I once heard that elite soldiers were the ones you could send marching through a forest, out of sight, without half of them deserting. Don't know how accurate that is, but it seems somewhat plausible. :D

1:30 If you ask a US Marine, the Corps is the greatest fighting force known to man. If you ask a US Navy Sailor, they’re the armed forces equivalent of a 14-year old who will yell that he’s a big, grown man who doesn’t need you any more “Dad”, but still expects you to feed him and drive him everywhere.

Before the term "elite" there was "prestige" which most military units used. Don't forget the Zouaves

I once saw a Royal Marine officer being asked about his corp's 'elite' status. His response was 'Elite implies that a unit has reached a certain standard and that is dangerous. We, on the other hand, will always recruit and train in the assumption that there are always higher standards to achieve.'

>have a sour day >Brandon uploads >day now good Please keep making these

I'm the English teacher who loves the way you speak. Using your provided subtitles (additional points, by the way) I can see how your improvisations and asides are as eloquent as your script while also breaking down information that might be too dense for some and breaking up rhythms that might become monotonous. Marvelous.

For Spain, the military organisation was far more centralised than the British one. What you describe in 7:00 for Spain happened during the reigns of Isabella I, Joanna I and later Charles I, with the unification of the various retinues into the Royal Army (previously, the Royal Armies of Castilla and Aragón, which were the personal armies of the kings of both kingdoms), with a proper organisation. The nobles loyal to the crown were given officer ranks into this unified Royal Army, becoming the new colonels, generals, captains and the like. At first the organisation was made centered around companies of around 200 men and "coronelías" of 10 companies, with the coronelías being the basis for the later (and larger) Tercios. During that period, there were a bunch of elite units (in the sense that they had better training and equipment than the rest) tasked with protecting the Monarch, but weren't an unified "Royal Guard", but rather the "Guardia de Alabarderos" (Halberders Guard) established by King Ferdinand after the death of Queen Isabella, or the "Guardia de Archeros de Borgoña" (Burgundian Glaive Guard), a company brought by the King Consort Philip the Handsome. In 1704, during the Spanish War of Succession, the new Philip V (of the French Borbon dynasty) unified most of those units (except for the ones that went and sided with the Austrian claimant) into the "Real Guardia de Corps" (Royal Guard), a reinforced regiment made from 5 companies (reinforced): two Spanish cavalry companies of 200 men each, 1 Flemish company of fusileers, 1 Italian company of fusileers and 1 "American" company of fusileers (that is, from the Spanish colonial territories in America). During the Napoleonic Wars (what in Spain is called "Guerra de Independencia" or "War for Independance"), the Royal Guards Regiment fought in several key engagements, and they certainly lived to the "elite" monicker, as it was their stubborn resistance against numerically superior enemies what allowed either the survival of the army (in battles like Ocaña in 1809) or turning the tides of the battle completely (such as happened in La Albuera in 1811).

I think the simple answer is, they're SUPPOSED TO BE elite, but is not by default. And i think that also sums it up for "guards" units overall. But there's some ways that they often differed from the average soldiery. Higher wages was common. Which along with other things also ensured a generally better level of battle morale, which in most times means A LOT, as many many battles were lost because units of one side broke and routed. Guard units were less likely to do so in general. Guard units meant to be household units and guards, often had extra training for those duties, and while not a huge advantage militarily most of the time, it did mean it was somewhat common for guards units to train more in total than regular units. If nothing else, this tended to mean that guard units had an average higher level of physical fitness. Rarely a big difference, but still noticeable. Also, many guard units did have SOME sort of requirements above those of regular units. As you mention, sometimes that simply focused on being able to pay their own way, possibly outright being able to buy all their own equipment, but higher physical requirements were somewhat common. Some guard units also specifically recruited experienced troops from the regular units, or sometimes this could be a "promotion"/reward for soldiers that had distinguished themselves in battle. It was also much more common for guard units to have standardised uniforms, long before it became normal, as well as using more blatant colors or ornate designs. And while most people will scoff at it, it actually DOES have some level of psychological effect, unconsciously telling people that "oh dear, these people are so much stronger they can just prance around like that", it's basically the same thing in reverse as how people put on their uniform to "become their job". There is an inherent authority in uniforms, and the more distinct and "peacock-ish", the greater the effect. While it's not a huge thing, it still does make SOME difference. It also tends to be a minor morale booster for the troops themselves. Which is one of the reasons why the British ended up with their redcoat uniforms. . Also, there a very important quote worth remembering here. "To create an elite unit, tell them they are an elite unit and then let them get on with living up to that". It's an extremely simplistic way of looking at it, but it is also perfectly true to some extent. Even with no other differences involved, if you have 2 identical units being created and one of them is told they're elite and that they darn well better live up to it, they generally WILL. Give them 10% extra pay and give them special uniforms? At that point you're pretty much guaranteed that they will at minimum TRY to be BETTER. Humans have a distinct tendency to live up, or down, to expectations.

Interesting little fact: the Austrian Empire did not have Guards units, as Kaiserin und Konigin Maria Thresa and her successors considered them an unnecessary expense and no better than the best line units. The closest you could say the Austrians and Austro-Hungarians came to having a guards unit was, in all likelihood, Infantrie Regiment (I.R.) No. 4 Hochs und Deutschmeister , which was raised ans stationed in Vienna.

An interesting piece to keep in mind is, as elaborated on in your Social Elitism segment their is by all means in most Guard regiments in the United Kingdom & in my experiance in Denmark, a sense of elitism in said regiments. Most Guards believe themselves superior to the rest of the army typically today manifested in the fact that they have higher uniform maintance & drill standards. I recall a documentary from the sixties on the Welsh Guards were the first line was something along the lines of, as soon as you enter the Guards you are taught that you are a Guard & as such better than the rest of the army. I wouldn't be aware whether this applies to the 18th century, however, this traditional regimental culture that exists in Guard regiment (Altough all regiments have a regimental pride, Guard regiments are something else), I wouldn't imagine this culture is all to different from what used to be. Afterall, the Grenadier Guards always stick by 'once a Grenadier always a Grenadier' & equally in the Royal Danish Lifeguard you have the saying 'Once a Guard, always a Guard'.

I really hope we get to see a video on the "Gentleman volunteers", from my own research they seemed to have been quite common in Sweden. I have found some as young as 16 years old serving as volunteer in the regular line regiments during the early 19th century

On the social side its interesting to note the even today there is no such rank of sergeant in the Household Cavalry because the title of sergeant is derived from the Latin "serviens" which means servant. Instead the equivalent rank is corporal of horse, with staff sergeant and sergeant major equivalents being staff corporals and corporal majors

ALWAYS GREAT STUFF BF! Thank You - Useful Information and Helpful in many areas. ~ Be Safe out there ~ Peace & Health o Us All.

In Württemberg during the reign of Frederick II & I (1797-1816) the guard brigade (eventually named Maison du Roi) were a complicated structure. You see, at some point they did have specific "guard regiments" on horse and on foot, however, they also had other standard regiments that had attained some sort of veterancy or reputation attached to the guard. For example, the guard grew exponentially in the course of around 15 years from 1800 to 1815, from 1 Batallion of Garde Grenadiers and one 4 squadrons of Horse guards (in reality each squadron had a different function, the first and the second were "Garde du Corp", the Third were the Leibjägers which were guides and the fourth were the Chevauxlegers which had an almost standard army function) to 2 regiments of Guard Infantry (one being the aforementioned Garde Grenadiers and the other being the first regiment of the standing army) 2 Horse regiments (one being a proper Horse Guard regiment which was made up from the previous Garde du Corp and the Leibjägers together with other raised men and the other also being a standard cavalry regiment from the standing army) 1 Light infantry regiment (Possibly the most famous unit in the army by that time and with reason) and 2 artillery batteries (one on foor and one on horse). Of course the organization for the army was way more complicated than that and fluctuated alot in Frederick's reign as Duke, Elector then King, and i still have many questions yet to be answered. One interesting thing was that once, the King's adjudant von Dillen, went to the garrison of one of the cavalry regiments and told the colonel he "wanted the strongest and most handsome of men to be selected for the Horse Garde regiment".

Probably worth mentioning that most regiments were raised by Royal Charter and that raising a regiment without a charter was considered a bit naughty.

Every time I think of a question regarding early modern warfare Brandon appears and answers my prayers! Thanks Brandon!

I like the distinction of “a cut above”. It captures the vagueness of the issue nicely - and lays a finger of modern (self-perceptions) of elite within armed forces.

Damn, nice video! you should make a video on the history of each guard regiment, each regiment has so much history and honours it'll be fun to both research and present them

Brandon this has been the first time i've ever been giddy for a book release, I cannot wait for it, insightful video as always ❤

Ending the day with a long Brandon vid is awesome

Eh, the USMC is, in a sense, a military in its own right. It's got its own combat and amphibious vessels, a versatile ground combat force, and an air arm. Is it elite? In that it's versatile, and its troops are trained for amphibious warfare, giving them more tactical flexibility, sort of. But in a global context, it just makes them a fairly well trained military. They're not the same thing as the Royal Marines, who are a brigade of superbly trained amphibious light infantry commandos.

That add transition was smooth Brandon… well played…

Thanks Brandon!!!

Can you do a vid detailing the change in uniform styles of the British army post 1790 where the Wigs and tri corns are done away with and side burns are the new fashion

I love your passion. I hope it carries with you throughout your entire life. 👍👍

6:30 This is why it is called the "British army" and not the "Royal Army". Certain corps in the Army and services are "royal" however, like the Artillery and the Engineers. Meanwhile, the Navy was a Royal Service.

Hey! Looks like my grenadier company showed up as a picture of the guards at 13:52! Great picture!

Fun video! :) Always wonderd myself as well, while I was playing Empire hehe.

Next question: were old guards really old?

Okay, given that the Grenadier Guards and the Coldstream Guards and the Scots Guards still exist today, but now that the UK also has the Ranger Regiment and the SAS. Which is the more prestigious unit to be in? It's fascinating because we have an example of the old "Guards" but new concept of elite forces existing concurrently within the UK military.

In addition to the social elite of the Horse Guards (for instance) I would characterize as elite in an 18th century context, a unit that is perceived to be slower to run in the face of casualties than the average unit. In that sense, some guards regiments are reasonably characterized as elite based on their battlefield performance, and further, a higher percentage of guards units would be so characterized than regular line units. This is quite probably a result of their being _seen_ as less likely to run, in a rather circular way. The same would apply to grenadier companies, which were regularly used to stiffen Line Infantry.

Very interesting indeed

I served 2 tours in Iraq in the usmc. I can tell you e thought of ourselves as better than the average army unit. We were not as well equipped but had maybe better unit cohesion? I have worked with a couple army units and was nothing but impressed.

brandon im making this one game, andi needed some "help" with uniforms, its not 100% historical accurate but still fun thank you for helping me

When my group started reenacting the Peruvian Legion of the Guard we got asked that question a lot. The distinction ended up being much more mundane for the taste of many in the public. The only reason it was a Legion is simply because it was a “corp” comprised of one foot regiment, one light cavalry regiment and three artilliery batteries. And guard was simply put due to them being the guard of the government, being allocated to the capital.

I have another question Brandon, so when lines get broken by musket fire, where do they go when they rout? what happens when they rout? and do they just stop at the camp or just run anywhere?

Most things about Guard regiments would be that most commonly they would of course Gyard... But they would also, like at Waterloo with the French Old Guard, Boosted the Morale of all other regiments and strike fear into the enemy...

That’s a very good explanation! A social but seldom a military elite.

It's always interesting how Guards regiments composition and organisations are quite similar across cultures. One think I love about this video is your discussion on how terminologies have changed over the centuries. I did a meme about "sexy" Life Guard outfit in a class (in full armour and scarlet tunics) and the tutorial class was caught off guard cos of how the name "Life Guard" mean now. Or what the word "elite" mean for different groups of people. Great video!

It’s definitely different nowadays for sure, the term ‘elite’ has a very broad range of meanings often meaning better trained so the USMC for example aren’t elite compared to British Marines and I can speak from experience having a taste of the training during my process of trying to join the Royal Marines 😅 it often comes down to the Tier system RM and Paras are In between tier 3 and 2 and SBS/SAS/SRR are tier 1 and as far as the guards go in my own experience at least before I started infantry training I was speaking to a Scots guard and he was saying that the guards are considered elite above regular line infantry and even when you start infantry training you are separated from the start from line infantry and guards and I think that has been the way of it since the foundation of the British army as we know it today after the civil war.

I was going to comment on the status of Grenadiers within a battalion, but then Brandon dropped a bombshell with possibly doing a seperate video on them (and the Light company). Can't wait.

I would love to watch a video about gentleman volunteers if you're thinking about making one.

You know I was looking threw your old videos and saw redcoat asmr I think we need a revisiting of the subject

You also have to factor in that the guard was feared because of their reputation, and so reputation plays so heavily on an enemies sake, and that would cause their morale to fail, which would result in the guards being successful in any kind of an assault so you know just the reputation of the guard for example, would put fear in the opposing units

Do you know how 18th Century militaries managed firearm safety? How much consideration was given to trigger discipline and muzzle awareness? How did they deal with a musket misfiring, and how was a musket unloaded without firing?

An idea of video: talk about how armies of 18th and 19th century marched during parades and during campaign.

Brandon earlier today I watched a video on forgotten weapons a Flintlock that could shoot more than once that the British military turned down if they would have adopted it who do you think would have been the first regiment to be issued these flintlocks if the regular army what have adopted them? I know that the East India Company did adopt them.

A good litmus test (especially back then) is whether they were receiving extra pay. (or other benefits)

So, Guard regiment were mostly socially elite, whereas elite in the form of specialisation is found in Grenadiers, Light infantry etc . Except for the French Napoleonic army, where the Guard were veterans (and therefore more experienced and slightly more effective and steadfast, but not necessarily specialised), who also gained social status because of their veterancy?

Ive learned a ton about modern warfare from your channel, I think hands on history is some of the best way to draw real conclusions and I think being a re-enactor and well studied makes you an effective expert. I think you have a commendable attitude too! Forgive me but I gotta ask though, how tall are you? You look like a short king.

My mind just randomly thought that 18th century elite soldiers would be equipped with a rifle, a musketoon, a blunderbuss, two pistols, a sword and they carry them all mass effect style

I'm surprised that you didn't mentioned that the guards in the 18th century often wanted to get a special position in the battle formation - Fontenoy was a great opportunity to mention that. You missed it. We find often that the commanders of the guards (in France and UK) proclaimed a right to fight in the most dangerous or important position. Nevertheless, an interesting video.

The First French Empire's Old Guard is the most famous example of this trope.

The Austrian Army didn't have any guard units: ""No Mameluks, no Praetiroans, no Janussaries." The ordinary marching regiements did garrison service in Vienna by rotation, and the ceremonial lifeguard duties were entrusted to the non-combatant units of the Trabanten-Garde and the mounted Arciern-Garde, which owned only about 100 officers and me each.' Duffy, The Army of Maria Theresa (1977)

9:38 cool uniform

Though it is a wee bit of a newer regiment than the guards you were talking about, I'm now in the band of the Irish Guards as a piper, drummer, and clarinetist (I rotate instruments)

First to comment! Anyways while the rambling made it a bit confusing it certainly explains the misconception well. Anyways composite is Comp (As in compensate) oz (as in onwards) zit. (Comp-oz-it)

From what I understand about Napoleon's Imperial Guard, he actively only let veterans of one or more campaigns join. So, because it was composed of much more veteran and skilled troops, would it make sense to say that the Imperial Guard is elite?

Hey Brandon 😮..... READY AIM FIRE 😊

Great job with casually bringing up Ekster wallets!

The USMC is a branch just like the US Army and both in fact (and most) branches have special operations elements that would be considered elite, US Marines have the Raiders, US Army have Special Forces and Rangers, US Navy have the Seals, and US Air Force have Pararescue.

Idk if regular USMC grunts are necessarily "elite" but they are trained differently. Marines are shock troops, not occupiers. But marines do have their own special forces units like the raiders/force recon, as does the army with the green berets/rangers/delta force. I'd generally put army paratroopers/air assault units higher than regular marines on the "elite unit" ladder though

Being a Guardsman is a matter of prestige rather than elite. Paras are elite, but too modern. Royal Marines are elite, but specialised. The true elite of the British Army were the assorted Highland regiments: the Forty-twa, Cameronians, the Sutherlands (the thin red line), the Argylls...all sadly gone now. I will give the Rifles and the Green Jackets a shout out though, they're pretty special (not a fan of the green uniforms though) 💋💋💋

Afte t 1806 debacle when the Prussians were reorganize their army the show battalion to try new regulations was the Normal Battalion, eventually moving into the guard.

An elves with bow and arrow versus a napoleonic military line infantry or skirmisher like voltigeurs and 95th rifles, who would win in open field battle or skirmish?

Hello Brandon. This reminded me of the idea of guards in the revolutionary wars as being seen as all trimming and wig, unable to cope with the dash of young vigorous soldiers of the revolution. I worked with a couple of former Royal Marines at different times. One was super fit, like Rambo in First Blood and the other was immense, like World's Strongest Man. Obviously not just ordinary blokes.

It must also be taken into account that the soldiers of the Guards Regiments, due to their above-average size, also had a longer arm span, which increased their effectiveness in volley fire.

That sponsor plug transition though 🤣🤣🤣

Gentleman volunteers, a future episode hint or just a slip of the tongue?

Cool so were gonna get a video on jaegers at some point.

Sadly another case of modern people struggling to understand that pre-modern armies simply didn't function like contemporary militaries - much less emphasis on physical training in particular as part of their recruitment process means there was really no mechanism for filtering 'better' soldiers into more 'elite' regiments, at least not at the scale of the entire army. The real factors that made a regiment elite or not were their standard of equipment, the calibre of their officers, and battlefield experience. Napoleon formed his guard regiments out of older soldiers who had proven themselves under fire - that's about the closest you'd get to an 18th or 19th century era SAS or Navy Seals programme.

I assumed guards were just veterans who distinguished themselves from battle and would be upgraded to guards like soviet Guards Rifle units

I now want a video about 'actual and real' ottoman troops for example the nizam Cedid

The Swedish royal guards ("Svea Livgarde" or "Svea Lifgarde") was consider one of the better regiments in the Swedish army. The men did not come from newly conquered former Danish provinces so they would not try to kill the King or thinking of defecting over to the enemy side in the middle of a battle. Their peace time duty was to act as the body guards of the royal family and to protect the Capitol against any coup attempts. Still to this day do Sweden have its tradition of troops guarding the royals, and a military band play some music when one unit takes over the responsability for guard duty from unit. Nowaydays are Stockholm often visited by regiments from all over Sweden who shares the responsability to guarding the palace for a few days. Svea Livgarde is one of the oldest regiments in the world. And it was among one of the best. During the battle of Lund 1676 did it come into direct contact with the Danish royal guards, and the both sides continued to fight each other instead of fleeing even after both sides had suffered 90% casualties... which says a lot about the dicipline and the fighting morale in those units. In modern day combat do most units lose their willingness to continue fighting after they have recieved say 20-25% losses. However Svea Livgarde with their nicer gold blue uniforms instead of the typical yellow blue other regiments had.. was still not the best unit in the Swedish army. That unit was Drabantkåren (Drabant Corps of Charles XII). It was the unit that was the elite of the elite. Even the Swedish royal guards was nothing compared to them. Indeed, no other regiment in Europe was had the same extremely high combat value as them. They were a small force consisting of the best men in the Swedish army. They had the best training and wore the best and most modern weapons in the world. If the troops asked for an expensive special weapon, then the King ordered that for them no matter of the cost. Even if it meant importing expensive luxuries from a foreign country. The men were well paid and had the nicest uniforms in the Swedish army. They were a Cavalry unit, but they could fight in any type of combat. And even if you had the lowest and simplest job in this regiment, would your rank be considered that of an officer in other regiments, so it was not uncommon that a man from Drabantkåren could take over command over other units in the Swedish army and lead them in battle. They had the skill and had such an enormous amount of combat experience that this was no problem. The men in this unit was made up of the most capable men so they could also take over responsability of governing the civil administration over an area.

As a young lad how do I start to get into reenactments

I agree

You shut ups go to Oregon and check out Fort Stevens. Its a great historical area, its a state paro, and they have preserved this civil war era fort very well. Fort Stevens was used from the Civil War until the end of World War two, they have a lot of area to explore, and there is a tour of one of the batteries there. It was attacked in 1942 by a Japanese submarine. Its near Astoria, Oregon. I high recommend checking it out, its one of my favorite places in my home state of Oregon

Please Please please 🙏 make a video on the book „in Stahlgewittern“ (storms of steal) by Ernst Jünger. I think it’s one of the best WW1 books and Jünger has an incredibly interesting perspective on his time on the Western front.

in Napoleon Total War even armed citizenry were god tier elite if Napoleon was on the field

USMC Force Recon, when they are getting into specifics, are supposed to be elite, but normal USMC just think they are. Also worth noting that the Legion Etrangere, the French Foreign Legion, can trace themselves to the French Royal Guard regiments, which had foreign mercenary regiments, the Scottish and Swiss Guard are the main ones I remember. Then Napoleon happened, but there's a sort of line there, if you squint. Kinda cool anyways. Anyways, congrats on the book, sounds awesome!

love the one long take with plentiful ramblings… it’s giving lindy beige

The USMC has their own elite units. Just being a marine doesn’t signify that status.

Will the book be released on Amazon?

You do have conventional elites in the british army of this system. They were often clustered together in their own battalions but they come from all of the regiments. I speak of course of the lights and the grenidirs

Did they work for the Crown? Or the East India Company or The Hudson bay Company??? The reason Cornwallis surrended at Yorktown was the other share holders, thought he spent too much money and was cut off.

The big question always comes up Does draining off the best soldiers to guard units degrade the line units?

Sorry for mis-spelling

In Napoleonic time the French definitely promoted the best soldiers to the guard. Often countries the best physical recrutes would go to guard u it's though have no experience to warrent elite.

I'd say the British Guards are considered elite soldiers now. They're usually at the forefront of deployment. For example in the Falklands War the infantry task force consisted of the Marines, the Paras and two Guards regiments (I think, apologies if I have that wrong), so presumably they went as they were considered elite infantry soldiers.

In the USMC, the special forces unit is "Force Recon."

So the answer to this question is, "Yes, they **were** 'elite' soldiers, but 'elite' didn't mean back then what it means today." Also, could we definitely do that video on "gentleman volunteers?"

Small mistake at 11:34, it was actually his son, Frederick William I, the “Soldier King” who did that. It was like a project that he started during his father’s reign, but was more famously part of his own.

It's like the 1st US Inf in ww2 (the Big 1). While not organizationally elite in any way or in any way different from any other Inf Div, the Big 1 was still considered 'elite' because they were the 1st.

To me, an “elite” unit like modern special forces is a smaller cadre of trained soldiers capable of more autonomy and flexibility compared to regular infantry. In that regard I’d consider most Light Infantry or Alpine regiments to fit the bill.

Oh, Canada , we stand on Guarrd for thee ! And for our friends, if necessary.

1:26 you could have cut this whole bit and named the Seals instead?

However, it must be mentioned that the Prussian Guards Regiments under Frederick the Great proved themselves on the battlefield, for example when they were the last regiments in the Battle of Kolin and covered the retreat. Or in den Battle of Hochfriedberg.

As far as wargamers go it depends on the rule set🤔. But to minds eye they always were even if they didn't always live up to their lofty designation.

The Carolinian Swedish army during the late 17th and early 18 centuries were elite in the modern sense - height requirements, permanently garrisoned and training, better pay, all of that. The Carolinian army is funny that in some sense like drill and organization it is a hundred years before its time, and still a hundred years after western Europe in their reliance on melee combat.

some guards (not all) were outstandingly loyal. the french swiss guard comes to mind.