Chasseur: A small but deadly fast arm of the cavalry, the chasseurs were also equipped with a short, brutally accurate carbine in addition to the usual sword. They were mounted on small, quick horses and were considered a little smarter than their counterparts, the hussars.
Hussar: The "wild geese" of the cavalry; these bad little boys were mounted on swift small horses and were a terror to every married woman and wine-storage unit in the Empire. Made famous by their flashy uniforms and exciting lifestyle, who wouldn't want to be one of these proud canaries?
Cuirassier: The heaviest of the heavy; the powerful Cuirassiers were the "big brothers" of the cavalry units. Armored to the teeth and mounted on massive horses, these units were used as shock troops to intimidate the enemy and punch a hole in their lines. Cuirassiers were the most feared of any cavalry unit on the battlefield.
Carabinier: A slightly smaller but no means lighter type of heavy cavalry, the Carabiniers were unarmored and lived only for Honor and Glory. When Napoleon ordered them into armor in 1809, they did not like the slight on their honor. A very clean and deadly unit, armed with carbines as well as long, thrusting straight swords.
Imperial Guard Escort: Napoleons Favored Children, fancy uniforms and fancier horses made these special escorts the bane of the hussars; they got most of the women, but alas spent more time in the saddle than anything. Plus the job was quite a dead-end one with really no promotion in sight unless you were promoted OUT of the Imperial Guard. But you got the best of everything and first too.
Horse Grenadier: These proud fellers were mounted on coal-black horses and were also in the Imperial Guard. They saw more action than most IG cav units, however. It was a proud and traditioned unit of cavalry, with an extra special emphasis on looking good and living for the purity of Honor and Glory
Dragoon: These guys were what I call "middle cavalry", somewhere in between heavy and light. They were originally mounted infantry but in this era, they had as much saddle time as any fighting branch of the cavalry. They got a very clean and neat looking middle-green coat with mucho leopard skin abounding in both tack and uniform. They were armed as well and did their part to fill up the gap between the thundering Cuirassiers and the skirmishing light cav units. A very versatile unit indeed.
History Poll:
Which branch of Napoleonic Cavalry are you in?