3rd Light Cavalry Lancers Regiment of the Imperial Guard (Lithuanian)

Trumpeter of the regiment in 1812.

The 3rd Lithuanian Light Cavalry Lancers Regiment of the Imperial Guard (French: 3e régiment de chevau-légers lanciers de la Garde impériale (Lituanien) / Lithuanian: 3-iasis lietuvių gvardijos lengvosios kavalerijos (švoležierių) pulkas) was a foreign Lithuanian light cavalry lancers regiment which served as part of Napoleon's Imperial Guard during the Napoleonic Wars.

Formed during the French invasion of Russia with members of the Lithuanian nobility, the regiment came under the command of General Jan Konopka, Major of the Polish Lancers of the Imperial Guard. Tasked with going to Minsk in October 1812, two squadrons under Konopka's command were annihilated en route to Slonim by Russian troops; the last two squadrons, therefore, constitute the nucleus of the corps. The 3rd Lancers was finally disbanded on 22 March 1813 and its elements were incorporated into the Polish Lancers of the Imperial Guard.

Napoleon quickly realized the military potential offered by the Lithuanians and wanted to create a large Lithuanian army. He personally takes care of the units of the Imperial Guard, counting, in addition to the Lithuanian lancers, a squadron of the Lithuanian Tatars of the Imperial Guard.


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