Under the hooves of the Guard’s horses, fifteen centuries of French equestrian history can be heard, during which 70 military corps have served the nation, ensuring the respect of institutions, the security of the capital and the protection of sovereigns. The Republican Guard is the last descendant of these ancient formations and heir to prestigious military and civil traditions.
If cities have existed, chiefs and rulers have been concerned with protecting them, both from external aggression and from internal unrest. Placed at the gates of the city, the Gallo-Roman stationarii were replaced by the sergeants of the Frankish barrier to protect Lutetia, which had become Paris, and the intramural security was entrusted to poorly structured militias.
The beginnings of the republican guard: The Paris Watch
It was Clotaire II, in 595, who gave the Guet its first written regulation. Made up of men from the various trades practicing in the capital (hence the name “Guet des Métiers”), this organization survived year after year before being completed in the 10th century by a “Guet Soldé”, composed of the elite of the Parisian militias. In 1032, the provost of Paris took command of this force, sometimes called “Archers of Paris”.
Saint Louis reorganized this troop in 1254. He divided it into two corps: the Royal Guet, paid by the Crown and under the authority of the knight of the watch, and the Watch Seated (or sleeping), which was a variant of the Guet des Métiers; its role was to hold fixed posts and to lend a hand to the archers if necessary. After the death of Saint Louis, the Watch continued to undergo countless changes. The future Charles V made the Royal Watch a troop of crossbowmen on foot and on horseback. In 1559, Henri II abolished this corps which Henri IV re-established in 1594. Fighting the brigands and thieves that were rampant in Paris was not an easy task. Despite all the successive reforms, the Guet still did not manage to provide a suitable service. In 1666, Colbert reorganized the Guet company: he added an ordinance company of 50 cavalrymen under the orders of a police lieutenant general, and then attached the company of the Guard of Quays et des Ramparts to it. The merger of these 3 bodies in charge of the Parisian police and placed under the orders of the knight of the watch, will give birth to the Guard of Paris. Under the motto Vigilat ut quiescant, the 2 cavalry divisions and the 8 infantry divisions of the Guard fulfilled their mission until the Revolution abolished them.
The King’s House
The security of the city had to go hand in hand with that of the monarchs. Considered one of the finest institutions of the Old Regime, the Maison du Roy modestly opened with one hundred archers assigned to the protection of Charles VIL Three hundred years later, it included several thousand soldiers forming the elite of the royal armies, whose pomp and panache rivaled the bravery of the men in admirable feats of arms.
The military house of the kings of France was divided into 2 corps:
- the Guard of the Inside including: the Guards of the Body, the Guards of the Channel, the Guards of the Door, the Hundred-Swiss and the Guards of the Provost;
- the Garde du Dehors, including : Gendarmes, Chevau-Légers, Mousquetaires, Gardes Suisses and Grenadiers à Cheval.
Obviously, only the Garde du Dehors had mounted units. Suppressed in 1787, the Light-Horse did not shine militarily and proved, throughout their existence, to be very costly for the royal finances. The privileges of the King’s Police officers, a company created in 1602, were clearly superior to those of the Light-Horse. Divided into companies and squadrons under Louis XIII, the Household Gendarmerie was then composed of Musketeers and Mounted Grenadiers. They were all dismissed by Louis XIV in 1787.
Before becoming a literary genre, and later a cinematographic one, the Musketeers, proud of their nobility and the beautiful dress of their corps, provided brilliant soldiers to the armies of Louis XIV and Louis XV. Charles de Batz – alias d’Artagnan – is certainly the most famous! They were organized in 2 companies: the first one mounted on grey horses while the second one used black horse. It was in this corps that we saw the first horse drums. With the Grenadiers à cheval, Louis XIV created an elite troop. Sent at the head of the mounted troops to open the passages, it accomplished very honorable missions before being, like others, dissolved in 1776.
The death knell sounded for the monarchy in 1792, as well as for what remained of the various Guards that had made the glory of the House of the King.
From the National Guard of Paris to the Republican Guard of today
National, consular, imperial, royal, municipal, civic… the police force of the capital and the security of the country were not really institutionalized until the end of the 19th century. In the meantime, a succession of bodies – with an ephemeral existence – will follow the tumultuous life of the country, acting both in the capital and on the battlefields.
From the bourgeois militia active under Louis XVI, which constituted the National Guard, came the workforce of the divisions of the National Gendarmerie. The legion of the general police was in power from 1795 to 1796 before being dismissed in favor of a new National Guard. The Garde des Consuls, which became the Imperial Guard, was to the Empire what the Maison du Roy was to the Old Regime: an elite troop with exemplary loyalty. With its grenadiers on foot, its chasseurs on horseback who shared the task with the famous squadron of mamelukes, it shone by its military successes.
A new House of the King appeared afterwards and died out with the July Monarchy. Louis-Philippe attached the City Guard to the Police in 1838. The titles and prerogatives of the Guard were to change again until Louis-Napoleon finally placed this institution, in 1849, under the authority of the Ministry of War for its administration and under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior for its Parisian functions. “The Paris Guard, in charge of maintaining order within the city, should not be deprived of contributing to the greatness of the country outside, it will only return better and more respected. (Napoleon, 1806.)
By losing its reference to the capital in 1978, the Republican Guard of Paris confirmed its vocation to serve – not only the capital – but the entire nation, as did its countless predecessors.
The cavalry regiment of the Republican Guard
An integral part of the National Police, the Republican Guard is composed of two infantry regiments and one cavalry regiment, the only mounted unit in the French army. With its own staff, the cavalry is divided into three mounted squadrons and one unmounted squadron, which includes the brass band, the veterinary infirmary, and the training center (recently commanded by the only female officer in the regiment to date, Captain Jegaden).
It is in the heart of Paris, at the Celestins barracks, that the regiment’s general staff, the brass band, the non-commissioned squadron, and the 1st mounted squadron are located. The barracks were equipped with several stables housing 200 horses, a 25 m x 55 m riding arena, and a quarry. The 2nd and 3rd squadrons were stationed in Vincennes, at the Quartier Carnot. The regiment’s training center is in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in the Yvelines. It provides equestrian training for non-commissioned officers as well as horse breaking.
The regiment has more than 500 horses, distributed by dress in the units:
- chestnut horses in the 1st squadron;
- the light bays in the 2nd squadron;
- the brown bays in the 3rd squadron;
Only the brass band, which is mounted on chestnut horses, uses grey horses: these are the horses of the two timpanists.
The horses are all tall (on average 1.70 m at the withers) and are French Saddle, with a few Thoroughbreds and Anglo-Arabs. It is at the age of 5 years that they will live their “baptism of crowd” and first official service: the famous parade of July 14.
In addition to its military and official activities, the cavalry maintains a stable of competitions of an excellent level in the 3 disciplines.
The cavalry squadrons also provide a service of order on the racecourses, the surveillance of the forests of Ile-de-France, the security of certain official buildings but, it is in the services of honor that they are always the most admired and noticed. No one can remain insensitive to the pounding of hooves on the cobblestones or to the panache and poise of these guards dressed in superb uniforms and wearing sparkling helmets during presidential escorts, parades, taking up arms and other official ceremonies!
Horses and Band
Like some other military mounted formations, the cavalry regiment of the Republican Guard has set up “special” formations intended for prestigious missions during large public events. It thus offers 3 shows whose equestrian and artistic level is remarkable.
La Maison du Roy: a replay performed to the sound of oboes and tambourines by 6 riders in blue and silver Louis XV costume and 6 others in red and gold. This performance given with panache reminds the military and equestrian heritage of the Guard.
The Reprise des tandems: inspired by the work with the long reins taught by Pluvinel, expert squire of Louis XIII, the riders of the Guard had the original idea of creating a reprise featuring 16 horses and 8 riders. Their elegant evolutions illustrate marvelously this form of work with long reins that is the tandem.
The Carrousel of the lances: between the clatter of the red and white flames floating at the end of the lances, the clash of the sabers and the diversity of the figures carried out at a good train, this carrousel – composed of 4 quadrilles of 8 riders riding their own horse – offers a spectacle which combines to perfection the equestrian technique and the rigorous discipline attached to the great maneuvers of the cavalry of the past. And let’s not forget the brass band that has always sounded alongside the horses! Created in 1848, with a former naval trumpeter named Paulus at the head of 12 musicians, the Republican Guard brass band now has 300 musicians divided into several formations, including the cavalry regiment brass band. With its 40 musicians, it precedes the cavalry regiment on horseback during its official missions and contributes to perpetuating the great traditions of the French cavalry.
For more information: the cavalry regiment of the Republican Guard
