Horse hunters from the Imperial Guard – Wikipedia

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THE Horse hunters from the Imperial Guard are a light cavalry unit of the Imperial Guard, in service in the French army from 1804 to 1815. It took during the Hundred Days the name of first is Imperial guard regiment of hunters .

The regiment belongs to the old guard and is formed under the consulate under the name of guides of the Consuls Guard. He usually provides the service squadron to the emperor, ensuring his escort during travel and on the battlefield. Guard hunters have the opportunity to save the emperor during attacks (so on the eve of Austerlitz). They are among Napoleon’s favorites [ first ] and are one of the most prestigious regiments of the guard [ 2 ] . On horseback, the emperor often wears the green uniform of colonel of this regiment (often hidden by his famous gray frills), carries it during his captivity in Sainte-Hélène and is put in beer in this uniform [ 3 ] .

The regiment is also a combat unit. Throughout his existence, he distinguished himself several times on the battlefield, notably in Austerlitz, Eylau, Wagram, during the French campaign in 1814 or in Waterloo.

Creation of the body of guides [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

The origins of the body of hunters go back to the French revolution, with the creation in 1792 of the staff guides attached to the service of generals commanding the armies. These units are not used in combat proper and fulfill an administrative role more. Things are evolving nevertheless when General Napoleon Bonaparte took command of the Army of Italy in March 1796. From the , this one orders the establishment of a detachment of 30 riders responsible for ensuring its protection and that of the neighborhood-general [ 4 ] .

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Guides of the first consul in 1801, by Alfred de Marbot.

At the end of May, the workforce was brought to 50 men and supplemented by two battalions of guides on foot, under the supervision of Colonel Jean Lannes. The mounted company is placed, as of May 31, under the orders of Captain Jean-Baptiste Bessières, of 22 It is regiment of hunters on horseback. In the Memorial of Sainte-Hélène , Napoleon affirms that the creation of the guides would have been inspired by an incident which occurred in the aftermath of the Battle of Borghetto, during which he and his entourage just escape an Austrian patrol, but the historian Ronald Pawly considers that, “as Many other elements of Bonaparte Memoirs, this picturesque anecdote is false, at least in its supposed consequences ” [ 5 ] .

This old filiation explains the attachment and dedication of these veterans to the person of Napoleon. In 1798, the guides were integrated into the army of the East leaving for Egypt, where they illustrated in various fights such as the Battle of Mont-Thabor, where four of their companies sow confusion in the Turkish ranks . Two years later, the , hunters on horseback are integrated into the guard of the consuls in the form of a company of 117 men, which becomes a squadron following [ 6 ] . Pour l’story ole sokolov, “The dissolution of the old escort meant that the new company of the Guard was based on quite different principles. It was no longer a unit that chance had put under the orders of the young general; She was her personal clientele, in a way a new “King’s House” whose members had to devote bounded loyalty to their “suzerain” [ 7 ] .

Unity serves in the meantime at the Battle of Marengo the , and wipes heavy losses there. In 1801, hunters were added, the From the same year, a second squadron, which brings the workforce to 490 men. They are officially converted into a regiment the following and go to four squadrons on , for a total of 56 officers and 959 men. The body is increased on of a foreign element: the Mameluks, recruited from refugees from Egypt [ 8 ] .

Organization under the first empire [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

With the proclamation of the empire the , hunters take rank within the imperial guard [ 9 ] . The decree of of the same year, which settled the organizational methods, prescribed a minimum size of 1.67 m To integrate the body of hunters [ ten ] . The , a squadron of velites is assistant to the regiment, then a second . On this date, the unit is 70 officers strong and 1,239 hunters [ 11 ] . Vélites, however, definitively disappear in favor of a fifth squadron on [ twelfth ] .

By decree of , the regiment is from five to nine squadrons, the first is , 2 It is , 3 It is , 4 It is And 5 It is Keeping the name of old guard alone. THE 6 It is , 7 It is , 8 It is And 9 It is squadrons form the hunters on horseback of the young guard (or “second hunters”) [ 13 ] . After the first abdication of Napoleon in 1814, the hunters were renamed “royal body of hunters on horseback of France” the thanks to the first restoration; With four squadrons with two companies each [ 14 ] , they have 55 officers and 774 soldiers [ 15 ] . The unit is sent as a garrison in Saumur, in Maine-et-Loire [ 16 ] . After an inspection in , Marshal Ney reports that the spirit of the body is « excellent » and “His discipline and his subordination make him love the inhabitants of Saumur” [ 17 ] . This observation is put into perspective by Henry Lachouque who notes that many riders refuse to shout ” Long live the king ! »» During journals [ 18 ] . The regiment is finally transferred to Cambrai the [ 19 ] .

The hunters resume their old identity during the hundred-days, at the same time as a 2 It is regiment of horse hunters of the imperial guard (attached to the young guard) is set up [ 20 ] . Under the second restoration, old -day hunters are definitely dissolved between the and the [ 21 ] in Périgueux [ 22 ] . Commander Bucquoy notes that “Very rare were those who took service in the army of the Bourbons” [ 22 ] , which confirms Ronald Pawly who indicates that only two officers and six men of the rank agreed to serve the regime of Louis XVIII [ 21 ] .

Horseshoe hunter of the Imperial Guard of the Escort Picket in Service Dwelling (1805). Illustration by Louis-Ferdinand Malespina.

The guard is first of all a reserve elite body bringing together the best elements from the line. The hunters on horseback and the grenadiers on foot of the imperial guard share the honor of being the true bodyguards of the emperor, in peacetime as in wartime. Horse hunters ensure the escort of Napoleon when traveling on horseback or by car. This can be useful, as on the evening of , on the eve of the Battle of Austerlitz, when Napoleon advances in recognition towards enemy lines and comes across a group of Cossacks. The escort hunters give off their master who can return to the French lines.

As such, a regiment squadron is generally on service with the emperor. A detachment ensures the close escort of the sovereign, accompanying it in particular during his recognitions of the battlefields: a lieutenant, a marshal of the house, two brigadiers, 22 hunters and a trumpet. The hunters wear the carabiner in hand. Generally, when the emperor is stopped, a hunter is posted in each cardinal point, thus forming a “square of honor” against the bullets or the balls [ 23 ] . When the hunters are on foot, they equip their carabiner with a bayonet and surround the emperor. Because of their role as protectors, they are nicknamed the “servants” [ 24 ] . They are very esteemed and loved by Napoleon who covers them with honors, and the command of the escort platoon is a highly sought -after place with honors, allowing the sovereign to meet all day.

The horse -shaped hunters are also forged an excellent reputation in combat. Philip Haynthwaite thus describes them as “the best light riders that are” [ 25 ] , while American colonel John Elting claims that they are “the model of the French light cavalry” [ 26 ] . As for the historian of the Imperial Guard Henry Lachouque, he carries the following judgment towards them:

“The regiment of hunters on horseback of the guard has all the traditions of the squadron of guides, emeritus horsemen, broken in the service of the light cavalry, resourceful, able to do everything, playful, devoted body and souls to Bonaparte who formed, pampered, dressed and who, they know it very well, boast and take advantage of it, has a marked preference for them [ 27 ] . »

The hunters on horseback had to fight alongside other cavalry units several times.

December 2, 1805: the great charge of Austerlitz [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

The Russian army has brought its effort to the French right in the sub-nomination commanded by Davout, and thus dismissed the Pratzen plateau. Soult’s body then attacks and takes the Pratzen plateau, from where it can be the Russian columns that come back to take the set. It was then that the cavalry of the Russian imperial guard tried to stop the French attack after the failure of an infantry attack. The Russian cavalry routs two French infantry regiments while the other regiments are formed in a square.

Russian lithography representing the confrontation between the Russian Knights-Garders and the French Cavalry of the Imperial Guard in Austerlitz.

Napoleon gives the Marshal Bessières to have the cavalry of the guard gave to clog the breach and relieve the infantry. Bessières has four squadrons of horse hunters (375 horsemen under the command of Colonel Morland), the company of Mamluks (48 horsemen commanded by Captain Delaitre) and four squadrons of Grenadiers on horseback (706 riders led by General Ordener )) [ 28 ] .

The first charge is led by first is And 2 It is Squadrons of hunters under Morland as well as by the Mamluks that General Rapp, aid of the Emperor’s camp, led in person. The rest of the regiment and the grenadiers on horseback advance in support. The horse guards and the Hussars of the Russian Guard of General Kologrivov, who remained immobile as the French approaches, are tinlled. Hunters and Mameluks then throw themselves on the infantrymen of the preobrajensky and Semionovsky regiments, who however hold their position with the support of a Russian battery of six rooms [ 29 ] . Oleg Sokolov thus specifies that the first attack on the cavalry of the Guard is pushed, forcing the hunters to regroup behind the infantry of Drouet d’Erlon deployed nearby [ 30 ] . During the action, Colonel Morland was fatally injured by a machine -gun discharge [ thirty first ] .

His men nevertheless continue to harass, with alternatives of success and reverse, the Russian guard whose regiments seek to shelter behind a stream, the Rausnitz. Following the Mameluks, the hunters pushed a square from the Semionovsky regiment and inflict heavy losses to it [ 32 ] . It was then that the Knights-Gardes and the Cossacks of the Russian Guard rushed in their turn in the fight. The scrum becomes confused and its uncertain outcome. Major Dahlmann, at the head of the last two hunter squadrons, is the rescue of his comrades and helps to surround the 5 It is Squadron of Knights-Gardes commanded by the reprnine prince, which is almost entirely destroyed. Despite the successive intervention of several Russian cavalry units, the advantage switches to the French side with the entry into the running of the Grenadiers on horseback of the guard who definitively reject their opponents of the battlefield [ 33 ] . At the end of the fight, the hunters deplored 19 killed (including Morland) and 65 injured [ 34 ] .

Prussian and Poland campaign [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

General Dahlmann at the head of horse -shaped hunters in Eylau, the . Illustration de Victor Huen, 1910.

At the opening of hostilities against Prussia, hunters, divided into two walking regiments, cannot follow the rapid progression of the great army. In fact, they are absent at the Battle of Jena, during which the escort of Napoleon is ensured by the first is Hussars regiment. However, they are alongside the emperor during the entry of French troops into Berlin at the end of October. The Napoleonic forces then went to Polish territory to meet the Russian army; THE , the regiment is gathered in Warsaw. At this stage of operations, the daily service with the emperor is made very difficult by the extreme cold [ 35 ] . The hunters are still illustrated all the day of Christmas in the combat of Lopaczyn, where two squadrons under Dahlmann successfully measure themselves in the Russian cavalry and seize three pieces of Canon [ 36 ] .

At the Battle of Eylau, the body of Marshal Augereau, in addition to being disoriented by gusts of snow in the face, is decimated by the enemy artillery which targets it. THE 7 It is body is out of combat. A huge breach cuts in half the French lines, insulating the French right wing led by Davout from the rest of the army. The Russian commander -in -chief, Bennigsen, engulfs there an infantry and cavalry force on the left wing to repel Davout, several divisions in the center and an infantry column in an irresistible attack on the right in the cemetery of Eylau defended by the remains of 7 It is  corps.

Napoleon, to restore the situation, then launched Murat in the most formidable, but also the most disorderly in the charges of the whole history, at the head of more than ten thousand men of the cavalry reserve, attacking enemy divisions in the center. Dragons go up on the first Russian line, second wave cuirassiers are more successful but come up against the second line. To the cavalry of the line threatened with encirclement by the Russian infantry, Napoleon adds that of the guard commanded by Marshal Bessières.

The Marshal Loads, crosses the two Russian lines with fury, widens the breach previously opened by the cuirassiers. At the head of the hunters on horseback of the guard, General Dahlmann was fatally injured. Colonel Guyot will then take command of the regiment.
The grenadiers on horseback, for their part led by Colonel-Major Louis Lepic, and the 5 It is Regiment of Cuirassiers following, sinking the Russians until they rally the French lines. The care of the guard allowed the Murat line cavalry to fall back and all of these deadly charges, at the price of nearly three thousand five hundred killed or injured, stopped and pushed the Russian attack on the center .

Against the Russian pomegranates who were attacking the cemetery, Napoleon opposes the famous first is Grenadiers regiment on foot of the imperial guard on the head of the enemy column and charged its flanks by the service squadrons of the horsehand. Taken back by the hussars and hunters on the line of the line detached by Murat, the Russian grenadiers are annihilated by this triple attack.

In addition to Dahlmann, the hunters deplore the loss of 51 killed and 155 injured at the end of the fighting [ 37 ] .

In Spain (1808-1809) [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Returning to Paris in November 1807, the horse -shaped horse hunters participated in the festivities organized in the capital for the success of the Poland campaign. THE , Brigadier General Charles Lefebvre-Desnettes succeeds Prince Eugène as a title colonel of the regiment. This one provides shortly after a detachment of 216 men who, with other guard units, is moving towards the Spanish border. In March, a squadron of hunters commanded by Daumesnil entered Madrid alongside the troops of Marshal Murat, but the population hostile to the French rose against the occupier the . The hunters and mamluks of the guard actively participate in the repression of the riot, at the price of 26 killed or injured in their ranks [ 38 ] .

Capture of General Lefebvre-Desnouettes by the Grisdale Levi soldier of ten It is British hussars in the combat of Benavente, the . Painting by Denis Dighton.

After the numerous setbacks wiped by the imperial armies in the Iberian peninsula, Napoleon went to the scene in November in order to straighten the situation. The regiment, which now has more than 1,000 men deployed in Spain, is present at the Battle of Somosierra it , where he supports the load of Polish light horses against the Spanish positions. Madrid capitulates a few days later and a chase engages between the army of Napoleon and the British expeditionary force of General Moore, who folds towards the ports of Vigo and the Corugin with the intention of resetting for the ‘England [ 39 ] .

Evolving at the forefront of the French avant-garde, the hunters of the guard, led by General Lefebvre-Desnettes in person, arise the On the ESLA river, near the village of Benavente. On the other side of the shore are only visible a few British cavalry detachments assigned to Moore’s rear guard; Sure of his strength, Lefebvre-Desnouettes orders his men-three hunter squadrons and a small detachment from Mamluks-cross the river in Gué and sweep the opposing units. THE 18 It is English hussars and 3 It is Hussars of the King’s German Legion, after an initial resistance, are pushed back towards Benavente, but the French then fall into an ambush stretched by Lord Paget who launches unexpectedly in the fight at the head of a third regiment of Hussars. Hunters and Mameluks are repressed in disorder on the ESLA and wipe out significant losses when ironing the river. At the end of the commitment, the regiment deplores more than 120 killed, injured or prisoners, including General Lefebvre-Desnettes, captured by the English [ 40 ] .

Germany campaign of 1809 [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Load of hunters on horseback of the imperial guard against the Austrian dragons in Wagram (by Henri-Georges Chartier, 1897).

Faced with the imminence of a war with Austria, Napoleon returned to France in all haste in mid-January 1809 and recalls part of the forces that are fighting in Spain, including almost all of his guard, with a view to The campaign that is coming. Detachment by detachment, the regiment of hunters sets out for Paris via Tolosa, Bayonne, Bordeaux and Poitiers. On the Central European Front, the Austrian army of the Archduke Charles invades Bavaria from the But the hunters, directed on Strasbourg at the end of the month then Stuttgart in the first days of May, do not participate in the initial phase of the campaign [ 41 ] .

They are however engaged on the second day of the battle of Wagram it , when the column of General Macdonald rushes to the Austrian center. In order to support this movement, the hunters, commanded in the absence of Lefebvre-Desnettes by Major Claude Étienne Guyot, make the saber against the infantry of Kollowrat and seize four canons. Helped by Polish guarding of the guard, they then claimed an Austrian retired body, disperse four enemy cavalry regiments and, after an unsuccessful attempt, break a square of infantry. The losses of this day, for many inflicted by artillery, amount to 25 killed and 123 injured [ 42 ] .

Back to Spain and years of peace (1810-1811) [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Back in France at the end of 1809, the hunters resumed the following year the path of the Iberian peninsula, where their squadrons served by rotation within the cavalry detachment of the present on site, at the orders of General Lepic [ 43 ] . This has a heavy cavalry regiment (horse-shaped grenadiers and dragons) and a light cavalry regiment (including the hunter squadron and the mamelouks company) which parked in Burgos to ensure the lines of Communication with France [ 44 ] . With 389 men (including 24 officers) in 1810, the contingent deployed in Spain only had 313 men on the date of [ 43 ] .

The hunters on horseback of the imperial guard parading in front of Napoleon and his staff. Engraving by Auguste Boulard son after François Flameng.

During this period, an officer of the regiment in charge of a prisoner escort was injured [ 45 ] ; Historian Robert Burnham reports on four officers injured in antiguric control operations between 1810 and 1812 [ forty six ] . On the same time range, Paul Descaves indicates that hunters are involved in five fights – including that of Elione, the , during which a peloton of hunters under Lieutenant Delor disperses a Spanish column of 400 men and inflicts him around fifty losses – which cost them in total twelve killed or injured [ 47 ] . In addition, part of the Lepic brigade, including 235 guard hunters, is present at the battle of Fuentes de Oñoro in But is not engaged [ 48 ] . In anticipation of an imminent conflict with Russia, Napoleon ends up recalling the units of his guard still in Spain, including hunters, in [ 49 ] . Their effective departure from the peninsula only intervenes only [ 50 ] .

For the bulk of the regiment remained in Paris, the period of peace which succeeds the victorious war against Austria is marked by ceremonies and trips during which the hunters participate in the escort of Napoleon, for example in Holland where 335 Cavaliers du body accompany the visit of the emperor and his wife Marie-Louise. It is also the era of a certain number of changes in the organization with, in particular, the addition of a 5 It is squadron , the arrival of two new colonels-Majors-Haigéranville and Exelmans-to replace the two previous wounded in Wagram and the promotion of Guyot to the rank of division general (the command of the regiment being kept to him) in December following. A state of situation dated 18 of this month indicates a workforce of 1,308 hunters, including 193 absent, sick or prisoners of war, and 116 Mamelouks [ 51 ] .

Russian campaign [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

From February to , the regiment is moving into several columns to the Russian border. He is joined By General Lefebvre-Desnouettes who, escaped from his captivity in England, takes over the direction of the body in place of Guyot. The following month, the Grande Army crosses Niémen, which marks the opening of the Russian campaign. However, as with the other units of the imperial guard, hunters take almost no share in operations during the advance of French troops on Moscow, and much more at the time of retirement which begins in mid-October October [ 52 ] .

However, a serious incident occurs the , in the aftermath of the Battle of Maloyaroslavets: while Napoleon ventured into recognition not far from the village of Gorodnia, he and his entourage were attacked in the early morning by a cloud of Cossacks. The hunter service squadron, under the orders of Kirmann squadron chief, then throws himself into the melee to protect the emperor, but must back up to the intervention of Marshal Bessières and the rest of the cavalry of the Guard who permanently dismiss the danger. The losses of the hunters are nine killed and seven wounded, including Kirmann [ 53 ] . When Napoleon decides, on December 5, to leave the army to return to Paris, a peloton of 30 hunters, selected from the best mounted horsemen of the regiment, ensures its protection during part of the journey [ 54 ] .

Germany campaign of 1813 [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Strongly shaken by the disaster of Russia, the hunters on horseback of the guard were reorganized at the beginning of 1813 by two decrees, one of January 18 relating to the workforce to 2,000 men in eight squadrons, the other of the March 6 fixing the number of squadrons – the mamluks constituting the ten It is – for a total of 2,500 riders. THE first is , 2 It is , 3 It is , 4 It is And 5 It is squadrons, mainly reconstructed with handpicked soldiers among the cavalry regiments of the Spanish army, are considered to be old guard, while the 6 It is , 7 It is , 8 It is And 9 It is are affiliated with the young guard; The men who make up the latter are recruited by conscription or within the riders offered by the departments. The arrival of deposit quotas left in France complete the ranks [ 55 ] .

Thus fleshed out, the hunters do not participate in the first commitments of the Germany campaign in 1813, contenting themselves with ensuring the escort of the emperor. The signing of the Pleiswitz armistice in June increases the regimental workforce thanks to the arrival of several reinforcement detachments [ 56 ] . At the Battle of Dresden, in August, the hunters are once again held in reserve despite the enemy fire which causes sensitive losses [ 57 ] . Faced with the threat constituted to the north by the franc body of General Saxon Johann von Thielmann, rallied to the coalitions, Napoleon orders Lefebvre-Desnouettes, commanding the 2 It is Cavalry Division of the Guard (Polish lancers, hunters and grenadiers on horseback [ note 1 ] ), to put the latter out of harm. The French general then headed between Leipzig and Erfurt with his troop, reinforced for the occasion by two line cavalry brigades. The French seize the from the city of Altenburg, repressing Thielmann on Zwickau, but the latter, joined by the Cossacks of Platov, counterattack on 28; Very quickly, the French cavalry was wrapped and must fall back on Zeitz then Freyburg, not without having suffered sensitive losses [ 60 ] . To the hunters of the guard, the toll is four men out of combat, including two killed [ sixty one ] . Lefebvre-Desnettes underlines in his reports the good conduct of hunters and mamluks who have loaded several times to cover the retreat of their comrades [ 62 ] .

The decisive confrontation between Napoleon and the coalitions in Leipzig, in October, allows the regiment to distinguish itself. On the first day of the battle, on the 16th, one of his squadrons was part of the cavalry column of the Guard gathered by General Letort to support the troops of Marshal Oudinot, confronted with the Austrian forces of Schwarzenberg. Deploying in front of the squares formed by the French infantrymen, the Letort horsemen postpone a charge of the opposing cavalry; The squadron of hunters, jointly with that of the Dragons of the Guard, contributes in particular to the destruction of the Austrian dragons of Latour who abandon 200 prisoners in the hands of the French. Two days later, the whole regiment movement with the rest of the cavalry of the guard to fill the breach created in the French system by defection of several German units. While Russians and Swedes are preparing to exploit this situation, the sudden attack of the 8,000 horsemen of the Imperial Guard sows confusion in their ranks, even if the attackers are, ultimately, forced to fall back under the fire of the ‘Russian artillery. The losses of the hunters during this day are 14 killed, not to mention the wounded [ 63 ] .

Napoleon’s defeat on 19 forces his army to fall back to France. During retirement, Lefebvre-Desnettes was worn with 5,000 riders in Weimar, which he first occupies before being driven out by the Austro-Russians; The case costs hunters the vanot squadron chief, killed, as well as several officers and men [ sixty four ] . The campaign ends with a last confrontation in Hanau, the , against the Forces of General Bavarian Carl Philipp von Wrede, determined to block the road to the remains of the Great Army. In his history of horse -shaped hunters, Paul Descaves writes that Lefebvre riders are deployed on the French right wing, where they hold the Russian squadrons of Kaizarov squadrons [ sixty four ] ; Ronald Pawly said for his part that hunters, as well as the rest of the cavalry of the guard, give off the artillery of General Drouot, attacked by the Bavarian cavalry, and mismanage the opposing infantry caught. Captain Schmidt’s squadron thus captures two Bavarian battalions while Captain Oudinot and his men regain possession of six cannons fallen into the hands of the enemy. The regiment counts four killed and a dozen injured [ 65 ] . On the evening of the battle, a peloton of 25 hunters sent in recognition split a bavarian infantry square which loses 60 men against fifteen among the French [ sixty four ] .

While the squadrons of old guard and young guard fight together for the duration of the 1813 campaign, a separation comes at the time of decline to France: the hunters and mamluks of old guard as well as a company of young guard, Under Major Lion, stay with the Emperor, while the rest of the young guard hunters and the “Mamelouks second”, commanded by Major Meuziau, are sent to Belgium to participate in the defense of Antwerp [ 66 ] .

French campaign [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

At the beginning of 1814, the armies of the coalition swelled in mass on French territory, which Napoleon was forced to defend with very reduced forces and, with the exception of the imperial guard, less experienced. In this context, the role of the cavalry of the guard is crucial to supplementing his counterpart [ sixty seven ] . At first is January, the squadrons of old guard of the regiment align 40 officers and 638 horsemen, not included those who have remained in the Paris, Stenay and Saint-Mihiel deposits [ 68 ] . A state of situation of gives 585 hunters to the cavalry division of the guard of General Levesque de Laferrière and 511 others at the Reserve of the Guard under the orders of Marshal Ney [ 69 ] .

“The last cartridge”: Fusililier-Grenadier and hunter on horseback from La Garde (by Horace Vernet).

A few days later, the Battle of Brienne took place which forced the Prusso-Russian troops of Blücher to evacuate this city after a vigorous resistance; A detachment of around 300 hunters takes part in the fighting by removing the village of Perthes with the cavalry of Lefebvre-Desnettes [ 70 ] . The , In Vauchamps, General Lion rushes into the scrum at the head of the service squadrons of the horsehand, including that of the hunters commanded by the Labiffe squadron chief, and represses the united soldiers struggling with the French infantrymen of the French infantrymen Ricard. On the right, the rest of the regiment led by Lefebvre-Desnouettes repels the assaults of the Prussian cavalry [ 71 ] . The month of February is also marked by a feat accomplished on 28 at La Ferté-Gaucher by a troop of 17 hunters led by Lieutenant Allimant, who seizes a bridge crew after having dispersed the escort squadron and Made 64 prisoners [ sixty seven ] . The , while the French army crosses the Marne in pursuit of Blücher’s body, a squadron of the Guard hunters still wins a hundred prisoners in Oulchy-le-Château [ 72 ] .

During the Battle of Craonne, the , the regiment participates in the attacks and leaves a dozen men on the ground, including three officers [ seventy three ] . Captain Achyntre is among the killed [ 74 ] . While Blücher, pressed by Napoleon, abandoned his crane position to fall back to the northwest, a flank maneuver operated by Colonel Gourgaud, an officer of the emperor, at the head of two squadrons of hunters of hunters The old guard obliges the Russian troops to evacuate the village of Survélles, in front of Laon [ seventy three ] . French attacks against this last city are however postponed in the following days, which forces Napoleon to retreat to the south. Despite a series of subsequent clashes, the Allied armies continue to advance in Paris whose they seize the [ seventy three ] . A detachment of approximately 300 cavaliers de la Garde, mixing grenadiers on horseback, hunters, dragons and Mamelouks, takes part in the vain defense of the capital by charging several times in the clignancourt, Saint-Ouen and Clichy sectors [ 75 ] .

Belgium campaign of 1815 [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

In , Napoleon, back from the island of Elba, arrives in France at the head of a small army with which he intends to win back his throne. As soon as informed of the news, Lefebvre-Desnettes strives to rally the body of hunters and other units to the cause of the emperor but, confronted with the refusal of part of his officers including General Lion, he did not join Napoleon the that with a handful of men [ 19 ] . The ex-regiment of the hunters on horseback of the guard is nonetheless reconstructed and participates the At the May field ceremony, where he precedes with red lancers the imperial carriage during his journey to the military school [ 76 ] .

  • : 1 company.
  • : 1 hunter squadron, 2 companies.
  • : 2 squadrons, 4 companies.
  • : 4 squadrons, 8 companies.
  • : 4 squadrons (8 companies) plus the Mamelouks squadron.
  • In 1804, the regiment consisted:
    • Of 1 colonel, et 1 major.
    • Of 1 staff consisting of 1 squadron chief, 1 adjutant-major, 4 standard bearers, 1 trumpet-major, 1 timpanier, 1 trumpet brigadier and 4 master workers, or 13 men.
    • Of 8 companies (in 4 squadrons), composed of: 1 captain, 1 lieutenant first, 1 lieutenant in second, 1 second lieutenant, 1 marshal-des logis-chef, 4 marshals of the house, 8 brigadiers, 1 marshal-ferrant , 2 trumpets and 96 hunters, or 116 men per company, for a total of 928.

Or a theoretical workforce of 943 men.

  • : 4 squadrons (8 companies), 1 squadron of Mamelouks and 1 squadron of 4 companies.
  • : 4 squadrons (8 companies), 1 squadron of Mamelouks and 2 squadrons of velites (8 companies).
  • : 4 squadrons (8 companies), 1 squadron of Mamelouks and 1 squadron of velites (2 companies).
  • 1812: 5 squadrons (10 companies), 1 squadron of Mamluks.
  • 1813: 9 squadrons (16 companies), 5 of old guard and 4 of young guard, 1 squadron of Mamluks.
  • 1814 (first restoration): 4 squadrons (8 companies).
  • 1815 (one hundred days): 4 squadrons (8 companies), 1 squadron of Mamluks.

Eugène de Beauharnais, colonel of hunters on horseback of the imperial guard

The rank of “Colonel-General” of the regiment is above all honorary and the reality of command in the countryside returns to colonel second ( « colonel-major » ). Guard soldiers have a higher rank than that of the line, which is why this function is often fulfilled by a general officer.

(*) Officer who later became a brigade general.
(**) Officer who later became a general division.

Between 1804 and 1815, two colonels perished at the head of the regiment: François-Louis de Morland, killed the in Austerlitz, and Nicolas Dahlmann, mortally injured the in Eylau. During the same period, 70 hunter officers were killed in combat, 8 succumb to their injuries and 130 were injured.

The standard of the 1804 model was not square as usual, but, as for the hunters on horseback of the line, consisted of a handlebar ending in two points from half the length. The white central diamond carried in gold letters the inscription: “The emperor of the French in the regiment of hunters on horseback of the imperial guard” at the obverse, and on the “value” and “discipline” reverse framing imperial weapons , and below “(number) squadron”. The angles were decorated with hunting horns surrounded by laurel wreaths.

The standard of model 1812, received in 1813, was square and tricolor with the “imperial guard, the emperor Napoleon in the regiment of hunters”, and on the back the names of battles where the regiment had distinguished itself and the capitals taken. The edge of the flag was decorated with figures, hunting horns surrounded by bay wreath and mixed oak, eagles, bees …

On the return from the 1807 campaign, hunters on horseback of the Imperial Guard are part of the regiments whose eagle is decorated with a golden laurel wreath offered by the city of Paris and handed over by the prefect of the Seine. The crown has passed around the neck of the eagle.

The regiment standards were destroyed in September 1815 during the second restoration.

  • Guidon modèle 1804 avers

    Model handlebar 1804 avers

  • Guidon modèle 1804 revers

    Model handlebar 1804 reverse

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    Model model 1812 avers

Captain of the Imperial Guard hunters, by Georges Scott.

Napoleon in Colonel Harden Hunter Hunters of La Garde, in Wagram.

The uniform of horse -shaped hunters is one of the most famous in the great army, with that of grenadiers on foot from the guard, hussars, red lancers …
The big outfit did not hold hunters on horseback of the line but hussars. It was therefore a “Hungarian” uniform:

  • Black Colback in bear skin, with a green plume at the red top and a scarlet flame. White Collar with Blue Plumet at the red top for trumpets.
  • Dolman Green. Blue for trumpets.
  • Scarlet pelisse bordered by black sheep (red lining for non-commissioned officers and white for officers)
  • Wool scarf belt
  • Suede
  • “Souvarov” boots

Armament is made up:

  • A light cavalry saber
  • A cavalry cavalry
  • Bayonet
  • Pistol

Like the hussars, they wear a saretache, green bordered with gold and decorated with imperial weapons.
For the horse’s equipment, the schabraque is green for soldiers and non-commissioned officers, and in panther skin for officers.

Emblematic of the iconography of the regiment and sometimes brought to battle, the great outfit left room in the countryside at the campaign holding, quite variable depending on the time and the season: pelisse removed or not, Dolman can be replaced by a clothes ” To the hunter “, Colback without plume or flame, green horse pants in place of the suede panties, saretache cover …

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Notes [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

  1. ↑ An uncertainty remains as to the composition of this division: Paul Descaves writes that “A squadron of old guard hunters and the first re Mamelucks Company [ sic ] stay with the emperor for the escort service; other squadrons and 2 It is Mamelucks Company are with General Lefebvre-Desnoëttes ” [ 58 ] . However, in his state of situation of the cavalry of the guard at the beginning of the month of , Charles Thoumas indicates that the squadrons of young guard of the regiment are present at the 2 It is Division of Lefebvre-Desnettes while those of Old Guard are part of the 3 It is Division of General Walther [ 59 ] .

References [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

  1. ↑ A. Jouineau, Jean-Marie Mongin: “It is for all these reasons, […], that Napoleon loves them, Choie and the prefers to all the others”
  2. ↑ Napoleon’s beloved unit, it generally ensures its safety and saves it several times. This and the decisive charges provided for several battles make that they are often represented on the illustrations and paintings of that time.
  3. ↑ Albert Benhamou Napoleon’s habit in Sainte-Hélène
  4. ↑ Pawly 2008, p. 3.
  5. ↑ Pawly 2008, p. 3-4.
  6. ↑ Pawly 2008, p. 6-7.
  7. ↑ Sokolov 2003, p. 427.
  8. ↑ Pawly 2008, p. 7-9.
  9. ↑ Pawly 2008, p. 9.
  10. ↑ Sokolov 2003, p. 435.
  11. ↑ Bucquoy 1977, p. 15.
  12. ↑ Bucquoy 1977, p. 16.
  13. ↑ Pawly 2008, p. 38.
  14. ↑ Bucquoy 1977, p. 20.
  15. ↑ Juhel 2009, p. 103.
  16. ↑ Descave 1891, p. 283.
  17. ↑ Descave 1891, p. 289.
  18. ↑ Lachouque 1956, p. 751-755.
  19. ↑ a et b Pawly 2008, p. 43.
  20. ↑ Bucquoy 1977, p. 22.
  21. ↑ a et b Pawly 2008, p. 44.
  22. ↑ a et b Bucquoy 1977, p. 23.
  23. ↑ Prache 1983, p. 19
  24. ↑ Prache 1983, p. 15
  25. ↑ Philip Haythornthwaite ( ill.  Richard Hook), The Imperial Guard , DelPrado & Osprey Publishing, coll. “Osprey / armies and battles” ( n O first), , 63 p. (ISBN  2-84349-178-9 ) , p. 5 .
  26. ↑ (in) John R. Elting, Swords Around A Throne: Napoleon’s Great Army , Phoenix Giant, ( first re ed. 1989), 769 p. (ISBN  0-7538-0219-8 ) , p. 186 .
  27. ↑ Lachouque 1956, p. 49-50.
  28. ↑ Vassiliev 2009, p. 20 and 22.
  29. ↑ Vassiliev 2009, p. 23-26.
  30. ↑ Oleg Sokolov ( trad. Russian, pref. General Robert Bresse), Austerlitz: Napoleon, Europe and Russia , Saint-Germain-en-Laye, ComMios, , 541 p. (ISBN  2-9518364-3-0 ) , p. 397 .
  31. ↑ Vassiliev 2009, p. 26.
  32. ↑ Vassiliev 2009b, p. 19-21.
  33. ↑ Vassiliev 2009b, p. 21-24.
  34. ↑ Vassiliev 2009b, p. 26.
  35. ↑ Pawly 2008, p. 16.
  36. ↑ Descave 1891, p. 312.
  37. ↑ Pawly 2008, p. 18.
  38. ↑ Pawly 2008, p. 19-20.
  39. ↑ Pawly 2008, p. 20-21.
  40. ↑ Pawly 2008, p. 22.
  41. ↑ Pawly 2008, p. 23-24.
  42. ↑ Pawly 2008, p. 33-34.
  43. ↑ a et b Pawly 2008, p. 34.
  44. ↑ Burnham 2011, p. 315.
  45. ↑ Young 1971, p. 8.
  46. ↑ Burnham 2011, p. 317.
  47. ↑ Descave 1891, p. 322.
  48. ↑ Burnham 2011, p. 52.
  49. ↑ Pawly 2008, p. 35.
  50. ↑ Burnham 2011, p. 316.
  51. ↑ Pawly 2008, p. 34-35.
  52. ↑ Pawly 2008, p. 35-36.
  53. ↑ Pawly 2008, p. 36.
  54. ↑ Lachouque 1956, p. 430-432.
  55. ↑ Pawly 2008, p. 37-39.
  56. ↑ Descave 1891, p. 326.
  57. ↑ Pawly 2008, p. 39.
  58. ↑ Descave 1891, p. 326-327.
  59. ↑ Thoumas 2004, p. 193.
  60. ↑ Thoumas 2004, p. 180-185.
  61. ↑ Descave 1891, p. 327.
  62. ↑ Thoumas 2004, p. 187-188.
  63. ↑ Pawly 2008, p. 39-40.
  64. ↑ A B and C Descave 1891, p. 328.
  65. ↑ Pawly 2008, p. 40-41.
  66. ↑ Bucquoy 1977, p. 19-20.
  67. ↑ a et b Pawly 2008, p. 42.
  68. ↑ Descave 1891, p. 329-330.
  69. ↑ Tranié and Carmigniani 1989; p. 291-292.
  70. ↑ Descave 1891, p. 330.
  71. ↑ Descave 1891, p. 331.
  72. ↑ Tranié and Carmigniani 1989; p. 158-159.
  73. ↑ A B and C Descave 1891, p. 333.
  74. ↑ Lachouque 1956, p. 619.
  75. ↑ Lachouque 1956, p. 661; 664-665.
  76. ↑ Lachouque 1956, p. 815.

Document utilisé pour la rédaction de l’article: document used as a source for writing this article.

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