FUSILIER GRENADIERS
By an imperial decree dated from Saint-Cloud, on September 19, 1 a regiment was created which took the name of fusiliers, grenadiers. This regiment of 1,600 men came immediately after the Old Guard and was to, together with the regiment of riflemen
breakers, compose what was later called the Middle Guard.
It was formed with the two battalions of vélite grenadiers. In order to reach the prescribed strength of a grenadier regiment. i.e. 1 battalion of 4 companies of 120 men each, the gaps were filled with the help of the reserve companies of the departments and
by conscription. The uniform of the fusiliers grenadiers was that of the grenadiers, but their epaulettes differed and, instead of the fur cap, they wore a shako with a herringbone pattern of white thread in a V.
Similarly , the officers wore the uniform of grenadier officers and the shako trimmed with gold. Organized like the regiments of the Old Guard, the fusiliers grenadiers were inferior to them neither in bravery nor in discipline; always and everywhere they shared the glory of their elders.
