French cuirassier armour, 1854

Cuirassiers were mounted cavalry soldiers equipped with armour and firearms, first appearing in late 15th-century Europe. They were the successors of the medieval armoured knights. The term is derived from cuirass, the breastplate armour which they wore. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 435 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1665 × 2295 pixel, file size: 368 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Cuirasse de cavalerie française, 1854 French cavalery armour, 1854 Work by Rama File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 435 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1665 × 2295 pixel, file size: 368 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Cuirasse de cavalerie française, 1854 French cavalery armour, 1854 Work by Rama File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this... French Republican Guard - May 8, 2005 celebrations Cavalry (from French cavalerie) were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback in combat. ... This article is about a military rank. ... Armour sucks ass alottttttttttt Armour was also commonly used to protect war animals, such as war horses and elephants. ... A Glock 22 hand-held firearm with internal laser sight and mounted flashlight, surrounded by hollowpoint ammunition. ... World map showing the location of Europe. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times. ... The silver Anglia knight, commissioned as a trophy in 1850, intended to represent the Black Prince. ... This article is devoted to the type of armour known as a cuirass. ...

The first cuirassiers did not appear very different from the medieval knights; they wore full-body armour, and the only items of equipment which differentiated them from knights were leather riding boots and the use of wheel-lock pistols, in addition to lances and swords. Wheellock, Wheel-Lock or Wheel lock, is a mechanism for firing a firearm. ... A Browning 9 millimeter Hi-Power Ordnance pistol of the French Navy, 19th century, using a Percussion cap mechanism Derringers were small and easily hidden. ... The term lance has become a catchall for a variety of different pole weapons based on the spear. ... Swiss longsword, 15th or 16th century Look up Sword in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Cuirassiers wore armour long after it had become superfluous in the face of the ever-increasing use of firearms. However, the extent of the armour worn was gradually decreased so that, by the end of the 17th century, it was comprised only of a breastplate (the cuirass or plastron), the backplate (carapace), and the helmet. This article is about the headgear. ...

The first recorded cuirassiers were formed as 100-strong regiments of Austrian kyrissers recruited from Croatia in 1484 to serve the future Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian. They fought the Swedes and their allies in 1632 in Lützen and killed the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus. The French introduced their own cuirassiers in 1666. By 1705, the Holy Roman Emperor's personal forces in Austria included twenty cuirassier regiments. Imperial Russia formed its own cuirassier regiments in 1732, including a Leib Guards regiment. The Russian cuirassier units took part in the Russo-Turkish War. Events January 25 - Peter Arbues, chief of the Spanish Inquisition, is assassinated when he is praying in the cathedral at Saragossa, Spain July 6 - Portuguese sea captain Diogo Cão finds the mouth of Congo River December 5 - Pope Innocent VIII gives the inquisition a mission to hunt heretics and... The Holy Roman Emperor was, with some variation, the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, the predecessor of modern Germany, during its existence from the 10th century until its collapse in 1806. ... Maximilian I of Habsburg (March 22, 1459 – January 12, 1519) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death. ... See also: 1632 (novel) Events February 22 - Galileos Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is published July 23 - 300 colonists for New France depart Dieppe November 8 - Wladyslaw IV Waza elected king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth after Zygmunt III Waza death November 16 - Battle of Lützen... Lutzen or Lützen can have the following meanings: Lützen is a town in Germany The Battle of Lützen (1632) in the Thirty Years War The Battle of Lützen (1813) in the Napoleonic Wars This is a disambiguation page — a list of pages that otherwise might share... Gustav II Adolph Gustav II Adolph (December 9, 1594 - November 6, 1632) (also known as Gustav Adolph the Great, under the Latin name Gustavus Adolphus or the Swedish form Gustav II Adolf) was a King of Sweden. ... 1666 is often called Annus Mirabilis. ... // Events Construction begins on Blenheim Palace, in Oxfordshire, England. ... Events February 23 - First performance of Handels Orlando, in London June 9 - James Oglethorpe is granted a royal charter for the colony of Georgia. ... The term Leib Guard (Russian: ) collectively distinguished military units serving as personal guards of the Emperor of Russia. ... Russo-Turkish War of 1735-1739, a war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, caused by intensified contradictions over the results of the War of the Polish Succession of 1733-1735 and endless raids by the Crimean Tatars. ...

Cuirassiers played a prominent role in the armies of Frederick the Great of Prussia and of Napoleon I of France. The latter increased the number of French cuirassier regiments to fourteen by the end of his reign. Frederick the Great Frederick II of Prussia (Friedrich der Große, Frederick the Great, January 24, 1712 – August 17, 1786) was the Hohenzollern king of Prussia 1740–86. ... Motto Suum cuique Latin: To each his own Prussia at its peak, as leading state of the German Empire Capital Königsberg, later Berlin Government Duke1  - 1525–68 Albert I (first)  - 1688–1701 Frederick III (last) King1  - 1701–13 Frederick I (first)  - 1888–1918 William II (last) Prime Minister1,2... Napoléon I, Emperor of the French (born Napoleone di Buonaparte, changed his name to Napoléon Bonaparte)[1] (15 August 1769; Ajaccio, Corsica – 5 May 1821; Saint Helena) was a general during the French Revolution, the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from...

Cuirassiers were generally the senior branch of the mounted arm, retaining their status as heavy cavalry - "Big men on big horses". While their value as a heavy striking force in Napoleon's campaigns ensured the continued use of a number of cuirassier regiments in the French and Prussian armies during the nineteenth century, the expense and inflexibility of this arm limited their existence in other countries to Guard units.

British Cuirassiers on ceremonial duty in Whitehall

In 1914 there were still cuirassiers in the German army (ten regiments including the Gardes du Corps and the Garde-Kurassiers); the French (twelve regiments) and the Russian (three regiments, all of the Imperial Guard). The German and Russian cuirassiers had, by the end of the nineteenth century, come to retain their breastplates only as part of their peacetime parade dress, but the French regiments wore the cuirass (with a cloth cover) and plumed helmet on active service during the first weeks of World War I. The three Household Cavalry regiments of the British Army (1st and 2nd Life Guards and Royal Horse Guards) had adopted cuirasses after the Napoleonic Wars as part of their full dress, but never had occasion to wear this armour in battle. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1283x1638, 412 KB) Part of the ceremony of the Changing of the Guard in Whitehall, London, England. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1283x1638, 412 KB) Part of the ceremony of the Changing of the Guard in Whitehall, London, England. ...

The retention of this magnificent but obsolete armour for active service by the French Army in 1914 appears to have reflected the prestige of this branch of the cavalry, dating back through the Franco-Prussian War to the campaigns of Napoleon. Attempts were made prior to the outbreak of war to have the cuirass restricted to parade dress but on mobilisation the only concessions made were to wear a cover of brown or blue cloth over the steel and brass of the cuirass itself to make the wearer less visible. The cuirass ceased to be worn by most French regiments within a few weeks of the outbreak of war, though it was not formally withdrawn until October 1915. Combatants Second French Empire North German Confederation allied with south German states (later German Empire) Commanders Napoleon III Otto Von Bismarck, Helmuth von Moltke the Elder Strength 400,000 at the beginning of the war 1,200,000 Casualties 150,000 dead or wounded 284,000 captured 350,000 civilian...

The Russian and German cuirassiers ceased to exist with the overthrow of the Imperial regimes in both countries (February 1917 and November 1918 respectively). The French cuirassiers continued in existence after World War I but with their numbers reduced to the six regiments which had been most decorated during the war. Ironically five of these had achieved their distinctions serving as "cuirassiers a' pied" or dismounted cavalry in the trenches. The surviving cuirassier regiments were amongst the first mounted cavalry in the French Army to be mechanised during the 1930s. Two cuirassier regiments still form part of the French Army - the 1er-11e Régiment de Cuirassiers based at Carpiagne and the 6e-12e Régiment de Cuirassiers based at Olivet. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Karl Liebknecht on 9 November 1918 in the Berliner Tiergarten Statue of a revolutionary soldier, memorial to the German Revolution of 1918-1919 in East Berlin. ... The 1st-11th Cuirassier Regiment (French: 1er-11e Régiment de Cuirassiers ) (1er-11e RC) is an armoured (tank) regiment of the French Army. ... The 6th-12th Cuirassier Regiment (French: 6e-12e Régiment de Cuirassiers ) (6e-12e RC) is an armored cavalry (tank) regiment in the French Army. ... Olivet may refer to: Olivet, Michigan Olivet, New Jersey Olivet, South Dakota Olivet, Kansas There is also Olivet College in Olivet, Michigan. ...

A few present-day mounted cavalry units continue to use cuirasses as part of their parade equipment on formal occasions. Most however have not retained the actual title of "cuirassiers", if indeed they bore it in the first place. These are the Life Guards and Blues and Royals of the British Household Cavalry; the Coraceros de la Guardia Real of the Spanish Royal Guard (created in 1875); and the Italian Corazzieri, the honour guard of the President of the Italian Republic. Life Guards on parade The Life Guards is the senior regiment of the British Army. ... A Trooper of the Blues and Royals on mounted duty in Whitehall, London The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons) are a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. ... Dismounted Blues and Royals (left) and Life Guards (right) preparing to line the route of the Garter procession at Windsor Castle Household Cavalry is used across the Commonwealth to describe the cavalry of the Household Divisions, a country’s most elite or historically senior military groupings or those military groupings... The Presidential Guard (Reggimento Corazzieri previously Commando Carabinieri Guardie del Presidente della Republica, commonly known as Corazzieri (Cuirassiers) are an Italian elite military unit and the honor guard of the President of the Italian Republic. ... The President of the Italian Republic is the head of State of Italy, and represents national unity. ...

External links

• Painting of a cuirassier regiment during the Napoleonic wars
• A detailed history of French cuirassier regiments
• http://users.skynet.be/les.cuirassiers Régiment Belge