The Uniforms of the French Army under Napoleon I. (1800 - 1815) - The Guard of Paris

Paris had its own military unit since the year 1750, known as the Guard of Paris.

In the course of the French Revolution this guard was dissolved; initially police units (Gendarmerie) took over this function.

During the Consulate the Guard of Paris was reestablished (04.10.1802).

It was filled with former military personnel; there were certain requirements regarding age (30 – 40 years) and height (at least 1.65 m). In addition, they had to have taken part in a certain number of campaigns and be able to read and write.

The unit's tasks were the typical duties of the police (guarding the gates and various sites, supervising larger events, etc.), but honor guards were also part of their daily service.

The mounted detachment (dragoons) acted as an honor guard.

The unit's strength comprised 2,154 men on foot and 180 riders.

The regiments followed the typical organization and included grenadiers, fusiliers and voltigeurs.

However, it was subordinated to the civil administration.

The Guard of Paris was also deployed in various campaigns, e.g. as an occupation force in the Netherlands from 1805, from 1806 as the garrison of Hamburg, took part in the siege of Danzig in 1807 (surrender: 24.05.1807) and fought in the Battle of Friedland (14.06.1807) and in the engagement at Postehnen (against the Russians). From 1808 parts of the Guard of Paris fought in Spain, where some of them fell into captivity.

In 1812 the Guard of Paris was involved in a coup d'état initiated by Général Claude François de Malet during Napoleon's absence. He claimed Napoleon's death and attempted to seize control of Paris.

The mounted detachment, however, was not involved in the coup.

The coup attempt failed. As a result, the foot troops of the Guard of Paris were disbanded and used for the reformation of the 134th Infantry Regiment.

The dragoons were assigned to the regiment of Red Lancers of the Imperial Guard.

The commanding officers - Colonel Soulier and some of his staff officers - were shot on 29.10.1812. The principal conspirators Malet, Rateau and Boutreux suffered the same fate.

The 134th Infantry Regiment fought in 1813 and had to be disbanded due to heavy losses.

The 1st Regiment initially wore a long-tailed green coat, whose collar, lapels and cuff facings were red.

The collar was green and the lapels and cuff facings were edged in white. The cuff facings had green - red-edged - flaps with three buttons.

The grenadiers of the 1st Regiment had red epaulettes; the "crescent" was red.

The 2nd Regiment initially wore a long-tailed red coat, whose collar, lapels and cuff facings were green.

The collar, lapels and cuff facings were edged in red. The cuff facings had red - green-edged - flaps with three buttons.

The grenadiers of the 2nd Regiment also had red epaulettes; the "crescent" was green.

The chasseurs of the 2nd Regiment are shown with green epaulettes (with a red crescent).

Undergarments (waistcoat and trousers) were white, and black gaiters were worn with them.

The bicorne was worn.

Since 1806/1807 the foot guards wore a white coat.

The two regiments were distinguished by the color of the collar, the lapels and the cuff facings.

Their color was green for the first regiment and red for the second regiment.

The collar of the voltigeurs (of the 2nd regiment) is shown as yellow.

The grenadiers were distinguished by the bearskin cap. These had a white bag and a plume stub on the left.

In some depictions the grenadier cap is shown with a brass front plate. This displayed a flaming grenade.

The epaulettes were red.

Otherwise shakos were worn.

The dragoons wore light-blue coatees with red collars (edged in blue), lapels (edged in blue) and cuff facings (with blue, red-edged flaps).

The waistcoat and trousers were white, but are also shown as beige.

The headgear resembled that of the line dragoons; it was a brass-trimmed helmet with a black horsetail. The plume stub on the left was red.

The trumpeters wore a coat in reversed colors.

Cavalry boots served as footwear.