Napoleon's Uniforms and Equipment of the Grande Armée Series

by Paul Lindsay Dawson

Pen & Sword books. This is the first of 8 books in the series covering the entirety of the French Army 1789 to 1815. Two decades work to get to this point, and over 1,000 archive boxes. No one has ever studied the dress and equipment of a nations army over a 25 years period down to company level. A huge investment on my part in cash and time which I hope is worth it.

1. Hussars & Chasseurs (published 2nd November 2023)

2. Cuirassiers & Carabiniers (published 17th may 2024)

3. Napoleon's Army at Austerlitz (autumn 2024)

4. Dragoons & Lancers (november 2024)

5. Line Infantry 1806-1812

6. Line Infantry 1812-1815

7. Light Infantry, National Guard i.e 134e-156e de Ligne and Support Troops

8. French Army of the Revolution and Marengo

In design stage is our forthcoming title on the clothing and equipment of Napoleon's Light Cavalry. This will be followed by the Cuirassiers and Carabiniers, and then Dragoons and Lancers.

Hot on the heels of the Chasseurs and Hussars will be the Cuirassiers and Carabiniers. Each of the 19 regiments of cuirassiers is covered. The story explores the long gestation of the cuirassier arm, starting with the 8e Cavalerie, through to the Cuirassiers du Roi formed in 1814. A lot of myths are busted on the way about what the cuirassiers wore - scarlet epaulettes were a luxury not every man had a pair is just one - and the evolution of their armour. The so called 'officers pattern' cuirass of 1804 are no such thing, and are much older than 1804! Not forgetting the carabiniers and their mythical sky blue undress uniforms. Dragoons and Lancers will follow, and thence at the end of 2023 the first of the three volumes assessing the Ligne, Légère, Garde Nationale, Artillerie and Génie plus the troops of the Train.

Napoleon’s Hussars and Chasseurs: Uniforms and Equipment of the Grande Armée, 1805-1815

256 pages £35

small men, with big egos and moustaches, the hussars of Napoleon’s army wore some of the most flamboyant and stylish uniforms of the epoch. The uniforms of the 17 regiments of hussars are discussed in detail, along with the dress of their brethren in the 32 regiments of chasseurs a cheval, with an emphasis on highly elaborate dress of the trumpeters. Archive documents which have never been previously used to study the subject will be used for the first time: many of these documents have not been published in French and have never appeared as translations. Illustrated with contemporary illustrations, original items of uniform and reconstructions of uniforms, this is the definitive guide to the dress of the Napoleon’s light cavalry.

Napoleon’s Heavy Cavalry: Uniforms and Equipment of the Cuirassiers and Carabiniers, 1805-1815

224 pages £28

Created during the Peace of Amiens, the nineteen regiments of cuirassiers that existed during the course of the 1e Empire were, after the Imperial Guard, perhaps the most famous and recognisable soldiers of the epoch. This book explores the long gestation of clothing and equipping the cuirassiers, the development of the arm from 12 regiments to 21 – if we include the carabiniers from 1811 – and how their clothing evolved across the period. As well as assessing the curiassiers, the story of the evolution of the uniforms of the carabiniers is also told. Much ink has been spilt on the two regiments and their uniforms, yet, as with the cuirassiers, precious little archive research has been carried out.

This is one of a series of ground-breaking books which will be the defacto study of this perennially popular subject for historians, researchers, wargamers, re-enactors and artists. Using archive records to ‘set the record straight’, as well as contemporary illustrations and original items of uniforms, the author sets out to describe the uniform of every regiment of Napoleon’s army. Using archive sources found in the Archives Nationales and Service Historique de l'Armee de Terre in Paris, the author’s unrivalled research over a period of twenty years, will reveal exactly how, for the first time in over 200 years, Napoleon’s army was mounted, clothed and equipped. Having been granted to access to over 1,000 archive boxes, the author assesses how the regulations were adopted in practice. This vast resource, as yet untapped by the majority of researchers and historians for understanding the Napoleonic era in general, include the many regimental archive boxes preserved in the French Army archives. These sources provide, potentially bias free empirical data from which we can reconstruct the life story of a regiment, its officers and above all its clothing. What did trumpeters wear? Did cavalry regiments really have sapeurs? We answer these questions and present the reality of how regiments were dressed derived from diaries, letters, inspection returns, regimental accounts and even cases of fraud. For the first time, this unique series of books discusses the wide ranging 1806 uniform regulation and the more famous Bardin regulation which applied to all arms of the Army and explores the way in which regiments on campaign adopted and adapted their uniforms. For the first time since the days of Napoleon, we can say exactly what was worn by the French army.