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7th Hussars

History of the 7eme Hussards


War Record

Afflenz 1805 Vilna 1812
Jena 1806 Ostrowno 1812
Zehdenick 1806 Vitebsk 1812
Stettin 1806 Smolensk 1812
Lubeck 1806 Viasma 1812
Golymin 1806 Borodino 1812
Bergfried 1807 Voronowo 1812
Guttstadt 1807 Malojaroslavetz 1812
Eylau 1807 Altemburg 1813
Heilsberg 1807 Leipzig 1813
Konigsberg 1807 Champaubert 1814
Ratisbon 1809 Vauchamps 1814
Raab 1809 Montereau 1814
Wagram 1809 Waterloo 1815

Although the regiment was not part of Napoleon’s elite Imperial Guard, the 7eme Hussards gained a reputation for high courage and discipline. The war record of the regiment gives testimony that the motto of the regiment, “Presente Toujours,” was well deserved. In 1806, serving alongside the 5eme Hussards in the brigade commanded by Antoine Charles LaSalle, the regiment covered itself in glory. At the Battle of Zehdenick, the 7eme Hussards routed one of the Prussian Army’s finest cavalry regiments, the Queen’s Dragoon regiment. During the engagement, Hussard Studer captured the dragoon’s regimental standard, supposedly sewn by Queen Louise of Prussia herself. LaSalle’s brigade went on to capture the fortress of Stettin themselves, unsupported by any other troops. Among the colonels who commanded the 7eme Hussards we find Jean Rapp, later general of division and trusted aide-de-camp to Napoleon. Pierre-David (Edouard) Colbert also went on to become a general and commanded part of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard cavalry. Colonel Marcellin Marbot would become a general in the 1830’s and went on to write his famous memoirs. Also in the ranks of the 7eme Hussards we find Antoine Fortune de Brack. This famous soldier would go on to write Light Cavalry Outpost Duties, which is considered one of the finest books of instruction ever written on the tactics and operations of cavalry in the field. Finally, Jean-Nicolas Curely, who personified what a cavalier in the French Army should be, volunteered for the 7eme Hussards in 1793 at the age of 19. He served in the regiment for 16 years, and he too became a general, in total serving 22 years and in 20 campaigns.


Colonels During The Empire

Daniel Marx 1803 to 1806
Edouard Colbert 1806 to 1809
Robert-Nicolas Custine 1809
Guillaume-Joseph Eulner 1810 to 1814
Jean-Baptiste-Antoine-Marcellin Marbot 1814 to 1815