who died at the
battle of Eylau, leading the Chasseurs of the Guard. When at the end of August 1799 Bonaparte left
Egypt to return to France, he took with him a detachment of 180
Guides à cheval and 125
Guides à pied. The men chosen were the most devoted veterans from each company. Soon after the ''
coup d'état of 18 Brumaire, the Guides, who had stayed in the south of France, were summoned to Paris and quartered in the Caserne de Babylone
. A decree of 28 November reorganized the Garde du Directoire
as the Garde des Consuls'', but it makes no mention of the Chasseurs. By a decree of 3 January 1800, a
company of
Chasseurs à cheval was created. Its commanding officer was Napoleon's stepson,
captain Eugène de Beauharnais, who was promoted
major on 5 March. The strength was 4 officers and 113 men, the latter being chosen from the Guides who had returned from Egypt, and 112 were veterans of the
Italian Campaign of 1796. The cavalry of the
Garde Consulairetwo squadrons of
Grenadiers à Cheval and the company of chasseurswas commanded by
Chef de brigade Jean-Baptiste Bessières. In May, the company left Paris for
Italy. It crossed the
Great St Bernard Pass and was heavily engaged at the
Battle of Marengo (14 June), losing 70 out of its 115 horses. At the end of the campaign, the corps returned to Paris. By a consular decree of 8 September, it was augmented, becoming a squadron of two companies (troops) and 234 men. By a decree of 6 August 1801, the corps was increased to a headquarters and two
squadrons. The staff was: 1 ''
chef d'escadron, 1 adjudant-major, 2 porte-étendard, 1 brigadier-trompette, and 4 maîtres-ouvriers
. At the end of September, the remainder of the Guides returned from Egypt and were merged into the corps. By a decree of 14 November, the chasseurs became a regiment. In theory, the commanding officer was to be a Chef de brigade
, but in fact Bonaparte retained Chef d'escadron'' Beauharnais in command. By decree of 8 March 1802, the Headquarters was increased. It now included four standard-bearers, a
trumpet major, two trumpet corporals and a
timbalier (
kettle-drummer). By decree of 1 October, the regiment was increased to four squadrons, with a total strength of 56 officers and 959 men. Beauharnais was promoted
Chef de brigade (13 October) and now had as his squadron commanders
Morland,
Nicolas Dahlmann,
Frédéric Auguste de Beurmann and
Joseph Damingue, a
black man who had distinguished himself at the
Bridge of Arcole in 1796. is often represented in his green colonel uniform of the Chasseurs à Cheval, with a large
bicorne and a
hand-in-waistcoat gesture. From 22 March 1803, when summer training (''travail d'été'') began, the men were to parade on horseback every Monday and Thursday at 7.30 a.m. precisely on the
Champ de Mars. Every Wednesday at the same hour, they went through the foot exercise. In winter, the parades seem to have been at 9.00 a.m.
Swimming and
rowing were among the exercises carried out in 1802 and 1803. By a decree of 21 January 1804, the regiment was given a major who was to rank with the
colonels of the line. Morland was given this appointment. By the same decree, the company of
Mamluks was attached to the regiment. By an Order of the Day of 18 May, the
Garde des Consuls became the
Garde Impériale. On 13 May 1805, Beauharnais was made
Viceroy of
Italy, but he retained nominal command of the regiment until about 1808. Morland now became the actual commanding officer with the title of
Colonel Commandant en second, and Dahlmann was promoted major. On 17 September, a squadron of
vélites (four companies) was created. It seems to have been intended as a kind of holding reinforcement unit. The regiment and the Mamluks greatly distinguished themselves at the
Battle of Austerlitz (2 December), where two squadrons and the Mamluks were led to the charge by Napoleon's senior
aide-de-camp, General
Jean Rapp, inflicting heavy casualties on the
Russian Imperial Guard and capturing Prince
Repnin, the commander of the
Chevalier Guard. At Austerlitz, the Chasseurs suffered 19 officer casualties, including Morland, killed, and three squadron commanders wounded. Dahlmann succeeded Morland and
Claude-Étienne Guyot became major. The regiment missed the
Battle of Jena (14 October 1806), where the 1st
Hussars had the privilege of escorting the Emperor. The Chasseurs did, however, take part in Napoleon's triumphal entry into
Berlin. At
Eylau (8 February 1807), the regiment took part in
Joachim Murat's great charge of 80 squadrons, which relieved the pressure on the French centre at the crisis of the battle. Seventeen of the officers were hit and Dahlmann was mortally wounded. He had recently been promoted general (30 December 1806), but having no command, he asked to be allowed to lead his old regiment and fell at their head. Major Guyot commanded the regiment for the rest of the year, and
Thiry was also promoted major (16 February). , while
cuirassiers salute him before their charge.
Napoleon is again in his green colonel uniform of the Chasseurs à Cheval. On 18 January 1808,
Général de Brigade Charles Lefebvre-Desnouettes replaced Dahlmann in command of the regiment. The regiment was in
Madrid when the populace
rose on 2 May and eight of the officers, including Major
Pierre Daumesnil, were wounded as well as five officers of the Mamluks. The regiment took part in General
Montbrun's
charge up the road at Somosierra (30 November) but lost no officers as the Spanish gunners only managed to get off one salvo before the Polish and French cavalry charged them with sabers. (This was the second charge, not the one in which the 3rd squadron of the
First Regiment of Polish Chevau-Légers was practically wiped out.) On 28 November, Napoleon, engaged in pressing the retreat of Sir
John Moore towards
Corunna, rode ahead of his army into the village of
Valderas, which the British had abandoned just two hours previously. He was accompanied only by his staff and a squadron of the chasseurs. When
Marshal Ney found that the Emperor had thus exposed himself, he said to him: "Sire, I thank Your Majesty for acting as my advance guard." That it had been imprudent was proved next day (29 December) when General Lefebvre-Desnouettes caught up with the British rearguard, forded the
River Esla and drove in their pickets, only to be counter-attacked by Lord
Paget (the Uxbridge of
Waterloo fame), who
led his men under cover of the houses of Benavente to assail the French flank. Lefebvre-Desnouettes, wounded by a pistol shot, was taken prisoner. The regiment had 6 other officers hurt and 2 captains taken, besides 55 chasseurs killed and wounded and 73 captured. To be outflanked and cut up in this fashion was a rude and novel experience for the Emperor's "favourite children". The British cavalry who achieved this feat were the
10th Hussars with pickets of the
18th and the 3rd Hussars of the
King's German Legion. Their losses amounted to no more than 50. It was this affair more than anything that convinced the Emperor that Moore had slipped from his clutches and that it was time to return to France. . The regiment was at home again by the end of February 1809. About this time, it absorbed the
Chevau-légers of the
Grand Duchy of Berg, formerly the
Guides de Murat (11 January) and the
Guides du Maréchal Mortier (1 February). On 5 June, Major Guyot became
colonel commandant en second. Thiry was made
général de brigade in the line and, on the 13th, Daumesnil and
Hercule Corbineau were promoted majors. At
Wagram, the Guard cavalry supported the right flank of
MacDonald's great column which struck the decisive blow. The regiment suffered at Wagram (6 July), having 5 officers killed and 10 wounded, including the two newly promoted majors, each of whom lost a leg. Colonel Guyot was promoted
général de brigade (9 August), retaining the command, and Colonel
Jean Dieudonné Lion (14th Chasseurs) was brought in as third major of the corps. 1810 was a quiet year, with only one officer wounded escorting prisoners in
Spain. On 1 August 1811, the regiment was increased to five squadrons and the
vélites were done away with. During the year, squadrons were sent successively to serve with the divisions of the Garde in Spain. Guyot was promoted
général de division, but still retained the command. To replace Corbineau and Daumesnil as majors, the regiment received Colonel
François d'Haugéranville (6 August) and General Baron
Exelmans (24 December). On 6 May 1812, General Lefebvre-Desnouettes, who had escaped by breaking his parole, returned from his captivity in
England and resumed command of the regiment. The chasseurs, five squadrons and the company of Mamluks, went through the
Russian campaign, but though they lost 500 men, they only had 10 officers hit. At
Borodino, they had no officer casualties at all. But on 25 October, the day after the
Battle of Maloyaroslavets, two squadrons, escorting the Emperor on a reconnaissance, were sharply engaged and had 4 officers wounded. A body of
Cossacks appeared suddenly from a wood and charged straight at Napoleon. General Rapp and the escort managed to beat them off, but not before one had fought his way to within twenty yards of the Emperor. From this day forth, haunted by the fear of captivity, he always carried a bag of poison on a string about his neck. The regiment's losses in this campaign must on the whole be attributed not so much to the fighting as to the Russian climate. In 1813, the regiment was expanded from five to nine squadrons. The first five of these remained under the Old Guard while the newly raised 6th through 9th squadrons formed part of the Young Guard and in 1815 were redesigned as the
2e régiment de chasseurs de la Garde impériale. Here is the color scheme of their coats: ==External links==