By imperial decree dated from the Palace of Saint-Cloud, April 15, 1806, a regiment of dragoons was organized on the model of horse grenadiers. Their uniform was exactly the same, but the blue cloth was replaced by green cloth.
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- Guard Dragon
Recruitment was from the various dragoon regiments of the line, among the handsome soldiers, totaling ten years of service and measuring 5 feet 4 inches (1.73 ni).
It was during her first presentation during a review on the Place du Carrousel that the Empress decided to be the godmother of this new body, which henceforth proudly called itself the Empress' dragons. On the march, a squadron had 200 dragoons plus 50 velites, incorporated for the occasion so that, if the regiment united its four squadrons, it would line up 1,000 men, including 800 "old" and 200 "blue". The regiment had first black horses, then chestnuts.
Transformed for the time of the first Restoration into the Royal Corps of French Dragoons, the regiment was reestablished by the Emperor on his return from exile in the new organization of the Guard, on April 8, 1815. After the capitulation of Paris, the regiment withdrew behind the Loire and dispersed.
Everything was over and yet, for many years and until the last dragon of the Empress breathed its last, the Château de la Malmaison was the site of an annual pilgrimage which brought together, on the anniversary of the death of Joséphine, the survivors of the dashing cavaliers of whom she had been the godmother.