by Lieutenant-Colonel Édouard Desbrière and Captain Maurice Sautai
Berger-Levrault & Cie, Paris & Nancy, 1906
Serving as the introductory volume to the French Army General Staff's acclaimed series on the history of the French cavalry, this work examines the organization, administration, tactics, and evolution of the mounted arm from 1740 to the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789. Although it predates the French Revolutionary Wars, the volume provides the essential historical foundation for understanding the dramatic changes that transformed the cavalry during the Revolution and the War of the First Coalition.
Drawing upon official military regulations, archival records, correspondence, and contemporary military treatises, Lieutenant-Colonel Édouard Desbrière and Captain Maurice Sautai trace the development of the Royal French cavalry under the Ancien Régime. The authors examine regimental organization, recruitment, officer training, equipment, uniforms, remounts, administration, and battlefield tactics, while also exploring the reforms introduced during the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI in response to the lessons of the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War.
The volume provides detailed analysis of cavalry doctrine, operational employment, and the evolution of heavy cavalry, dragoons, hussars, and chasseurs à cheval, demonstrating how these pre-Revolutionary institutions shaped the mounted forces inherited by the French Republic. Richly documented and illustrated with maps and tactical sketches, it establishes the military and organizational context necessary for the three succeeding volumes covering the Revolutionary period.
