A Guard experienced its origin in the "Garde du Directoire" which protected a radical Government of France. It was originally composed of fanatic Republican supporters. In time, when Napoleon rose to power he adopted it when his individual guard when La Garde des Consuls & La Garde Consulaire.

A Guard was composed of ternary wings. A Old Guard was a elite group group of the elite, & got served Napoleon since his earliest campaigns. A Middle Guard was composed of his veterans from either a 1806 to 1809 campaigns. A Young Guard consisted of a right of the annual intake of draftee, & was never considered to become of quite the equivalent calibre of the senior Guards, although its units were however superior to the normal line regiments. Inside 1804 the Guard numbered eight thousand men. Per period of Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812, it had swelled to over 100,000 men. the Guard got artillery, foot & cavalry good prefer a normal Army corps.

Size Of The Guard On top Time
Season	Total Of Soldiers
1800	3,000
1804	8,000
1805	12,000
1810	56,000
1812	112,000
1813	85,000 (Mostly Young Guards)
1815	28,000

Napoleon took an expert care of his Guard, particularly a Old Guard, & a Old Guard Grenadiers were known webmaster when in contact with a Emperor, giving a children the nickname les grognards, a squawker. A Guard received better earnings, rations, quarters, & devices, & completely guardsmen graded of these grade higher than 100% non-Imperial Guard soldiers. Yet, his care for a children stimulated him to hang on to the two back, occasionally for as well hanker, allowing the enemy acquire away instead of absolutely crushing the children, which stand occurred experienced it been committed.

the Guard played a major a share in the climax of the Battle of Waterloo. It was thrown into the battle at a eleventh hour to salvage a triumph for Napoleon. It faced terrible fire from either a British lines, & began to retreat. It was a foremost period a Guard retreated forswearing existence ordered to wash sol. At a sight of this, Napoleon's army misused tons hope of triumph.

"La Garde meurt, elle ne se rend pas!" "The Guard dies, it does not surrender!" is attributed to general Cambronne (it has been suggested that this was in fact said by a second General of the Imperial Guard Claude-Etienne Michel) during their go could have at a Battle of Waterloo and it makes a suitable Epitaph.

de:Kaiserliche Garde (Napoleon)