"How Old is your Guard?" Topic

I'm no self-styled expert on the French but from what I can see, Napoleon's Old Guard was created in 1806 and the regulations governing selection were very stringent and no doubt severely scrutinized. On-line sources have it that soldiers could not be over 35 years of age. My sums make the oldest rank-and-file member of the Guard by Waterloo no older than 44. If this is the case, why does everyone including many figure painters make them these grey haired Chelsea Pensioner types?

Actually the Guard was created in 2nd December 1799.
In 1806 there was created the second regiments on Guard.
And Guard wear wigs.. therefore the illusion of grey hairs..

I have several friends in their thirties who are quite grey, sometimes it is the miles not the years that turn you grey. I imagine that there were many hard miles that passed under the boots of the Old Guard.

Though I prefer the grizzled rather than ancient look. Hard men, doing a hard job, during a hard time.

When I was in 2nd ACR over in Germany in the mid 80s, I had never seen so many 20 and 21 year olds with gray hairs in my life before or since…and of course it's a given that many of your NCOs that are in their mid/late 20s and early 30s have gray hair/balding…

A hard life constantly campaigning and out in the field under constant stress ages you very quickly…I imagine it would have been the same back then.

I've seen it with my own two eyes.

Frank

… s'pose that makes me a candidate for the Guard; BUT why would I wear a French uniform? ;-)

My understanding is that the Old Guard Grenadiers and Chasseurs a pied powdered their hair rather than wearing wigs.

Tom

The Old Guard units that retained the queue powdered their hair, especially the infantry units (grenadiers and chasseurs). The Fusiliers-Grenadiers were given the honor of queueing their hair in 1809 after distinguishing themselves at Essling. Wigs were not worn. Coignet is an excellent reference for the Guard's uniform.

The Guard's ancestors pre-dated 1796 with the various guard units that were raised to 'guard' the government. There were two such units and they were the ancestors of the Grenadiers a Pied and the Grenadiers a Cheval. The other 'ancestor' was Napoleon's Guides-horse, foot, and artillery.

In 1799 the Consular Guard was created from these different units when Napoleon became First Consul. Fallou's history of the Imperial Guard has an excellent recounting of these units. The Consular Guard became the Imperial Guard in May 1804.

As well as the queue, the gold earring was also a part of the Old Guard's uniform.

B

War will make you old fast from what I have read.

Gents, Beside getting bald
I Have a big moustache greeting serge joe

I love the choice of advertisement for the Die Fighting II cover art at the top of this thread. Clever, or coincidental?

Even one generation ago people in their late forties looked "old" i can imagine that a 40 year old grumbler after 15 plus years of campaigning, sleeping in the open marching in all kinds of weather conditions etc. would look very old to us nowadays

My Minifigs 15mm Old Guard are 41. I painted them in 1973.

Marcel1809,

EXACTLY what I was driving at!

All those NCOs looked like they were in their late 30s/40s. They looked FAR older than that same age in civilian life.

Frank

Damn Howard, yours are older than mine. I painted mine in 1978. That makes them 36.

"My understanding is that the Old Guard Grenadiers and Chasseurs a pied powdered their hair rather than wearing wigs."

Thanks for cleaning this for me!
I supposed, that "powdered hair" mean wearing wigs.
So they powdered his own hairs.

In contrast to other Guards – The being in the Old Guard was not a position forever in the Guards, the idea was to serve a time in the Guard and then get transfered back to the line with a promotion – that does mean also men younger the 30 could be found there, I wouldn't paint the hair grey and they powdered the hair only for grand revues – and not in the field

Dear Sho Boki

No. powdering the hair does not mean wigs. Men back then frequently wore their hair long, and the powdering came last, -- after the hair was impregnated with tallow (grease) and painted. Then the powder was applied. This was a hold over from the previous century. Officers in the previous centuries wore their hair pretty much like a buzz cut today and wore wigs over it.

When I first got into Napoleonic Wargaming, I bought a CLS battalion of Old Guard from Hinton Hunt (British 20mm but closer to 25mm then) and they were my first painted unit. I wanted to get them on the table as soon as possible so did not finish the cuffs, collars, and trim. I thought I would get to it later. That was in 1968. I still have not finished them. 46 years ago.

Hi, All. Here are some quotes from the book Anatomy of Glory – THE besst souce of info on day-to-day life in the Guard.

When the Consular Guard was formed in 1800, it was commended by Murat, who wrote:
"The First Consul intends that the Guard shall be a model for the army. Admission will be restricted to men who have performed heroic actions, have been wounded, or have otherwise given proof in several campaigns of their bravery, patriotism, discipline, and exemplary conduct.

They must be not less than twenty-five, between 5' 10" and 6 feet of robust constitution and exemplary conduct. They must have participated in 3 campaigns in the Wars or Liberty and know how to read and write."

In 1806 every Line battalion was ordered a man to the Foot Guard by 1 July. The candidates must be under 35, 5' 10" for a Grenadier 5' 8" far a chasseur, with 10 years service, a good conduct record, and a citation for bravery.

In 1813 as the Guard was being built up after the Russian campaign Napoleon ordered:

An officer or NCO may not be admitted into the Old Guard until he has served 12 years and fought in several campaigns; a soldier must have served 10 years and fought in several campaigns; but 8 years service is sufficient to enter 2d Chasseurs and 2d Grenadiers.

On the subject of hair style:

"Combed their queues and tied them just two inches below the base of the skull"

In the Horse Grenadiers their commander prescribed a uniform length of hair; the queue must be six inches long.

"Both the Big Heels (Horse Grenadiers) and the Gaiter Straps (Foot Grenadiers) carried their heads high and wore their queues carefully powdered."

"Forming single file, each man dressed the hair of the man in front, tied his queue just 2 inches from the end, stuck the eagle pin into the knot, ans spread the powder with a brush."

Some post Waterloo paintings depict the Grenadiers as elderly (The "Last Stand of the Old Guard" by Hippolyte Bellange). No doubt the soldiers were bronzed and weather beaten – just like anybody today who works outdoors – but to suggest they were doddering old men is silly.All of the contemporary paintings and prints that I have seen do not suggest anything other than seasoned, mature soldiers.

Just my 2 cents!

Regards,

John

Not a Frenchmen in the house, sorry.

John,

Let's put this into a modern perspective…

Sounds very similar to the requirements needed to get into Delta Force or one of the elite ground forces nowadays…

Must have served at least 1 or 2 service tours, have multiple tours of combat duty, proven yourself in combat and even then….only the top soldier out of the 700+ soldiers in a battalion is deemed worthy enough…

These men are the best of the best, the cream of the crop…

These are men in their mid/late 20s, early 30s at the peak of their physical and mental powers with PROVEN combat experience to go with it…

You don't just volunteer for the Old Guard or get there fresh out of Basic Training…you have to prove yourself first!

You must EARN your way into that unit…

You could think of them as The Top Guns of their time…

Frank

zaevor2000: Well said!