Imperial Guard (Napoleon I)

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Granadero de la Guardia Imperial, by Édouard Detaille.

The French Imperial Guard (French: Garde Impériale), also known as the "Old Guard", was a corps of battle-hardened veteran soldiers. Among other campaigns of the Napoleonic wars, he had interventions in battles of great importance such as Austerlitz, Eylau and finally in Waterloo, where they had their last day of glory. They are credited with taking La Haye Sainte, a British fortified point that passed into the hands of both sides on several occasions. By order of Napoleon, he was entrusted with the heroic mission of covering the retreat of the French army, where it was overwhelmed by the Prussian cavalry, with many casualties.

The French Imperial Guard was the elite unit of the French Army at the time, having evolved from the Consular Guards and the Consular Guard. They were literally an army unit unto itself with infantry and cavalry divisions, an army within an army. Napoleon wanted it as an example for the army to follow and also as a force that would fight with him in numerous campaigns, that would be completely loyal to the emperor, although in its beginnings they were nothing more than a body that looked good in official acts accompanying Napoleon. Although the Guardia infantry was rarely used in combat, the cavalry was frequently thrown into battle in glorious and renowned charges.

Creation

In the year 1804, the then French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon I) decided to create a guard that would shine in public and private acts and at the same time as personal security. The Guard also showed the military power that France had. But over time this unit became the main fighting body for Napoleon, who constantly improved it and used it in his campaigns, first as his protection and then as an individual division.

Composition

The Imperial Guard was made up of three sections:

Old Guard: This was the crème de la crème of the army of Napoleon. The Old Guard was composed of veterans with more time of service (from 3 to 5 campaigns). It was composed of eight companies of about one hundred men each under the command of a captain.
Middle Guard: consisting of veterans from 3 to 5 campaigns. Composed of five companies of 200 men each, commanded by a lieutenant.
Young Guard: initially constituted by veterans with at least one campaign, as well as brilliant young officers. Composed the same way as the Middle Guard.

They were grouped into battalions and were all led by old guards, who had risen from scratch. The requirements to be part of the Guard were:

Measure at least 1.65 m in the case of hunters and 1.73 m in the case of granaderos ^{[chuckles]required]}.
To have served at least ten years in the army to be a component of the Old Guard and eight years for the Middle Guard and Youth and to have demonstrated courage in battles.
Know how to read and write.
To carry mustache obligatoryly. The shoemakers wore beards and the members of the Old Guard slopes and long hair collected in coleta.

The Imperial Guard was cosmopolitan, since in addition to the French, it included Poles, Belgians, Dutch, Tatars and Mamluks.

Infantry Regiments of the Imperial Guard, according to Adolphe of Chesnel