Mobile national guard

The mobile National guard , called the Mobiles in summary, was created by the law of February 1st, 1868 in order to contribute like auxiliary of the regular army to defense with the fortified towns, Ville S, coasts, borders of the Empire, and the interior maintenance of law and order.

History

Second Empire

Under the Second Empire, the Patriotisme was very exacerbated, the Conscription was one key moment of the life of young people. The draft boards functioned in support of a drawing lot. Those which had drawn the right numbers were built-in the regular army. It was an great honor in the context of the time and the conscripts made 7 years of service. Those which had not drawn the good figures and although recognized ready to be useful, were going to join the Mobile Garde . One also could, by a kind of exchange, to be made replace: that which was good for the Army could propose its prerogative with a less lucky and voluntary conscript for the active service; sometimes, the business was monnayait.

The young men who were to rock in the camp of the Mobile Guard carried out 5 years. Were thus setting-up of the units of Infanterie and Artillerie corresponding to the districts of the civil administration. Each city, of certain importance, had its Mobiles. The executives were chosen, in general, within the local notability. The “ Moblots ” as sometimes they were called, were equipped by the civil administration; for the uniforms for example, the city provided cloth and each one was to pass in the tailor of the corner. It was not rare to pay its sums of money certain supplies. Administratively, the whole was gathered in departmental units (example: Mobiles of Doubs, of the Haute-Saône, of the Loire, etc…). The whole on the level of the Nation, formed a mass of reserve (approximately 600.000 men). It made it possible the government to multiply (in theory) by two, manpower of its army put on the foot in the event of war.

But the application appeared difficult by the fact of having to regularly give the instruction to all these civil formations. The marshal Niel, the creator of the Mobile Guard, had envisaged 15 annual exercises, each of one 24 hours duration. This program, already rather reduced, was more or less followed.

War of 1870 and afterwards

When the conflict burst in July 1870, the Mobile Guard, not managing to organize itself, was reproduced on the registers only for memory (declaration of the marshal the Ox, Minister for the war in 1870). The Mobiles poorly were armed and involved. The units often missed cohesion and of instruction; they were framed and disciplined in a very variable way but almost always insufficient. However, two months after the defeat, the engagements had absorbed the 9/10e regular army.

The Mobile Guard was then to represent with it only the main part of the French armed forces. It is with this ultimate resource that the Nation, become republican, opposed to the invader a military resistance prolonged during six months. Courage, the abnegation, heroism, in spite of its unpreparedness for the war, are to be put at the credit these units which one will qualify (in modern language) paramilitaries. Thus to the great displeasure regular army was saved, the honor of the Nation.

The formations of Mobiles disappeared after the conflict to make place with units made up of reservists, trained and framed by the Service of the Armies. With Belfort, during the seat held by the troops of the general of Werder, 12.800 mobiles constituted the garrison. That accounted for the 3/4 of manpower. The troops defended the place during more than three months, of the November 4th 1870 with the February 18th 1871. The mobiles assembled the guard, served the guns, stirred up the ground and handled the shovel on the ramparts of the castle, Miotte, Justice, the Poles… They organized then disputed with the enemy his positions external of Valdoie, Perugia - Danjoutin - Cravanche, etc

They took part in the " sorties" on Bessoncourt, Chèvremont, Andelnans, etc They underwent, day and night, an intense bombardment started the December 7th 1870. The troops madly hoped when the army of help of Bourbaki had reached the Lizaine, close to Montbeliard - Héricourt. In spite of the retirement, they nevertheless continued to fight.

Quotations comtemporaines of the Mobiles

Here what Maxime Of the Camp into known as in its Memories one half-century :

Gouailleurs, undisciplined, spiritual of this spirit of Parisian pavement which saisait with dimensions comic the most serious things and most terrible, of a morality learned with the counter from the wine merchant, shameless and lying plunderers, they brought, in the middle of an army in formation, elements of dissolution whose marshal Canrobert was frightened.

It was a troop not offering any guarantee and animated of a very bad spirit.

The same causes produce the same effects, and the mobiles of Paris acted, in 1870, to the camp of Châlons, like the volunteers had acted in 1792. One will not speak about it less still about the mobile brave men and the heroic volunteers; that is natural, educated people know the history, the ignoramuses accept the legends; this is why the legend chokes the history and survives to him.

Sources

D. Seigneur, according to the file of the major Lasted, member of the military committee of history of Life R.M.

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