Gendarme de la garde

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Standard of the gendarmes de la garde
Gendarmes de la garde - sous-brigadier 1724

The Gendarmes de la garde were a cavalry unit in the Guard ( Maison militaire du roi ) of the King of France . The members wore a red tunic , the badge color was black, but did not appear on all uniforms. The captain (Capitaine) of the company was always the king, the unit was commanded by the Capitaine lieutenant.

history

In 1609, the French King Henry IV set up a company of cuirassiers who were the bodyguards of the Dauphin ( heir to the throne ), who later became Louis XIII. were intended. After his accession to the throne in 1610, the latter decreed that the company should be incorporated into the royal guard under the name "Gens d'armes". The 200 riders strong "Gendarmes de la garde" were assigned second place to the guard cavalry, behind the Garde du corps du roi and in front of the Chevau-léger de la garde du roi , since the heavy riders (cavalerie lourde) have priority over the light ones Had riders.

As with all units of the guard cavalry, access to the gendarmes was reserved for members of the nobility . Until 1664, the captain lieutenant and the lieutenants were allowed to sell the vacancies in the company to the highest bidder. (The lieutenant of the guard had a much higher reputation than a lieutenant of the line troops ) The association reached its greatest strength under Louis XIV. By the time it was reduced to 200 in 1697, it had grown to around 250 men.

Like all the king's guards, they came under general criticism from pre-revolutionary France and were approved by decree by Louis XVI. released on September 30, 1787.

tasks

It was the prerogative of the guards to carry the standards and flags of the guards to the king as far as his bedchamber. If the king left his residence on a campaign, the gendarmes went out with the flags behind the king.

Since it was also a fighting organization, he was assigned to a bar in the 18th century, from the captain-lieutenant as commander , three sous-lieutenants , cadets (aspirants) and cadets (portes-dreapeaux) was. The ensigns and ensigns were among the officers . There was also a corps of non-commissioned officers with a marechal des logis chef , 10 marechal des logis , eight brigadiers and eight sous-brigadiers, as well as four standard bearers (portes d'étendarts), four field scissors (docteurs du champ), four trumpeters and one Timbalist.

Calls

Motto

The motto of the gendarmes was: "Quo Jubet Iratus Jupiter" ( Où Jupiter furieux ordonne ; Where the angry Jupiter commands )

See also

Commons : Uniforms of the Royal French Guard  - collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

  • Henri Bouchot: L'Épopée du costume militaire français. Aquarelles et dessins originaux de JOB. Société Française d'Éditions d'Art, Paris 1898.
  • 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 .
  • Rigo [di: Albert Rigondaud]: Le Plumet. L'uniformes et les drapeaux de l'armée de l'Ancien régime et du 1er Empire. Paris 1971

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.mairie-versailles.fr/tmptext.php?id=597&pg=15 ( Memento from November 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive )