page_title: V Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée)
section_title: 1813
hierarchical_section_title: V Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée) / History / 1813
caption_attribution_description: English: Dragoon and Sapper from the Grande Armée. From book of P.-M. Laurent de L`Ardeche «Histoire de Napoleon», 1843
context_page_description: The V Cavalry Corps of the Grande Armée was a French military unit that existed during the Napoleonic Wars. The corps was created in 1813 and fought until 1814. Emperor Napoleon I first organized the corps during the summer armistice in 1813 and it fought at Dresden and Leipzig. General Samuel-François Lhéritier led the corps at first but was replaced by General Pierre Claude Pajol. After Pajol was wounded at Leipzig, General Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud commanded the corps at Hanau in 1813 and at Brienne, La Rothière, Mormant, Fère-Champenoise, and Paris in 1814.
context_section_description: After the disastrous invasion of Russia, Napoleon had to rebuild his armies in Germany. By 1 May 1813, the French emperor was ready to lead an army numbering 226,177 troops and 457 artillery pieces. However, his cavalry was its weakest element. Between mid-April and 1 May, it was organized into the I Cavalry Corps with 3,515 officers and men, the II Cavalry Corps with 3,293 sabers, and the III Cavalry Corps with 3,895 troopers. On 25 March, General Jean Antoine de Collaert was assigned to lead the 1st Brigade of General Samuel-François Lhéritier's 4th Cavalry Division in General Jean-Toussaint Arrighi de Casanova's III Cavalry Corps. After a reorganization, the division became part of the V Cavalry Corps on 10 August. From that day until 5 October, Collaert became the acting commander of the 5th Dragoon Division.
  By the time the summer armistice ended on 17 August 1813, Lhéritier commanded the V Cavalry Corps which numbered about 4,000 horsemen in 20 squadrons supported by 6 guns. In its initial disposition, Lhéritier's corps was posted near Dresden together with the XIV Corps under Marshal Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr. As the Allied Army of Bohemia advanced from the south, the V Cavalry Corps covered the left flank during Saint-Cyr's fighting withdrawal. On 25 August, Lhéritier lost 3 guns in a skirmish with Russian cavalry outside Dresden.
  Lhéritier's corps was present during the Battle of Dresden on 26 and 27 August 1813. Its three divisions were led by Generals Stanislaw Klicki, Collaert, and Auguste Étienne Lamotte. Klicki led the 9th Light Cavalry Division, Collaert directed the 5th Dragoon Division, and Lamotte commanded the 6th Dragoon Division. Meanwhile, General Pierre Claude Pajol led the 10th Light Cavalry Division which belonged to Saint-Cyr's corps. Pajol's division counted 4 squadrons each of French, Italians, and Poles. On the 26th, Pajol appeared to have taken command of Lhéritier's corps as well as his own division because one authority stated that he controlled 46 cavalry squadrons while the commander of the I Cavalry Corps General Victor de Fay de La Tour-Maubourg directed 78 more. This mass of cavalry was deployed to the east of Dresden in the Friederichstadt suburb. Yet, the same source assigned only 68 squadrons to La Tour-Maubourg and Pajol for battle on the 27th. Beginning at 6:00 AM, the cavalry supported by Marshal Claude Perrin Victor's II Corps advanceed against the outnumbered Austrian left wing. The attack was a complete success and by 2:00 PM, the Austrian defenders were almost annihilated, losing 15,000 prisoners. Of the V Cavalry Corps, only the 26th and 27th Chasseurs-à-Cheval and 19th Dragoon Regiments were engaged.
  On 26 September 1813, the V Cavalry Corps, still under Lhéritier, was posted at Großenhain. On 2 October, the corps was placed under the orders of Marshal Joachim Murat along with the II, V, and VIII Corps. Murat was ordered to Freiberg to defend against another advance by the Army of Bohemia. On the 14th, Murat stood to fight south of Leipzig at Liebertwolkwitz with 32,400 infantry, 9,800 cavalry, and 156 guns. The contending forces included Murat's command plus the IV Cavalry Corps and one division of the I Cavalry Corps. The outcome was a drawn battle in which both sides held their positions. The V Cavalry Corps, now under the command of Pajol, was so badly "knocked about" that it was temporarily out of action.
  At the Battle of Leipzig on 16–19 October, Pajol led 5,000 troopers and 11 guns in 3 divisions under Generals Jacques Gervais, baron Subervie, Lhéritier, and Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud. Subervie led the 9th Light Cavalry Division, Lhéritier directed the 5th Heavy Cavalry Division, and Milhaud commanded the 6th Heavy Cavalry Division. Early on the 16th, the I and V Cavalry Corps and the Imperial Guard cavalry were placed in reserve in the southern sector. On the 18th, the V Cavalry Corps supported the II Corps to the south of Leipzig. At 4:00 PM on 18 October, the I, III, and V Cavalry Corps were withdrawn from the battlefield. Pajol was among the many wounded and 
caption: Two division of the V Cavalry Corps were made up of dragoons, as shown here.
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