Hat 8013 French Horse Grenadiers

One of the most elite regiments of the French army of the Napoleonic era (1799-1815) was the Cavalry Grenadier regiment of the Imperial Guard (fr. Grenadiers a Cheval de la Garde Imperiale), whose roots go back to the so-called Guards of the Directorate. The regiment was mostly formed from soldiers of the 9th Dragoons Regiment, and in the years 1801-1802 it was reorganized under the supervision of General Bessieres, who divided the regiment into four squadrons, two companies in each squadron. The unit had a maximum of about 1,100 officers and soldiers. In 1804 the regiment adopted its final name and was incorporated into the Imperial Guard, and from 1809 it belonged to the Old Guard. It is worth adding that from 1806, he formed one brigade together with the Gwardia dragoons. The horse grenadier uniforms were clearly patterned after the Guards foot grenadier uniforms, including the bear's cap. The main weapons were broadswords and cavalry pistols in olders. Napoleon treated the regiment most often as an iron reserve of his cavalry, but nevertheless it was used and performed well or very well in such battles as Marengo (1800), Austerlitz (1805), Ilawa of Prussia (1807) and Waterloo (1815).