Scouts of the Imperial Guard

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Officer of the éclaireurs de la Garde

The Éclaireurs of the Guard (French: Éclaireurs de la Garde) was a Corps of cavalry scouts of the French Imperial Guard, which included three cavalry regiments created by Napoleon when he reorganised the Imperial Guard following the disaster of the French invasion of Russia.[1] The Corps was created in Article I of the decree of 4 December 1813.[2]

The 1st regiment was divided into the

Chasseurs à Cheval.[3]

All three regiments were organised into four squadrons with 250 sabres in two companies each. Due to insufficient

shabraques, with only officers being so equipped in the 1st and 2nd regiments.[5]

The regiments, owing to their scouting role, were not issued Eagles.

1st Regiment of Éclaireurs

The 1st Regiment of which was attached to the

Six Days Campaign (fighting at Brienne, La Rothière, Champaubert, Montmirail, Montereau, Craonne and Arcis-sur-Aube) then to be dissolved on the Bourbon Restoration
.

The 1st Regiment's first commander was

trumpeters
were sky-blue.

The first detachment of the regiment left for the field army in late January 1814, but by mid March the entire regiment was reduced to 200 sabres.[6] The regiment was eventually renamed as the 2nd Regiment of Chasseurs a Cheval of the Guard in 1815.

NOTE: This regt was not formed until 1814, and therefore cannot claim the battle honours before this date

2nd Regiment of Éclaireurs

Sketch of 2nd Eclaireur
Sketch of an Éclaireur-Dragon

The second regiment was attached to the Dragoons of the Guard, and because of this also referred to as Éclaireurs-Dragons, had scarlet regimental distinctions.[1] For its formation the regiment was allocated officers and NCOs from the 20th Dragons of Line, 3rd and 7th Lancers of the Line while the troopers came from postilions of the Empire, the horse team drivers employed by the Government.[7] The horses were primarily purchased from the Camarguais regional breed, and the remount depot was established there.[8][9] The regiment participated in the French Campaign of 1814, including Battle of Brienne, Battle of Champaubert, Battle of Montmirail, Battle of Château-Thierry, Battle of Vauchamps, Battle of Montereau, Battle of Rheims, Battle of Craonne, Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube and Battle of Saint-Dizier.

Unlike the first regiment, the second was distinguished by the shako which all the modern works indicate to have been cylindrical, and was decorated by a surmounted rosette of a ganse cord and of a half-spherical pompom. The cord was tied in front of and behind the neck for the officers, the troopers carrying it in the usual way. The shako issued to the regiment is therefore same as that worn by the hussars at the time. The spherical pompom was the colour of the squadron.

3rd Regiment of Éclaireurs

The third regiment was recruited from Polish cavalry line regiments serving with the French Army, and was attached to the 1st Lancers of the Guard, also a Polish regiment.[1]

In 1814 all three regiments were transferred to the line cavalry, and disbanded following Napoleon's abdication.

Citations and notes

  1. ^ a b c d e p.46, Funcken & Funcken
  2. ^ p.7, Pawly
  3. ^ p.27, Thorburn
  4. ^ Where in theory the first rank would be lance-armed, p.12, Pawly
  5. ^ p.9, Pawly
  6. ^ p.13, Pawly
  7. ^ p.8, Pawly
  8. ^ small horses not exceeding 14 hands (1.40m) at the shoulder
  9. ^ [1], Verwicht

References

  • Thorburn, W.A., French Army regiments & uniforms: from Revolution to 1870, Arms and Armour Press, London, 1976
  • Funcken, Liliane & Funcken, Fred, Arms and Uniforms: The Napoleonic Wars, Part 2, Ward Lock Ltd, London, 1973
  • Pawly, Ronald, Illustrated by Patrice Courcelle, Napoleon's Scouts of the Imperial Guard, Osprey Publishing, London, 2006
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