The French Imperial Army was the army of the First French Empire, which existed between 1804 and 1815. Renowned for its organization, discipline, and innovative tactics, it was considered one of the m
A dragoon from Napoleon's Empress's Dragoons of the Imperial Guard
Vive L'Empereur, painting by Édouard Detaille in 1891, depicting the French 4th Hussar Regiment conducting a cavalry charge at the Battle of Friedland
An actor at the Lion's Mound in Waterloo in 2025 reenacts the preparation of a cannon.
Lancer, fusilier, and officer of the Strasbourg National Guard during the Hundred Days campaign. The unit formed part of the Army of the Rhine, though never saw full combat.
French Royal Army
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The French Royal Army was the principal land force of the Kingdom of France. It served the Bourbon dynasty from the reign of Louis XIV in the mid-17th century to that of Charles X in the 19th, with an
French Imperial Army (1804–1815)
…well as its reliance on centralized command under Napoleon. The Imperial Army succeeded the French Revolutionary Army, and was in turn succeeded by the French Royal Army in 1815. The beginnings of the Imperial Army were seeded in the reorganisation of the French Army in 1803, which helped pave the way for the well-known…
Louis XIV
Louis XV
The French and allied armies confronting each other at Fontenoy. The blue-clad French troops in the foreground are members of the French Guards.
French troops storming Redoubt #9 during the Siege of Yorktown