Mounted Chasseurs of the Imperial Guard

Mounted Chasseurs of the Imperial Guard
Chasseurs à cheval de la Garde impériale
Active1800 – 1814
1815
CountryFrance French Republic (to 1804)
France French Empire
BranchFrench Imperial Army
TypeLight cavalry
SizeLargest at 2 regiments
Part ofConsular Guard (to 1804)
Imperial Guard
HQ & DépôtÉcole Militaire in Paris
Nickname(s)The Invincibles
The Pet Children
Patronthe Emperor
Colors
EngagementsMarengo, Ulm, Austerlitz, Eylau, Friedland, Eckmühl, Wagram, Smolensk, Borodino, Maloyaroslavets, Dresden, Leipzig, Hanau, Château-Thierry, Craonne, Waterloo
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Eugène de Beauharnais
Nicolas Dahlmann (second-in-command)
Claude Étienne Guyot (second-in-command)
Charles, comte Lefebvre-Desnouettes
Charles Lallemand (second-in-command)

The Mounted Chasseurs of the Imperial Guard (French: Chasseurs à cheval de la Garde impériale) constituted a light cavalry regiment in the Consular, then Imperial Guard during the French Consulate and First French Empire respectively. They were the second senior "Old Guard" cavalry regiment of the Imperial Guard, after the Grenadiers à Cheval. The regiment had its origins in the Guides raised by General Bonaparte during his Italian Campaign of 1796. It was the Chasseurs that usually provided personal escort to Napoleon, and he often wore the uniform of the regiment in recognition of this service. The regiment was not only known for its lavish uniform, but its combat history as well.