The Uniforms of the French Army under Napoleon I (1800 - 1815) - The Cavalry - Cuirassiers I

Strangely, before 1802 there was only one cuirassier regiment in the French army, namely the 8th Cavalry Regiment.

In 1802 the regiments No. 2 to 7 were first equipped, and in 1803 the remaining heavy cavalry regiments (No. 8 - 12) were fitted with helmets and cuirasses.

In 1809 regiments No. 13 and 14 were added.

The 14th Cuirassier Regiment was the former 2nd Dutch Cuirassiers.

On expanding the cuirassier arm, Napoleon said in exile to Gourgaud on 25.08.1817: "The cuirassiers and the lancer riders were created by me; now all the great powers have these branches. People did not want to wear cuirasses - I demanded it, and they wore them. A head of state only has to will it!" (quoted in: Napoleon's Thoughts and Memories. St. Helena 1815 - 18. By General G. de Gourgaud, Stuttgart 1901, p. 270).

The French cavalry was organized into divisions of 2 or 3 regiments each. The cuirassiers and the carabiniers belonged to the heavy cavalry. The heavy cavalry was grouped into larger formations in battle and held in reserve. At the appropriate moment it was then tasked with massive and compact charges during battle (Montgomery, Military History, p. 348).

They constituted a kind of assault troop. In this role the heavy cavalry could also be supported by the dragoons, who could also fight on foot.

The light cavalry (chasseurs on horseback, chevau-légers and hussars) were used for a variety of tasks, e.g. reconnaissance or to conceal troop movements.

The French cuirassiers are regularly described as the best heavy cavalry in contemporary Europe.

They were essentially heavy men on heavy horses. The horses of the heavy cavalry came from Normandy and Flanders. Some were reportedly even equipped like true draught horses.

In the Russian campaign (1812) their losses were enormous. Thus, according to Haythornthwaite, by early November the four cuirassier divisions could only muster two regiments.

The brave but costly and ultimately futile charges of the French cavalry in general and the cuirassiers in particular at the Battle of Waterloo on 18.06.1815 are among the high points of this decisive battle and are legendary.

On the effect of massive infantry fire on charging cavalry or cuirassiers, the English soldier Rees Howell Gronow reports from the Battle of Waterloo:

"The attack of the French cavalry was gallantly executed; but our well-directed fire brought men and horses to the ground, and soon the greatest confusion ensued in their ranks. The officers were exceedingly brave; by their gestures and fearless behaviour they did everything in their power to encourage their men to reform and renew the attack. The Duke sat motionless on his favourite horse. I remember his asking Colonel Stanhope what o'clock it was, upon which Stanhope drew his watch and said it was twenty minutes past four. The Duke answered: 'The battle is mine; and if the Prussians appear soon, the war is over....

Again and again various cavalry regiments endeavoured — heavy dragoons, lancers, hussars, carabiniers of the Guard (not belonging to the Guard) — to break our steel walls. The enemy's cavalry had to advance over ground so heavy that they could only reach us at a trot; thus they came upon us in a far denser mass than they probably would have if the ground had been better. When they were ten or fifteen yards from us they fired their carbines with the cry 'Vive l`Empereur', yet their fire had little effect, as is generally the case with cavalry fire. Our men were ordered to fire only at a close-packed mass, to save ammunition and not waste it on individuals. The result: if the cavalry had fired their carbines and were still too far off, we sometimes stood face to face, impotent, and knew not what the next movement would bring....

When the cavalry attacked us, the order was to fire low, so that after the first volley the ground was covered with fallen horses and riders, hindering the advance of the next line and breaking the momentum of the assault. The sight of the poor dying horses was pitiable; they seemed actually conscious of the danger about them: often we saw a poor wounded horse raise its head, as if looking round to its rider for help....

During the battle our squares presented a dreadful appearance. We almost choked with the smoke and smell of spent cartridges. It was impossible to move a yard without stepping on a wounded comrade or on the dead, and the loud groans of the wounded and dying were heartrending.

By four o'clock our square was a single hospital, full of dead, dying and maimed soldiers. The cavalry attacks were a dreadful sight, but in reality they were a great relief, for the artillery could no longer fire upon us; the ground seemed to tremble beneath the enormous masses of men and horses. I shall never forget the strange sound of our bullets striking the breastplates of Kellermann's and Milhaud's cuirassiers; six or seven thousand attacked us with great fury. I can only compare that sound to that of a heavy hailstorm beating against windowpanes....." (Quoted in: Eckart Kleßmann, The Wars of Liberation in Eyewitness Accounts, pp. 309 ff.).

The cuirassiers wore a single-breasted blue coat with 9 (white) buttons.

Collar, sleeve cuffs and their flaps, the piping of the sleeve flaps and the skirt facings showed the respective regimental colour.

Red epaulettes were worn with this.

The skirt facings were decorated with blue grenades.

The 14th Cuirassier Regiment had white coats with blue facings, etc.

From 1812 the coat with long skirt facings was replaced by the blue waistcoat coat.

The regimental badges of the 14 cuirassier regiments were — according to Knötel — as follows:

The cuirassiers wore an iron helmet that resembled the dragoon helmet. The yellow-metal crest was adorned with a black horsehair tail. In the field this was sometimes plaited into a braid.

The helmet bowl had a trimming of black fur or pelt.

On the left a red plume decorated the helmet, usually not in the field.

There were deviations in plume colours; for example the 8th and the 10th Cuirassier Regiments wore those in black with yellow tips.

Senior officers wore white plumes. So did the trumpeters.

The helmet could also be worn with a protective cover.

Hats were also worn, e.g. with the walking-out dress, and of course the camp cap, even by officers.

The cuirass gave the cuirassiers their name. It consisted of two parts, namely a breastplate and a backplate.

The lining with ruff protected the coat under the cuirass from wear.

The helmets and cuirasses varied, i.e., they differed in details from regiment to regiment (Kannik, Uniforms in Colours, No. 199).

Officers had ornate cuirasses.

According to Haythornthwaite (The Uniforms of the Battle of Waterloo, 1976) it is probable that no cuirass was worn at the Battle of Waterloo.

The armament of the cuirassiers consisted on the one hand of the heavy broadsword (pallasch) and on the other — from 1812 — a carbine and pistols.

Wagner describes such a pallasch as follows: "Pallasch of the French cuirassiers. M. AN IX from the year 1813. The blade is straight, single-edged, 95.5 cm and 3.5 cm wide. On the spine it bears the designation 'M^fture Imp^le du Klingethal Octobre 1813'. The massive guard is made of brass, it has a broad ricasso and three subsidiary bars on the outside. Total length 111 cm. Weight 1.44 kg. The scabbard is made of iron" (Eduard Wagner, Cutting and Thrusting Weapons, 1975, p. 122).

The carbine was carried in a holster on the saddle or on the shoulder baldric.

Later (after 1812) a musket with a longer barrel was introduced, but in the last campaigns it was taken away from the regiments again and given to the infantry. The cuirassiers received a second pistol in return (Rogers, Napoleon's Army, 1976, p. 73).

The leather equipment was white.

Before 1812 trumpeters often wore coats in reversed colours (also with lace trim), afterwards the cuirassiers also adopted the imperial livery generally introduced in the French army.

The musicians, however, did not wear cuirasses or cartridge pouches.

Trumpeters had red or white plumes on the helmet and white horsehair tails. For the 7th Cuirassier Regiment there is also a depiction of a trumpeter in a yellow coat with lace trim and a yellow plume.

There were also variations in headgear itself; for example the musicians of the 9th Cuirassier Regiment wore black fur caps and those of the 12th Cuirassier Regiment wore white fur caps (see above).

For legwear white trousers were worn, tucked into high boots.

The trousers were made of sheepskin or deerskin.

In the field grey or (yellow-)brown overtrousers with button flaps were worn. These then had leather inserts.

The gaiter boots were black.

The large greatcoat was grey in colour.

Officers are also depicted with a blue double-breasted coat (worn with the camp cap).

The horse's equipment consisted of a rectangular dark blue saddlecloth, pistol holster and cloak roll.

The aforementioned pieces of equipment had white edging.

Furthermore the saddlecloth was covered by a sheepskin. For trumpeters these were black.

The cloak roll displayed the respective regimental number, previously a bursting white grenade. This was located in the corner of the saddlecloth.