Napoleon’s Scouts of the Imperial Guard (Men-at-Arms)

Napoleon's last 'Campaign of France' in 1814 proved to be one of his most brilliant during the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815). He relied as never before on committing his elite Imperial Guard cavalry to battle. He raised three new regiments of crack Éclaireurs – 'Scouts' – which were attached to the Guard Mounted Grenadiers, Empress's Dragoons and Polish Lancers respectively which would counterattack the Cossacks and gather vital information. Each regiment had its own style of uniform, but part of each was armed with lances. Although they were short-lived, these Scout units greatly distinguished themselves in the last battles of the collapsing Empire. 01.jpg......Page 1 02.jpg......Page 2 03.jpg......Page 3 04.jpg......Page 4 05.jpg......Page 5 06.jpg......Page 6 07.jpg......Page 7 08.jpg......Page 8 09.jpg......Page 9 10.jpg......Page 10 11.jpg......Page 11 12.jpg......Page 12 13.jpg......Page 13 14.jpg......Page 14 15.jpg......Page 15 16.jpg......Page 16 17.jpg......Page 17 18.jpg......Page 18 19.jpg......Page 19 20.jpg......Page 20 21.jpg......Page 21 22.jpg......Page 22 23.jpg......Page 23 24.jpg......Page 24 25.jpg......Page 25 26.jpg......Page 26 27.jpg......Page 27 28.jpg......Page 28 29.jpg......Page 29 30.jpg......Page 30 31.jpg......Page 31 32.jpg......Page 32 33.jpg......Page 33 34.jpg......Page 34 35.jpg......Page 35 36.jpg......Page 36 37.jpg......Page 37 38.jpg......Page 38 39.jpg......Page 39 40.jpg......Page 40 41.jpg......Page 41 42.jpg......Page 42 43.jpg......Page 43 44.jpg......Page 44 45.jpg......Page 45 46.jpg......Page 46 47.jpg......Page 47 48.jpg......Page 48 49.jpg......Page 49 50.jpg......Page 50 51.jpg......Page 51 Napolenstiden. Efter katastrofen i Rusland 1812 og nederlaget ved Leipzig 1813 var det nødvendigt at reorganisere store dele af den franske hær bl.a. det franske garderytteri. I slutningen af 1813 blev der opstillet tre regimenter af garderytteriet, 1er Régiment d'Éclaireurs de la Garde Impériale (Éclaireurs-grenadiers el. Scout-Dragoons), 2e Régiment d'Éclaireurs de la Garde Impériale (Éclaireurs-Grenadiers el. Scout-Dragoons) og 3e Régiment d'Éclaireurs de la Garde Impériale (Éclaireurs-lanciers el. Scout-Lancers). I bogen beskrives de tre regimenters historie, uniformer m.v. og oprindelse samt de slag regimenterne deltog i under Napoleons felttog i Frankrig i begyndelsen af 1814 Napoleon's last 'Campaign of France' in 1814 proved to be one of his most brilliant during the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815). He relied as never before on committing his elite Imperial Guard cavalry to battle. He raised three new regiments of crack eclaireurs - 'Scouts' - which were attached to the Guard Mounted Grenadiers, Empress's Dragoons and Polish Lancers respectively which would counterattack the Cossacks and gather vital information. Each regiment had its own style of uniform, but part of each was armed with lances. Although they were short-lived, these Scout units greatly distinguished themselves in the last battles of the collapsing Empire Driven out of Germany after his defeat at Leipzig in 1813, Napoleon seemed to face disaster. Some 345,000 Allied troops were converging on France from the east; and Napoleon had only about 80,000 men. Most of his veterans had been killed in Russia and Germany, and he was short of cavalry to counter the swarms of Cossacks. For his last and possibly most brilliant campaign, Napoleon raised three regiments of mounted Scouts for his Imperial Guard. Through the story of these units the reader can follow Napoleon's dazzling manoeuvres in the campaign of 1814; and their widely varied uniforms are reconstructed in meticulously researched colour plates.