The Uniforms of the French Army under Napoleon I (1800 - 1815) - (Old and Young) Imperial Guard - Chasseurs à Cheval

From the Guides of General Bonaparte (Guides du Général Bonaparte) in the Italian campaign (1796/97) came the Guides in the Egyptian campaign (1798).

This personal bodyguard of Bonaparte was later incorporated into the Consular Guard as Chasseurs à Cheval.

The Guard of the Consul was established on 28 November 1799 and was to serve for the protection of the Consulate and subsequently for the protection of the 1st Consul Napoléon Bonaparte.

By decree of 3 January 1800 the personnel strength of the Consular Guard was fixed at 2,089 men. Of these, 585 belonged to the cavalry; furthermore there were 1,188 grenadiers, 99 chasseurs on foot and 110 artillerymen. In addition there was a staff (88 men for the infantry and 19 men for the cavalry).

By the decree of 8 September 1800 the force was increased to 3,650 men. The Consular Guard now included 1,632 grenadiers, 816 chasseurs on foot, 234 chasseurs à cheval, 702 mounted grenadiers and 100 artillerymen. The various staffs included 162 officers.

Further reorganizations and increases followed. In 1804 the cavalry numbered a total of 2,450 men.

On 18 May 1804 the Senate entrusted Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, with the government; on 2 December 1804 his consecration took place at Notre-Dame.

Subsequently the "Garde des Consuls" became the Imperial Guard (renamed on 28 April 1804).

From the Guides (1 squadron) a regiment of Chasseurs à Cheval had already been formed. It now consisted of 4 squadrons, each comprising 2 companies. The unit was now called: Chasseur à cheval de la Garde Impériale.

From 10 January 1813 the regiment of Chasseurs à Cheval comprised 8 squadrons, each 250 men strong. On 6 March 1813 a 9th squadron was created. Squadrons 5 - 9 were then counted as the second regiment of Chasseurs à Cheval of the Young Guard. They were uniformly entirely different from the older squadrons of the unit.

The Chasseurs à Cheval belonged to the light cavalry of the Imperial Guard and also took part in combat operations. At the same time they also formed the personal bodyguard for the French emperor (see service below).

They also fought in the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815). According to Philip Haythornthwaite (The Uniforms of the Battle of Waterloo, p. 146) they numbered 1,267 men of all ranks in May 1815. Their commander was Divisional General Baron François A. Lallemand.

In this final Napoleonic battle they fought together with the Guard Uhlans in the Light Guard Cavalry Division under the command of Divisional General Comte Lefebvre-Desnouettes.

According to Detlef Wenzlik (Waterloo II, p. 182) the Chasseurs à Cheval on 12 June 1815 numbered together 59 officers and 1,138 enlisted ranks. On 25 June 1815 there were only 26 officers and 618 enlisted ranks.

In November 1815 the formation was disbanded.

In the memoirs of Major Parquin (Under Napoleon's Banners, Berlin 1910, p. 273 ff.) the following is recorded about service in this elite unit:

"From 20 - 30 May I belonged with my troop to the squadron on duty of the Chasseurs à Cheval, better known in the field under the designation of the Guides. We were on duty with the Emperor, who in wartime constantly had four squadrons of the various arms of the cavalry of the Old Guard with him, to use them against the enemy as required. On one such occasion the brave General Letort attacked at Gilles on the evening before the Battle of Quatrebras with the four squadrons from the Dine, threw two squares over, routed these two Prussian battalions, made them prisoners and captured 5 guns. Unfortunately General Letort was killed in this engagement, and the army lost one of its bravest officers."

The squadron of Chasseurs à Cheval also had a special service with the Emperor. A lieutenant, a sergeant, two non-commissioned officers, 22 chasseurs and a trumpeter marched before and behind him. One NCO and four chasseurs galloped ahead of the Emperor and made way for him. One of them carried the wallet, the other His Majesty's field glass. If he halted to dismount, they did the same, planted the bayonets on the carbines and formed a square with the Emperor in the middle. The officer commanding the escort constantly followed His Majesty. Only King Murat and the Prince of Neuchâtel could dispute his precedence.

If the Emperor lodged in a house, this officer was always beside the Emperor's room. The chasseurs of his troop dismounted and stood in front of the door of the house occupied by the Emperor, holding the horses by the reins. A horse from the stud was there, saddled and bridled, together with two grooms at the Emperor's disposal. The troop on duty was relieved every two hours so that a cavalry detachment was ready day and night. The first person to appear to the Emperor when he left his room was thus the officer of the escort. It was a post of honor and trust. This troop showed the greatest devotion to their Emperor. They were, moreover, handsomely rewarded for it. In each company's complement of every regiment of the Old Guard there were four chasseurs who, in addition to the Cross of the Legion of Honour, frequently also the Iron Crown, received besides an honorary pay of 250 francs, pensions from the revenues of the commissariat administration or from the Napoleon pawnshop in Milan, which brought them 500–600 francs ...".

The uniform of the Chasseurs à Cheval was hussar-like and consisted of a green dolman and a scarlet pelisse.

The green dolman had yellow or orange braiding, as did the pelisse; the latter also had a black edging.

The latter is sometimes depicted as white, e.g. for the standard-bearer.

A green-red braided sash was worn with it.

In the field, according to Jack Cassin-Scott (Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars, p. 138), green or gray overtrousers were worn rather than the otherwise usual buckskin breeches.

The overtrousers had orange or red piping and were laced at the front.

For footwear they wore Hungarian boots decorated at the top edge with lace and tassel.

In service or as an interim uniform a (green) surtout with a scarlet collar and corresponding pointed sleeve cuffs was regularly worn.

The surtout had pointed lapels. The lapels had red and the sleeve cuffs yellow facings.

Underneath was worn a scarlet waistcoat with yellow or orange lace or braiding.

The Emperor himself is often depicted in this green surtout of the Chasseurs à Cheval.

The riding cloak was green.

The headdress was the black fur cap called a kolpack. On its left side it displayed the French cockade with a small imperial eagle, above it the green-red plume. The cap bag (pouch) was red with yellow or orange facings and a tassel. A yellow hanging fringe was worn with it. The chin straps were yellow (brass).

In the field the fur cap was worn without the hanging fringe etc. and with a (black) oilcloth cover.

For parade a lavishly decorated green sabretache was carried, but in the field a simpler variant (black with yellow crowned imperial eagle) was used.

The baldric for the carbine ran from left to right and was white.

The green saddlecloth was decorated in yellow or orange. Beside the lace trim, at the rear pointed corner of the saddlecloth, was the crowned imperial eagle.

The cloak pouch was also green with red or orange trimming.

The officers' uniforms corresponded in style and basic colours to those of the rank and file, but were lavishly decorated with gold braid.

The pelisse trim is frequently depicted as white for officers.

There was also a green cartridge-baldric trimmed with gold braid, as well as a green-and-gold braided sash.

The bridlework was red with gold trimming.

The saddlecloths were made of leopard skin and had a gold-red overlaid braid trim and a green scalloped edge. The latter is sometimes shown as red-orange.

The officers' uniforms of the Chasseurs à Cheval were extremely expensive. Major Parquin (Under Napoleon's Banners, Berlin 1910, p. 271) reports on this:

"The next day I received 3,000 francs from the regimental quartermaster as outfitting money on entering the Guard. This sum was intended as assistance for the officer for his clothing and equipment in this troop, whose uniform was very costly."

The distinctive feature of the uniform of the second regiment of Chasseurs à Cheval was primarily the headdress.

It was a red cylindrical shako, adorned only at the front centre with a cockade.

A (yellow) pompon was attached at the front centre.

Furthermore it had green-yellow (cord) trimming at the upper and lower rims.

Red-braided waistcoats and red trousers with yellow lacing and green or yellow side piping were also worn.

The dolman and pelisse corresponded to the models of the 1st regiment of Chasseurs à Cheval.

Trumpeters are depicted in a sky-blue dolman and a sky-blue (or red) pelisse with black edging.

The trumpeters of the Chasseurs à Cheval wore the white kolpack; in part they are also shown with a tall white fur cap.

The surtout was sky-blue with (wine-)red facings (collar, lapels, sleeve cuffs).

They otherwise wore a sky-blue dolman with yellow braid trim; the pelisse was red with black fur edging.

Cdt. Bucquoy, Les Uniformes du Premier Empire, L'Infanterie, Paris 1979 ff..

Fallou, L., La Garde Impériale (1804-1815), Paris 1901 (reprint Krefeld 1975).

Liliane and Fred Funcken, Historical Uniforms. Napoleonic Era, Vol. 2, Munich 1978.

Philip Haythornthwaite / Michael Chappell, Uniforms of the Napoleonic Russian Campaign, Munich 1977.

Philip Haythornthwaite, The Uniforms of the Battle of Waterloo, Munich 1976.

LA VIEILLE GARDE IMPÉRIALE. Illustrations by JOB.

Knötel / Sieg, Handbook of Uniform Studies, Hamburg 1937.

Paul Martin, The French Army 1789 - 1807, Stuttgart.

Rogers, H. C. B., Napoleon's Army, Stuttgart 1976.

Lucien Rousselot, Napoleon's Army 1800 - 1815, Berlin 2010.