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French line infantry grenadier (left) and voltigeur (right) c. 1808 Cornet in imperial livery and officer of the line voltigeurs (1812). In 1804, each French Line (Ligne) and Light (Légère) infantry battalion was ordered to create one company of ninety of the best shots who would serve as elite skirmishers. [3]
The 9th Light Infantry Regiment (9e régiment d’infanterie légère) was a French army regiment. One of the most notable infantry regiments in the Napoleonic Wars, it was awarded the title "Incomparable" by Napoleon Bonaparte after their brilliant performance at the Battle of Marengo on 14 June 1800.
About to fight on French soil for the first time since the French Revolutionary Wars, Napoleon decided to reorganize the Imperial Guard. In Article 1 of a decree of 4 December 1813, he created three regiments of Éclaireurs à Cheval de la Garde Impériale (mounted scouts of the Guard) as counterparts to the Cossacks.
The 1st Polish Light Cavalry Lancers Regiment of the Imperial Guard (French: 1er Régiment de Chevau-Légers Lancier de la Garde impériale (Polonais) / Polish: 1. Pułk Szwoleżerów-Lansjerów Gwardii Cesarskiej (Polski)) was a foreign Polish light cavalry lancers regiment which served as part of Napoleon's Imperial Guard during the Napoleonic Wars.
The Gendarmes d'élite de la Garde impériale (English: "élite gendarmes of the Imperial Guard") was a gendarmerie unit formed in 1801 by Napoleon as part of the Consular Guard which became the Imperial Guard in 1804. In time of peace, their role was to protect official residences and palaces and to provide security to important political figures.
On the morning of 18 July, in full view of the defenders, the French massed a force of grenadiers and chasseurs under General of Brigade François-Xavier Donzelot to attack the left breach, while voltigeurs led by Valentin assembled to assault the right breach. The French ostentatiously marched up supporting troops.
By the mid-18th century, the French Army used the term fusiliers to designate ordinary line infantry, as opposed to specialist or élite infantry, such as grenadiers, voltigeurs, carabiniers or chasseurs. The modern French Army no longer uses the term fusiliers, although a number of its infantry regiments descend from fusilier regiments.
Napoleon's Old Guard was the most celebrated and most feared elite military formation of its day. There were four regiments of the Old Guard infantry: 1st and 2nd each of grenadiers and chasseurs . Members of the Old Guard benefitted from a number of different privileges, including considerably increased wages from the Imperial Guard.