Cuirassiers were the backbone of heavy cavalry in the Grande Armée. 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.