IV Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée)

The IV Cavalry Corps of the Grande Armée was a French military unit that existed during the Napoleonic Wars. The corps was created in 1812 and rebuilt in 1813 and 1815. Emperor Napoleon I first organized the corps for the invasion of Russia. Under General Victor de Fay de La Tour-Maubourg, the corps fought at Borodino. During the War of the Sixth Coalition in 1813, General François Étienne de Kellermann commanded the all-Polish corps at Leipzig. During the Hundred Days in 1815, Napoleon reconstituted the corps and nominated General Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud to direct it. Composed entirely of cuirassier regiments, the two divisions fought at Ligny and Waterloo.

IV Cavalry Corps
Active1812–1815
Country First French Empire
BranchArmy
TypeCavalry corps
EngagementsRussian campaign
War of the Sixth Coalition
War of the Seventh Coalition
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Victor de Fay de La Tour-Maubourg
François Étienne de Kellermann
Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud

History

1812
Saxon cavalrymen at left attacking Russian cuirassiers at Borodino

At the beginning of the invasion of Russia, the IV Cavalry Corps numbered 7,964 troopers in 40 squadrons with 24 cannons attached. The corps was placed under the leadership of General Victor de Fay de La Tour-Maubourg and organized into two divisions under Generals Alexander Rozniecki and Jean Thomas Guillaume Lorge. Rozniecki's 4th Light Cavalry Division was made up of Poles while Lorge's 7th Heavy Cavalry Division consisted of Poles, Saxons, and Westphalians. Along with three infantry corps, the corps formed part of the Second Support Army under King Jérôme Bonaparte.[1] On 9 July 1812, General Casimir Turno's 900-strong brigade of Rozniecki's division was defeated by 4,500 Cossacks under General Matvei Platov at Karelichy. The 3rd, 15th, and 16th Lancers lost 356 men killed, wounded, or captured. The next day, near Mir, 1,600 troopers of Rozniecki's division were again defeated in a clash with a mixed force of 5,000 Russians, including Russian regular infantry and cavalry plus Cossacks. Elements of the Polish 2nd, 3rd, 9th, 11th, 15th, and 16th Lancer Regiments were engaged. The Russians suffered 180 casualties while Polish losses are unknown.[2]

The IV Cavalry Corps was engaged at the Battle of Borodino on 7 September 1812. The 4th Light Cavalry Division deployed three regiments of Polish uhlans backed by two Polish horse artillery batteries. The 7th Heavy Cavalry Division counted two regiments of Saxon, two of Westphalian, and one of Polish cuirassiers, supported by one Saxon and one Westphalian horse artillery batteries.[3] The final attack on the Great Redoubt occurred at 2:00 PM. Prince Eugène de Beauharnais sent three infantry divisions in a frontal attack, while the III Cavalry Corps advanced on the left and the II Cavalry Corps and IV Cavalry Corps advanced on the right. The cavalry on the right-hand side soon trotted past the marching infantry and drove for the left side of the redoubt. According to the Saxon colonel of the Zastrow Regiment, the young-looking La Tour-Maubourg deftly led the corps past the left end of the redoubt. Galloping over dead bodies from the earlier fighting, Lorge's cuirassiers were the first into the fieldwork. Some cavalrymen forced their way through embrasures while others swept around the rear. Massed inside the Great Redoubt, the Russian infantry refused to give up as infantrymen and horsemen engaged in a wild frenzy of slaughter. When the French infantry finally burst into the fieldwork from the front, they quickly massacred the remaining defenders. Witnesses later described a ghastly scene with some corpses torn apart by artillery fire and others stacked several layers deep.[4]

After the capture of Moscow, the French cavalry under Marshal Joachim Murat were assigned to watch the Russian camp near Tarutino. Camped in the open, men and horses sickened and died in large numbers. By mid-October, General Thielmann reported that the Saxon cavalry brigade could only muster 50 horses.[5] La Tour-Maubourg led a remnant of his corps at the Battle of Krasnoi on 16 November 1812. On this occasion, the corps held off Russian cavalry and Cossacks, allowing the retreating army to utilize the main highway.[6] About the time of this action, many units of the main army simply dissolved.[7]

1813–1814
Michał Sokolnicki

When the 1813 summer armistice ended, the IV Cavalry Corps counted 3,923 horsemen in 24 squadrons with 12 artillery pieces attached. Napoleon appointed General François Étienne de Kellermann to lead the formation. During the spring campaign, the Polish Army under Prince Józef Poniatowski was isolated near Warsaw. By an agreement with the Allies, the Poles were permitted free passage to join Napoleon's forces in Saxony. From the Allied perspective, the arrangement freed up a large number of troops who would otherwise be required to contain the Poles.[8] The Poles were allowed to march through neutral territory of Austria. The IV Cavalry Corps was instructed to assemble at Bautzen along with the I Corps under General Dominique Vandamme. All told, 37,000 soldiers including 5,000 cavalry and 88 guns were massed at Bautzen.[9] On 27 September, the IV Cavalry Corps and the VIII Corps under Poniatowski were located at Waldheim.[10] At this time, corps strength was about 3,000 troopers and 12 guns.[11] On 14 October, 8,550 cavalrymen including the IV Cavalry Corps, V Cavalry Corps, General Frédéric de Berkheim's division of the I Cavalry Corps, and a Polish cuirassier regiment engaged the Allies at Liebertwolkwitz. Though the French held their ground, the combat was not a success because Murat's dense tactical formations were fended off by only 5,570 Allied horsemen.[12] One source credited Kellermann's corps with only 1,800 combatants in the action.[13] At the start of the Battle of Leipzig on 16 October, the IV Cavalry Corps was positioned directly behind Poniatowski's corps.[14] The corps comprised the 7th and 8th Light Cavalry Divisions under Generals Michael Sokolnicki and Antoni Pawel respectively. Each division had two brigades consisting of two regiments each. In both divisions, three regiments were made up of uhlans and one of hussars. All corps units were Poles with the exception that one of the two horse artillery batteries was French.[15] When Napoleon ordered the retreat, Kellermann's corps was directed to accompany the Imperial Guard and several other units.[16]

The III Cavalry Corps under General Jean-Toussaint Arrighi de Casanova and the IV Cavalry Corps under General Horace François Bastien Sébastiani de La Porta served in Marshal Jacques MacDonald's command during the first week of February 1814.[17]

1815
Horseman outfitted as a French cuirassier in 2011

During the Hundred Days, Napoleon reconstituted the IV Cavalry Corps and appointed General Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud to lead it. The two divisions were commanded by Generals Pierre Watier and Jacques-Antoine-Adrien Delort. Each division comprised two brigades of two cuirassier regiments. The corps included the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th, and 12th Cuirassier Regiments.[18] At the beginning of the campaign, the corps numbered 2,556 horsemen, 313 artillerists, and 12 guns.[19]

The corps fought at the Battle of Ligny on 16 June 1815, with only the 6th, 9th, and 10th Regiments engaged.[20] At 7:00 PM, Napoleon launched the Imperial Guard supported by Milhaud's cuirassiers in an assault on the Prussian lines. After the attack broke through, Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher led his cavalry in a counterattack. The Prussian horsemen were repulsed and Blücher's horse was killed. The Prussian commander was ridden over by cuirassiers twice amid the fighting, but a member of his staff managed to rescue him.[21]

At the Battle of Waterloo on the 18th, Milhaud's two divisions and the Imperial Guard light cavalry took position on the right flank, behind the I Corps.[22] At 1:30 PM, Napoleon sent General Jean-Baptiste Drouet's I Corps at the British lines, supported by General Étienne Jacques Travers' cuirassier brigade.[23] The heavy cavalrymen enjoyed a quick success when they caught the Hanoverian Lüneburg Light Battalion in line formation behind La Haye Sainte and cut it to pieces.[24] Soon after, the cuirassiers were attacked and routed by the British Household Cavalry Brigade.[25] Later in the day, Marshal Michel Ney ordered Milhaud to send one brigade of cuirassiers to charge what he erroneously believed to be a retreating enemy. By some mistake, Delort's entire division moved to the attack followed by the rest of the IV Cavalry Corps as well as the Guard light cavalry. The unsupported French cavalry hurled itself at the British infantry squares, cannons, and cavalry but were beaten back.[26] Again and again the cavalry returned to the attack but every charge was repelled. Soon, the III Cavalry Corps and the Guard heavy cavalry joined in, but every charge failed. By 6:00 PM, the superb French reserve cavalry was ruined as a fighting force.[27]

Order of battle

Borodino, 1812
Victor de La Tour Maubourg

IV Cavalry Corps: General of Division Victor de Fay de La Tour-Maubourg

  • 4th Light Cavalry Division: General of Division Alexander Rozniecki
    • 1st Brigade: General of Brigade Casimir Turno
      • 3rd Polish Uhlan Regiment (3 squadrons)
      • 11th Polish Uhlan Regiment (3 squadrons)
      • 16th Polish Uhlan Regiment (3 squadrons)
    • Divisional Artillery:
      • 3rd Polish Horse Artillery Battery (6 guns)
      • 4th Polish Horse Artillery Battery (6 guns)
  • 7th Heavy Cavalry Division: General of Division Jean Thomas Guillaume Lorge
    • 1st Brigade: General of Brigade von Thielemann
      • 14th Polish Cuirassier Regiment (2 squadrons)
      • Saxon Garde du Corps Regiment (4 squadrons)
      • Saxon Zastrow Cuirassier Regiment (4 squadrons)
    • 2nd Brigade: General of Brigade Lepel
      • 1st Westphalian Cuirassier Regiment (4 squadrons)
      • 2nd Westphalian Cuirassier Regiment (4 squadrons)
    • Divisional Artillery:
      • Saxon 2nd Horse Artillery Battery (6 guns)
      • Westphalian 2nd Horse Artillery Battery (6 guns)

Source: "Order of Battle of Borodino". napolun.com. 2007. Retrieved 24 August 2013.

Leipzig, 1813
François de Kellermann

IV Cavalry Corps: General of Division François Étienne de Kellermann

  • 7th Light Cavalry Division: General of Division Michael Sokolnicki
    • 17th Light Cavalry Brigade: General of Brigade Jozef Tolinski
      • 3rd Polish Uhlan Regiment (4 squadrons)
      • 1st Polish Chasseur Regiment (4 squadrons)
    • 18th Light Cavalry Brigade: General of Brigade Jan Krukostoweicki
      • 2nd Polish Uhlan Regiment (4 squadrons)
      • 4th Polish Uhlan Regiment (4 squadrons)
  • 8th Light Cavalry Division: General of Division Antoni Pawel
    • 19th Light Cavalry Brigade: General of Brigade Casimir Turno
      • 6th Polish Uhlan Regiment (4 squadrons)
      • 8th Polish Uhlan Regiment (4 squadrons)
    • 20th Light Cavalry Brigade: General of Brigade Jan Weyssenhoff
      • 1st Polish Hussar Regiment (4 squadrons)
      • 10th Polish Uhlan Regiment (4 squadrons)
  • Corps Artillery:
    • Polish Horse Artillery Battery
    • French 2nd Company of the 4th Horse Artillery Regiment

Source: "French Order of Battle at Leipzig". The Napoleon Series. 2004. Retrieved 13 September 2013.

Édouard Milhaud

Waterloo, 1815
  • IV Cavalry Corps,[28] commanded by Lieutenant Général Édouard-Jean-Baptiste, Comte de Milhaud
    • 13th Cavalry Division (13éme Division de Cavalerie), commanded by Lieutenant Général Pierre Watier, Comte de Saint-Alphonse
      • Ambulance Divisionnaire de 13éme Division de Cavalerie (Divisional Ambulance for 13th Cavalry Division)
      • 1st Brigade (1ére Brigade), commanded by Maréchal de Camp Jacques Dubois, Baron de Thimville
        • 1ére Régiment de Cuirassiers (1st Regiment of Cuirassiers), 43 Officers and 422 Troops in 4 Squadrons, commanded by Colonel the Comte de Ordener
        • 4éme Régiment de Cuirassiers (4th Regiment of Cuirassiers), 30 Officers and 284 Troops in 3 Squadrons, commanded by Colonel Habert
      • 2nd Brigade (2éme Brigade), commanded by Maréchal de Camp Etienne Jacques Travers, Baron de Jever
        • 7éme Régiment de Cuirassiers (7th Regiment of Cuirassiers), 22 Officers and 158 Troops in 2 Squadrons, commanded by Colonel Richardot
        • 12éme Régiment de Cuirassiers (12th Regiment of Cuirassiers), 24 Officers and 234 Troops in 2 Squarons, commanded by Colonel Thurot
      • 13th Cavalry Division Artillery (Artillerie de 13éme Division de Cavalerie)
        • 5éme Compagnie du 1ére Régiment d'Artillerie à Cheval (5th Company of the 1st Horse Artillery Regiment), 3 Officers and 75 Troops, equipped with Four 6-pounder guns and two 5.5-pounder howitzers
        • 8éme Compagnie du 1ére Escadron du Train d'Artillerie (8th Company of the 1st Artillery Train Squadron), 2 Officers and 79 Troops
    • 14th Cavalry Division (14éme Division de Cavalerie), commanded by Lieutenant Général Jacquse Antoine Adrien, Baron de Delrot
      • Ambulance Divisionnaire de 14éme Division de Cavalerie (Divisional Ambulance for 14th Cavalry Division)
      • 1st Brigade (1ére Brigade), commanded by Maréchal de Camp Pierre Joseph, Vicomte Farine de Creux
        • 5éme Régiment de Cuirassiers (5th Regiment of Cuirassiers), 39 Officers and 479 Troops in 3 Squadrons, commanded by Colonel the Baron de Gobert
        • 10éme Régiment de Cuirassiers (10th Regiment of Cuirassiers), 32 Officers and 327 Troops in 3 Squadrons, commanded by Colonel the Baron de Lahuberdière
      • 2nd Brigade (2éme Brigade), commanded by Maréchal de Camp Jacques, Baron de Vial
        • 6éme Régiment de Cuirassiers (6th Regiment of Cuirassiers), 22 Officers and 263 Troops in 3 Squadrons, commanded by Colonel Martin
        • 9éme Régiment de Cuirassiers (9th Regiment of Cuirassiers), 34 Officers and 378 Troops in 4 Squadrons, commanded by Colonel Bigarne
      • 14th Cavalry Division Artillery (Artillerie de 14éme Division de Cavalerie)
        • 4éme Compagnie du 3éme Régiment d'Artillerie à Cheval (4th Company of the 3rd Horse Artillery Regiment), 4 Officers and 82 Troops, equipped with four 6-pounder cannons and two 5.5-pounder howitzers
        • 6éme Compagnie du 3éme Escadron du Train d'Artillerie (6th Company of the 3rd Artillery Train Squadron), 1 Officer and 78 Troops

Source: Haythornthwaite, Philip J. (1974). Uniforms of Waterloo. New York, NY: Hippocrene Books. pp. 183–187. ISBN 0-88254-283-4.

Notes
  1. Chandler, David G. (1966). The Campaigns of Napoleon. New York, NY: Macmillan. p. 1112.
  2. Smith, Digby (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill. p. 379. ISBN 1-85367-276-9.
  3. "Order of Battle of Borodino". napolun.com. 2007. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  4. Zamoyski, Adam (2005). Moscow 1812: Napoleon's Fatal March. New York, NY: Harper Collins. pp. 278–281.
  5. Zamoyski (2005), pp. 348-349
  6. Zamoyski (2005), p. 422-423
  7. Smith (1998), p. 403
  8. Maude, Frederic Natusch (1908). The Leipzig Campaign 1813. New York: The Macmillan Co. p. 148.
  9. Petre, F. Loraine (1912). Napoleon's Last Campaign in Germany, 1813. New York: John Lane Company. p. 172.
  10. Maude (1908), p. 227
  11. Maude (1908), p. 233
  12. Maude (1908), pp. 251-252
  13. Petre (1912), p. 318
  14. Petre (1912), p. 354
  15. Millar, Stephen (2004). "French Order of Battle at Leipzig: The Southern Sector". The Napoleon Series. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  16. Petre (1912), p. 368
  17. Weil, Maurice (2012). "The Campaign of 1814: Chapter 8, Part 2". The Napoleon Series. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  18. Haythornthwaite, Philip (1974). Uniforms of Waterloo. New York, NY: Hippocrene Books. p. 183. ISBN 0-88254-283-4.
  19. Haythornthwaite (1974), p. 187
  20. Smith (1998), p. 535
  21. Libert, Alfons (2004). "The Battle of Ligny". The Napoleon Series. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  22. Chandler (1966), p. 1064
  23. Chandler (1966), p. 1077
  24. Haythornthwaite (1974), p. 14
  25. Chandler (1966), p. 1078
  26. Chandler (1966), pp. 1080-1081
  27. Chandler (1966), pp. 1084-1085
  28. "Les Uniformes pendant la campagne des Cent Jours - Belgique 1815". centjours.mont-saint-jean.com. Retrieved 21 July 2020.

References

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