Gendarmerie

Fr. the gendarmerie was a select body of cavalry that took precedence of every regiment of horse in the French service, and ranked immediately after the king’s household. The reputation of the gendarmerie was so great, and its services so well estimated by the king of France, that when the emperor Charles V. in 1552, sent a formal emba y to the Court of Versailles to request a loan of money, and the a istance of the gendarmerie to enable him to repulse the Turks; Francis I. returned the following answer: “With respect to the first object of your mi ion, (addre ing himself to the amba ador) I am not a banker; and with regard to the other, as my gendarmerie is the arm which supports my sceptre, I never expose it to danger, without myself sharing its fatigue and glory.” The uniform of the gendarmerie, as well as of the light cavalry, under the old French government, was scarlet, with facings of the same color. The coat was formerly more or le laced with silver according to the king’s pleasure. A short period before the revolution, it was only laced on the cuff. The waistcoat of buff leather, and the bandouleer of the same, silver laced; the hat was edged with broad silver lace. The horse-cloths and holster-caps were red, and the arms of the captain embroidered on the corners of the saddle cloths, and on the front of the holsters. In 1762, a considerable body of men was raised by order of Louis XIV. The soldiers who composed it were called gensdarmes. And in 1792, the number was considerably augmented, consisting of horse and foot, and being indiscriminately called gens d’armes; but their clothing was altered to deep blue. Their pay was greater than what the rest of the army enjoyed, and when others were paid in paper currency, they received their subsistence in hard cash ( en argent sonant .) They po e ed these privileges on account of the proofs they were obliged to bring of superior claims to military honor, before they could be enlisted as gendarmes. It was nece ary, in fact, that every individual amongst them should produce a certificate of six or eight years service.