111 Gendarmerie Imperiale

This set has the officer and men at the 'present arms' position. The officer presents with his straight epee, the men, their short muskets with bayonets fixed. Their duties were to function both as national constabulary and military police.

In 1804 the French Gendarmerie Nationale was retitled the Gendarmerie Imperiale and grouped into 26 Legions.  As Napoleon’s empire grew so did the Gendarmerie until in 1811 there were 34 Legions, their duties were to provide national constabulary, whilst also functioning as military police.  On occasions they were in action, mostly against Spanish guerilla forces as the French struggled to keep open their lines of communication.