The Honor Guards of the Marne, 1813 : Gardes d'honneur de la Marne, 1813 (Soldiers of the Napoleonic Wars Book 7)

A hypertext translation of Sagot's work on the creation of the 2nd Honor Guards.In 1813, Napoleon found himself short of cavalry--and short of money to mount and outfit new cavalrymen, the most expensive soldiers. He decided to allow (i.e., require) 10,000 sons of the nobility and the upper-middle class to sign on as light cavalry of the Guard, well-mounted and gorgeously equipped à la hussard entirely at their own expense, but not all the Honor Guards were untrained rich boys serving at their own expense: there was a leavening of veterans whose expenses were paid from the regiment’s common fund.Most Napoleon buffs are aware of the Honor Guards’ exploits in the German Campaign (1813) and the Campaign of France (1814), but how were they recruited and organized? How were things paid for? Sagot’s work tells the story of the heroic efforts of Claude-Laurent Bourgeois de Jessaint, prefect of the Department of the Marne and an old classmate of Napoleon, to raise, equip and mount the 2nd Regiment of the Honor Guards. Behind all the derring-do there was a lot of work. Read more