Royal French Dragoon Guards

The cavalry of the time can be roughly divided into two categories: light cavalry and heavy cavalry. Further subdivisions included: breastplate cavalry (Cuirassier); musket cavalry (Carabinier: this word should be translated as "carabinier", the early cavalry only this type of cavalry equipped with muskets, hence the name. However, by Napoleon's time, all cavalrymen had muskets, which was not unique to this type of cavalry, so I don't know if this is the right translation, please help!) The Dragoon, the Hussar, the Chasseur, the Lancer, the Cossack, and so on, just to name a few. Let's take a look at each of these types of cavalry.

Heavy Cavalry:

As the name implies, the riders and horses of the heavy cavalry were taller and stronger than those of the light cavalry. The early Napoleonic breastplate cavalry even required a height of 1.8 meters or more, and the horses used were limited to a certain strong breed from the Normandy region (specifics are ominous)! Heavy cavalry was an important assault force on the battlefield, used to break through the weakness of the enemy line; to give the already shaken enemy a devastating blow. With this in mind, armies of all nations at the time rarely assigned heavy cavalry to tasks other than battlefield assaults. Heavy cavalry included: breastplate cavalry, musketry cavalry, and the British dragoons.

Breastplate Cavalry: The distinctive feature was that the riders were equipped with breastplates. Breastplate consists of two plates, front and rear, the main material is iron, buckles and rivets are brass (French), connected by leather straps with polished surface. The weight of the breastplate was about 8 kilograms. At that time, all countries in continental Europe had breastplate cavalry formations, and only England did not introduce breastplate cavalry until after the Battle of Waterloo. There has been controversy over the use of breastplates. Undoubtedly, the main advantage of breastplate is that it provides some protection against rifle bullets and improves the cavalry's survivability. In addition, a polished breastplate could serve as a psychological deterrent. The disadvantages were that the heavy breastplate placed a higher demand on both men and horses, and thus the overhead of supplying breastplate cavalry was far greater than that of other types of cavalry. And once you lose your mount, the bulky breastplate cavalryman becomes unable to move an inch. In addition to breastplate, breastplate cavalrymen were also equipped with helmets. French helmets are also made of iron, with fur surrounding the lower portion, and topped with a brass rondelle headdress, complemented by a horse's mane.

Dragoons: Early dragoons were a type of mounted infantry, which gradually evolved into a type of cavalry. During the Napoleonic era, the dragoon cavalry was more complex. In the absence of breastplate cavalry, dragoons were a form of heavy cavalry in the British army (the other two were close guard units: the Life Guard and the Close Guard Dragoons). In addition to the Dragoons, the British army also had the Light Dragoons, which were a type of light cavalry. In Russia, Austria and Prussia, Dragoons are considered to be light cavalry. France is much harder to tell, and several books at hand consider the French Dragoons to be Heavy Cavalry or Light Cavalry. However, several of the more authoritative authors consider the French dragoons to be a separate category. I'm also more inclined to this argument. It is no exaggeration to say that the dragoons were the "multi-purpose service" of the French army. In addition to the usual tasks of light and heavy cavalry such as pursuit, reconnaissance, covering lines of communication, and storming the enemy lines, Napoleon retroactively utilized the dragoons to fight dismounted. This is a combination of cavalry power and infantry firepower, quite a bit of "motorized infantry" flavor. What is even more exaggerated is that in 1805, the French army even organized a number of "Foot Dragoon" (Foot Dragoon) regiments, the purpose is to cross the sea and land in England to make use of the British horses! The use of dragoons varied from country to country, as did their attire. Most dragoons in France, Austria and Russia were equipped with helmets topped with either a mane or a crown. British dragoons were either equipped with helmets or bearskin hats, and light dragoons were plain tube army hats. Prussian and some smaller nations' dragoons are equipped with ordinary caps.

Light Dragoons:

Requirements for personnel and horses were relatively low. For example, the Hungarian Hussars in the Austrian Army required riders over 1.68 meters tall and horses about 1.48 meters tall. Light cavalry, due to the lack of heavy armor, coupled with a lighter rider, has a higher locomotive power than heavy cavalry. Therefore, in addition to battlefield tasks, light cavalry were more often engaged in reconnaissance, pursuit, cover lines of communication and other tasks. Light cavalry mainly included: hussars; hunter cavalry; gun cavalry and Cossacks.

Hussar: Hussar was a type of light cavalry that existed in all European countries at the time.The word Hussar is derived from the Latin word cursarius, meaning invader or raider (Raider), especially referring to the bandits that appeared in the northern Balkan region. It was later borrowed by the Magyars of Hungary to refer to light cavalry. Hussars were known for their ornate dress and liked to distinguish themselves from other cavalrymen by the dazzling colors, weaving, patterns, headdresses, laces, etc. of their uniforms. The distinctive sign was the short cloak-like tunic hanging down from the left shoulder, which originated from the Turkic tribes of the Magyar region. In addition, since the hussar's clothes were tight and had no pockets, the hussar's pouch, in which he kept his personal belongings, became another characteristic feature of the hussar. The pouches were attached to the armed belt, hung down naturally, and were usually decorated with various patterns. The flamboyance of the pouches, combined with the cavalry's original uninhibited, ranger-like style, made the hussar's private life a bit of a flirtation, not to be trifled with.

The hunter cavalry: again unique to France, the French army had its first hunter cavalry in 1779. During the Napoleonic period, the hunter cavalry became the mainstay of the French light cavalry. Compared to the hussars, the hunter-cavalry had simpler and cheaper clothing, so it was easier to expand and replenish. Even so, by 1815 the French Hunt Cavalry still had at least 18 types of caps used in different cavalry regiments. It is worth noting that a set of Colonel's uniforms for the Close Quarter Hunting Cavalry was one of Napoleon's most beloved pieces of clothing.

Gun Cavalry: once considered an obsolete type of cavalry by the French. Britain also never had a rifle cavalry establishment. The Austrian army, on the other hand, retained six regiments of rifle cavalry in 1792 and still had three in 1805. Both Prussia and Russia also had a constant presence of rifle cavalry throughout the Napoleonic era. The three countries called their riflemen Uhlan, not Lancer, and Napoleon, attracted by the fighting prowess of the Polish riflemen during the Polish Campaign of 1807, recruited four squadrons of Polish volunteers into the Kommando Cavalry, which was reorganized into the Kommando Polish Riflemen (Kommando 1) in 1809, and the Kommando Dutch Lancers (Kommando Dutch) in 1810. In 1810, the Dutch Lancer Regiment was formed.) In 1810, the Dutch Lancer: 2nd Lancer Regiment was formed, also known as the "Red Lancer" because of the red color of its uniform tops, and in 1811, due to the outstanding performance of the Lancers, six regiments of Dragoons were further transformed into Lancers. The role of the Riflemen has also been debated. Its greatest strength was its ability to counter infantry squares to some extent. The spears used by the French lancers were 2.7 meters long, which was longer than any bayoneted rifle, so the lancers were able to attack the infantry in the squares first if they were not hit by bullets. The disadvantage was that the lancers were unsuitable for reconnaissance and guard duty in complex terrain, such as woods, and lost some of their function as light cavalry. Also, the rifle cavalry required more training. Because the spear was too clumsy for close combat with the opposing cavalry, the riflemen had to switch to sabers, so in addition to mastering the use of the spear, the riflemen had to be skilled in the use of the saber. Memoirs have documented 55 different training programs for the riflemen, 22 for cavalry, 18 for infantry, and 15 for basic training!