Osprey - Warrior 022 - Imperial Guardsman 1799-1815.pdf - OSPREY - janiu00

SERIES EDITOR: LEE JOHNSON

IMPERIAL GUARDSMAN

1799-1815

TEXT BY

PHILIP J. HAYTHORNTHWAITE

COLOUR PLATES BY

RICHARD HOOK

First published in Great Britain in 1997 by OSPREY, a division of Reed Books,

Michelin House, 81 Fulham Road, London SW3 6RB, Auckland and Melbourne

Publisher's note

Readers may wish to study this title in conjunction with the following

Osprey publications:

research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and

Patents Act, 1988, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a

retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic,

electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,

without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Enquiries should

be addressed to the Publishers.

MAA 257 Napoleon's Campaigns in Italy

MAA 79 Napoleon's Eygptian Campaign

MAA 87 Napoleon's Marshals

MAA 64 Napoleon's Cuirassiers & Carabiniers

MAA 55 Napoleon's Dragoons & Lancers

MAA 68 Napoleon's Line Chasseurs

MAA 76 Napoleon's Hussars

MAA 83 Napoleon's Guard Cavalry

MAA 141 Napoleon's Line Infantry

MAA 146 Napoleon's Light Infantry

MAA 153 Napoleon's Guard Infantry (1)

MAA 160 Napoleon's Guard Infantry (2)

MAA 199 Napoleon's Specialist Troops

MAA 88 Napoleon's Italian & Neoplitan Troops

MAA 44 Napoleon's German Allies (1) Westfalia & Kleve-Berg

MAA 43 Napoleon's German Allies (2) Nassau & Oldenberg

MAA 90 Napoleon's German Allies (3) Saxony

MAA 106 Napoleon's German Allies (4) Bavaria

MAA 122 Napoleon's German Allies (5) Hessen-Darmstadt & Hessen-

Kassel

MAA 211 Napoleon's Overseas Army

MAA 227 Napoleon's Sea Soldiers

MAA 77 Flags of the Napoleonic Wars (1)

MAA 78 Flags of the Napoleonic Wars (2)

MAA 115 Flags of the Napoleonic Wars (3)

CAM 2 Austerlitz 1805

CAM 33 Aspern & Wagram 1809

CAM 48 Salamanca 1809

CAM 25 Leipzig 1813

CAM 15 Waterloo 1815

ISBN 1 85532 662 0

Military Editor: lain MacGregor

Design: Alan Hamp @ Design for Books

Filmset in Singapore by Pica Ltd.

Printed through World Print Ltd., Hong Kong

For a catalogue of all books published by Osprey Military please write to:

Osprey Marketing, Reed Books, Michelin House,

81 Fulham Road, London SW3 6RB

Artist's Note

Readers may care to note the original paintings from which the colour

plates in this book were prepared are available for private sale. All

reproduction copyright whatsoever is retained by the publisher.

Enquiries should be addressed to:

Scorpio Gallery, P.O. Box 475, Hailsham, E. Sussex BN27 2SL

The publishers regret that they can enter into no correspondence

upon this matter.

IMPERIAL GUARDSMAN

1799-1815

INTRODUCTION

Napoleon wearing his most

familiar uniform, that of the

Chasseurs à Cheval of the

Imperial Guard. The breast-star

and the first of the medals are

those of the Légion d'Honneur,

the second medal is that of the

Order of the Iron Crown. (Print

after Horace Vernet)

apoleon's Imperial Guard was one of the most famous military

formations in history, and quite distinct from the guard corps of

other European sovereigns of the period. The Imperial Guard

could perform ceremonial duties as well as any, but it was primarily an

elite combat formation of the army. By supplying personnel to other

units, it provided a training school for the remainder of the army, and

although it expanded to represent a considerable portion of France's

military establishment, it remained Napoleon's personal guard and was

accorded care and attention which set its members above the rest of the

army. However, the Guard's privileged status provided little shield

against the rigours of campaign and the brutal nature of

combat during the Napoleonic Wars.

In the following sections, most attention is given to

those aspects of the Imperial Guard and its service

which were different from the conditions experi-

enced by the remainder of the French army.

REGIMENTS AND

RECRUITS

The Imperial Guard was so large and

complex an organisation that conditions of

entry and service varied considerably. It is

therefore necessary to consider the

principal Guard formations and their source

of recruits. The posting of a soldier to one or

other Guard unit was not necessarily per-

manent; there was considerable interchange

between regiments, especially in the case of

officers and NCOs, who are covered in a

separate section.

The creation of the Consular Guard ( Garde

des Consuls) as an elite veteran bodyguard for the

French head of state dated from the end of 1799;

the Chasseurs and Grenadiers à Pied took 2 December

1799 as their date of creation, although the decree

specifying their organisation was issued only on 3

January 1800. From the very beginning, Napoleon per-

sonally superintended the entry of personnel and promotion

Napoleon, in the uniform of First

Consul, with the staff of the

Consular Guard; at the right is

his Mameluke servant, Roustam.

(Engraving by C. Turner after

Masquerier)

of NCOs and officers; he set the original conditions of admission to the

Guard. At the outset he declared that the Consular Guard should be "a

model for the army" and established strict entrance criteria: Guardsmen

should have participated in three campaigns; have been wounded or

given proof of their bravery; they should be patriotic and of good

conduct; not less than 25 years of age and at least 1.78m tall; and they

should be literate. (Some confusion may arise over the height qualifi-

cation when expressed in feet: the contemporary French foot measured

12.8 English inches.) Thus entrants to the Guard transferred from the

line were all experienced campaigners with a good record even before

they received what came to be regarded as the ultimate accolade, entry

into Napoleon's personal bodyguard.

From the beginning, however, exceptions were made to the entry

conditions. Literacy was demanded only of NCOs, and while the height

qualification varied (chasseurs were accepted shorter than grenadiers),

the well known example of Jean-Roch Coignet shows how a distin-

guished soldier might evade the restrictions. A member of the 96th

Demi-Brigade, Coignet was an ideal candidate for the guard in all respects

except his height: but Capt. Renard of the Grenadiers à Pied, anxious to

secure such a valiant man for his own company, conspired with General

Davout himself (commander of the corps of grenadiers) to have Coignet

evade the height restriction. At Davout's suggestion he put two packs of

playing cards under each foot, inside his stockings, to ensure he met the

minimum requirement.

Osprey - Warrior 022 - Imperial Guardsman 1799-1815.pdf

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