Gardes Françaises

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Gardes Françaises
Active	1563-September, 1789
Country	France
Branch	Army
Type	Guard Infantry
Role	Infantry
Size	Six Battalions

The Gardes Françaises (English: French Guards) was one of two infantry regiments in the "Maison du Roi" (Household troops) of the French Army under the Ancien Régime. The other regiment was the Gardes Suisses, which made the Gardes Françaises the only one recruited from France.

[edit] History

The regiment was created in 1563 by Charles IX. It counted 30 companies in 1635 with 300 fusiliers per company. They were armed with a form of musket ("fusils") or steel-handled pikes, and were allowed to conduct a normal civilian life in times of peace.

At Catherine de Medicis' insistence, they were at first spread over several garrisons, but after the attempted kidnapping of King Charles IX near Meaux by Huguenots, the Gardes were brought back together specifically to protect the monarch.

In times of war the Gardes Françaises had the privilege of choosing their own battle positions (usually in the centre of the first line of infantry). Other privileges included being that of leading the assult when a wall was breached during a siege, the first choice of barracks, and special rights of trial. The subsequent image of the Gardes Françaises as a socially elite palace unit led solely by courtier officers may not be entirely true. In his history of Royal Guards "Pillars of Monarchy", Philip Mansell notes that the majority of the regimental officers were from outside Paris and that some, such as the future Maréchal Fabert did not have even the status of provincial aristocrats. The rank and file were recruited from all over France but through marriages and off duty employment quickly established local ties in Paris - a consideration which was to influence their behaviour at the outbreak of the French Revolution.

The sympathy shown by the Gardes Françaises for the French Revolution at its outbreak was crucial to the initial success of the rising. During weeks of disturbances from June to early July 1789 leading up to the fall of the Bastille the regiment initially obeyed orders and on several occasions acted against the increasingly unruly crowds. However in addition to local ties with the Parisians, the regiment was resentful of the harsh Prussian style discipline introduced by its colonel the Duc du Châtelet, who had taken up his appointment the year before. The officers of the regiment had negligently left day-to-day control in the hands of the non-commissioned officers, and had limited interaction with their men. These considerations led to mass desertions from 27 June on and the final defection of virtually all the rank and file on 14 July. Reportedly only one sergeant stood by the officers when they tried to reassemble their men. After playing a key role in the attack on the Bastille the regiment was formally disbanded in September 1789. The Gardes Françaises subsequently provided the professional core of the new Garde Nationale.