| Grenadiers à Cheval | |
|---|---|
 "Heads up, gentlemen, these are bullets, not turds". Colonel Louis Lepic harangues the Grenadiers à Cheval as they are forming for a charge under intense fire at the Battle of Eylau in 1807. Painting by Édouard Detaille at the Chantilly Museum. | |
| Active | 1797 – 1814 1815 |
| Country |  French Empire |
| Branch | Imperial French Army |
| Type | Heavy cavalry |
| Size | Regiment |
| Part of | Imperial Guard |
| Headquarters & Dépôt | École Militaire, Paris |
| Nickname(s) | Les chevaux noirs de Bessières (Bessières' dark horses) |
| Engagements | Marengo, Austerlitz, Eylau, Essling, Wagram, Dresden, Leipzig, Hanau, La Rothière, Champaubert, Montmirail, Château-Thierry, Vauchamps, Reims, Craonne, Méry-sur-Seine, Waterloo |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Jean-Baptiste Bessières Michel Ordener Frédéric Henri Walther Claude Étienne Guyot Louis Lepic (second-in-command) |
The Mounted Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard (French: Grenadiers à Cheval de La Garde Impériale) was a heavy cavalry regiment in the Consular, then Imperial Guard during the French Consulate and First French Empire respectively. They were the senior Old Guard cavalry regiment of the Imperial Guard and from 1806 were brigaded together with the Dragoons of the Imperial Guard.[1]
A part of the Republican Consular Guard, the Grenadiers became the senior "Old Guard" heavy cavalry regiment when the Imperial Guard was founded, in 1804. Their maximum official complement was just over 1100 officers and troopers, commanded by a general of division or a seasoned general of brigade, with some of the most famous cavalrymen of the time as commander.
Rarely committed to battle during the Napoleonic Wars, they were usually kept in reserve, alongside the Emperor, during the most significant battles. When sent into action, such as during the battles of Marengo, Austerlitz, Eylau, Hanau or Waterloo, as well as during a number of actions of 1814, results were usually impressive. The regiment was disbanded in 1815, after Napoleon's downfall and the second restoration of the Bourbons.
- ^ Pigeard, 139-140.