Osprey Men-at-Arms 433 : Napoleon's Scouts of the Imperial Guard

Driven out of Germany after his defeat at Leipzig in 1813, Napoleon seemed to face disaster. Some 345,000 Allied troops were converging on France from the east, and Napoleon had only about 80,000 men. Most of his veterans had been killed in Russia and Germany, and he was short of cavalry to counter the swarms of Cossacks. For his last and possibly most brilliant campaign, Napoleon raised three regiments of mounted Scouts for his Imperial Guard. Through the story of these units we follow Napoleon's dazzling manoeuvres in the campaign of 1814. Their widely varied uniforms are reconstructed in meticulously researched colour plates. Text by Ronald Pawly with illustrations by Patrice Courcelle.

Contents

• Napoleon's Dilemma in 1813
  Shortage of Light Cavalry, and Frustration of Reconnaissance by Russian Cossacks
• His Solution
  The Creation of Three Regiments of Mounted Scouts
  Organization and Numbers
  Officers
• Uniforms & Equipment
  1er Regt d'Éclaireurs-Grenadiers
  2e Regt d'Éclaireurs-Dragons
  3e Regt d'Éclaireurs-Lanciers
• The Scout Regiments in the Campaign of France 1814