wore a blue cahouk with a white turban . The whole thing was crowned by a plume in the colors of the tricolor and an additional white plume. Then there was the Béniche , a blue vest with long sleeves, a yellow-red sash and a saroual called blue baggy pants . The kettledrums were covered with blue cloth with hemmed edges. The Kesselpauker replaced the used in the line of dragoons drummers .
Officers and NCOs
The officers' helmets largely corresponded to that of the crew, but were more extensively decorated. The trim around the helmet bowl was made of real leopard skin. The scales of the chinstrap were lined with velvet, the rosettes were gilded. On the left side was a bush of vulture feathers in a sleeve, which was colored red, red and white or white depending on the rank of the bearer. The comb was better made than on the rider's helmet, there were some additional subtleties such as bay leaves and floral motifs incorporated.
The officers wore the same uniform as the crew, with some minor differences, mainly the badges of rank and decorations. The buttons, the aiguillette and the grenades on the lap envelopes were gilded. Furthermore, the uniform material was of a heavier quality. Instead of the rider's capotemantle, they wore a green cloak with orange-red facings and gold braids. The officers also wore a green frock coat with epaulettes and an aiguillette. The decorations on the camp cap, made of green fabric, were entirely gold.
The uniforms of the NCOs were equipped with gold-plated braids and stripes on the sleeves. For some time, two models of the counter paulette and the aiguillette were in use. In principle, however, both were made of orange-red wool mixed with gold thread, in relation to the rank (and function) assumed. From 1811 onwards there was only one legal model.
The little uniform consisted of a green frock coat with a counter paulette, aiguillette and insignia.
Personal equipment and bridles
The leather cartouche of the dragoons was covered with a copper plate in the shape of a diamond, which was adorned with a raised embossed crown. The bag was attached to a white buffalo leather bandolier with copper hooks . There was also a white waist strap with a copper belt buckle with an applied crown. The bayonet and the sword were attached to this belt .
The saddle was lying on a saddle pad made of green cloth and was bordered on the edge with a double border of orange-red color. A similar crown was added later in the corners. On the left and right of the saddle hung a pistol pouch, which until 1808 was covered by a double curtain, then by a triple curtain. The hangings each had a border made of orange-red wool. A jacket sack was attached to the back of the saddle , the head pieces of which also had an orange-red wool border. It is no longer possible to understand whether this type of decoration was also intended for the small service.
A sky-blue saddlecloth with gold trims was used for the harness of the trumpeters' large uniform. The pistol pouches and the coat bag were omitted. The borders of the orange-red wool went with the dishes of the little uniform.
The kettlebell had an Arab-style saddle with a matching saddlecloth that was dressed up just like the rest of the uniform.
Armament
When the corps was set up, it was equipped with the saber of the line dragons of the model "An XII" until the military administration decided to equip the troops with the more handsome saber of the grenadiers à cheval de la Garde. It was the 1802 model with a slightly curved blade, called à la Montmorency . The basket, cast from brass, was decorated with a grenade. The scabbard consisted of two wooden halves covered with leather. The fittings were made of brass. In June 1808 a new saber model was introduced, which differed from its predecessor only in a few changes to the scabbard. After the king's return in 1814, the guards dragons and also the guards grenadiers in the now royal guard kept their Napoleonic sabers. The Guard Dragons were armed with the rifle Fusil modèle 1777, modifié an IX , as it was also used in the line cavalry. There was also a standard bayonet , made in the Manufacture d'armes de Versailles , which was distinguished by its precise manufacture. Later a black leather cap was added to the equipment to protect the rifle lock. Each rider led two pistolets of the Modèle type to IX or of the Modèle type to XIII . The former was made by the Manufacture d'armes de Charleville arms factory and was 33 centimeters long, while the second model was produced by the Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne and was 35 centimeters long.
Horses
In the decree establishing the regiment, black horses were designated for the troops. However, the Maréchal Bessières had to determine that these were reserved exclusively for the Grenadiers à cheval de la Garde impériale . Red foxes and other reddish-brown horses were therefore used, which, however, had to be exclusively of Hungarian origin. The height had to be between 1.52 and 1.55 meters. The age of the retirees was set at a minimum of four and a maximum of six years.
The horses should be taken from the state breeding institutions of the regions or from private institutions. However, this method was fraught with difficulties in the first few months of the unit's existence. In July 1806, Bessières advised the regimental commander Colonel Arrighi to hasten the purchase of the horses:
"... so that the price for the horses of the hunters and the grenadiers on horseback is not exceeded."
On November 1, 1806, the latter stated that he could not hope to receive the horses before December:
"... because of the upcoming winter sowing, the farmers do not want to give their horses, at whatever price, before the 15th of the next month."
During this period, one department after the other was marched on to Germany. In order to get the necessary remonts, Napoléon resorted to prey horses of the Prussian army during the campaign in Prussia and Poland . The first 200 men were equipped with the horses of the Royal Prussian Land Gendarmerie, 400 of which were gathered in the cavalry depot in Potsdam .
Footnotes and individual references
- ^ Guard Cavalry of the Napoleonic Wars
- ↑ Mané, 2014, p. 2.
- ↑ Mané, 2014, p. 3.
- ↑ Mané, 2014, p. 5.
- ↑ Sokolov, 2003, p. 455.
- ↑ Sokolov, 2003, p. 455.
- ^ Dawson, 2011, p. 112.
- ↑ Prévost / Bourgeot, 2009, p. 32.
- ↑ Pigeard, 2005, p. 54.
- ^ Dawson, 2011, p. 114.
- ↑ Prévost / Bourgeot, 2009, pp. 37, 43.
- ↑ Pawly / Courcelle, 2012 S. 43rd
- ↑ Prévost / Bourgeot, 2009, p. 31.
- ^ Dawson, 2011, p. 161.
- ^ Dawson, 2011, p. 171.
- ^ Dawson, 2011, pp. 170, 171.
- ↑ Pawly / Courcelle, 2012 S. 22nd
- ↑ Zins, 1996, p. 54.
- ↑ Sutherland, 1998, p. 244.
- ↑ Sutherland, 1998, p. 295.
- ↑ Zins, 1996, p. 207.
- ↑ Prévost / Bourgeot, 2009, p. 16.
- ↑ There is only one single copy of this helmet from 1814/1815 in a private collection.
- ↑ A drum is a drummer
- ↑ Malvaux: Les casques de dragons de la Garde impériale. Pp. 66, 68.
- ↑ Malvaux: Les bonnets de police des dragons de la Garde impériale. P. 78.
- ↑ 1803/1804
- ↑ A desire that turned out to be completely utopian.
- ↑ Prévost / Bourgeot, 2009, pp. 10, 23, 24.
literature
- Jean-Jacques Prévost, Vincent Bourgeot: Les dragons de l'Impératrice, the dragons de la Garde impériale de 1806 à 1815. In: Soldats Napoléoniens. Editions de la Revue Napoléon, No. 22: Les Dragons de l'Impératrice. 2009, pp. 3–41.
- Bertrand Malvaux: Les casques de dragons de la Garde impériale de 1806 à 1815. In: Soldats Napoléoniens. Editions de la Revue Napoléon, No. 22: Les Dragons de l'Impératrice. 2009, pp. 64-77.
- Bertrand Malvaux: Les bonnets de police des dragons de la Garde impériale de 1806 à 1815. In: Soldats Napoléoniens. Editions de la Revue Napoléon, No. 22: Les Dragons de l'Impératrice. 2009, pp. 78-79.
- Michel Pétard: Le saber des dragons de la Garde impériale de 1806 à 1815. In: Soldats Napoléoniens. Editions de la Revue Napoléon, No. 22: Les Dragons de l'Impératrice. 2009, pp. 55-60.
- Henry Lachouque: Napoléon et la Garde impériale. Bloud et Gay, Paris 1957.
- Lucien Rousselot: Garde impériale, Dragons 1806-1814. P. Spadem: Collection L'Armée Française, ses uniformes, son armement, son équipement. Paris 1966.
- Eugène Louis Bucquoy: Les Dragons de la Garde impériale: 1806–1815 and La Garde impériale: troupes à cheval , part 2. Editor: Jacques Grancher, Paris 1977.
- Pierre Juhel, Keith Rocco, Peter Bunde: De l'île d'Elbe à Waterloo. La Garde impériale pendant les Cent-Jours (1815). Editions de la Revue Napoléon, 2009, ISBN 978-2-9524583-3-7 .
- Alain Pigeard: La Garde impériale 1804-1815. Éditions Tallandier, Paris 2005, ISBN 978-2-84734-177-5 .
- Marguerite Robert Mathieu: Dernières victoires, 1814. La campagne de France aux alentours de Montmirail. Editions A. & J. Picard et Cie, Paris 1964.
- Bruno Colson: Leipzig. La bataille des Nations. 16–19 octobre 1813. Editions Perrin, 2013, ISBN 978-2-262-04356-8 .
- Ronald Pawly, Patrice Courcelle: Napoleon's Dragoons of the Imperial Guard (= Men-at-Arms. No. 480). Osprey Publishing Collection, 2012, ISBN 1-84908-806-3 .
- Paul Lindsay Dawson: Dragoons of the Guard 1806-1830. Association Britannique de la Garde Imperiale, 2011, ISBN 978-1-4475-0253-1 .
- Emir Bukhari, Angus McBride: Napoleon's Guard Cavalry (= Men-at-Arms. No. 83). Osprey Publishing Collection, 1978, ISBN 0-85045-288-0 .
- Diégo Mané: La cavalerie de la Garde en 1814, un vrai panier de sabres . Lyon 2011 (PDF; 724 kB).
- Oleg Sokolov: L'Armée de Napoléon (with a foreword by Jean Tulard ). Commios, 2003, ISBN 978-2-9518364-1-9 .
- Ronald Zins: Les maréchaux de Napoléon III. Éditions Horvath, 1996, ISBN 2-7171-0892-0 .
- Christine Sutherland: Marie Walewska. Le grand amour de Napoléon (transl .: Françoise de Bernardy). Perrin, 1998, ISBN 2-262-01437-X .