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SÉNATUS – CONSULTE April 3, 1813.

The Napoleon Series > Government > SÉNATUS – CONSULTE April 3, 1813.

SÉNATUS – CONSULTE April 3, 1813.

Translated by William Coy Caine

 

SÉNATUS – CONSULTE

April 3, 1813.

NAPOLEON, BY THE GRACE OF GOD AND THE

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE FRENCH EMPIRE, KING

OF ITALY, PROTECTOR OF THE CONFEDERATION

OF THE RHINE, MEDIATOR OF THE SWISS CONFEDERATION,

TO ALL PRESENT AND FUTURE, GREETINGS.

EXTRACT from the registers of the Senate-conservator, session of April 3, 1813.

The Senate, after having heard the Orators of the Council of State, has decreed, and we order the following.

TITLE I

General Provisions.

ART. I. A force of 180,000 men is placed at the disposal of the Minister of War, to augment the active armies, namely:

  • 10,000 men of mounted guards of honor.
  • 80,000 men who will be called up for the first levy of the National Guard.
  • 90,000 men from the 1814 conscription who were intended for the defense of the western and southern borders, and especially the shipyards of Antwerp, Cherbourg, Brest, Lorient, Rochefort, and Toulon.

TITLE II

On the Formation of the Four Regiments of Honor Guards.

ART. 2. Four regiments of mounted honor guards are hereby created, forming a full complement of 10,000 men.

  1. The first regiment will be composed of honor guards provided by the departments of the 1st, 14th, 15th, 16th, 24th, and 30th military divisions.

The 2nd, of those of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 17th, 18th, 25th, 26th, and 28th military divisions.

The 3rd, of those of the 11th, 12th, 13th, 20th, 22nd, 29th, and 31st military divisions.

The 4th, of those of the 6th, 7th, 8th, 19th, 21st, 23rd, 7th, and 32nd military divisions.

  1. The contingents to be provided by each of the departments of the Empire for the formation of these four regiments will be fixed by a decree of the Council.
  2. The men composing the said regiments must clothe, equip, and mount themselves at their own expense.
  3. They will receive the pay of the Chasseurs of the Guard.
  4. After twelve months of service in the said regiments, they will be given the rank of second lieutenant.
  5. When, after the campaign, four companies of bodyguards are formed, a portion of these companies will be chosen from among the men of the regiments of honor guards who have most distinguished themselves.
  6. Members of the Legion of Honor, or their sons, if they do not have sufficient means to equip and mount themselves at their own expense, may be equipped and mounted at the expense of the Legion.

 

Remy Eugene Julien, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

 

 

TITLE III

Levy of 80,000 men from the first contingent of the National Guard.

  1. Eighty thousand men from the levy, taken from the first contingent of the National Guard, from the years 1807, 1808, 1809, 1810, 1811, and 1812, are placed at the disposal of the Minister of War, for the recruitment of the army and the formation of a reserve army.
  2. Men who married before the publication of the present Senate decree may not be designated to be part of the levy ordered by the preceding article.
  3. The calls to service and their dates will be determined by decrees of the Council.

TITLE IV

On the manner of providing for the defense of the western and southern frontiers, and especially the naval shipyards.

  1. In order to make available the 90,000 men of the 1814 conscription, who were intended for the defense of the western and southern frontiers, this will be provided for by the sedentary National Guards.
  2. The Emperor entrusts the defense of the shipyards of Antwerp, Texel, and the Mouths of the Meuse to the courage and honor of the French citizens of the departments of the Zuiderzee, the Mouths of the Meuse, Upper IJssel, the Mouths of the IJssel, Friesland, and Western Ems.

The defense of the Cherbourg shipyards is assigned to French citizens from the departments of Manche, Orne, Calvados, Seine-Inférieure, Somme, Eure, Eure-et-Loire, and Oise.

The defense of the Brest and Lorient shipyards, to French citizens from the departments of Ille-et-Vilaine, Côtes-du-Nord, Finistère, Morbihan, Sarthe, Indre-et-Loire, Mayenne, Maine-et-Loire, and Loir-et-Cher.

The defense of the Rochefort shipyards to French citizens from the departments of Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres, Vendée, Vienne, Loire-Atlantique, Charente, and Gironde.

The defense of the Toulon shipyards to French citizens from the departments of Var, Bouches-du-Rhône, Alpes-Maritimes, Vaucluse, Drôme, Isère, Hautes-Alpes, Basses-Alpes, Mont-Blanc, Hérault, and Gard.

  1. Consequently, the National Guard will be organized in these districts. To this end, the grenadier and chasseur companies will be completed so as to present, in each district, a force of 13,000 to 30,000 effective men, present and always available.
  2. Six Senators will be sent to these six districts to preside over the organization of these companies and take command of them.
  3. Of the number of grenadiers and chasseurs, 1,500 to 4,000 will be temporarily on active duty in each district and placed at the points where their presence is deemed necessary.
  4. The present Sénatus-Consulte shall be transmitted in a message to His Majesty the Emperor and King.

The President and Secretaries

Signed, Cambacérès

The Count of L’APPARENT, Latour-Maubourg

At Brest, from the printing press le Michel

The original document can be accessed here: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6266232v/f5.item 

Jules Rouffet (1862-1931), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons