II Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée)

The II Cavalry Corps of the Grande Armée was a French military unit that existed during the Napoleonic Wars. It was first formed in December 1806, but only enjoyed a brief existence under Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bessières. The II Cavalry Corps was reconstituted for the invasion of Russia in 1812 and commanded by General Louis-Pierre Montbrun who was killed in battle, as was his successor a few hours later. During the War of the Sixth Coalition, General Horace François Bastien Sébastiani de La Porta led the II Cavalry Corps in 1813, while General Antoine-Louis Decrest de Saint-Germain led the corps in 1814. During the Hundred Days, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte raised the corps again and entrusted it to General Rémi Joseph Isidore Exelmans.

II Cavalry Corps
Active1806, 1812-1815
Country First French Empire
BranchArmy
TypeCavalry corps
EngagementsWar of the Fourth Coalition
Russian campaign
War of the Sixth Coalition
War of the Seventh Coalition
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Jean-Baptiste Bessières
Rémi Joseph Isidore Exelmans
Louis-Pierre Montbrun
Antoine Decrest de Saint-Germain
Horace François Sébastiani

History

1806-1807

The II Cavalry Corps was formed on 16 December 1806 at the beginning of Napoleon's campaign in Poland. Placed under the command of Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bessières, it operated with the northern wing of the French corps that advanced across the Vistula. The remainder of the army's reserve cavalry formed the I Cavalry Corps under Marshal Joachim Murat. The II Cavalry Corps included the 2nd Dragoon Division under General Emmanuel de Grouchy, the 4th Dragoon Division led by General Louis Michel Antoine Sahuc, the 2nd Cuirassier Division commanded by General Jean-Joseph Ange d'Hautpoul, and the light cavalry division of General Jacques Louis François Delaistre de Tilly. The corps was dissolved on 12 January 1807.[1][2] The only notable action occurred at Bieżuń on 23 December 1806. After Grouchy's division seized Bieżuń on 19 December, the Prussian commander, General Anton Wilhelm von L'Estocq, sent Major Karl Anton Stephan de La Roche-Aymon and several units to recover the town. Upon arrival, the Prussians found that the French cavalry had been reinforced by infantry and artillery. Grouchy immediately attacked and drove La Roche-Aymon toward Soldau (Działdowo).[3] The French dragoons crowded a portion of the Prussian force against a swampy forest and forced the surrender of 500 men and 5 artillery pieces.[4]

1812-1814
Auguste Caulaincourt

The corps was reformed in 1812 for the invasion of Russia. Commanded by General Louis-Pierre Montbrun, the initial strength of the corps was 10,436 cavalry and 30 horse artillery pieces. General Horace François Bastien Sébastiani de La Porta led the 2nd Light Cavalry Division, General Pierre Watier directed the 2nd Heavy Cavalry Division, and General Jean-Marie Defrance commanded the 4th Heavy Cavalry Division.[5]

The heavy cavalry divisions included cuirassiers, as shown here.

The corps was heavily engaged at the Battle of Borodino on 7 September 1812. Early in the morning, the corps was moved up from reserve in support of Marshal Michel Ney's III Corps attacks on the flèches, during which Montbrun was killed.[6] Around 3:00 PM, the IV Corps under Viceroy Eugène de Beauharnais mounted a frontal assault on the Great Redoubt. The II Cavalry Corps, now led by General Auguste-Jean-Gabriel de Caulaincourt charged the Russian infantry lines to the south of the position. Breaking through, the cavalry wheeled to the left and galloped into the open back of the Great Redoubt just as Eugène's infantry fought their way in from the front. The four Russian infantry regiments defending the redoubt were annihilated. During the melee, Caulaincourt was slain while leading the 5th Cuirassier Regiment.[7]

After the disaster in Russia, Napoleon ordered four bodies of cavalry to be rebuilt for his army in Germany. These were the Imperial Guard cavalry, the I Cavalry Corps led by General Victor de Fay de La Tour-Maubourg, the II Cavalry Corps under Sébastiani, and the III Cavalry Corps under General Jean-Toussaint Arrighi de Casanova. The I and II Corps were to have three heavy and four light cavalry divisions.[8] On April 15, the II Cavalry Corps numbered 149 officers, 3,144 troopers, and 3,581 horses. By the end of April, the I Cavalry Corps had 172 officers, 3,343 men, and 3,705 horses deployed along the Elbe River.[9] The lack of trained horses and cavalrymen proved to be a major factor for the French defeat in 1813.[10] On 15 May, the size of the I Cavalry Corps had been raised to 9,800 troopers in 45 to 50 squadrons. That same day, the II Cavalry Corps in Ney's army numbered 3,000 horsemen in 15 squadrons.[11] At the battles of Lützen and Bautzen Napoleon only employed the I Cavalry Corps.[12] The II Cavalry Corps and the II Corps missed Bautzen because Napoleon was dazzled by the possibility of capturing Berlin. Belatedly, the emperor realized that the Allies were offering battle at Bautzen and giving him an opportunity to smash them. But his orders to Ney were too late for the two corps to arrive in time.[13]

After the summer armistice, the II Cavalry Corps numbered 10,304 men in 52 squadrons, supported by 18 guns.[14] The corps fought in the Battle of the Katzbach on 26 August 1813 under the overall command of Marshal Jacques MacDonald.[15] As the French crossed the Katzbach River, the cavalry became intermixed with the infantry, slowing down the advance. Early in the action, the II Cavalry Corps was driven off by Russian cavalry. The French infantry tried to hold off the charging Prussian and Russian horsemen but were unable to fire their muskets due to the heavy rain. When the Allied infantry advanced with bayonets and clubbed muskets, the French were routed. Fleeing down to the river bank the French foot soldiers found that the stream was now swollen by the rain and difficult to cross. Thousands were captured.[16] A few days later, Napoleon hurled abuse at Sébastiani for mishandling the cavalry, though the unfortunate general was allowed to remain in command.[17]

At the Battle of Leipzig on 16 to 19 October 1813, General Antoine-Louis Decrest de Saint-Germain led the 2nd Heavy Cavalry Division, General Nicolas François Roussel d'Hurbal commanded the 2nd Light Cavalry Division, and General Rémi Joseph Isidore Exelmans directed the 4th Light Cavalry Division. Altogether, the corps numbered 5,680 troopers and 12 guns.[18] On the 16th, the corps was attached to MacDonald's XI Corps in its attempt to turn the Allied right flank.[19] Around noon, the assault began and MacDonald drove back General Johann von Klenau's Austrian forces. At this time, Sébastiani's advance was held up by a Russian cavalry corps led by General Peter von der Pahlen at the village of Klein Possna.[20] Ultimately, Napoleon failed to smash the Allies that day and suffered the loss of Germany as a result of his defeat at Leipzig. The II Cavalry Corps played a key role at the Battle of Hanau on 30 October. Together with the Imperial Guard Cavalry, they smashed the Bavarian left flank.[21]

Saint-Germain commanded the II Cavalry Corps at the Battle of Vauchamps on 14 February 1814. It consisted of the 2nd Heavy Cavalry Division, also led by Saint-Germain, the 2nd Light Cavalry Division under General Frédéric de Berckheim, and two horse artillery batteries.[22] Saint-Germain led the 2,600-strong corps at the Battle of Laubressel on 3 and 4 March. General Antoine Maurin led the 2nd Light Cavalry Division.[23]

1815
Exelmans' corps consisted of eight dragoon regiments.

Napoleon reformed the II Cavalry Corps for the Waterloo campaign and appointed Exelmans to lead it. The corps comprised the 9th Cavalry Division led by General Jean Baptiste Alexandre Strolz, the 10th Cavalry Division under General Louis Pierre Aimé Chastel, and two horse artillery batteries. Each division was made up of two brigades and each brigade consisted of two dragoon regiments. The corps included the 4th, 5th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 17th, and 20th Dragoon Regiments.[24] Altogether, the corps numbered 2,817 horsemen, 246 artillerymen, and 12 artillery pieces.[25] On the afternoon of 15 June 1815, Exelmans led his cavalry in a vigorous pursuit of the Prussian rear guard. His dragoons defeated the 6th Uhlan Regiment and chased an infantry battalion out of the woods near Gilly.[26]

Exelmans was ordered to hold the right flank during the Battle of Ligny on 16 June.[27] On the 17th, he accurately reported the position of 20,000 Prussians at Gembloux, but he was unable to interfere with their retreat, having only 3,000 cavalry. On that day, his corps was placed under the command of Marshal Emmanuel de Grouchy.[28] On 18 and 19 June at the Battle of Wavre, Exelmans' corps played only a small role.[29] During the fighting on the 19th, Strolz held the extreme left flank on the west bank of the Dyle River while Chastel watched the far right flank on the east bank.[30] There was a clash at Namur on the 20th in which the 20th Dragoon Regiment of the II Cavalry Corps was engaged.[31]

In one of the last actions of the Napoleonic Wars, Exelmans led Strolz's division, the 2nd Cavalry Division under General Hippolyte Guillaume Piré, three battalions of the 44th Line Infantry Regiment, and a half battalion of the Sèvres National Guard in hunting down Oberstleutnant Eston von Sohr's Prussian cavalry brigade. In the Battle of Rocquencourt on 1 July, the 3rd Brandenburg and 5th Pommeranian Hussar Regiments were wrecked, suffering 500 casualties out of the 750 horsemen in Sohr's brigade. French losses were negligible.[32]

Order of battle

December 1806
Jean-Baptiste Bessières

The following organizations and unit strengths are from October 1806.
Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bessières[33]

  • 2nd Cuirassier Division: General of Division Jean-Joseph Ange d'Hautpoul (1,927, 3 guns)
    • Brigade: General of Brigade Jean Verdière
      • 1st Cuirassier Regiment, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th squadrons
      • 5th Cuirassier Regiment, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th squadrons
    • Brigade: General of Brigade Raymond-Gaspard de Bonardi de Saint-Sulpice
      • 10th Cuirassier Regiment, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th squadrons
    • Artillery: 2nd Horse Artillery, 4th company (-), two 6-pound guns, one 6-inch howitzer
  • 2nd Dragoon Division: General of Division Emmanuel de Grouchy (2,915, 3 guns)
    • Brigade: General of Brigade Mansuy Roget
      • 3rd Dragoon Regiment, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd squadrons
      • 4th Dragoon Regiment, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd squadrons
    • Brigade: General of Brigade Jacques Milet
      • 10th Dragoon Regiment, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd squadrons
      • 11th Dragoon Regiment, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd squadrons
    • Brigade: General of Brigade André Joseph Boussart
      • 13th Dragoon Regiment, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd squadrons
      • 22nd Dragoon Regiment, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd squadrons
    • Artillery: 2nd Horse Artillery, 2nd company (-), two 8-pound guns, one 6-inch howitzer
Louis Sahuc
  • 4th Dragoon Division: General of Division Louis Michel Antoine Sahuc (3,129, 3 guns)
    • Brigade: General of Brigade Pierre Margaron[34]
      • 17th Dragoon Regiment, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd squadrons
      • 27th Dragoon Regiment, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd squadrons
    • Brigade: General of Brigade Jacques Léonard Laplanche
      • 18th Dragoon Regiment, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd squadrons
      • 19th Dragoon Regiment, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd squadrons
    • Brigade: unknown commander
      • 15th Dragoon Regiment, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd squadrons
      • 25th Dragoon Regiment, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd squadrons
    • Artillery: 6th Horse Artillery, 4th company (-), two 8-pound guns, one 6-inch howitzer
  • Cavalry Division: General of Division Jacques Louis François Delaistre de Tilly (1,623)[35]
    • 2nd Hussar Regiment, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd squadrons
    • 4th Hussar Regiment, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd squadrons
    • 5th Chasseurs-à-Cheval Regiment, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd squadrons

September 1812
Louis-Pierre Montbrun

General of Division Louis-Pierre Montbrun †[36] (10,436, 30 guns)[37]

  • 2nd Light Cavalry Division: General of Division Horace François Bastien Sébastiani de La Porta
    • 5th Hussar Regiment (4 squadrons)
    • 9th Hussar Regiment (4 squadrons)
    • 11th Chasseurs-à-Cheval Regiment (4 squadrons)
    • 12th Chasseurs-à-Cheval Regiment (4 squadrons)
    • Prussian Uhlan Regiment, four squadrons
    • 3rd Württemberg Jägers zu Pferde Regiment (4 squadrons)
    • 10th Polish Hussar Regiment (4 squadrons)
  • 2nd Cuirassier Division: General of Division Pierre Watier
    • 5th Cuirassier Regiment (4 squadrons)
    • 8th Cuirassier Regiment (4 squadrons)
    • 10th Cuirassier Regiment (4 squadrons)
  • 4th Cuirassier Division: General of Division Jean-Marie Defrance
    • 1st Carabinier Regiment (4 squadrons)
    • 2nd Carabinier Regiment (4 squadrons)
    • 1st Cuirassier Regiment (4 squadrons)
    • 4th Chevau-léger Lancer Regiment (4 squadrons)
  • Attached Artillery: 30 guns in horse artillery batteries

October 1813
Horace Sébastiani

General of Division Horace François Bastien Sébastiani de La Porta[18]

  • 2nd Light Cavalry Division: General of Division Nicolas François Roussel d'Hurbal
    • 7th Light Cavalry Brigade: General of Brigade François-Joseph Gérard
      • 2nd Chevau-léger Lancer Regiment (3 squadrons)
      • 11th Chasseurs-à-Cheval Regiment (3 squadrons)
      • 12th Chasseurs-à-Cheval Regiment (3 squadrons)
    • 8th Light Cavalry Brigade: General of Brigade Jean-Baptiste Dommanget
      • 4th Chevau-léger Lancer Regiment (3 squadrons)
      • 5th Hussar Regiment (3 squadrons)
      • 9th Hussar Regiment (4 squadrons)
    • One-half horse artillery battery (3 guns)
  • 4th Light Cavalry Division: General of Division Rémi Joseph Isidore Exelmans
    • 9th Light Cavalry Brigade: General of Brigade Antoine Maurin
      • 6th Chevau-léger Lancer Regiment (2 squadrons)
      • 4th Chasseurs-à-Cheval Regiment (2 squadrons)
      • 7th Chasseurs-à-Cheval Regiment (2 squadrons)
      • 20th Chasseurs-à-Cheval Regiment (2 squadrons)
    • 10th Light Cavalry Brigade: General of Brigade François Isidore Wathier
      • 23rd Chasseurs-à-Cheval Regiment (4 squadrons)
      • 24th Chasseurs-à-Cheval Regiment (3 squadrons)
      • 11th Hussar Regiment (2 squadrons)
    • One-half horse artillery battery (3 guns)
  • 2nd Heavy Cavalry Division: General of Division Antoine-Louis Decrest de Saint-Germain
    • 1st Brigade: General of Brigade François Charles Jean Pierre Marie d'Avranges d'Haugeranville
      • 1st Carabinier Regiment (2 squadrons)
      • 2nd Carabinier Regiment (2 squadrons)
    • 2nd Brigade: General of Brigade Nicolas-Marin Thiry
      • 1st Cuirassier Regiment (2 squadrons)
      • 5th Cuirassier Regiment (3 squadrons)
      • 8th Cuirassier Regiment (2 squadrons)
      • 10th Cuirassier Regiment (2 squadrons)
    • One horse artillery battery (6 guns)

June 1815
Rémi Isidore Exelmans
  • II Cavalry Corps,[38] commanded by Maréchal de France Rémy Joseph Isodore, Comte de Exelmans
    • 9th Cavalry Division, commanded by Général de Division Jean-Baptiste, Chevalier de Strolz
      • 9éme Ambulance Divisionnaire de Cavalerie (9th Divisional Cavalry Ambulance)
      • 1st Brigade (1ére Brigade), commanded by Général de Brigade André d'Annelet, Baron de Burthe
      • 2nd Brigade (2éme Brigade), commanded by Général de Brigade Henri Catherine Baltazard, Baro den Vincent
        • 15ème Régiment de Dragons (15th Regiment of Dragoons), 323 Troops in 3 Squadrons, commanded by Colonel Chaillot
        • 20ème Régiment de Dragons (20th Regiment of Dragoons), 364 Troops in 3 Squadrons, commanded by Colonel the Comte de Briqueville
      • 9th Cavalry Division Artillery (9éme Artillerie Divisionnaire de Cavalerie)
        • 4ème Compagnie du 1er Régiment d'Artillerie à Cheval (4th Company, 1st Horse Artillery Regiment), 4 Officers and 66 Troops, equipped with Four 6-pounder cannons and Two 5.5-pounder howitzers
        • 6ème Compagnie du 1er Escadron du Train d'Artillerie (6th Company, 1st Artillery Train Squadron), 2 officers and 79 Troops
    • 10th Cavalry Division (10éme Division de Cavalerie), commanded by Général de Division Louis Pierre, Baron de Chastel
      • 10éme Ambulance Divisionnaire de Cavalerie (10th Divisional Cavalry Ambulance)
      • 1st Brigade (1ére Brigade), commanded by Général de Brigade Pierre, Baron de Bonnemains
        • 4ème Régiment de Dragons (4th Regiment of Dragoons), 272 Troops in 3 Squadrons, commanded by Colonel Baron Bouquerot des Essarts
        • 12ème Régiment de Dragons (12th Regiment of Dragoons), 343 Troops in 3 Squadrons, commanded by Colonel Bureaux de Pussy
      • 2nd Brigade (2éme Brigade), commanded by Général de Brigade Jean Baptiste di 'Berton", Chevalier de Breton
        • 14ème Régiment de Dragons (14th Regiment of Dragoons), 330 Troops in 3 Squadrons, commanded by Colonel Seguier
        • 17ème Régiment de Dragons (17th Regiment of Dragoons), 331 Troops in 3 Squadrons, commanded by Colonel de Labiffe
      • 10th Cavalry Division Artillery (10éme Artillery Divisionnaire de Cavalerie)
        • 4ème Compagnie du 4ème Régiment d'Artillerie à Cheval (4th Company, 4th Horse Artillery Regiment), 2 Officers and 60 Troops, equipped with Four 6-pounder cannons and Two 5.5-pounder howitzers
        • Detachments from the 1er, 2ème et 3ème Compagnie du 8ème Escadron du Train d'Artillerie (1st, 2nd, and 3rd Companies of the 8th Artillery Train Squadron), 2 Officers and 81 Troops

Notes
  1. Petre, 86
  2. Chandler Jena, 37. Chandler gave the division numbers only.
  3. Petre, 86-87
  4. Smith, 234-235
  5. Chandler (1966), p. 1110
  6. Chandler (1966), pp. 800-801
  7. Chandler (1966), p. 805
  8. Petre, F. Loraine (1912). Napoleon's Last Campaign in Germany, 1813. New York: John Lane Company. p. 15.
  9. Maude, Frederic Natusch (1908). The Leipzig Campaign 1813. New York: The Macmillan Co. p. 86.
  10. Chandler (1966), p. 868
  11. Maude (1908), p. 124
  12. Smith, pp. 417-421
  13. Petre (1912), pp. 107-108
  14. Maude (1908), p. 148
  15. Smith (1998), p. 442
  16. Petre (1912), pp. 254-255
  17. Petre (1912), p. 270
  18. Smith (1998), p. 462
  19. Chandler (1966), p. 924
  20. Chandler (1966), p. 929
  21. Chandler (1966), p. 936
  22. Smith (1998), p. 496
  23. Smith (1998), p. 506
  24. Haythornthwaite, 182
  25. Haythornthwaite, 187
  26. Hamilton-Williams, 163-164
  27. Hamilton-Williams, 192
  28. Hamilton-Williams, 245-246
  29. Hamilton-Williams, 325, 353
  30. Hamilton-Williams, map opposite 65
  31. Smith, 548
  32. Smith, 553. Curiously, Smith's detailed losses for the two Prussian regiments only added up to 229 casualties. But he also listed a total of 613 horses killed, wounded, or captured, which gives meaning to his statement that the hussar regiments were "effectively destroyed".
  33. Chandler Jena, 37
  34. Smith, p 242. Smith places Margaron in Sahuc's division at the time of the Battle of Eylau. However, Margaron led one of Soult's light cavalry brigades in October 1806.
  35. Chandler Jena, 34
  36. Smith, 391. Smith listed the organization.
  37. Chandler Campaigns, 1110. Chandler gave the strengths only.
  38. "IIéme Corps de Cavalerie". Retrieved 25 June 2020.

References
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