Napoleon's Dragoons of the Imperial Guard

Dressed in distinctive green uniforms and classically inspired copper helmets, the Dragoons of the Imperial Guard were raised in 1806 by the same criteria as other Guard units - by selection of picked, literate veterans from Line regiments who had six to ten years of service, and citations for bravery in at least two campaigns. The following year they were named Dragons de l'Impératrice in a unique compliment to the Empress Josephine. As a ceremonial regiment it enjoyed many privileges, but it also saw combat on a number of occasions, including the battles of Essling and Wagram (1809), the Russian campaign (1812, when it suffered severe losses), at Bautzen, Wachau and Leipzig (1813), in the 1814 Campaign of France, and at Ligny and Waterloo (1815). The unparalleled documentary and pictorial sources to which Ronald Pawly has access inform this, the latest volume in his unique English-language coverage of the cavalry of Napoleon's Imperial Guard. It includes a history of the unit's organisation and service, uniforms and equipment, drawn from the original manuscript correspondence of Napoleon and his senior officers, orders and inspection reports, which survive in the Paris archives to this day. Interspersed with material on the records of particular individuals - their promotions, wounds and deaths in action - and illustrated with uniform prints, photographs of portraits and colour plates covering all ranks and orders of dress, this is the definitive history of a legendary Napoleonic regiment.

Ronald Pawly was born in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1956 and still lives and works in that city. He is a respected member of several international societies for Napoleonic studies, and an expert on 19th-century military portraiture. He is the author of the monumental The Red Lancers: Anatomy of a Napoleonic Regiment (Crowood Press, 1998), and of a study of Napoleonic veterans' tombs in Belgium. This is the eighth volume on the cavalry of Napoleon's Imperial Guard written by Ronald Pawly for Osprey.

Introduction Raising the regiment: the Imperial Decree of 15 April 1806 - recruitment Naming - the Empress Josephine Uniforms and equipment 1807: the Eylau and Friedland campaign - enlargement of regiment 1808 and 1810: service in Spain 1809: Essling and Wagram campaign 1812: raising and absorption of Young Guard squadron - service in Russia 1813: German campaign; battles of Bautzen, Wachau and Leipzig - reinforcement by regiment of Eclaireurs 1814: Campaign of France - defence of Champagne - battles of Brienne, Champaubert, Montmirail, Château-Thierry, Vauchamps, Montereau, Rheims, Craonne, Arics, St Dizier Paris - the First Abdication - disbandment and re-raising as Corps Royal de Dragons de France 1815: the Hundred Days - Ligny and Waterloo - final disbandment Bibliography