The plates in these two book effectively reproduce 2600 color gouaches of the uniforms of Napoleon's Guard à Pied and Guard à Cheval. Charmy's reputation led to his being one of the major uniform advisors to Abel Gance when he was making his famous movie, Napoleon.

The Guard à Pied is here depicted in locations such as Russia and Waterloo as well as in static poses. There are also many plates depicting details of insignia, flags and other uniform detail, right down to horse equipment.

Charmy's fine ability as a uniformologist and an artist were first presented in book form in the precursor to this volume on the Cavalry. Three further volumes will follow to complete this set.