Napoleon's Brick Guard and Army

Wearing distinctive fur hats called colbacks (which could be topped by tall red plumes), the Horse Artillery of the Imperial Guard would ride, ideally, black horses. Hat style and horse colour were symbols of the unit's elite status. The horse artillery was part of the Imperial Guard ever since the guard was formed in 1804 (and already part of Bonaparte's Consular Guard before that) whereas foot artillery companies were added later.  Usually, the artillerymen on horseback, armed with a short cavalry sabre and a pistol (or pistols) for self-defence, would follow their cannons. There was no point for the cannoneers to arrive on the battlefield before the guns anyway.  Capable of more speed when travelling than the foot artillery (whose men had to follow the cannons on foot), operating almost the most powerful weapons available (for the sake of speed, the horse artillery typically would not use the heaviest field cannons, such as the 12-pounder, but slightly lighter ones, su...

  As I wanted my voitures - pièces ("piece-carts", i.e. the vehicle made of a limber and the cannon it's towing) to be able to carry "real" ammunition capable of being fired by the toy cannon rather than making a maybe more period-looking and scale-accurate smaller ammunition crate  - possibly carried on top of the gun as it was in the Gribeauval system - but unable to contain the one-by-one circular projectile bricks, the arrangement of limber, cannon and ammunition crate I ended up with is quite similar to what an An XI voiture-pièce would've looked like. The An XI system of artillery was devised by the French and slowly implemented (not with a resounding degree of success) starting in 1803 (or An XI / year eleven, according to the revolutionary calendar). The aim of the new system was to improve on the Gribeauval system of artillery (inherited by Napoleon from the Ancien Régime) and remedy some of its flaws. One thing that was done was to have the small...

  I've read somewhere that Napoleon's horse artillery had used an ammunition wagon shorter and lighter than the classic Gribeauval ammunition wagon. Supposedly, this smaller wagon had no spare wheel at the rear and no additional chest or tool box at the front to keep the vehicle as light as possible. I don't know if such vehicles were ever used by the French line (i.e. regular army) or Guard horse artillery, and if so if they were widespread but the principle seems to make sense. As the horse artillery, whose gunners were mounted on horses and whose guns were no heavier than the relatively light 8-pounder, was able to deploy more quickly and was nimbler than the foot artillery, it's logical that they could've wished for lighter ammunition wagons able to follow the horse artillery's movements as closely as possible so that the guns could be loaded and used without having to wait for the longer and bulkier wagons to arrive.  It's worth reminding though that th...

  The contraption being shown in this article is an artillery gin. A gin is a device, often consisting of a tall tripod to which a winch is attached, used to hoist heavy loads off the ground. Here you can see two artillery workmen and two veteran cannoneers of the Imperial Guard using a gin to lift a heavy 12-pounder cannon tube. Gins were indispensable in arsenals or artillery parks to hoist hefty tubes and position them onto  cannon carts for example. In the field, if need be, simpler and improvised devices might've been used instead of the somewhat cumbersome gin to perform the same tasks. The winch and its hook were connected to the cannon using a rope or chain and then by turning the winch pulling levers the tube was slowly lifted from the ground. When the tube was high enough in the air, the desired cart could be brought underneath the gin which, like this model, had to be quite tall to be able to straddle even the highest models of cannon carts. At last, the tube woul...

  As many as 15 cuirassier regiments formed the bulk of Napoleon's heavy cavalry during the First French Empire. In 1810, the two carabiniers regiments were also equipped with armour similar to the cuirassiers' and therefore became in effect a type of cuirassier unit. The cuirassiers were considered elite units (as shown by their red epaulettes and red plumes). Although they were at some point equipped with carbines and pistols, the cuirassiers would mainly use their long straight swords while charging enemy troops. The effectiveness of the cuirass (the torso armour consisting of a breast plate and back plate) worn by the cuirassiers has been endlessly debated, especially regarding its use against firearms. What is certain though is that the cuirass offered a solid protection against bladed weapons including swords, lances and bayonets.  The cuirass, along with the helmet and its mane protecting the neck, the leather gauntlets and to some extent the epaulettes made the cuiras...

  The Polish Lancers were an 1807 addition to Emperor Napoleon's Imperial Guard. They are said to have fought valiantly and even heroically on some occasions and some Polish Lancers would even accompany Napoleon during his brief exile on the island of Elba in 1814. In the field or for travel, the lancers could keep their czapka (hat) protected and clean by wearing a cover on top of it. The trumpeters' uniform went through various iterations (they also had of course different uniforms for parades, ordinary occasions, etc.). For now, I've made do with swapping a Polish Lancer's tunic and trousers for a Dutch Lancer's while keeping the Polish hat. (I'll do the reverse for the Dutch Lancers' trumpeter.) As this company rides light-coloured horses, for accentuated contrast I've given the trumpeter a white horse rather than a grey one like the other trumpeters have. Officer Lancer with a hat cover Farrier Officer in charge of the company Perhaps slightly confu...