Units of History - Rise of Napoleon's Old Guard (1789-1803) (Part 1) DOCUMENTARY

In this history documentary series we will seek to explore thr rise and fall of Napoleon's most elite soldiers, the Old Guard. Part 1 begins with their origins in the guard institutions of the French Monarchy and the units which arose in the following period of the French Revolution. We see the pivotal role that these early soldiers played in securing Napoleon's rise to power and how they would eventually transform into the most elite corp of the Grand Armee of the French Empire. Specifically we will be taking a look at the origins and equipment of these early Old Guard forces before turning to their preliminary service history from Marengo to Boulogne. We will later be covering the Campaigns of the Third and Fourth Coalitions with the contributions of the Guard to the Battle of Austerlitz, the Battle of Waterloo, and more.

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:16 Origins
03:43 Guards of the Republic
06:46 Rise of Napoleon
10:23 Imperial Guard
12:01 Equipment
15:51 Weapons
19:55 Battle of Marengo
21:29 Outro

Sources:
"La Grande Armée" by Georges Blond
"Napoleon's Guard Infantry" by Osprey Publishing
"Swords around the Throne: Napoleon's Grande Armée" by Elting
"The Anatomy of Glory: Napoleon and his Guard" by Lachouque
"Historical Dictionary of Napoleonic France, 1799-1815" by Connelly
"The Eagle in Splendour: Napoleon I and His Court" by Mansel
"Les grenadiers de la Garde" by Rousselot
"Les marins de la Garde" by Rousselot
"Napoleon et ses grognards" by Dupont
"Histoire anecdotique, politique et militaire de la Garde impériale" by Emile Marco de Saint-Hilaire

Credits:
Research = Daniel Messman
Script = Invicta
Narration = Guy Michaels
Art = Penta Limted

#history
#documentary
#napoleon

[InvictaHistory]

So... this was supposed to be just one episode but the Old Guard could not be done justice so we will be expanding this into a multi-part series tracing the specific exploits of the Old Guard over the course of Napoleon's campaigns. I hope it offers some fresh insights on these wars from the perspective of its most vaunted veterans.

[ArchonShon]

Soldiers of my Old Guard, I bid you farewell. For twenty years you have been my constant companions on the road to honour and glory. In these latter times, as in the days of our prosperity, you have never ceased to be models of courage and fidelity. - Napoleon Bonaparte

[aiphaton]

I love how you used the Napoleon Bonaparte Main Theme from Napoleon Total War at the start. It is just like when you boot up the game.

[Burma]

OMG THEY NAMED HIM AFTER THE BADGE IN GUTS AND BLACKPOWDER!!!😱😱😱

[breakerdawn]

OH MY GOD! Please don't stop at just the Old Guards, let's do every elite guard in history. I want to see more about the Varangian, Praetorian, Janissaries and more. So much more elite guards.

[IllogicalThinker]

The Old Guard is such a legendary unit.

[filipsoltys]

the french musket was probably not significantly more accurate than any other at the time, the real difference was that french soldiers were regularly trained at shooting. most other armies at the time only had their troops practice live fire a couple times a year! the french on the other hand regularly practiced, and had a much higher allotment of ammunition for target shooting.

[ZazyCat]

Respect to them for getting to wave 36

[EoDuque]

The TOTAL WAR SOUNDTRACK on this video HITS HOME, editors knew EXACTLY what they were doing hahahah.... CONGRATS GUYS !

[oskar]

Can never get enough of these 'Units of History' videos. Good stuff. Keep them coming!

[SipSipTutorial]

We boutta escape san sebastian with this one 🔥🔥🔥

[dosapa]

G&B players: Old guard is real?? Even with its own lore????11!

[romainfr]

You seem to have forgotten a very important part of the old guard : the cavalery. The régiment de chasseurs à cheval de la garde (Mounted Chasseurs of the Imperial Guard) and the régiment de grenadiers à cheval de la garde (Mounted Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard) were also part of the old guard and were also quite impressive and important. Several other units also joined the old guard like the gendarmes d'élites de la garde and the dragons de l'impératrice.

[Mateo-sclm]

Hi, just a little correction of title, Napoléon was emperor of the french, not of france

[cathalogara]

The Napoleon Total War music is just majestic 🇫🇷🦅

[bottasheimfe]

I remember watching a video made by Zee Bashew where he talks about how the term "grognard" came to exist as describing older TTRPG players and supposedly the origins of the term came out of a version of the War Game Strategos centered on the Napoleonic era made by one of the guys who was involved in the development of D&D and "les grogneurs" was used to describe the Old Guard because they got the rarest of achievements as a Military Unit, they were allowed to complain. so Grognard was taken from that whole bit to describe players who, like the Immortals, complained about things

[AngryCenturion]

It is impossible to describe the joy overflowing in my heart upon seeing this.

[Praxitos]

When you talked about the Corps of Grenadiers along Chasseurs, I had wished you mentioned the Middle Guard, alongside Young Guard.
You should've noted how the Old Guard often was renown for their (ironically) oldness and veterancy within the Napoleonic Campaigns, but It could be of noted that the Middle Guard was sometimes made up of many experienced yet more younger energetic rankers, although the Imperial Guard was mostly used as a Military Academy to train possible Non-Commissioned Officers, alongside officers for future regiments.
I wished you also noted that alongside the guard following Napoleon to Egypt, he also returned with Mameluks serving as his personal bodyguard at times.

I have to thank you though, I appreciate the series you're doing with the Napoleonic Wars!

[thehorselesshussar]

Their reference as the immortals is two fold, it was both a term of reverence and respect, especially by the later Marie-Luise Conscripts, but also in a sarcastic, dismissive tone, as Napoleon rarely ever committed his Guards unless the battle was already won, or if their simple presence would be enough to win the battle.

[Dutchcomentatah]

Could you look into De Ruyter's mariniers? They weren't the first special forces, but they were a historical footnote in the importance of amphibic operations. Love your breakdown of historic elite units!