Units of History - Rise of Napoleon's Old Guard (1789-1803) (Part 1) DOCUMENTARY

A documentary on the rise of Napoleon and his Old Guard! Go to buyraycon.com/Invicta to get 20-50% off sitewide during Raycon's Early Black Friday Sale! Brought to you by Raycon.
In this history documentary series we will seek to explore thr rise and fall of Napoleon's most elite soldiers, the Old Guard. Part 1 begins with their origins in the guard institutions of the French Monarchy and the units which arose in the following period of the French Revolution. We see the pivotal role that these early soldiers played in securing Napoleon's rise to power and how they would eventually transform into the most elite corp of the Grand Armee of the French Empire. Specifically we will be taking a look at the origins and equipment of these early Old Guard forces before turning to their preliminary service history from Marengo to Boulogne. We will later be covering the Campaigns of the Third and Fourth Coalitions with the contributions of the Guard to the Battle of Austerlitz, the Battle of Waterloo, and more.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:16 Origins
03:43 Guards of the Republic
06:46 Rise of Napoleon
10:23 Imperial Guard
12:01 Equipment
15:51 Weapons
19:55 Battle of Marengo
21:29 Outro
Sources:
"La Grande Armée" by Georges Blond
"Napoleon's Guard Infantry" by Osprey Publishing
"Swords around the Throne: Napoleon's Grande Armée" by Elting
"The Anatomy of Glory: Napoleon and his Guard" by Lachouque
"Historical Dictionary of Napoleonic France, 1799-1815" by Connelly
"The Eagle in Splendour: Napoleon I and His Court" by Mansel
"Les grenadiers de la Garde" by Rousselot
"Les marins de la Garde" by Rousselot
"Napoleon et ses grognards" by Dupont
"Histoire anecdotique, politique et militaire de la Garde impériale" by Emile Marco de Saint-Hilaire
Credits:
Research = Daniel Messman
Script = Invicta
Narration = Guy Michaels
Art = Penta Limted
#history
#documentary
#napoleon

[@InvictaHistory]

So... this was supposed to be just one episode but the Old Guard could not be done justice so we will be expanding this into a multi-part series tracing the specific exploits of the Old Guard over the course of Napoleon's campaigns. I hope it offers some fresh insights on these wars from the perspective of its most vaunted veterans.

[@masonmoore3473]

Sweet! 🎉

[@generalaigullletes5830]

Honestly *way* better of an analysis than I expected! I seriously cannot wait for your next video! The in-depth analysis on the Old Guard's origins and the Imperial Guard's origins was done quite well, and the information provided is useful to understanding the organization. Just wondering, if I'm allowed to ask, how do you guys make the battle photos (like at Marengo)?

[@tryagainbragg2569]

This is one of my favorite eras to learn about loved the vid keep up the good work

[@CJ-uf6xl]

Absolutely brilliant video, so glad it will be a series 😀

[@cobi_ren]

That’s great. Love your content. More videos the better in my book. Can’t wait for part 2.

[@ArchonShon]

Soldiers of my Old Guard, I bid you farewell. For twenty years you have been my constant companions on the road to honour and glory. In these latter times, as in the days of our prosperity, you have never ceased to be models of courage and fidelity. - Napoleon Bonaparte

[@Todesmorgen]

How many actually survived from the very Start... I wonder what kind of Storys they would had...

[@bloonic64]

@@Todesmorgen I would imagine that very few survived from the start. They suffered a lot of casualties throughout Napoleons reign, especially in Waterloo. But the ones that did probably had some pretty epic stories.

[@wartime-bu6cq]

@@bloonic64 especially the invasion of Russia

[@Prophetofthe8thLegion]

@@bloonic64I mean in general more people get wounded in war then die and those people tend to retire because getting shot or hit by shrapnel sucks so in reality there were probably quite a lot of “Old Guard veterans” however few of them were actually there from beginning to end, not just because of war but because 20+ years of service is a long time and most people would just retire anyways at some point.

[@tylermorrison420]

not exactly, at this time half the troops would die from sickness in most campaigns. moderen medicine is amazing@@Prophetofthe8thLegion

[@IllogicalThinker]

The Old Guard is such a legendary unit.

[@NathanielNerquaye-Tetteh-uz2nf]

Legendary units go out in legendary ways RIP the greatest French regiment

[@christophermichaelclarence6003]

@@NathanielNerquaye-Tetteh-uz2nf As French. The Old Guard are original British grenadiers Foot Guards. Makes me sad that unit is no longer exist

[@zoanth4]

@NathanielNerquaye-Tetteh-uz2nf if I remember correctly the old guard was nearly the size of a division

[@wolfgangkranek376]

Napoleon: "These are my children, my Immortals" Prussia: "This is Sparta!" Wellington: "Can we play the Athenians?" Russian's smirking ...

[@breakerdawn8429]

OH MY GOD! Please don't stop at just the Old Guards, let's do every elite guard in history. I want to see more about the Varangian, Praetorian, Janissaries and more. So much more elite guards.

[@MuhammadUsman-mi4jk]

They already did Varangians and praetorians they were really good vids esp the Varangian one

[@breakerdawn8429]

@@MuhammadUsman-mi4jk What about the Mongolian elite guards I forgot the name, oh and the Winged Hussars. So many potential!

[@MuhammadUsman-mi4jk]

@@breakerdawn8429your right I’d say units of history is my favorite series they do. They didn’t cover the guards you just mentioned yet but they covered lots of units including guard units and fantasy units too

[@bloodndestroy]

​@@breakerdawn8429 They‘re called Kheshig

[@andrewmartinez7559]

Jannisaires were homosexual child molesters

[@filipsoltys5504]

the french musket was probably not significantly more accurate than any other at the time, the real difference was that french soldiers were regularly trained at shooting. most other armies at the time only had their troops practice live fire a couple times a year! the french on the other hand regularly practiced, and had a much higher allotment of ammunition for target shooting.

[@redwithblackstripes]

its fairly well established that french weaponry was by in large more expensive and a step above in terms of build quality (pieces made from French gunsmiths of this era are still the most sought after in the collector market) it definitvely would have helped with practical accuracy.But you are right about the significance, we probably will never really know how much... As far as practice it really depended on the unit and the period, there were times were conscripts were urgently needed on the frontlines and were definitively sent without much practice at all,a well trained veteran voltigeurs regiment could probably exploit the advantages given by the build quality much better in comparison.

[@AtheAetheling]

Interesting. I know the British trained very regularly with live fire exercises, but went for reloading speed and platoon/volley fire training as opposed to accuracy, to enable fast shooting whilst in line formation, and they had their rifle regiments to worry about accuracy. It makes sense that the French trained a lot with live fire too though.

[@fuzztsimmers3415]

@@redwithblackstripes no musket is accurate. Doesmt matter how well made. Sure might not break as much but its going to affect accuracy

[@clemente365]

@@redwithblackstripes no, your comment is right for artillery (napoleon modernise them) not musket.

[@MMArigo]

I’ve heard the exact opposite about the French, that they were worse shots than the British troops because they trained less regularly with live ammunition…

[@aiphaton3741]

I love how you used the Napoleon Bonaparte Main Theme from Napoleon Total War at the start. It is just like when you boot up the game.

[@fraserihle4847]

Hahah glad I wasn’t the only one who noticed immediately 😂

[@spartnmarcen5110]

I like how I've been getting back into Napoleon Total War, and Holdfast, and a slew of Napoleon contents hits the Internet.

[@RagerTheStruggler]

haha fr such a goated theme song

[@fraserihle4847]

@@spartnmarcen5110 holdfast is such a massively underrated game and I’m so impressed it’s still going strong after 5/6 years!

[@waltermarine3248]

MY ENEMIES ARE MANY

[@dosapa]

G&B players: Old guard is real?? Even with its own lore????11!

[@alejandrorivas4585]

G&B?

[@ploppledoodledoo17]

@@alejandrorivas4585 Guts & Blackpowder, a zombie game set in the Napoleonic Wars

[@raphwithanael556]

​@alejandrorivas4585 it's a game on roblox about zombie survival set in the napoleon era

[@alejandrorivas4585]

@@raphwithanael556 thats neat! I'm still baffled at rolling still being around. I remember playing it like.... 18 years ago? Goodness

[@raphwithanael556]

😂

[@romainfr2981]

You seem to have forgotten a very important part of the old guard : the cavalery. The régiment de chasseurs à cheval de la garde (Mounted Chasseurs of the Imperial Guard) and the régiment de grenadiers à cheval de la garde (Mounted Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard) were also part of the old guard and were also quite impressive and important. Several other units also joined the old guard like the gendarmes d'élites de la garde and the dragons de l'impératrice.

[@idomalion6167]

They are in another video.

[@romainfr2981]

@@idomalion6167 I didn't know that, yet given the theme of the video I feel that they should have been mentionned.

[@unpseudopascommelesautres997]

oh un coupain

[@EoDuque]

The TOTAL WAR SOUNDTRACK on this video HITS HOME, editors knew EXACTLY what they were doing hahahah.... CONGRATS GUYS !

[@marshalmichelney-bc8qn]

Awe man…. No mention of Murat storming the chamber shouting “Citizens you have been disbanded! Now get this f’ing rabble out of here!” Or something like that lol. Murat was very instrumental in Napoleon’s coup

[@AngryCenturion576]

It is impossible to describe the joy overflowing in my heart upon seeing this.

[@GTayanes]

Same here.

[@rheinhardtgrafvonthiesenha8185]

You ever cup a fart and smell your hand?

[@kekoasiversons350]

@@rheinhardtgrafvonthiesenha8185 you ever hand a cup and smell you’re fart?

[@thehorselesshussar9813]

Their reference as the immortals is two fold, it was both a term of reverence and respect, especially by the later Marie-Luise Conscripts, but also in a sarcastic, dismissive tone, as Napoleon rarely ever committed his Guards unless the battle was already won, or if their simple presence would be enough to win the battle.

[@bottasheimfe5750]

I remember watching a video made by Zee Bashew where he talks about how the term "grognard" came to exist as describing older TTRPG players and supposedly the origins of the term came out of a version of the War Game Strategos centered on the Napoleonic era made by one of the guys who was involved in the development of D&D and "les grogneurs" was used to describe the Old Guard because they got the rarest of achievements as a Military Unit, they were allowed to complain. so Grognard was taken from that whole bit to describe players who, like the Immortals, complained about things

[@robertspeedwagon982]

Indeed ! "Grogne" is a word used to describe the noise angry animals (and sometimes people) makes. Grognard litteraly means "those who complain loudly"

[@Praxitos]

When you talked about the Corps of Grenadiers along Chasseurs, I had wished you mentioned the Middle Guard, alongside Young Guard. You should've noted how the Old Guard often was renown for their (ironically) oldness and veterancy within the Napoleonic Campaigns, but It could be of noted that the Middle Guard was sometimes made up of many experienced yet more younger energetic rankers, although the Imperial Guard was mostly used as a Military Academy to train possible Non-Commissioned Officers, alongside officers for future regiments. I wished you also noted that alongside the guard following Napoleon to Egypt, he also returned with Mameluks serving as his personal bodyguard at times. I have to thank you though, I appreciate the series you're doing with the Napoleonic Wars!

[@darkmantlestudios]

Why ironically?

[@Praxitos]

For being renown as a overall Veteran and well experienced unit, it's irony lies within its soldiers, their oldern individual aspect affected the old Guard. They were nicknamed the 'The Grumblers', for how much they grumbled about duties, this to the point where Napoleon himself allowed them to not wear proper uniform. Another regulation was allowed for them to personally grumble and complain to a regiment's staff, while normal line infantry weren't allowed this specific duty. It's why I mentioned the Middle Guard for potentially being a better unit in some cases, their energtic, disciplined, yet still young and fresh may differ from the Old, used to the common style Vieille Guard. @@darkmantlestudios

[@cpp3221]

@@Praxitos Well, the middle guard was routed at Waterloo, the old guard always triumphed (even if they weren't engaged in the sames conditions, I still think too much credit is given at the middle guard here).

[@Praxitos]

@@cpp3221In pure bitterness and stubbornness, the Old Guard triumphed, but I believe that in certain situations the Middle Guard could still be effective.

[@cpp3221]

@@Praxitos effective of course they were. But I'm just still salty about them being the only guard corps to rout.

[@breakerdawn8429]

Using the Total War Napoleon OST is just beautiful...so many memories of hours upon hours of playing the Grand European Campaign. Time to boot up Total War Napoleon again...

[@waltermarine3248]

WAIT FOR RESUPPLY SIMULATOR

[@Dutchcomentatah]

Could you look into De Ruyter's mariniers? They weren't the first special forces, but they were a historical footnote in the importance of amphibic operations. Love your breakdown of historic elite units!

[@stephenholcomb9278]

Very nice video! Looking forward to more exposition of the Old Guard's exploits. Will you also go over the Middle and Young Guard as well?

[@oskar6661]

Can never get enough of these 'Units of History' videos. Good stuff. Keep them coming!

[@lewisbloxham5546]

Another brilliant video. This is amazing history content and you should be proud of what you have achieved with this channel!

[@eastowestsaga2758]

This is already starting off so strong thank you for the great content!

[@josesantiago7983]

Documentaries all Day, every day!!!! Love the channel bro!!! Keep it up!!! 💯

[@Coolhandrup]

Very well put together! Love to see part 2??

[@joshwolverton3898]

YES, I've been waiting for the day for these soldiers to get a video 😍😍

[@davidhughes8357]

Excellent. Just in time for the premier!!

[@markalvarado4450]

always love seeing vidoes from invicta

[@gettysburgbrian]

Great video really appreciate all the work you do. Happy Thanksgiving!

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

Nice historical coverage video about early Napoleon Bonaparte campaign...thank you🙏 Invicta channel

[@robbabcock_]

Thanks for a wonderful video! ⚔🔥👏

[@-RONNIE]

Thanks for the video 👍🏻

[@username-password]

I am loving these. Extremely thorough.

[@AliThaDude]

The Total War: Napoleon theme goes hard.

[@user-bo7yp8lc6j]

The Old Guard is such a legendary unit.. Very well put together! Love to see part 2??.

[@TheSpritz0]

Can hardly wait for part 2, just subscribed!!!!

[@LuisAlfredoDeSouzaPereira]

Awesome work and video...!!

[@bonsai3547]

vielen Dank für die ganzen tollen videos!

[@lastone9744]

It’s great to see how one becomes a old guard

[@justinschiller6337]

Its the first time im this early on a Video and it did a good job hyping me for the Napoleon movie

[@CJ-uf6xl]

Would love to learn more about the Friekorps of this period 👍

[@oneshotme]

I very much enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up

[@arinaraphael1368]

Hi from France, great work as usual thank you.

[@Mateo-sc7lm]

Hi, just a little correction of title, Napoléon was emperor of the french, not of france

[@GetUpTheMountains]

Amateur hour historians make this mistake all the time. It's a litmus test as to whether or not to keep watching/reading.

[@julio5prado]

Very well done !

[@dansmith4077]

Great video

[@gui2683]

Nice video!

[@zachsmith2941]

Shout out to the napoleon total war music in the intro. Brought me back🥲🥲

[@carlitopalomares5584]

Can’t wait for part 2

[@elephantman2854]

Enjoyed

[@davidcollins2648]

The Immortals was reserved for the Gendarmes of the Guard. Brilliant video and the best explanation of 18 Brumaire. Excellent narration and images. Sorry but you switched the badges for grenadiers and chasseurs had none on their bearskin.

[@warc8us]

random bit of history I read recently: I was reading about the Italian War of Independence in 1859, where France aided Piedmont and Sardinia to push Austria out of Lombardy. This was during Napoleon III's reign in France. I guess there were still French Imperial Guard units wearing the First Empire uniforms of the Old Guard. Everyone else was wearing more "modern" stuff (think kepi hats ala Union soldiers in the Civil War) I thought that was kinda interesting.

[@TheSharadwaador]

The Neapolitan total war music going off in the intro hell yeah!

[@PR-ws8xq]

The sound of the music from total war makes this video much better.

[@janlindtner305]

Briliant feature👍👍👍

[@bohdantkachuk8295]

Nothing other then music makes great vid, and TW Napoleon music sends me to this great game

[@weon_absoluto]

YES love that we are seing more Napoleon

[@cathalogara9385]

The Napoleon Total War music is just majestic 🇫🇷🦅

[@sethralston5825]

I cant wait for part duex

[@xSavedSoulx]

The voice is so relaxing.

[@g_rec_attempt6782]

So so soooo good

[@tombenn1439]

I love the Napoleon total war music in the background

[@tobbi1983]

Ah, the good old NTW main theme music :) love it.

[@thecobaltemperor]

Some others to do 1. Colonial minutemen 2. German stormtroopers 3. The Mormon Legion 4. Potsdam Battalion 5.the Gurkhas 6. Aztec Jaguar Knights 7. The Spanish Conquistadors 8.Ottoman Janissaries 9. The Winged Hussars 10.Numidian Horsemen 11. Swiss Pikemen 12.Saint Patrick’s Battalion 13. French Foreign Legion 14. Comanche Raiders 15. Hun horse archers 16.Cretan archers 17. Balearic Slingers 18. Knights Hospitaller

[@tacticaljuice5271]

Yes!!

[@tmmccormick86]

Be awesome to see one on Legion Irlandaise

[@jtasgl88]

Love the Napolean Total War intro music 🫡

[@Titus_Vespasianus]

PLEASE do the cavalry of the Guard...the Horse Grenadiers and Polish Lancers are my two favorite units...

[@stixgrim8064]

Part One of 50 i hope

[@imperialsparta6372]

I love that I get an ad for the Napoleon movie before the video starts 😅

[@dabreucosta]

@InvictaHistory, on 14:15 it should be the grenade that is on the back of the bearskin of the Old Guard Grenadiers.

[@grantc.7838]

Concerned frightening enemy unit

[@Pepper1770]

I think I’ve been playing MW3 too much because the dude in this video reminds me of the character graves in Cod just without the age in the face

[@The_Honourable_Company]

Btw, what is the song that is used in the early intro of this video? I have heard this theme many times, but have never seemed to be able to get the original

[@danielrobillard0407]

Napoleon total war music in the background, nice

[@sahhaf1234]

That would be great...

[@JonathanRivera-dj6mm]

I think that people will think more about Napoleon than the Roman Empire! Great hit!

[@frederikbeckers8923]

When comes the 2nd part of the Finnish Skie troops? And can you make a video about the Lützower Jäger?

[@pepesilvia8365]

love the total war music

[@Ihavpickle]

YES

[@geemanamatin8383]

My favorite portion of the imperial guard, has to be the young guard. If a young man with no experience had any ambition of joining their ranks, then volunteering for the young guard was their best bet.

[@sisoyserrano2087]

A video about the organization of the grande armee would be cool

[@InvictaHistory]

We've got a True Size episode on that!

[@TheScotian82]

@@InvictaHistory I dont see it in the playlist

[@jamesmunn576]

​@@InvictaHistoryYou are about that?? It's not in there.

[@scottanno8861]

Vive L'Empereur!

[@sparkysparky999]

the way you guys explain things is so fucking good

[@benjamincolon5486]

Invicta can you do a video about homeownership in the ancient world? Be it Rome or Greece

[@laurentnicolas1550]

"La Garde meurt, mais ne se rend pas ! Merde !!" Général Cambronne, last Commanding Officer of the Vieille Garde at Waterloo

[@samdumaquis2033]

Interesting

[@fordhuguley8699]

When it comes to the music iykyk

[@GothPaoki]

Can't wait to see the movie tomorrow. Let's hope they did Napoleon justice . You never know with Hollywood. Oliver stone's Alexander is still painful to think.

[@Burke813]

It was bad bro, they focused too much on his relationship with his wife instead of his victories in battle. Very disappointing bro.

[@breakerdawn8429]

​@@Burke813I knew it, the trailers kept showed us his wife.

[@none2912]

It was a painful watch

[@ericthompson3402]

@@Burke813 That's how war movies are ruined.

[@jamesmunn576]

@@ericthompson3402 With personal relationships??? Lol! I agree to a point.

[@dancsati23able]

Napoleon total war music,cool :)

[@Leo_1975]

Sensacional

[@olivierpuyou3621]

Listening to you, one would say that it was Napoleon who declared all these wars, but it is not the case that all the European powers declared war on France, especially out of fear that the spirit of democracy would overwhelm their tyrannical royalty. And it took two decades for ALL of Europe to overcome France and the Emperor. Napoleon is undoubtedly the greatest military genius in history since it was written.

[@user-rc2yo1dt5v]

Only a frenchman could exagerate like this.

[@frontenac5083]

@@user-rc2yo1dt5v 🤡🤡🤡

[@TOC-1775]

@@user-rc2yo1dt5v Not an exaggeration

[@nikitaostrovsky8416]

Bro how high are you? France was literally an empire back then

[@olivierpuyou3621]

@@user-rc2yo1dt5v Exaggerated? Six coalitions. England, Prussia, Austria or the Holy Roman Empire, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Italian States (Savoy, Piedmont, Sicily), Russia, Netherlands and it is possible that I forget some of them. Isn't that all of Europe? From 1789, the date of the revolution at Waterloo, to 1815, isn’t that several decades old? Where is the exaggeration? You should open a history book from time to time to stop talking stupid things.

[@TheBaldbarian]

Please do a true scale of the grand armée.

[@cofritzbillard4110]

I love the theme from total war napoleon

[@FreeFallingAir]

Do not regret my fate; if I have consented to survive, it is to serve your glory. I intend to write the history of the great achievements we have performed together. Adieu, my friends. Would I could press you all to my heart. - Napoleon Bonaparte

[@thanhhagia7900]

is the part 2 coming up or what?

[@RamdomView]

I feel the part about the structure of the Directory could have been omitted.

[@NapoleonAquila]

10:00 you litteraly skipped Murat personaly lead the guard like in Ridley Scott's movie ironically

[@kendrick6740]

What’s the name of the choral piece at the start of the video? Would you mind crediting the music used in your documentaries for future videos as well?

[@LordSluggo]

It's the title screen music for Total War: Napoleon

[@napoleonibonaparte7198]

Never too late to bring back together again.

[@pedrotrianirodriguez3825]

Cool

[@Acatthatwantstobeeaten]

We boutta escape san sebastian with this one 🔥🔥🔥

[@Tnipples69]

Do not spread the gnb brainrot

[@adamnsexyname5836]

17:01 nice