The spear has been practically abandoned as a cavalry weapon in the French armies since the beginning of the 18th century. We have to wait for the Empire to reintroduce it. Indeed, when he entered Warsaw in December 1806, Napoleon was surrounded by a guard made up of young Polish nobles. It is they who will constitute the nucleus of the future lancers in the primitive form of a regiment of Polish light horse of the guard.
This regiment was sent to Spain in 1808 and distinguished itself by a famous charge at the Somosierra pass on November 29, 1808. Despite the legend and later fanciful iconography, these Poles did not yet use the spear. It was at Wagram, during a charge against the uhlans of Schwarzenberg, that they picked up the spears abandoned by them and used them for the first time. Napoleon would have admired their ease in the use of this weapon and would have granted them the port. The Polish horse-light regiment then becomes the Polish horse-light lances.
In September 1810, the hussars of the Dutch guard became the second regiment of lances, called red lances because of the color of their uniforms. A 3rd regiment, created in 1812, will have a brief existence. The decree of June 18, 1811 transforms 6 regiments of dragoons (the 1st, 3rd, 8th, 9th, 10th and 29th) and the 30th chasseurs into regiments of light horse lances, armed with the lance of 2.75 m, the sword of light cavalry, pistol and carabiner. In theory, a regiment of lancers was assigned to each cuirassier division, in practice the lancers were part of any cavalry division