Cuirassiers were the backbone of heavy cavalry in the Grande Arme. They are famous for the many cavalry charges on all the battlefields of the Napoleonic era. Characterized by their shiny breastplates, by the Minerva style helmet and by the heavy straight sabres, they were often led, like in the battles of Austerlitz (1805), Heilsberg (1807) , Wagram (1809), and Borodino (1812), by Murat, Napoleon’s most skilled cavalry commander.