The great advantage the Young Guard had over the line in 1813 and 1814 was that they had proven Guard cadres for the battalions. While the Young Guard was another 'collection of conscripts' in 1813, it performed excellently and if trained properly, especially after the armistice, they would have had the capability to skirmish effectively. The Young Guard performed outstandingly at Dresden in August and generally outfought its veteran opponents. The French still deployed whole battalions and sometimes regiments in open order during this period.

The naval artillery units that were converted to infantry and assigned to Marmont's VI Corps established an excellent record through 1814 even though they suffered heavy losses at Lutzen and Leipzig. They were generally big regiments and some of the artillerymen were used to form line artillery companies and some went to the Old Guard artillery companies also. They were replaced with conscripts. Some of their officers had to be replaced with army officers and their senior commanders were from the army. Were they the best infantry in the army? That is probably arguable, but they made a good record for themselves and were capable. They were thought to be Guard units by the allies because they had been issued dark blue overcoats akin to those of the Guard.

The Old Guard infantry, rebuilt from veterans, was still the best infantry in either army. There just wasn't enough of them. The Guard fusilier regiments were also excellent, and it was they that led the decisive assault at Lutzen after Drouot's large battery had destroyed the allied center.

Sincerely,
Kevin