Gardes Suisses, Fr. The Swiss guards. This body originally consisted of a certain number of companies which were taken into the French service in consequence of the close alliance that subsisted between the Swiss cantons and France; but they were not distinguished from other troops by the appellation of guards, until a considerable period had elapsed from their first establishment. The zeal, fidelity, and attachment which they uniformly evinced whenever they were entrusted with this distinguished part of the service, induced the crown in 1616 to bestow upon them this additional name.
The regiment was composed of twelve companies of two hundred effectives each. Some consisted of half companies complete in men. They were commanded by the three following officers, subordinate to each other, and created in 1689, viz. One colonel general of the nation, one particular colonel of the regiment, and one lieutenant colonel. The Swiss guards received double the pay which was given to the French guards. It is somewhat remarkable, that one hundred and three years after the regular establishment of the regiment under the three mentioned field officers, this brave body of men should have fallen victims to their attachment to the monarchy of France. On the 10th of August, 1792, they withstood the Parisian populace, and defended the palace in the Louvre until almost every man was killed. During the resistance which the Swiss guards made, Louis the XVIth, with his family escaped, and took shelter in the national assembly.
Gardes (cent) Suisses du corps du Roi, Fr. One hundred Swiss guards immediately attached to the king’s person. They were a select body of men who took an oath of fidelity to the king, and were formed into a regular troop. Louis XIV. during several sieges which he personally attended, gave directions, that the head of the trench should be guarded by a detachment of this troop; so that the hundred Swiss guards might properly be ranked as military men, although their officers did not wear any uniform, and in the last periods of the monarchy of France, the principal duties of the hundred Swiss guards consisted in domestic and menial attendance.
Garde qui monte, Fr. The new guard.
Garde qui descend, Fr. The old guard.
Gardes ordinaires des lignes, Fr. ordinary guards.
Garde de la tranche, Fr. Guard for the trenches. Among the French, this guard usually consisted of four or six battalions. It was entrusted to three general officers, viz. one lieutenant general on the right, one major general on the left, and one brigadier general in the centre. All general officers, when on duty for the day in the trenches, remained the succeeding night, and never left them until they were regularly relieved by others of their own rank.
When it came to the tour of any particular battalion to mount the trench guard, it was the duty of the major of that battalion to examine the ground on which it was to be drawn up, to look at the piquets, and to see where the grenadiers were posted, in order to go through the relief with accuracy and expedition.
The battalion was drawn up in front of the camp; the grenadiers being stationed on the right, next to them the piquet, and on its left flank the body of the battalion. The latter was divided into different piquets, and formed in order of battle. So that instead of the several companies being posted together, the men were drafted out, and distributed in such a manner, that the whole battalion was separated into troops or companies, each consisting of forty eight men, promiscuously thrown together.
The advantage which was derived from this disposition of the battalion, and from its having been previously told off according to each company’s roster, is manifest; for when a second or third battalion piquet was wanted in the trenches, the different detachments were already formed without going into the small detail of companies. The officers in conformity to their roster were ordered to march, and the piquet moved out without a moment’s delay.