writes:
This new book on French heavy cavalry from 1720 to 1763 will be released by the end of September. Go to the Uniformology website for details.
The French cavalry of the 18th Century truly had its beginnings in the middle of the 13th Century with the Grande Ordonnance of 1445 issued by King Charles VII to provide a more modern cohesive method of defending the kingdom. It gave rules for the raising of troops and placed them under the command of officers or knights appointed by, paid by, and responsible to the king.
Improvements in the design of firearms during the wars of the 17th Century (see Uniformology Book 31) led to experiments with different formations, weapons, etc. By the end of the Century there were only four main formations left, the cavalry legère, dragoons, the carabiniers and the hussars or true light cavalry. We have confined the subject of this book to the uniforms of the cavalry legère and carabiniers. Although it translates to 'light cavalry', the Cavalry Legère was what we would now refer to as heavy cavalry designed for mounted combat against enemy cavalry and infantry formations. In coming titles, we will examine the dragoons and the hussars and light cavalry separately. Each of these three groups were designed for different purposes and duties with different weapons and equipment accordingly.
The subject matter of this book has required exhaustive research as contemporary information is scarce. The number of cavalry regiments rose and fell with high frequency and the names changed as rapidly when new commanders took over. The regimental colonels had considerable latitude when interpreting the dress regulations and changes were often not recorded.
The volume is lavishly illustrated with prints by Marbot and others, plus numerous full-color schematic illustrations of the uniforms.