Municipal Guard of Paris

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Officer of the fusiliers of the 1st regiment 1806
Hunter in the uniform of the 2nd regiment from 1807
Fusilier of the 2nd regiment until 1807
Grenadier of the 1st regiment from 1807

The Garde municipale de Paris (about: City Guard of Paris) was a unit for maintaining order in Paris .

formation

Paris was equipped with a specific guard body charged with police and guard duties. This troop became the legacy of the royal night watch of Paris (called "Archers du guet"), which was once owned by King Louis IX. was launched. In 1750 this became the "Garde de Paris" (Guard of Paris) and in 1789 submitted to the National Assembly . In 1791 the unit was disbanded, from then on Paris no longer had such a guard. The police were divided into eight gendarmerie divisions ( Gendarmerie nationale parisienne ) by 1793 and then renamed the police region ( Légion de police ) until 1796 . After that, the patrols and the guarding of the public buildings were carried out by the national guard made up of citizens. Of these, however, more and more left their service and provided a paid representative for it.

The "Garde municipale de Paris" was set up on October 4, 1802 (12 vendémiaire to XI) by decree of the consul Napoléon Bonaparte . It consisted of two demi-brigades . As with the national gendarmerie , they were recruited from former military personnel between 30 and 40 years old, they were supposed to be more than 1.65 meters tall, and they had to be able to read and write. They should still have completed five campaigns and had to be in possession of an exemption from military service.

organization

The tasks were the same as the police and the honor guard (higher representatives of the state and city were entitled to honorary accompaniment). The first demi-brigade supervised the entrances to Paris, the second was responsible for the protection of the magistrate building, the prefecture and the prisons. The guard also monitored festivities and events. The dragoons acted as an honor guard for the mayors, the police prefect and the prefect of the Seine department .

The nominal strength was 2,154 men on foot and 180 riders. The supervision of the organization lay exclusively with civilian bodies:

  • The Prefect of the Seine department was President of the Council of Administration.
  • The officers were appointed by the First Consul at the suggestion of the Prefect.
  • The supervision and supervision was carried out by three mayors of the city. These were appointed by the prefect.

When the troops had shown themselves useful during the campaigns in 1805 and 1806, they were placed under the Ministry of War by decree of May 18, 1806.

Uniformity

In the description of the uniform there are deviations in the individual sources with regard to headgear and some smaller details.

  • The "1 he régiment d'infantry de la garde municipale de Paris" was wearing a skirt of green color that spreads and the skirt lining in red. The collar was red with the fusiliers, yellow with the hunters and green in the Grenadier Guards (and possibly . advanced white).
  • The "2 e régiment d'infantry de la garde municipale de Paris" was wearing a skirt of red color that spreads and rock lining were green. The collar was red for the fusiliers, yellow for the hunters and green for the grenadiers.

The fusiliers and hunters wore a shako , but the hunters also wear a bearskin hat without a forehead shield with hangings in green or in silver. The grenadiers always wore a bearskin hat with a brass-colored forehead shield and silver hangings. On the bearskin hats there was always a stutz on the left side , while the shakos can be seen once with a stutz and once with a pompom in the colors of the company. Both regiments wore white trousers and black, white or dark gray gaiters .

Stutz and Pompon each showed the colors of the company.

This uniform earned them the nickname Perroquets (parrots).

In 1806/1807 the uniform was changed:

  • white coat, with the first regiment the lapels and the skirt lining in red, with the second regiment in green
  • The grenadiers wore a bearskin hat with yellow metal hangings and a front plate of the same type, a red feather trim, with red epaulettes and green collars
  • The hunters wore a bearskin hat without a faceplate with green (or silver) hangings and a green neck (or shako), with green epaulettes and yellow collars.
  • The fusiliers wore a shako, red collars and cuffs, and (occasionally) green epaulettes

The dragons cadron wore dark blue tunics with red lapels and collars, white trousers with cavalry boots and the typical helmet with a comb and a black horse's tail.

history

When it was set up, the “Garde municipale de Paris” consisted of the 1st and 2nd demi-brigade, each with two battalions of five companies each. Then there was the 1st Dragoon Regiment with two escadrons .

Between 1805 and 1812 the guard was used as a marching regiment .

On February 12, 1812, the two regiments were merged into one. It consisted of two battalions of six companies each (one grenadier company, one voltigeur company and four fusilier companies). The workforce was 2,044 men, including 46 officers. After the attempted coup d'état by Général de brigade Claude François de Malet on October 23, 1812, the guard was disbanded.

Campaigns

1805-1807

Composed of young, but already experienced soldiers, the troops were often deployed in ongoing wars to support the active army, such as the Grande Armée from 1805 . Between October 1805 and February 1806 the first two battalions of the regiments and also the Dragonscadron were with the occupation troops in the Netherlands . In this Antwerp , Arnhem and Nijmegen occupied without a fight.

In October 1806 a marching regiment was formed, which was 1,212 men strong and was commanded by Colonel Rabbe. It marched via Kassel to Hamburg. In January 1807 it was involved in the siege of Danzig . After Field Marshal Friedrich Adolf von Kalckreuth had to surrender with the fortress on May 24, 1807, the regiment was integrated into the reserve corps of Maréchal Jean Lannes , who used it in the vanguard of the Battle of Friedland . The regiment was commanded to Post tendons and repulsed ten Russian attacks during a nine-hour battle. This fight was the unit's greatest act of glory.

Campaign in Spain and dissolution of the corps

In 1808 the "Municipal Guard de Paris" with two battalions to the "2 e corps d'observation de la Gironde" (2nd surveillance corps on the Gironde) was assigned. This corps consisted of reserve units, Swiss regiments and light infantry. This force was under the command of Général Pierre Dupont de l'Étang and invaded Spain in November. The Paris Guards took part in the Battle of Alcolea, which opened the way to Cordoba. Due to the defeat in the Battle of Bailén in 1808, the unit became a prisoner of war. In the Battle of Burgos in 1812 she was able to distinguish herself again.

The attempted coup on October 23, 1812

On October 23, 1812, Général Claude François de Malet , who had escaped from prison, attempted a coup d'état. He appeared before the staff of the "Municipal Guard" and announced that Napoléon was dead. He presented a forged Senate resolution and placed the unit under his command. The commandant, Colonel Soulier, was impressed and complied. The coup ended a few hours later, but had serious consequences for the “Garde municipale”. Colonel Soulier and some of his staff officers, among others, were fusiled on October 29th .

The dragoons, who were not involved in the action, were incorporated into the 2 e régiment de chevau-légers lanciers de la Garde impériale on February 23, 1813 . The infantry was used to re-establish the "134 e régiment d'infanterie de ligne" that had been vacant . It took part in the campaign of 1813 in Germany and was so decimated that it had to be dissolved.

literature

  • Yves Martin: Les Aigles en Espagne. La garde de Paris. In: Tradition. No. 275, September / October 2014, pp. 14-17.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Between 1793 and 1803 the foot troops used the term “demi-brigade” - that is, half-brigade - instead of “regiment”.

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