The Garde mobile ("Mobile Guard"; also called Garde nationale mobile though it had nothing to do with the Garde nationale) was intended to be a reserve force of all able-bodied men previously not drafted (such as single men and childless widowers), trained yearly, during the time of Napoleon III.[1][2]
Length of service was intended to be five years, with a draft of 116,000 men per year.[2] Napoleon III took up the idea and announced on 12 December 1866 that the Garde Mobile would eventually attain a strength of 400,000 troops, thus reaching the ruler's target of one million French troops.[3] Adolphe Niel, Minister of War for France under Emperor Napoleon III, was in charge of implementing the plan.[3]
Both the left and the right in the Corps Legislatif took issue with the proposal. Traditionalists wanted an all-professional army;[3] liberals were opposed to Bonapartist militarism.[1] But the law to create the Garde was passed in diluted form in January 1868 by 199 to 60 votes and came into force on February 1st of that year.[3] Given the dilution, the Garde Mobile was not fully implemented as planned. It numbered some 90,000 men in 1870 and trained only 14 days per year, non-consecutively, instead of the intended 20 days consecutively.[1] In some cases, the amount of training was even less: in 1869, one battalion trained only for seven days, the sessions lasting three hours each.[2] Additionally, conscripts with any prior knowledge of drill and military education were excused altogether from training.[3] The discipline and equipment of the Garde were regarded as quite bad, especially when compared to the regular army.[1]
After Niel's death in 1869, his replacement Edmond Le Leboeuf regarded the Garde with disdain.[3]
The Garde Mobile was called up on in July 1870, as part of the Franco-Prussian War, but arrived too late to Eastern France to be useful,[1] presuming they could have been of use at all, considering how badly many senior officers considered their temperament and outfit.[3]
Representation in Art
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![The Attack at Dawn (Alphonse de Neuville, 1877). Prussian troops advance on a French town; French troops including Algerian riflemen and members of the Garde Mobile rush to defend.[4] The Walters Art Museum.](//upload.luquay.com/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Alphonse_de_Neuville_-_The_Attack_at_Dawn_-_Walters_3740.jpg/120px-Alphonse_de_Neuville_-_The_Attack_at_Dawn_-_Walters_3740.jpg)
The Attack at Dawn (Alphonse de Neuville, 1877). Prussian troops advance on a French town; French troops including Algerian riflemen and members of the Garde Mobile rush to defend.[4] The Walters Art Museum.
![The Attack at Dawn (Alphonse de Neuville, 1877). Prussian troops advance on a French town; French troops including Algerian riflemen and members of the Garde Mobile rush to defend.[4] The Walters Art Museum.](/wiki/File:Alphonse_de_Neuville_-_The_Attack_at_Dawn_-_Walters_3740.jpg)
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Wawro, Geoffrey (2003-08-25). The Franco-Prussian War: The German Conquest of France in 1870-1871. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-58436-4.
- ^ a b c Shann, Stephen; Delperier, Louis (2012-08-20). French Army 1870–71 Franco-Prussian War (2): Republican Troops. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78200-232-1.
- ^ a b c d e f g Howard, Michael (2005-12-09). The Franco-Prussian War: The German Invasion of France 1870–1871. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-97219-7.
- ^ "The Attack at Dawn | The Walters Art Museum". Online Collection of the Walters Art Museum. Retrieved 2024-06-17.