Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Groups, Theory of" to "Gwyniad": Volume 12, Slice 6Various
Science
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Groups, Theory of" to "Gwyniad": Volume 12, Slice 6
Various
Encyclopedias and dictionaries
The _Gardes francaises_, formed in 1563, did not form part of the
_Maison_. They were an infantry regiment, as were the famous _Gardes
suisses_, originally a Swiss mercenary regiment in the Wars of
Religion, which was, for good conduct at the combat of Arques,
incorporated in the permanent establishment by Henry IV. in 1589 and
in the guards in 1615. At the Revolution, contrary to expectation, the
French Guards sided openly with the Constitutional movement and were
disbanded. The Swiss Guards, however, being foreigners, and therefore
unaffected by civil troubles, retained their exact discipline and
devotion to the court to the day on which they were sacrificed by
their master to the bullets of the Marseillais and the pikes of the
mob (August 10, 1792). Their tragic fate is commemorated by the
well-known monument called the "Lion of Lucerne," the work of
Thorvaldsen, erected near Lucerne in 1821. The "Constitutional,"
"Revolutionary" and other guards that were created after the abolition
of the _Maison_ and the slaughter of the Swiss are unimportant, but
through the "Directory Guards" they form a nominal link between the
household troops of the monarchy and the corps which is perhaps the
most famous "Guard" in history. The Imperial Guard of Napoleon had its
beginnings in an escort squadron called the Corps of Guides, which
accompanied him in the Italian campaign of 1796-1797 and in Egypt. On
becoming First Consul in 1799 he built up out of this and of the guard
of the Directory a small corps of horse and foot, called the Consular
Guard, and this, which was more of a fighting unit than a personal
bodyguard, took part in the battle of Marengo. The Imperial Guard,
into which it was converted on the establishment of the Empire, was at
first of about the strength of a division. As such it took part in the
Austerlitz and Jena campaigns, but after the conquest of Prussia
Napoleon augmented it, and divided it into the "Old Guard" and the
"Young Guard." Subsequently the "Middle Guard" was created, and by
successive augmentations the corps of the guard had grown to be 57,000
strong in 1811-1812 and 81,000 in 1813. It preserved its general
character as a _corps d'elite_ of veterans to the last, but from about
1813 the "Young Guard" was recruited directly from the best of the
annual conscript contingent. The officers held a higher rank in the
army than their regimental rank in the Guards. At the first
Restoration an attempt was made to revive the _Maison du Roi_, but in
the constitutional regime of the second Restoration this semi-medieval
form of bodyguard was given up and replaced by the _Garde Royale_, a
selected fighting corps. This took part in the short war with Spain
and a portion of it fought in Algeria, but it was disbanded at the
July Revolution. Louis Philippe had no real guard troops, but the
memories of the Imperial Guard were revived by Napoleon III., who
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