Clibinarium wrote:I'm trying to work out the composition of the Maison Du Roi cavalry (c.1690) in terms of BLB six figure squadrons (assuming them to represent a body of roughly 200-250 men)
Gardes du Corps ; Four companies of 400 men each= 4 pairs of squadrons,
48 Figures.
(Not sure if they were a battlefield unit though, other than escorting the King?)
Gendarmes de la Garde, Chevaux-Legers de la garde; One 200 man company each= 1 squadron each
12 figures
Mousquetaires de la garde; Gris et Noirs; One 250 man company each= 1 squadron each
12 figures
Grenadiers a cheval; One 250 man company= 1 sqaudron.
6 figures
Not part of the Maison du Roi, but still elite,
Gendarmerie de France; Sixteen companies of varying size, averaging maybe 120 men per company, seemed to have been paired into eight squadrons, something between 160 to perhaps 400 men, say 250 for game purposes= eight six figure squadrons?
48 figures
This is just a quick calculation based on not much more than the Osprey! Does it look right? Would trying to field all these elites completely unbalance the army; if so what should be taken and what left out?
The figures you provide are generally correct though you may expect period documents to occasionally differ, especially in the case of the
Grenadiers à cheval who were either 150 or 250 strong depending on which source you believe. I wouldn't get too hung up about the discrepancies in numbers though, as the overall organisation of your force seems sound to me - and creating wargames units inevitably involves some degree of simplification and stylisation anyway.
The
Maison du Roi was always brigaded as a whole, although its components would not necessarily all be engaged in a given battle. The
Gendarmerie de France always served separately from the
Maison du Roi : they were never brigaded with the Household troops (nor for that matter with the line
Chevau-Léger regiments) and they were sometimes seen serving on a different theater of operations : for instance, the
Maison du Roi was in Flanders for most of the Nine Years War while the
Gendarmerie served both there and on the Rhine until 1693 (fighting at Leuze in 1691 along with the
Gardes du Corps and
Grenadiers à Cheval) and afterwards with Catinat's army in Italy where they distinguished themselves at the battle of Marsaglia. Similarly, the
Gendarmerie de France was in Italy in 1701-1702 and in Germany in 1703-1704, while the
Maison du Roi served in Flanders.
Fielding the entire force would indeed create something of a wargaming behemoth, so limiting yourself to the
Maison du Roi and leaving out the
Gendarmerie de France might prove a sensible option, all the more so as the
Maison du Roi offers more uniform variety than the
Gendarmes, who all pretty much wore the same red uniform. It also depends on whether you want to recreate a specific action or are more looking for a generic force.
But if you don't mind doing shedloads of household cavalry and feel like wargaming the battle of Leuze I mentioned above, you can field yourself a French force made up almost exclusively of
Maison du Roi and
Gendarmerie de France squadrons (all 25-odd of them, with a couple of line dragoon regiments thrown in for good measure). Of course, you'll also have to do the 75 allied squadrons needed to fight this royal lot
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