The Uniforms of the French Army under Napoleon I (1800 - 1815) - The Imperial Guard - The Empress's Dragoons
The Empress's Dragoons of the Imperial Guard were created by an imperial decree of 15.04.1806.
They belonged to the heavy cavalry of Napoleon's Imperial Guard.
The unit recruited from detachments of the line dragoon regiments.
Replacements had to be at least 1.73 m tall.
The unit consisted of 6 squadrons and initially numbered a total of 880 men.
After heavy losses in the Russian campaign the regiment was rebuilt in 1813 and finally numbered 91 officers and 1,537 troopers.
Because the Empress took patronage of this unit, it soon became simply known as the Empress's Dragoons.
The first commander of the Imperial Guard dragoons was Colonel Jean-Thomas Arrighi de Casanova.
Another well-known commander of the Empress's Dragoons was Philippe-Antoine Auguste d’Ornano, Comte de l'Empire (17.01.1784 in Ajaccio; † 13.10.1863 in Vincennes).
He distinguished himself, among other actions, at the Battle of Borodino (07.09.1812). He was severely wounded during the rearguard action at Krasnoe.
In the battles of Ligny and Waterloo (18.06.1815) he was unable to command the regiment discussed here.
General d’Ornano had previously been wounded in a duel and was therefore unfit for service.
At Waterloo the Guard dragoons were combined with the mounted grenadiers under the command of the Count de Guyot and numbered 13 squadrons, i.e. 1,519 men (Haythonthwaite, The Uniforms of the Battle of Waterloo, p. 144).
The uniform was generally modeled on the long-tailed coat of the mounted grenadiers, with whom they also formed a brigade.
However, the base color was — as was customary for dragoons — green.
The collar was green, but the lapels were red. They displayed a gold grenade.
The sleeve cuffs were red and had a white scalloped flap with three buttons.
The epaulettes were yellow or gold, as were the buttons on the uniform.
On the right was worn a (yellow-red) shoulder sash. The undergarments (waistcoat) and trousers were white. Overtrousers were worn in the field.
A distinctive feature of their uniform was the decorative helmet with a brass bowl. The helmet bowl was encircled by an imitation leopard skin.
The magnificent helmet had scale chains and a red plume was worn on the left. The front tip of the comb was adorned with a black tassel. The horsehair tail was black.
Sappers wore the bearskin cap with yellow-red hanging.
For the town dress (Tenue de ville) a bicorne was worn.
Additionally the camp cap was worn, which had a red trim and displayed a flaming grenade at the front.
The officers' helmet was more ornate and was adorned with a real leopard skin.
For footwear they wore black boots.
The cloak was white with red ribbon trim (three on each side).
The armament consisted of a heavy sabre, a rifle (fusil de Dragons modèle 1777 modifié an IX) with bayonet and two pistols (modèle an IX ou an XIII).
The edged weapon corresponded to the model of the mounted grenadiers of the Imperial Guard.
This sabre had a slightly curved blade; the brass guard was decorated with an openwork, flaming grenade between two side bars. The scabbard was entirely brass and featured two long cutouts.
The leather equipment was white. Likewise the leather gauntlet gloves.
According to Funcken the regiment rode black horses, later chestnuts or red‑brown horses.
The trumpeters wore a white long‑tailed coat with sky‑blue facings edged in yellow and a sky‑blue plume on the helmet (1809).
The kettledrummer of the Imperial Guard dragoons wore a uniform in an oriental style, similar to the uniform of the Mamelukes of the Imperial Guard.