The I Cavalry Corps of the '' Grande Armée'' was a French military unit that existed during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

History

For one month in 1806–1807, Emperor

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

split his Reserve Cavalry Corps into the I and II Cavalry Corps. At that time, Marshal

Joachim Murat Joachim Murat ( , also , ; it, Gioacchino Murati; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French military commander and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the ...

took command of the short-lived I Cavalry Corps before resuming leadership over Napoleon's Reserve Cavalry when the experiment ended. The I Cavalry Corps was not recreated until 1812 for the invasion of Russia when command was exercised by General

Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty Étienne-Marie-Antoine Champion, comte de Nansouty (; 30 May 1768 – 12 February 1815) was a French cavalry commander during the French Revolutionary Wars who rose to the rank of General of Division in 1803 and subsequently held important mili ...

. The corps fought at

Borodino The Battle of Borodino (). took place near the village of Borodino on during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. The ' won the battle against the Imperial Russian Army but failed to gain a decisive victory and suffered tremendous losses. Napole ...

and Tarutino. After being destroyed during the retreat from Russia, the I Cavalry Corps was reconstituted in 1813 and General

Victor de Fay de La Tour-Maubourg Marie-Victor-Nicolas de Faÿ, Marquis de La Tour-Maubourg (22 May 1768 – 11 November 1850) was a French cavalry commander under France's Ancien Régime before rising to prominence during the First French Empire. Under the Restoration, he se ...

was appointed to lead it. The corps fought at Lützen,

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Budi ...

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

, and

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

. At Leipzig, the corp took part in Murat's great charge, Latour-Maubourg was seriously wounded at the battle and replaced by General Jean-Pierre Doumerc who led the corps for the remainder of the

War of the Sixth Coalition In the War of the Sixth Coalition (March 1813 – May 1814), sometimes known in Germany as the Wars of Liberation, a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, and a number of German States defeated F ...

which ended with Napoleon's abdication in 1814.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:I Cavalry Corps (Grande Armee) GAC01