The Uniforms of the French Army under Napoleon I (1800 - 1815) - The Imperial Guard - The Honor Guards

The Imperial Guard also included four regiments of Honor Guards.

After the enormous losses in the Russian campaign in 1812 and the necessary rebuilding of the French army, there was a particular shortage of cavalry.

Against this background Napoleon developed the idea of including the upper strata of society as well, and to do so with as little cost to the state as possible. In this context the elite Honor Guards were created with a total strength of 10,000 men. The idea built on the already existing numerous honor guards (Gardes d`Honneur) that had been formed in towns to "honourably guard" the emperor during his visits (security details).

The founding day of the Honor Guards is considered to be 05.04.1813.

They were recruited from the (men without prior service) sons of the wealthy bourgeoisie and the lower nobility. They had to provide their own equipment. Their age was usually between 19 and 25 years.

After twelve months' service the rank of lieutenant could be attained.

The response, however, was very varied.

Their garrisons were located in Versailles (1st Regt.), in Metz (2nd Regt.), Tours (3rd Regt.) and Lyon (4th Regt.).

The Honor Guards were (initially) incorporated into the Imperial Guard on 29.07.1813, which was met with reluctance by the remainder of the Imperial Guard.

By their brave conduct in the battles of Hanau (1813) and Reims (1814) they, however, earned the respect of the veteran soldiers.

The 1st Regiment was assigned to the Mounted Chasseurs, the 2nd Regiment to the Empress's Dragoons, the 3rd Regiment to the Mounted Grenadiers and the 4th Regiment to the Lancers.

Shakos served as headgear.

The officers' red shako had a wide silver brim at the top with silver (lion) buttons at the sides. The plume was attached to these.

The shako fittings were silvered.

The black leather visor had a silver edging.

The ring-scale chains were held by finely embossed Medusa heads.

The body of the men's shako was covered with red felt. The top, lower edge and visor were of black leather. The latter had a silver metal edging. At the nape there was an iron buckle. At the front there was an iron helmet ornament showing a crowned eagle with a shield bearing the regiment number. The chin straps were studded with scales. The lining consisted of leather and linen. The plume was made of (white) wool).

The shakos of the individual regiments differed in the color of the feather plumes and the pom-poms. The latter were blue for the 1st Regt., yellow for the 2nd Regt., red for the 3rd Regt. and again yellow for the 4th Regt. The green feather plumes had a red tip on the 1st Regt., a blue tip on the 2nd Regt., a white tip on the 3rd Regt. and a black tip on the 4th Regt.

The horses of the Honor Guards had white sheepskins with serrated colored edging.

The four regiments wore an identical hussar-like uniform, i.e., a braided dolman and a pelisse with cord trim.

The braiding was white, or silver for the officers.

The base color of the uniform was green, the dolman's collar with braiding was red, as were the pointed sleeve cuffs, each with white or silver edging.

The pelisse had a fundamentally black fur trim.

The sash was red and white.

The trousers were red with white trim. In the field green overtrousers with a black leather insert were worn. The button placket was white.

The boots had a heart-shaped cut at the front with a white or silver trim.

The black leather sabre scabbards displayed an iron crowned eagle with the respective regiment number.

The leather equipment was white.

Trumpeters wore a light blue dolman with white braiding and with a red collar and similarly pointed sleeve cuffs, each edged in white. Knötel shows one of the 4th Regt. in his major work on uniforms (Vol. XIII, No. 38) also with blue fur and fur cap.

The officers' uniforms were distinguished by silver trim and silver braiding.

Furthermore, of course, the quality of the cloths or fabrics was better.

For the undress uniform a red waistcoat with silver braiding was worn under the open green coat with the same facings (with red edging) and long skirt lapels. The collar was red.

The following illustration shows the red waistcoat.

The armament was that of light cavalry.

The units were disbanded on 29.06.1814; some members entered the household troops of King Louis XVIII.