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...