British Army during the Napoleonic Wars for battle service in the Peninsular War. The cross also saw the first use of Medal bars. Following the battle a Waterloo Medal was issued to all soldiers who participated in that engagement. Decades later the Military General Service Medal was awarded to all ranks for service in campaigns during the 1793-1814 period. At the start of the French Revolutionary Wars, the "heavy" cavalry were equivalent to dragoons or "medium" cavalry in the French and other armies. They consisted of three regiments of Household Cavalry, seven regiments of Dragoon Guards and six regiments of Dragoons. The Dragoon Guards had been
Marshal of the Empire the Napoleonic Wars, winning some of the most brilliant victories of the entire Napoleonic Wars. Three of them – Jean Lannes, Louis-Nicolas Davout and Louis-Gabriel Suchet were virtually never defeated in pitched battle, despite fighting in dozens of engagements. While they were not normally expected to lead from the front, they often exposed themselves to great dangers on the battlefields of Europe; three Marshals – Jean Lannes, Jean-Baptiste Bessières and Józef Poniatowski – were killed in action or died as a result of battle wounds. During his five years as a Marshal of the Empire (1809–1814), Nicolas-Charles Oudinot received seven