Active 1812-1814 and 1815 Branch Army Engagements Napoleonic Wars | Country First French Empire Type Cavalry Corps | |
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Size Two to four cavalry divisions | ||
I Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée) was a French military formation that existed during the Napoleonic Wars. For one month in 1806–1807, Emperor Napoleon split his Reserve Cavalry Corps into the I and II Cavalry Corps. At that time, Marshal Joachim Murat 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 French invasion of Russia when command was exercised by Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty. The formation fought at Borodino and Tarutino. After being destroyed during the retreat from Russia, I Cavalry Corps was reconstituted in 1813 and Marie Victor de Fay, marquis de Latour-Maubourg was appointed to lead it. The corps fought at Lutzen, Bautzen, Dresden, and Leipzig. At Leipzig, Latour-Maubourg was seriously wounded and replaced by Jean-Pierre Doumerc who led the corps for the remainder of the War of the Sixth Coalition which ended with Napoleon's abdication in 1814. After Napoleon returned from exile and retook power in France in 1815, the main French army was baptised Armée du Nord. The army included a I Cavalry Corps led by Pierre Claude Pajol which fought at Ligny and Wavre, while one detached division fought at Waterloo.