French soldier following horse and carriage (7)
I believe the answer is:
hackney
'carriage' is the definition.
(I know that hackney is a type of carriage)
'french soldier following horse' is the wordplay.
'french soldier' becomes 'ney' (Michel Ney).
'following' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'horse' becomes 'hack' (hack is a kind of horse).
'ney' put after 'hack' is 'HACKNEY'.
'and' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for hackney that I've seen before include "Wear out" , "A kind of taxi or car for hire" , "Old cab - London borough" , "district of London" , "Carriage for hire" .)