The Cent-gardes Squadron, ( French: L'Escadron des Cent-gardes), also called ''Cent Gardes à Cheval'' (Hundred Guardsmen on Horseback), was an elite

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

of the

Second French Empire The Second French Empire (; officially the French Empire, ), was the 18-year Empire, Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 14 January 1852 to 27 October 1870, between the French Second Republic, Second and the French Third Republic ...

primarily responsible for protecting the person of the Emperor

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

, as well as providing security within the

Tuileries Palace The Tuileries Palace (french: Palais des Tuileries, ) was a royal and imperial palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine, directly in front of the Louvre. It was the usual Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from ...

. It also provided an escort for the emblems of the

Imperial Guard An imperial guard or palace guard is a special group of troops (or a member thereof) of an empire, typically closely associated directly with the Emperor or Empress. Usually these troops embody a more elite status than other imperial forces, in ...

and their award ceremony with flag and standard bearers. The squadron was created by

decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...

on 24 March 1854 by the Emperor. Comparisons were made between the new unit and the British Life Guards. When on duty the Cent-Gardes had to stand absolutely still and render honours only to the Emperor and members of the Imperial family. Although not formally part of the Imperial Guard, they were under the orders of the

Grand Marshal of the Palace Grand marshal of the palace ( French: ''Grand maréchal du palais'') was the title used by the leader of the Military Household of the Emperor, during the First French Empire. The responsibilities of this position included: keeping accounts of the ...

Description

Headquarters and soldiers

The Cent-Gardes squadron consisted of a headquarters, 11 officers and 137 privates, totalling 148 men at the time the unit was created, Later they would be increased to 190, including officers, and finally numbered 221 commissioned officers and guardsmen, including a lieutenant colonel, at the time that they were finally disbanded. The soldiers of the squadron were recruited from the cavalry regiments of the Imperial Guard or from those of the line, and they had to be at least 1.80m tall. Their salary was 1,000 gold francs a year for guardsmen and trumpeters, an amount which was particularly high at the time. After completing seven years of service, their rate of pay increased by 80 additional cents per day. The headquarters of the Cent-gardes were located in the

Pentemont Abbey Pentemont Abbey (french: Abbaye de Penthemont, ''Pentemont'', ''Panthemont'' or ''Pantemont'') is a set of 18th and 19th century buildings at the corner of Rue de Grenelle and Rue de Bellechasse in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. The abbey was ...

, a former convent which had also served as headquarters for the

. Their original barracks were in Sevres in the old farm of La Belle Polle. Napoleon III however had a farm built in the Swiss-style to lodge the Cent-gardes squadron and their horses in the new ''Pavillon des Cent-guardes'' in

Marnes-la-Coquette Marnes-la-Coquette () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. Located from the centre of Paris, the town is situated in the Hauts-de-Seine department on the departmental border with Yvelines between the Parc de Saint-Cloud and the ...

, near the castle, in the area of ''Villeneuve-l'Étang''. Upon establishment the role of the Cent Gardes was defined as being to guard the Emperor and to provide services at the imperial palaces. In practice the latter function involved guarding the palace interior, including the door to the imperial bed chamber. In 1855 they were viewed by the visiting

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

, who described the unit as "very like our Life Guards, magnificent men of six foot and upward . . . and their dress very handsome".

Uniforms and weaponry

For off-duty wear (''tenue de ville''), their attire comprised a sky-blue

tunic A tunic is a garment for the body, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the knees. The name derives from the Latin ''tunica'', the basic garment worn by both men and women in Ancient Rome ...

lined with red silk, red trousers with black stripes plus a cocked hat and sword. In

full dress Western dress codes are a set of dress codes detailing what clothes are worn for what occasion. Conversely, since most cultures have intuitively applied some level equivalent to the more formal Western dress code traditions, these dress codes a ...

, the Cent-gardes wore white breeches with their light blue tunics plus a

breastplate A breastplate or chestplate is a device worn over the torso to protect it from injury, as an item of religious significance, or as an item of status. A breastplate is sometimes worn by mythological beings as a distinctive item of clothing. It is ...

embossed with the

French Imperial Eagle The French Imperial Eagle (''Aigle de drapeau'', lit. "flag eagle") refers to the figure of an eagle on a staff carried into battle as a standard by the ''Grande Armée'' of Napoleon during the Napoleonic Wars. Although they were presented with ...

and a helmet with a white plume. On Palace guard duty, the Cent-gardes were issued with a

surcoat A surcoat or surcote is an outer garment that was commonly worn in the Middle Ages by soldiers. It was worn over armor to show insignia and help identify what side the soldier was on. In the battlefield the surcoat was also helpful with keeping ...

of fine chamois cloth, decorated with gold braid on the chest' and embroidered with the Imperial coat of arms. Their weapons consisted of a snap-clasped Treuille-de-Beaulieu breech-loading

falling-block A falling-block action (also known as a sliding-block or dropping-block action) is a single-shot firearm action in which a solid metal breechblock slides vertically in grooves cut into the breech of the weapon and is actuated by a lever. Desc ...

pinfire A pinfire cartridge is an obsolete type of metallic firearm cartridge in which the priming compound is ignited by striking a small pin which protrudes radially from just above the base of the cartridge. Invented by Frenchman Casimir Lefaucheux in ...

carbine A carbine ( or ) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges. The smaller size and lighter ...

, 9 mm caliber, unusual in that it fired from an

open bolt A firearm is said to fire from an open bolt if, when ready to fire, the bolt and working parts are held to the rear of the receiver, with no round in the chamber. When the trigger is actuated, the bolt travels forward, feeds a cartridge from t ...

. The straight cavalry sword issued to Cent-Gardes could be fixed to this carbine as a sword-

bayonet A bayonet (from French ) is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit on the end of the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar firearm, allowing it to be used as a spear-like weapon.Brayley, Martin, ''Bayonets: An Illustr ...

, forming together a monstrous, more than 2 meters long '' fusil-

lance A lance is a spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior or cavalry soldier ( lancer). In ancient and medieval warfare, it evolved into the leading weapon in cavalry charges, and was unsuited for throwing or for repeated thrusting, unlike si ...

'' (pictured here). A more usual

smallsword The small sword or smallsword (also court sword, Gaelic: or claybeg, French: or dress sword) is a light one-handed sword designed for thrusting which evolved out of the longer and heavier rapier of the late Renaissance. The height of the small ...

was worn with walking out dress.

Campaigns

In 1854 the

Lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Jacques Félix Auguste Lepic was the commanding officer succeeded in 1855 by Colonel Baron Albert Jacques Verly. The latter remained in command of the squadron until 1870, with

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Arnaud Ernest Junqua as his second-in-command from 1857. The Cent-gardes escorted the Emperor during the

Second Italian War of Independence The Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Franco-Austrian War, the Austro-Sardinian War or Italian War of 1859 ( it, Seconda guerra d'indipendenza italiana; french: Campagne d'Italie), was fought by the Second French Empire and t ...

Magenta Magenta () is a color that is variously defined as pinkish- purplish-red, reddish-purplish-pink or mauvish-crimson. On color wheels of the RGB (additive) and CMY (subtractive) color models, it is located exactly midway between red and blue. I ...

and

Solferino Solferino ( Upper Mantovano: ) is a small town and municipality in the province of Mantua, Lombardy, northern Italy, approximately south of Lake Garda. It is best known as being close to the site of the Battle of Solferino on 24 June 1859, par ...

where Verly, serving in the field as commander, was wounded in his arm. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 part of the squadron accompanied the Emperor to

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

, and during the

Battle of Sedan The Battle of Sedan was fought during the Franco-Prussian War from 1 to 2 September 1870. Resulting in the capture of Emperor Napoleon III and over a hundred thousand troops, it effectively decided the war in favour of Prussia and its allies, ...

they were constantly at his side. The squadron was disbanded by a decree of 1 October 1870 and the serving Cent-gardes were transferred to the Second Regiment of

Cuirassiers Cuirassiers (; ) were cavalry equipped with a cuirass, sword, and pistols. Cuirassiers first appeared in mid-to-late 16th century Europe as a result of armoured cavalry, such as men-at-arms and demi-lancers, discarding their lances and adop ...

, which served dismounted in the defense of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

following the dissolution of the Second Empire. The black horses of the Cent-gardes were amongst the animals butchered to feed the starving population during the Siege of Paris.

Bibliography

*Albert Verly, ''L'escadron des cent-gardes'', Ollendorff, Paris (1895). Illustrations in colour and in black and white by Félix Régamey.

References

;Attribution *''Part of this article has been derived from the translation of the corresponding article of the French Wikipedia. A list of contributors can be found there at the'
History
''section''.

External links

*{{commons-inline, Cent-Gardes Cavalry units and formations of France Military units and formations established in 1854 1854 in France Second French Empire Royal guards 1854 establishments in France