Cent-gardes Squadron

Cent-gardes Squadron
Cent-garde squadron, circa 1870.
Active	24 March 1854 – 1 October 1870
Country	France
Branch	Army
Type	Household Cavalry
Role	Formation – Ceremonial
Size	Regiment
Part of	Household Cavalry
Garrison/HQ	Paris – Tuileries Palace
Nickname(s)	Cent-gardes
Commanders
Ceremonial chief	Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte
Notable commanders	Louis Lepic (1854) Albert Jacques Verly (1855) Jean Jules Bousson (1856) Armand Ernest Junqua (1857)

The Cent-gardes Squadron, (French: L'Escadron des Cent-gardes), also called Cent Gardes à Cheval (Hundred Guardsmen on Horseback), were an elite cavalry corps of the Second French Empire primarily responsible for protecting the person of the Emperor Napoleon III, as well as providing security within the Tuileries Palace. They also provided an escort for the emblems of the Imperial Guard and their award ceremony with flag and standard bearers.

The squadron was created by decree on 24 March 1854 by the Emperor. Comparisons were made between the new unit and the British Life Guards. When on duty the Cent-Gardes had to stand absolutely still and render honours only to the Emperor and members of the Imperial family. Although not formally part of the Imperial Guard, they were under the orders of the Grand Marshal of the Palace.

The Cent-Gardes squadron consisted of a headquarters, 11 officers and 137 privates, totalling 148 men at the time the unit was created, Later they would be increased to 190, including officers, and finally numbered 221 commissioned officers and guardsmen, including a lieutenant colonel, at the time that they were finally disbanded.

The soldiers of the squadron were recruited from the cavalry regiments of the Imperial Guard or from those of the line, and they had to be at least 1.80m tall. Their salary was 1,000 gold francs a year for guardsmen and trumpeters, an amount which was particularly high at the time. After completing seven years of service, their rate of pay increased by 80 additional cents per day.

The headquarters of the Cent-gardes were located in the Pentemont Abbey, a former convent which had also served as headquarters for the Imperial Guard. Their original barracks were in Sevres in the old farm of La Belle Polle. Napoleon III however had a farm built in the Swiss-style to lodge the Cent-gardes squadron and their horses in the new Pavillon des Cent-guardes in Marnes-la-Coquette, near the castle, in the area of Villeneuve-l'Étang.