by David Vazquez Fernandez
The Guard had its origin in the Consular Guard,created on 28 November 1799 by the union of the Guard of the Directory and the Grenadiers of the Legislature (Grenadiers près de la Représentation nationale). These formations had for principal purpose the security of the executive and legislative branches of the French Republic and gathered a small number of soldiers, about a thousand. The Consular Guard changed its name to the Imperial Guard on 18 May 1804. Its headquarters were located at the Pentemont Abbey in Paris.
Napoleon took great care of his Guard, particularly the Old Guard. The Grenadiers of the Old Guard were known to complain in the presence of the Emperor, giving them the nickname Les Grognards, the Grumblers. The Guard received better pay, rations, quarters, and equipment, and all guardsmen ranked one grade higher than all non-Imperial Guard soldiers. Other French soldiers even referred to Napoleon’s Imperial Guard as “the Inmortals”.
Guard was the elite within the wider Imperial Guard.
