Guard des consuls

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Guard des consuls

Marin, Musicien des grenadiers et grenadier de la Garde consulaire.jpg

Marine, musician and grenadier of the Guards consulaire (illustration by Henry Ganier-Tanconville )
active November 28, 1799 to May 19, 1804
Country Flag of France.svg France
Armed forces Emblem of Napoleon Bonaparte.svg Napoleonic Army
Armed forces army
Type Fuse association
Butcher Coalition wars
commander
commander Last: Napoléon Bonaparte
Important
commanders

Joachim Murat
Jean Lannes
Napoléon Bonaparte

The Garde des consuls (German: Guard of Consuls , Consular Guard) was set up in 1799 to protect the consulate and then the 1st Consul Napoléon Bonaparte . The Vieille Guard of the Imperial Guard eventually developed from it .

Lineup

The "Garde des consuls" had its origins in the various guards that were responsible for the security of the legislative and executive bodies established in 1789.

The formerly royal Compagnie des gardes du prévôté de l'hôtel was assigned to protect the deputies under the command of Jean-Sylvain Bailly . The company was initially renamed "Garde de l'Assemblée nationale" by them. By decree of May 10, 1791, it was renamed “Gendarmes nationaux” (national gendarmes). With a decree of May 15, 1791 the "Grenadiers gendarmes près la convention" (for example: Grenadier gendarmes at the convention) were created. This guard was intended to protect the convention national . For this reason it was known colloquially as the “Gardes de la Convention”.

After the "Convention nationale" was dissolved on October 26, 1795, the guard was given the task of protecting the newly created "Corps législatif". The troop was henceforth called "Garde du corps législatif".

At the same time, the Directory had a guard called the “Garde constitutionnelle du Directoire”, the establishment of which was based on Article 166 of the Constitution.

After the coup d'état of 18th Brumaire VIII , the two Guards of Napoléon Bonaparte were merged into one by an order of November 28, 1799. This bore the name Garde des consuls .

Employment requirements and number of staff

In order to be accepted into the Guard, every aspirant had to meet the following requirements:

  • active participation in at least four campaigns
  • a height of 1.78 m for the grenadiers, or 1.70 m for the hunters
  • With the award of a medal of honor or an honorable mention in a message, it was possible to deviate from the size requirements.

By decree of January 3, 1800, the guard consisted of 2089 men. Of these, 585 were cavalrymen , 1,188 grenadiers in two battalions of six companies, 99 hunters on foot in one company, 110 artillerymen and a staff with 88 men for the infantry and 19 men for the cavalry.

On September 8, 1800, another amendment decree was implemented. The workforce was increased to 3650 men. Of these, 1632 were grenadiers, 816 hunters on foot, 234 hunters on horseback and 702 grenadiers on horseback. There were also 100 artillerymen. The upper staff consisted of 29 officers , the infantry staff of 75 officers and the cavalry staff of 58 officers.

On March 8, 1802, the guard was reorganized again. The staff was now led by four staff officers instead of a général de division and his representative, a général de brigade .

At the same time, the Hôpital du Gros-Caillou was assigned to the “Garde des consuls” as a military hospital . A senior doctor, six surgeons, four pharmacists and a number of nurses were available to provide medical care for the guardsmen.

The artillery consisted of a staff of 14 officers, plus 90 artillerymen and about 20 workers. The strength of the artillery train was increased to 290 men that year. Then there was the train park with around 100 men.

Furthermore, a veteran company was part of the guard, it consisted of about 150 men.

On June 3, 1803, the "Légion de la gendarmerie d'élite" was incorporated into the Guard.

At the same time, Bonaparte ordered the creation of a new formation, the "Marins de la Garde" ( Marine Infantry of the Guard), consisting of a battalion with 737 men.

The infantry was reorganized in 1804. The staff now consisted of 138 soldiers, the infantry was divided into four battalions - two grenadier battalions and two hunter battalions with a total of 3550 men. Two regiments of the cavalry were set up - the "Regiment des grenadiers à cheval" and the "Régiment des chasseurs à cheval", plus the escadron of the Mamelouks de la Garde impériale . The cavalry consisted of a total of 2450 riders.

Combat missions

In contrast to the later Garde impériale , the “Garde des consuls” was only involved in a few combat operations - generally only when the situation urgently required it. Their most spectacular mission was in the battle of Marengo . The "Guard of consuls" formed here Carrée in the French center and turned the cavalry of the Austrian General Ott contrary. With 800 men against several thousand, the guard held out for five hours and thus enabled the intervention of Général Desaix's troops . The guards suffered great losses due to their persistence and at the end of the day consisted of only 200 men.

Bonaparte called it a "Colonne de granit".

Whereabouts

With the imperial coronation of Napoléon Bonaparte on December 2, 1804, the "Garde des consuls" became the Imperial Guard and was reorganized or considerably enlarged.

literature

  • Histoires et Batailles de Napoléon. Volume 1: La garde consulaire .
  • Denys Prache: Les soldats de Napoléon (= Le grenier des merveilles ). Hatier, Paris 1983, ISBN 978-2-218-06647-4 .

Web links