This book traces the glorious history of the elite French cavalry. Through 61 plates of highly detailed uniform illustrations, Andre Jouineau guides the reader from the first company of carabiniers established within in each regimentthose superior marksmen equipped with a rifle, the gauge of precision par excellencesought after by Louis XIV in 1690, to the fiery carabiniers of Napoleon IIIs Imperial Guard who disappeared in defeat in 1870. The authors primary emphasis, however, is given to the First Empire.