VI Corps (Grande Armée)
Encyclopedia
The VI Corps of the Grande Armée was the name of a French military unit that existed during the Napoleonic Wars
. It was formed at the Camp de Boulogne and assigned to Marshal
Michel Ney
. From 1805 through 1811, the army corps fought under Ney's command in the War of the Third Coalition, the War of the Fourth Coalition
, and the Peninsular War
. Jean Gabriel Marchand
was in charge of the corps for a period when Ney went on leave. In early 1811, Ney was dismissed by Marshal André Masséna
for disobedience and the corps was briefly led by Louis Henri Loison
until the corps was dissolved in May 1811. The VI Corps was revived in 1812 for the invasion of Russia and placed under Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr. It entirely consisted of Bavarian soldiers at that time. After disaster of winter retreat this corps was virtually destroyed. In 1813 during the War of the Sixth Coalition
it was recreated with reorganized French troops, Marshal Auguste Marmont
took command of the corps and managed it until Emperor Napoleon's abdication in 1814. It took part in many battles including Dresden and Leipzig in 1813. During the Hundred Days
, Georges Mouton, Count de Lobau commanded the VI Corps at the Battle of Waterloo
.
, the VI Corps crossed the Rhine River near Karlsruhe
on the evening of 24–25 September, 1805 at the start of the War of the Third Coalition. On 2 October, Napoleon's advancing Grande Armée began to wheel to the right, aiming for the Danube
River, with Ney's corps on the right as the pivot. The army reached the Danube near Donauwörth
and the troops began to cross to the south bank on 7 October. However, the VI Corps remained on the north bank. On 9 October, Ney's 3rd Division under Jean-Pierre Firmin Malher
defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Günzburg
. Two days later, Pierre Dupont de l'Etang
's 1st Division found itself facing 25,000 Austrians in the Battle of Haslach-Jungingen
. Surprisingly, the badly outnumbered French fended off their enemies all day. Finally, the discouraged Austrians retreated. On 14 October Ney fought Johann Sigismund Riesch
's small corps at the Battle of Elchingen
. Using Louis Henri Loison
's 2nd Division, supported by Malher, Ney crushed Riesch's command with heavy losses.
Thereafter, Dupont's division and Jacques Louis François Delaistre de Tilly
's VI Corps cavalry assisted Marshal Joachim Murat
in the destruction of Franz von Werneck
's Austrian corps. Later, Dupont's division was detached from the corps and fought at the Battle of Dürrenstein on 11 November. With the other two divisions, Ney marched into the Tyrol
where one column was repulsed at Scharnitz
but a second column captured 900 Austrians at Leutasch
. Both actions occurred on 4 November 1805.
The VI Corps fought at the Battle of Jena on 14 October 1806 in the War of the Fourth Coalition
. Ney's troops were engaged in the Siege of Magdeburg
beginning on 22 October. Franz Kasimir von Kleist
surrendered on 11 November with 22,000 Prussian soldiers, 800 officers, 20 generals, and 700 artillery pieces. On 25 December, Marchand with 6,000 men and 12 guns defeated 3,000 Prussians and eight guns at Soldau
. The corps arrived at 7:15 PM on 8 February 1807 at the Battle of Eylau
. Ney's 17,000 men held off 63,000 Russians in a brilliant rear guard action in the Battle of Guttstadt-Deppen
on 5 and 6 June. The corps led the successful counterattack at the Battle of Friedland
on 14 June 1807.
The VI Corps marched to Spain where it fought in the Peninsular War
from 1808 to 1811. In 1808, the corps numbered about 20,000 men, organized into a cavalry brigade under Auguste François-Marie de Colbert-Chabanais
, the 1st Division under Marchand and the 2nd Division under Joseph Lagrange. Later, Maurice Mathieu de Saint-Maurice took over from Lagrange. Ney attempted to occupy Galicia in the northwest, but in June 1809 he evacuated the province. Next, the corps participated in a futile attempt to cut off the British army after the Battle of Talavera.
In the autumn of 1809, Marchand led the corps when Ney went on leave. Under Marchand's leadership, the VI Corps suffered a defeat at the Battle of Tamames
on 18 October. In the Battle of Alba de Tormes
under the command of François Étienne de Kellermann
, the VI Corps gained revenge against the Spanish victors of Tamames on 28 November. Jean-Baptiste Lorcet's cavalry and Kellermann's dragoon division did most of the fighting, while Marchand's infantry arrived only in time to mop up.
At end of the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo
from 26 April to 9 July 1810, the VI Corps seized the fortress. French casualties were about 1,180 men, while the Spanish lost 461 killed, 994 wounded, and 4,000 captured. In the Battle of the Coa on 24 July, Louis Henri Loison
's division forced the Anglo-Portuguese Light Division behind the Coa River, nearly trapping the unit. When Ney unwisely ordered his men to rush the bridge, serious casualties resulted. Allied losses totaled 36 killed, 189 wounded, and 83 missing. French casualties numbered 117 killed and 414 wounded. The corps began the Siege of Almeida
the day after the battle. On 26 August a lucky hit blew up the main Portuguese magazine, killing 600 men and leveling parts of the town and defenses. The garrison capitulated the following day.
The corps was heavily engaged at the Battle of Bussaco on 27 September 1810. Loison's division suffered 1,252 casualties, including brigade commander Édouard François Simon captured. Marchand's division lost an additional 1,173, while Julien Augustin Joseph Mermet
only reported 24 casualties. During the retreat from Portugal, Ney directed several rear guard actions at Pombal
, Redinha
, Casal Novo
, and Foz do Arouce between 11 and 15 March 1811. A week later, Ney flatly refused to obey a direct order and Marshal André Masséna
dismissed him. Loison led the corps at the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro
from 3 to 5 May, during which all three divisions lost 107 killed, 804 wounded, and 33 missing. Soon after the battle, the new army commander Marshal Auguste Marmont
dissolved the corps organizations, including the VI Corps. Among others, Marchand and Mermet were sent home.
While Ney's corps was fighting in Spain, a second VI Corps was formed in Italy during the War of the Fifth Coalition
. At the end of April 1809, Napoleon authorized Eugène de Beauharnais
to form the Army of Italy
into the V Corps
, VI Corps, and XII Corps. Eugène assigned Paul Grenier
to lead a VI Corps that consisted of the 8th Hussar Regiment and two infantry divisions under Pierre François Joseph Durutte
and Michel Marie Pacthod. As Pacthod had not yet arrived, brigadier Louis Jean Nicolas Abbé became acting commander during the Battle of Caldiero
on 29 and 30 April and the Battle of Piave River
on 8 May. Pacthod assumed leadership of his division in time to take part with Durutte in the Battle of Tarvis
between 15 and 17 May 1809. On 25 May, Grenier led Durutte and the attached division of Jean Mathieu Seras to victory in the Battle of Sankt Michael
. At the Battle of Raab
, Grenier directed the divisions of Durutte and Seras in the first line, while Pacthod's soldiers were placed in reserve. After the Austrians repulsed the opening attack, Pacthod's division was committed to the combat. Both Pacthod and Durutte fought at the Battle of Wagram
. Durutte's division participated in the unsuccessful attack on the evening of 5 May. Both divisions were engaged on 6 May, with Pacthod's troops storming Deutsch-Wagram
as Durutte's division moved up the Russbach plateau on their right.
Napoleon reconstituted the VI Corps for the invasion of Russia and placed it under the command of Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr. The corps was formed entirely of Bavarian soldiers. At the First Battle of Polotsk
on 16 to 18 August 1812, the Bavarians and the French II Corps
together suffered 6,000 casualties, including Bavarian Generals Bernhard Erasmus von Deroy
and Siebein killed, and Vincenti and Raglowitsch wounded. Gouvion Saint-Cyr won his marshal's baton
for this costly victory. The corps fought in the Second Battle of Polotsk
on 18 to 20 October. This time, the combined Bavarian and French forces sustained 8,000 to 9,000 casualties before withdrawing to the southwest. A body of 2,100 surviving Bavarians was captured at Toruń (Thorn)
on 16 April 1813 after a two-month siege.
The VI Corps was rebuilt as a French formation in the spring of 1813. Under Marshal Marmont, the corps fought at the Battle of Lützen
on 2 May. The 20th Division under Jean Dominique Compans
and the 21st Division under Jean Pierre François Bonet participated in the engagement. On 20 and 21 May, Marmont led the corps at the Battle of Bautzen
. On this occasion, Jean Parfait Friedrichs' 22nd Division joined the other two divisions in the fighting. After the summer armistice expired, the corps fought at the Battle of Dresden
on 26 and 27 August. Lagrange replaced Bonet as commander of the 21st Division. During the Battle of Leipzig
, Marmont defended the northern sector against Gebhard von Blücher
's forces. After bitter fighting on 16 October, the VI Corps was defeated when the Prussians launched a massed cavalry charge. Two days later, the Württemberg cavalry belonging to the corps defected to the Allies. The formation fought against the Bavarians at the Battle of Hanau
on 30 and 31 October.
The following spring, Marmont led the VI Corps during the Six Days' Campaign. At the Battle of Champaubert
on 10 February 1814, they destroyed an understrength Russian corps and captured its commander. Marmont was left to observe part of Blücher's army while Napoleon fell upon the rest. While Marmont capably held off Blücher's advance, Napoleon concentrated his forces behind him. At the Battle of Vauchamps
on 14 February, Napoleon attacked Blücher and drove him from the field. In these engagements, Lagrange led the 3rd Division while Étienne Pierre Sylvestre Ricard directed the 8th Division. Marmont led his men in a minor victory at Gué-à-Tresmes on 28 February. The corps fought again in the Battle of Craonne
on 7 March.
At the Battle of Laon
on 9 March, the 10,000 troops arrived in the early afternoon and captured some positions east of Laon
. Satisfied, Marmont called off the attack and the troops went into bivouac. Without warning, Blücher launched an attack in the evening, routing the VI Corps. Two pieces of luck allowed Marmont and his men to escape. Charles Nicolas Fabvier
, sent on a mission with 1,000 men, returned to keep the road open. Meanwhile, 125 soldiers of the Old Guard held off waves of Allied cavalry to hold the Festieux defile. At the Battle of Reims
on 13 March, Marmont's corps helped recapture the city. At the Battle of Fère-Champenoise on 25 March, the VI Corps and other troops proved unable to stop the Allied army's advance. After the Battle of Paris
, the French abandoned their capital to the Allied army. By this time the VI Corps was a mere shadow. It went into action with Lagrange's 1,395 troops, Ricard's 726 men, and Jean-Toussaint Arrighi de Casanova
's 1,250 soldiers. As a result of the loss of Paris, Napoleon abdicated on 6 April 1814.
During the Hundred Days
, Napoleon reconstituted the VI Corps and appointed Georges Mouton, Count of Lobau
as its commander. The corps arrived in the evening after the Battle of Ligny
on 16 June 1815 and camped close to the Prussian outposts. The next day, Napoleon ordered Lobau to march his corps west to a position where it could attack Wellington's British army and attached Jacques Gervais Subervie's light cavalry division. At the same time, François Antoine Teste's division was detached from the corps to operate with Marshal Emmanuel Grouchy's right wing.
On the morning of the 18th at the Battle of Waterloo
, Napoleon placed the VI Corps in the second line, with the divisions of François Martin Valentin Simmer and Jean Baptiste Jeanin one behind the other just to the west of the Charleroi
to Brussels
highway. When the approach of the Prussian army was detected, Lobau's two divisions were moved to the east flank, behind the division of Pierre François Joseph Durutte
and facing east. At about 4:00 PM, Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow
gave the order to attack and Lobau found himself outnumbered three-to-one by his Prussian opponents. He quickly shifted his position to occupy Plancenoit
with his right flank brigade while the rest of his infantry and the light cavalry divisions of Subervie and Jean Simon Domon covered the left flank. This was the start of a brutal fight for the village. When the Prussians began to overrun the village, the 4,200-strong Young Guard arrived and drove them out. As the reinforced Prussians again began to press forward, 1,100 soldiers of the Old Guard attacked and recaptured Plancenoit. This triumph helped Lobau's troops hold the line north of the village. Eventually, the Prussians cleared the village in vicious no-quarter fighting that went on into the evening. Unaware that Napoleon's army was routed at Waterloo, Teste's detached division attacked and captured the hamlet of Bierges on the morning of the 19th during the Battle of Wavre
. This local success forced the Prussian III Corps to retreat.
Marshal Michel Ney
(19,267, 24 guns)
(16,780, 30 guns)
(23,448)
Marshal Auguste Marmont
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. It was formed at the Camp de Boulogne and assigned to Marshal
Marshal of France
The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
Michel Ney
Michel Ney
Michel Ney , 1st Duc d'Elchingen, 1st Prince de la Moskowa was a French soldier and military commander during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original 18 Marshals of France created by Napoleon I...
. From 1805 through 1811, the army corps fought under Ney's command in the War of the Third Coalition, the War of the Fourth Coalition
War of the Fourth Coalition
The Fourth Coalition against Napoleon's French Empire was defeated in a war spanning 1806–1807. Coalition partners included Prussia, Russia, Saxony, Sweden, and the United Kingdom....
, and the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
. Jean Gabriel Marchand
Jean Gabriel Marchand
Jean Gabriel Marchand, 1st Count Marchand went from being an attorney to a company commander in the army of the First French Republic in 1791. He fought almost exclusively in Italy throughout the French Revolutionary Wars and served on the staffs of a number of generals...
was in charge of the corps for a period when Ney went on leave. In early 1811, Ney was dismissed by Marshal André Masséna
André Masséna
André Masséna 1st Duc de Rivoli, 1st Prince d'Essling was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
for disobedience and the corps was briefly led by Louis Henri Loison
Louis Henri Loison
Louis Henri Loison briefly joined the French Army in 1787 and after the French Revolution became a junior officer. Blessed with military talent and courage, he rapidly rose to general officer rank during the French Revolutionary Wars. He also got into difficulties because of his fondness for...
until the corps was dissolved in May 1811. The VI Corps was revived in 1812 for the invasion of Russia and placed under Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr. It entirely consisted of Bavarian soldiers at that time. After disaster of winter retreat this corps was virtually destroyed. In 1813 during the War of the Sixth Coalition
War of the Sixth Coalition
In the War of the Sixth Coalition , a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, Spain and a number of German States finally defeated France and drove Napoleon Bonaparte into exile on Elba. After Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia, the continental powers...
it was recreated with reorganized French troops, Marshal Auguste Marmont
Auguste Marmont
Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont, 1st Duke of Ragusa was a French General, nobleman and Marshal of France.-Biography:...
took command of the corps and managed it until Emperor Napoleon's abdication in 1814. It took part in many battles including Dresden and Leipzig in 1813. During the Hundred Days
Hundred Days
The Hundred Days, sometimes known as the Hundred Days of Napoleon or Napoleon's Hundred Days for specificity, marked the period between Emperor Napoleon I of France's return from exile on Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815...
, Georges Mouton, Count de Lobau commanded the VI Corps at the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
.
1805-1807
Under the command of Marshal Michel NeyMichel Ney
Michel Ney , 1st Duc d'Elchingen, 1st Prince de la Moskowa was a French soldier and military commander during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original 18 Marshals of France created by Napoleon I...
, the VI Corps crossed the Rhine River near Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
on the evening of 24–25 September, 1805 at the start of the War of the Third Coalition. On 2 October, Napoleon's advancing Grande Armée began to wheel to the right, aiming for the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
River, with Ney's corps on the right as the pivot. The army reached the Danube near Donauwörth
Donauwörth
Donauwörth is a city in the German State of Bavaria , in the region of Swabia . It is said to have been founded by two fisherman where the Danube and Wörnitz rivers meet...
and the troops began to cross to the south bank on 7 October. However, the VI Corps remained on the north bank. On 9 October, Ney's 3rd Division under Jean-Pierre Firmin Malher
Jean-Pierre Firmin Malher
Jean-Pierre Firmin Malher, born 29 June 1761 and died 13 March 1808, joined the army of the First French Republic and fought in the French Revolutionary Wars. During the Napoleonic Wars he rose in rank to command a division. He was accidentally killed in 1808 while on campaign in Spain...
defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Günzburg
Battle of Günzburg
The Battle of Günzburg on 9 October 1805 saw General of Division Jean-Pierre Firmin Malher's French division attempt to seize a crossing over the Danube River at Günzburg in the face of a Habsburg Austrian army led by Feldmarschall-Leutnant Karl Mack von Lieberich. Malher's division managed to...
. Two days later, Pierre Dupont de l'Etang
Pierre Dupont de l'Étang
Pierre-Antoine, comte Dupont de l'Étang was a French general of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, as well as a political figure of the Bourbon Restoration.-Revolutionary Wars:...
's 1st Division found itself facing 25,000 Austrians in the Battle of Haslach-Jungingen
Battle of Haslach-Jungingen
The Battle of Haslach-Jungingen, also known as the Battle of Albeck, fought on 11 October 1805 at Ulm-Jungingen north of Ulm at the Danube, was part of the War of the Third Coalition, which was a part of the greater Napoleonic Wars.-Background:...
. Surprisingly, the badly outnumbered French fended off their enemies all day. Finally, the discouraged Austrians retreated. On 14 October Ney fought Johann Sigismund Riesch
Johann Sigismund Riesch
Johann Sigismund Graf von Riesch joined the army of Habsburg Austria as a cavalry officer and, during his career, fought against the Kingdom of Prussia, Ottoman Turkey, Revolutionary France, and Napoleon's French Empire...
's small corps at the Battle of Elchingen
Battle of Elchingen
The Battle of Elchingen, fought on October 14, 1805, saw French forces under Michel Ney rout an Austrian corps led by Johann Sigismund Riesch. This defeat led to a large part of the Austrian army being invested in the fortress of Ulm by the army of Emperor Napoleon I of France while other...
. Using Louis Henri Loison
Louis Henri Loison
Louis Henri Loison briefly joined the French Army in 1787 and after the French Revolution became a junior officer. Blessed with military talent and courage, he rapidly rose to general officer rank during the French Revolutionary Wars. He also got into difficulties because of his fondness for...
's 2nd Division, supported by Malher, Ney crushed Riesch's command with heavy losses.
Thereafter, Dupont's division and Jacques Louis François Delaistre de Tilly
Jacques Louis François Delaistre de Tilly
Jacques-Louis-François Delaistre de Tilly became a general officer in the French army during the French Revolutionary Wars. He led a cavalry division in a number of battles during the Napoleonic Wars...
's VI Corps cavalry assisted Marshal Joachim Murat
Joachim Murat
Joachim-Napoléon Murat , Marshal of France and Grand Admiral or Admiral of France, 1st Prince Murat, was Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Naples from 1808 to 1815...
in the destruction of Franz von Werneck
Franz von Werneck
Franz Freiherr von Werneck, born 13 October 1748 – died 17 January 1806, enlisted in the army of Habsburg Austria and fought in the Austro-Turkish War, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars. He enjoyed a distinguished career until 1797, when he lost a battle and was dismissed...
's Austrian corps. Later, Dupont's division was detached from the corps and fought at the Battle of Dürrenstein on 11 November. With the other two divisions, Ney marched into the Tyrol
County of Tyrol
The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...
where one column was repulsed at Scharnitz
Scharnitz
Scharnitz is a municipality in the district of Innsbruck-Land and is located 16,40 km north of Innsbruck as well as 9 km above Seefeld in Tirol at the border to Germany. It has one of the biggest area size and possesses 12 parts. The village was founded in the early middle age and was once an...
but a second column captured 900 Austrians at Leutasch
Leutasch
Leutasch is a municipality in the northern part of the district Innsbruck-Land and is located approximately 30 km northwest of Innsbruck. The beautiful valley lies within a 16 km long high-lying valley and possesses 2073 inhabitants and 26 hamlets....
. Both actions occurred on 4 November 1805.
The VI Corps fought at the Battle of Jena on 14 October 1806 in the War of the Fourth Coalition
War of the Fourth Coalition
The Fourth Coalition against Napoleon's French Empire was defeated in a war spanning 1806–1807. Coalition partners included Prussia, Russia, Saxony, Sweden, and the United Kingdom....
. Ney's troops were engaged in the Siege of Magdeburg
Siege of Magdeburg (1806)
The siege of Magdeburg was a siege of the city that took place during the war of the Fourth Coalition...
beginning on 22 October. Franz Kasimir von Kleist
Franz Kasimir von Kleist
Franz Casimir von Kleist was a lieutenant general and statesman of Kingdom of Prussia. He stemmed from a long line of poets and generals. Born 25 January 1736 in Stettin, he died on 30 March 1808...
surrendered on 11 November with 22,000 Prussian soldiers, 800 officers, 20 generals, and 700 artillery pieces. On 25 December, Marchand with 6,000 men and 12 guns defeated 3,000 Prussians and eight guns at Soldau
Battle of Czarnowo
The Battle of Czarnowo on the night of 23–24 December 1806 saw troops of the First French Empire under the eye of Emperor Napoleon I launch an evening assault crossing of the Wkra River against Lieutenant General Alexander Ivanovich Ostermann-Tolstoy's defending Russian Empire forces...
. The corps arrived at 7:15 PM on 8 February 1807 at the Battle of Eylau
Battle of Eylau
The Battle of Eylau or Battle of Preussisch-Eylau, 7 and 8 February 1807, was a bloody and inconclusive battle between Napoléon's Grande Armée and a Russian Empire army under Levin August, Count von Bennigsen near the town of Preußisch Eylau in East Prussia. Late in the battle, the Russians...
. Ney's 17,000 men held off 63,000 Russians in a brilliant rear guard action in the Battle of Guttstadt-Deppen
Battle of Guttstadt-Deppen
In the Battle of Guttstadt-Deppen on 5 and 6 June 1807, troops of the Russian Empire led by General Levin August, Count von Bennigsen attacked the First French Empire corps of Marshal Michel Ney. The Russians pressed back their opponents in an action that saw Ney fight a brilliant rear guard action...
on 5 and 6 June. The corps led the successful counterattack at the Battle of Friedland
Battle of Friedland
The Battle of Friedland saw Napoleon I's French army decisively defeat Count von Bennigsen's Russian army about twenty-seven miles southeast of Königsberg...
on 14 June 1807.
1808-1811
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
from 1808 to 1811. In 1808, the corps numbered about 20,000 men, organized into a cavalry brigade under Auguste François-Marie de Colbert-Chabanais
Auguste François-Marie de Colbert-Chabanais
Auguste François-Marie de Colbert-Chabanais, born 18 October 1777 in Paris - died 3 January 1809, Cacabelos, Spain), Comte de l'Empire joined the French army during the French Revolutionary Wars. He became a general officer of cavalry during the Napoleonic Wars and fought in a number of major...
, the 1st Division under Marchand and the 2nd Division under Joseph Lagrange. Later, Maurice Mathieu de Saint-Maurice took over from Lagrange. Ney attempted to occupy Galicia in the northwest, but in June 1809 he evacuated the province. Next, the corps participated in a futile attempt to cut off the British army after the Battle of Talavera.
In the autumn of 1809, Marchand led the corps when Ney went on leave. Under Marchand's leadership, the VI Corps suffered a defeat at the Battle of Tamames
Battle of Tamamés
The Battle of Tamames was a sharp reversal suffered by part of Marshal Michel Ney's French army under Major-General Jean Marchand in the Peninsular War. The French, advancing out of Salamanca, were met and defeated in battle by a Spanish army on October 18, 1809.-Course of battle:The Spanish drew...
on 18 October. In the Battle of Alba de Tormes
Battle of Alba de Tormes
In the Battle of Alba de Tormes, fought on November 26, 1809, a French army commanded by Major General Jean Marchand routed Lieutenant-General Duke del Parque's retreating Spanish army during the Peninsular War.-Strategic situation:...
under the command of François Étienne de Kellermann
François Étienne de Kellermann
Francois Étienne de Kellermann, 2nd Duc de Valmy was a French cavalry general noted for his daring and skillful exploits during the Napoleonic Wars...
, the VI Corps gained revenge against the Spanish victors of Tamames on 28 November. Jean-Baptiste Lorcet's cavalry and Kellermann's dragoon division did most of the fighting, while Marchand's infantry arrived only in time to mop up.
At end of the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo
Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1810)
In the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, the French Marshal Michel Ney took the fortified city from Field Marshal Don Andrés Perez de Herrasti on 9 July 1810 after a siege that began on 26 April...
from 26 April to 9 July 1810, the VI Corps seized the fortress. French casualties were about 1,180 men, while the Spanish lost 461 killed, 994 wounded, and 4,000 captured. In the Battle of the Coa on 24 July, Louis Henri Loison
Louis Henri Loison
Louis Henri Loison briefly joined the French Army in 1787 and after the French Revolution became a junior officer. Blessed with military talent and courage, he rapidly rose to general officer rank during the French Revolutionary Wars. He also got into difficulties because of his fondness for...
's division forced the Anglo-Portuguese Light Division behind the Coa River, nearly trapping the unit. When Ney unwisely ordered his men to rush the bridge, serious casualties resulted. Allied losses totaled 36 killed, 189 wounded, and 83 missing. French casualties numbered 117 killed and 414 wounded. The corps began the Siege of Almeida
Siege of Almeida (1810)
In the Siege of Almeida, the French corps of Marshal Michel Ney captured the border fortress from Brigadier General William Cox's Portuguese garrison. This action was fought in the summer of 1810 during the Peninsular War portion of the Napoleonic Wars...
the day after the battle. On 26 August a lucky hit blew up the main Portuguese magazine, killing 600 men and leveling parts of the town and defenses. The garrison capitulated the following day.
The corps was heavily engaged at the Battle of Bussaco on 27 September 1810. Loison's division suffered 1,252 casualties, including brigade commander Édouard François Simon captured. Marchand's division lost an additional 1,173, while Julien Augustin Joseph Mermet
Julien Augustin Joseph Mermet
General Julien Augustin Joseph Mermet fought in the Napoleonic Wars as a division commander in Italy and in the Peninsular War.-Empire:...
only reported 24 casualties. During the retreat from Portugal, Ney directed several rear guard actions at Pombal
Battle of Pombal
The Battle of Pombal was a sharp skirmish during Marshal Masséna's retreat from the Lines of Torres Vedras, the first in a series of lauded rearguard actions fought by Michel Ney...
, Redinha
Battle of Redinha
The Battle of Redinha was a rearguard action which took place on March 12, 1811, during Masséna's retreat from Portugal, by a French division under Marshal Ney against a considerably larger Anglo-Portuguese force under Wellington. Challenging the Allies with only one or two divisions, Ney's 7,000...
, Casal Novo
Battle of Casal Novo
The Battle of Casal Novo was a rear-guard action fought on March 14, 1811, during Massena's retreat from Portugal. During this retreat the French rear-guard, under command of Michel Ney, performed admirably in a series of sharp rear-guard actions...
, and Foz do Arouce between 11 and 15 March 1811. A week later, Ney flatly refused to obey a direct order and Marshal André Masséna
André Masséna
André Masséna 1st Duc de Rivoli, 1st Prince d'Essling was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
dismissed him. Loison led the corps at the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro
Battle of Fuentes de Onoro
In the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro , the British-Portuguese Army under Viscount Wellington checked an attempt by the French Army of Portugal under Marshal André Masséna to relieve the besieged city of Almeida.-Background:...
from 3 to 5 May, during which all three divisions lost 107 killed, 804 wounded, and 33 missing. Soon after the battle, the new army commander Marshal Auguste Marmont
Auguste Marmont
Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont, 1st Duke of Ragusa was a French General, nobleman and Marshal of France.-Biography:...
dissolved the corps organizations, including the VI Corps. Among others, Marchand and Mermet were sent home.
While Ney's corps was fighting in Spain, a second VI Corps was formed in Italy during the War of the Fifth Coalition
War of the Fifth Coalition
The War of the Fifth Coalition, fought in the year 1809, pitted a coalition of the Austrian Empire and the United Kingdom against Napoleon's French Empire and Bavaria. Major engagements between France and Austria, the main participants, unfolded over much of Central Europe from April to July, with...
. At the end of April 1809, Napoleon authorized Eugène de Beauharnais
Eugène de Beauharnais
Eugène Rose de Beauharnais, Prince Français, Prince of Venice, Viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy, Hereditary Grand Duke of Frankfurt, 1st Duke of Leuchtenberg and 1st Prince of Eichstätt ad personam was the first child and only son of Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais and Joséphine Tascher de la...
to form the Army of Italy
Army of Italy (France)
The Army of Italy was a Field army of the French Army stationed on the Italian border and used for operations in Italy itself. Though it existed in some form in the 16th century through to the present, it is best known for its role during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic...
into the V Corps
V Corps (Grande Armée)
The V Corps of the Grande Armée was a military unit during the Napoleonic Wars. Formed in 1805 and later few times reorganized. In 1805-1807 there serviced mainly French troops under command French Marshals Lannes, Mortier, Lefebvre, general Savary and Marshal Massena.In 1812 the V Corps was made...
, VI Corps, and XII Corps. Eugène assigned Paul Grenier
Paul Grenier
Paul Grenier joined the French royal army and rapidly rose to general officer rank during the French Revolutionary Wars. He led a division in the 1796-1797 campaign in southern Germany. During the 1800 campaign in the Electorate of Bavaria he was a wing commander...
to lead a VI Corps that consisted of the 8th Hussar Regiment and two infantry divisions under Pierre François Joseph Durutte
Pierre François Joseph Durutte
Pierre François Joseph Durutte joined the French army at the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars. Rapidly promoted for feats of bravery under fire at Jemappes in 1792 and Hondschoote in 1793, he found himself appointed to serve as a staff officer...
and Michel Marie Pacthod. As Pacthod had not yet arrived, brigadier Louis Jean Nicolas Abbé became acting commander during the Battle of Caldiero
Battle of Caldiero (1809)
In the Battle of Caldiero or Battle of Soave or Battle of Castelcerino from 27 to 30 April 1809, an Austrian army led by Archduke John of Austria defended against a Franco-Italian army headed by Eugène de Beauharnais, the Viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy...
on 29 and 30 April and the Battle of Piave River
Battle of Piave River (1809)
The Battle of Piave River was fought on 8 May 1809 between the Franco-Italian army under the command of Eugène de Beauharnais and an Austrian army led by Archduke John of Austria. The Austrian commander made a stand behind the Piave River but he suffered a defeat at the hands of his numerically...
on 8 May. Pacthod assumed leadership of his division in time to take part with Durutte in the Battle of Tarvis
Battle of Tarvis (1809)
The Battle of Tarvis from 16 to 17 May 1809, the Storming of the Malborghetto Blockhouse from 15 to 17 May 1809, and the Storming of the Predil Blockhouse from 15 to 18 May saw the Franco-Italian army of Eugène de Beauharnais attacking Austrian Empire forces under Albert Gyulai...
between 15 and 17 May 1809. On 25 May, Grenier led Durutte and the attached division of Jean Mathieu Seras to victory in the Battle of Sankt Michael
Battle of Sankt Michael
In the Battle of Sankt Michael on 25 May 1809, Paul Grenier's French corps crushed Franz Jellacic's Austrian division at Sankt Michael in Obersteiermark, Austria. The action occurred after the initial French victories during the War of the Fifth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars...
. At the Battle of Raab
Battle of Raab
The Battle of Raab was fought on 14 June 1809 during the Napoleonic Wars, between Franco-Italian forces and Austrian-Hungarian forces. The battle was fought near Győr in Hungary and ended in a Franco-Italian victory...
, Grenier directed the divisions of Durutte and Seras in the first line, while Pacthod's soldiers were placed in reserve. After the Austrians repulsed the opening attack, Pacthod's division was committed to the combat. Both Pacthod and Durutte fought at the Battle of Wagram
Battle of Wagram
The Battle of Wagram was the decisive military engagement of the War of the Fifth Coalition. It took place on the Marchfeld plain, on the north bank of the Danube. An important site of the battle was the village of Deutsch-Wagram, 10 kilometres northeast of Vienna, which would give its name to the...
. Durutte's division participated in the unsuccessful attack on the evening of 5 May. Both divisions were engaged on 6 May, with Pacthod's troops storming Deutsch-Wagram
Deutsch-Wagram
Deutsch-Wagram is a city in Austria in the federal state of Lower Austria. It lies 15 km northeast of Vienna and has a population of 6,808 as of the 2001 census.- History :...
as Durutte's division moved up the Russbach plateau on their right.
1812-1815
First battle of Polotsk
In the First battle of Polotsk, which took place on 17–18 August 1812, Russian troops under the command of Peter Wittgenstein fought French and Bavarian troops led by Nicolas Oudinot and stopped their advance to Saint Petersburg...
on 16 to 18 August 1812, the Bavarians and the French II Corps
II Corps (Grande Armée)
The II Corps of the Grande Armée was a military unit during the Napoleonic Wars. It was commanded by Marshal Nicolas Oudinot during the 1812 invasion of Russia, at which point its size was roughly 40,000 men....
together suffered 6,000 casualties, including Bavarian Generals Bernhard Erasmus von Deroy
Bernhard Erasmus von Deroy
Bernhard Erasmus von Deroy became a noted general officer in the army of Bavaria. His military career began shortly after the start of the Seven Years War...
and Siebein killed, and Vincenti and Raglowitsch wounded. Gouvion Saint-Cyr won his marshal's baton
Marshal of France
The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
for this costly victory. The corps fought in the Second Battle of Polotsk
Second Battle of Polotsk
The Second Battle of Polotsk took place during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. In this encounter the Russians under General Peter Wittgenstein attacked and defeated a Franco-Bavarian force under Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr. In the aftermath of this success, the Russians took Polotsk and dismantled...
on 18 to 20 October. This time, the combined Bavarian and French forces sustained 8,000 to 9,000 casualties before withdrawing to the southwest. A body of 2,100 surviving Bavarians was captured at Toruń (Thorn)
Torun
Toruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....
on 16 April 1813 after a two-month siege.
The VI Corps was rebuilt as a French formation in the spring of 1813. Under Marshal Marmont, the corps fought at the Battle of Lützen
Battle of Lützen (1813)
In the Battle of Lützen , Napoleon I of France lured a combined Prussian and Russian force into a trap, halting the advances of the Sixth Coalition after his devastating losses in Russia. The Russian commander, Prince Peter Wittgenstein, attempting to undo Napoleon's capture of Leipzig, attacked...
on 2 May. The 20th Division under Jean Dominique Compans
Jean Dominique Compans
Count Jean Dominique Compans was a French Divisional General from 1811 and a participant of Napoleonic Wars....
and the 21st Division under Jean Pierre François Bonet participated in the engagement. On 20 and 21 May, Marmont led the corps at the Battle of Bautzen
Battle of Bautzen
In the Battle of Bautzen a combined Russian/Prussian army was pushed back by Napoleon, but escaped destruction, some sources claim, because Michel Ney failed to block their retreat...
. On this occasion, Jean Parfait Friedrichs' 22nd Division joined the other two divisions in the fighting. After the summer armistice expired, the corps fought at the Battle of Dresden
Battle of Dresden
The Battle of Dresden was fought on 26–27 August 1813 around Dresden, Germany, resulting in a French victory under Napoleon I against forces of the Sixth Coalition of Austrians, Russians and Prussians under Field Marshal Schwartzenberg. However, Napoleon's victory was not as complete as it could...
on 26 and 27 August. Lagrange replaced Bonet as commander of the 21st Division. During the Battle of Leipzig
Battle of Leipzig
The Battle of Leipzig or Battle of the Nations, on 16–19 October 1813, was fought by the coalition armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden against the French army of Napoleon. Napoleon's army also contained Polish and Italian troops as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine...
, Marmont defended the northern sector against Gebhard von Blücher
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Fürst von Wahlstatt , Graf , later elevated to Fürst von Wahlstatt, was a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall who led his army against Napoleon I at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1813 and at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 with the Duke of Wellington.He is...
's forces. After bitter fighting on 16 October, the VI Corps was defeated when the Prussians launched a massed cavalry charge. Two days later, the Württemberg cavalry belonging to the corps defected to the Allies. The formation fought against the Bavarians at the Battle of Hanau
Battle of Hanau
The Battle of Hanau was fought on between Karl Philipp von Wrede’s Austro-Bavarian corps and Napoleon's retreating French during the War of the Sixth Coalition....
on 30 and 31 October.
The following spring, Marmont led the VI Corps during the Six Days' Campaign. At the Battle of Champaubert
Battle of Champaubert
The Battle of Champaubert was the opening engagement of the Six Days Campaign. It was fought on February 10, 1814 by a French force under Napoleon I against Russians and Prussians under General Olssufiev...
on 10 February 1814, they destroyed an understrength Russian corps and captured its commander. Marmont was left to observe part of Blücher's army while Napoleon fell upon the rest. While Marmont capably held off Blücher's advance, Napoleon concentrated his forces behind him. At the Battle of Vauchamps
Battle of Vauchamps
The Battle of Vauchamps, the final major engagement of the Six Days Campaign of the War of the Sixth Coalition, was fought on 14 February 1814...
on 14 February, Napoleon attacked Blücher and drove him from the field. In these engagements, Lagrange led the 3rd Division while Étienne Pierre Sylvestre Ricard directed the 8th Division. Marmont led his men in a minor victory at Gué-à-Tresmes on 28 February. The corps fought again in the Battle of Craonne
Battle of Craonne
The Battle of Craonne was fought on March 7, 1814, and resulted in a French victory under Napoleon I against Russians and Prussians under General Blücher.Craonne is a village on the Chemin des Dames, in the département of Aisne....
on 7 March.
At the Battle of Laon
Battle of Laon
The Battle of Laon was the victory of Blücher's Prussian army over Napoleon's French army near Laon.-Prelude:An Allied coalition attempted to complete the destruction of Napoleon's French Empire in 1814. France had been defeated in Russia in 1812 and in Central Europe in 1813...
on 9 March, the 10,000 troops arrived in the early afternoon and captured some positions east of Laon
Laon
Laon is the capital city of the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France.-History:The hilly district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance...
. Satisfied, Marmont called off the attack and the troops went into bivouac. Without warning, Blücher launched an attack in the evening, routing the VI Corps. Two pieces of luck allowed Marmont and his men to escape. Charles Nicolas Fabvier
Charles Nicolas Fabvier
Charles Nicolas Fabvier was an ambassador, general and French member of parliament who played a distinguished role in the Greek War of Independence.- Career under Napoleon :...
, sent on a mission with 1,000 men, returned to keep the road open. Meanwhile, 125 soldiers of the Old Guard held off waves of Allied cavalry to hold the Festieux defile. At the Battle of Reims
Battle of Reims (1814)
The Battle of Reims was fought at Reims on 13 March 1814 between the French Empire and a Russian-Prussian force. The French, led by Napoleon Bonaparte, were victorious.- Background :...
on 13 March, Marmont's corps helped recapture the city. At the Battle of Fère-Champenoise on 25 March, the VI Corps and other troops proved unable to stop the Allied army's advance. After the Battle of Paris
Battle of Paris (1814)
The Battle of Paris was fought during the Napoleonic Wars in 1814. The French defeat led directly to the abdication of Napoleon I.-Background:...
, the French abandoned their capital to the Allied army. By this time the VI Corps was a mere shadow. It went into action with Lagrange's 1,395 troops, Ricard's 726 men, and Jean-Toussaint Arrighi de Casanova
Jean-Toussaint Arrighi de Casanova
Jean-Toussaint Arrighi de Casanova , duc de Padoue, was a French diplomat and soldier of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. In the late 1840s, Arrighi was also involved in politics and was elected Deputy and then Senator in the French Parliament...
's 1,250 soldiers. As a result of the loss of Paris, Napoleon abdicated on 6 April 1814.
During the Hundred Days
Hundred Days
The Hundred Days, sometimes known as the Hundred Days of Napoleon or Napoleon's Hundred Days for specificity, marked the period between Emperor Napoleon I of France's return from exile on Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815...
, Napoleon reconstituted the VI Corps and appointed Georges Mouton, Count of Lobau
Georges Mouton
Georges Mouton, comte de Lobau was a French soldier and political figure who rose to the rank of Marshal of France.-Biography:Born in Phalsbourg, Lorraine, he enlisted in the French Revolutionary Army in 1792...
as its commander. The corps arrived in the evening after the Battle of Ligny
Battle of Ligny
The Battle of Ligny was the last victory of the military career of Napoleon I. In this battle, French troops of the Armée du Nord under Napoleon's command, defeated a Prussian army under Field Marshal Blücher, near Ligny in present-day Belgium. The bulk of the Prussian army survived, however, and...
on 16 June 1815 and camped close to the Prussian outposts. The next day, Napoleon ordered Lobau to march his corps west to a position where it could attack Wellington's British army and attached Jacques Gervais Subervie's light cavalry division. At the same time, François Antoine Teste's division was detached from the corps to operate with Marshal Emmanuel Grouchy's right wing.
On the morning of the 18th at the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
, Napoleon placed the VI Corps in the second line, with the divisions of François Martin Valentin Simmer and Jean Baptiste Jeanin one behind the other just to the west of the Charleroi
Charleroi
Charleroi is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. , the total population of Charleroi was 201,593. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of and had a total population of 522,522 as of 1 January 2008, ranking it as...
to Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
highway. When the approach of the Prussian army was detected, Lobau's two divisions were moved to the east flank, behind the division of Pierre François Joseph Durutte
Pierre François Joseph Durutte
Pierre François Joseph Durutte joined the French army at the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars. Rapidly promoted for feats of bravery under fire at Jemappes in 1792 and Hondschoote in 1793, he found himself appointed to serve as a staff officer...
and facing east. At about 4:00 PM, Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow
Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow
Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow, Graf von Dennewitz was a Prussian general of the Napoleonic Wars.-Early life:...
gave the order to attack and Lobau found himself outnumbered three-to-one by his Prussian opponents. He quickly shifted his position to occupy Plancenoit
Plancenoit
Placenoit is a village in the commune of Lasne, Walloon Brabant, Belgium. The village was a key strategic point during the Battle of Waterloo as it was the main focal point of the Prussians' flank attack on Napoleon's army....
with his right flank brigade while the rest of his infantry and the light cavalry divisions of Subervie and Jean Simon Domon covered the left flank. This was the start of a brutal fight for the village. When the Prussians began to overrun the village, the 4,200-strong Young Guard arrived and drove them out. As the reinforced Prussians again began to press forward, 1,100 soldiers of the Old Guard attacked and recaptured Plancenoit. This triumph helped Lobau's troops hold the line north of the village. Eventually, the Prussians cleared the village in vicious no-quarter fighting that went on into the evening. Unaware that Napoleon's army was routed at Waterloo, Teste's detached division attacked and captured the hamlet of Bierges on the morning of the 19th during the Battle of Wavre
Battle of Wavre
The Battle of Wavre was the final major military action of the Hundred Days campaign and the Napoleonic Wars. It was fought on 18-19 June 1815 between the Prussian rearguard under the command of General Johann von Thielmann and three corps of the French army under the command of Marshal Grouchy. A...
. This local success forced the Prussian III Corps to retreat.
Ulm: September 1805
Marshal Michel NeyMichel Ney
Michel Ney , 1st Duc d'Elchingen, 1st Prince de la Moskowa was a French soldier and military commander during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original 18 Marshals of France created by Napoleon I...
- 1st Division: General of Division Pierre Dupont de l'EtangPierre Dupont de l'ÉtangPierre-Antoine, comte Dupont de l'Étang was a French general of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, as well as a political figure of the Bourbon Restoration.-Revolutionary Wars:...
- Brigadiers: Generals of Brigade Marie François RouyerMarie François RouyerMarie François Rouyer was a French general during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1783 he joined the army of a German state and became a lieutenant of dragoons within three years. In 1791 he joined the French army as an infantry captain. He fought in the French Revolutionary Wars, becoming an Adjutant...
, Jean Gabriel MarchandJean Gabriel MarchandJean Gabriel Marchand, 1st Count Marchand went from being an attorney to a company commander in the army of the First French Republic in 1791. He fought almost exclusively in Italy throughout the French Revolutionary Wars and served on the staffs of a number of generals...
- 9th Light Infantry Regiment, three battalions
- 32nd Line Infantry Regiment, four battalions
- 96th Line Infantry Regiment, four battalions
- Brigadiers: Generals of Brigade Marie François Rouyer
- 2nd Division: General of Division Louis Henri LoisonLouis Henri LoisonLouis Henri Loison briefly joined the French Army in 1787 and after the French Revolution became a junior officer. Blessed with military talent and courage, he rapidly rose to general officer rank during the French Revolutionary Wars. He also got into difficulties because of his fondness for...
- Brigadiers: Generals of Brigade Eugene-Casimir VillatteEugene-Casimir VillatteEugène-Casimir Villatte, Comte d'Oultremont fought in the French army during the Wars of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. He rose to command a division at many of the important battles in the Peninsular War...
, François Roguet- 6th Light Infantry Regiment, two battalions
- 39th Line Infantry Regiment, two battalions
- 69th Line Infantry Regiment, two battalions
- 76th Line Infantry Regiment, two battalions
- Brigadiers: Generals of Brigade Eugene-Casimir Villatte
- 3rd Division: General of Division Jean-Pierre Firmin MalherJean-Pierre Firmin MalherJean-Pierre Firmin Malher, born 29 June 1761 and died 13 March 1808, joined the army of the First French Republic and fought in the French Revolutionary Wars. During the Napoleonic Wars he rose in rank to command a division. He was accidentally killed in 1808 while on campaign in Spain...
- Brigadiers: Generals of Brigade Mathieu Delabassé, Pierre-Louis Binet de MarcognetPierre-Louis Binet de MarcognetPierre-Louis Binet de Marcognet joined the French army in 1781 as an officer cadet and fought in the American Revolutionary War. During the French Revolutionary Wars he fought in the Army of the Rhine and was wounded at First and Second Wissembourg...
- 25th Light Infantry Regiment, three battalions
- 27th Line Infantry Regiment, two battalions
- 50th Line Infantry Regiment, two battalions
- 59th Line Infantry Regiment, two battalions
- Brigadiers: Generals of Brigade Mathieu Delabassé, Pierre-Louis Binet de Marcognet
- Cavalry Brigade: General of Division Jacques Louis François Delaistre de TillyJacques Louis François Delaistre de TillyJacques-Louis-François Delaistre de Tilly became a general officer in the French army during the French Revolutionary Wars. He led a cavalry division in a number of battles during the Napoleonic Wars...
- 1st HussarHussarHussar refers to a number of types of light cavalry which originated in Hungary in the 14th century, tracing its roots from Serbian medieval cavalry tradition, brought to Hungary in the course of the Serb migrations, which began in the late 14th century....
Regiment, three squadrons - 26th Chasseurs à Cheval Regiment, three squadrons
- 1st Hussar
- Corps Artillery: unknown commander
Jena: October 1806
Michel Ney
Michel Ney , 1st Duc d'Elchingen, 1st Prince de la Moskowa was a French soldier and military commander during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original 18 Marshals of France created by Napoleon I...
(19,267, 24 guns)
- Chief of Staff: General of Brigade Adrien Jean Baptiste Dutaillis
- 1st Division: General of Division Jean Gabriel MarchandJean Gabriel MarchandJean Gabriel Marchand, 1st Count Marchand went from being an attorney to a company commander in the army of the First French Republic in 1791. He fought almost exclusively in Italy throughout the French Revolutionary Wars and served on the staffs of a number of generals...
- Brigade: General of Brigade Eugene-Casimir VillatteEugene-Casimir VillatteEugène-Casimir Villatte, Comte d'Oultremont fought in the French army during the Wars of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. He rose to command a division at many of the important battles in the Peninsular War...
- 6th Light Infantry Regiment, 1st and 2nd battalions
- Brigade: General of Brigade François Roguet
- 39th Line Infantry Regiment, 1st and 2nd battalions
- 69th Line Infantry Regiment, 1st and 2nd battalions
- 76th Line Infantry Regiment, 1st and 2nd battalions
- Brigade: General of Brigade Eugene-Casimir Villatte
- 2nd Division: General of Division Gaspard Amédée GardanneGaspard Amédée GardanneGaspard Amédée Gardanne was a French general who fought in the Napoleonic Wars.-Biography:Born at at Solliès-Pont, he joined the French royal army in 1779. After the French Revolution he joined a volunteer unit as an officer. He fought under Napoleon Bonaparte during the 1796-1797 and 1800...
- Brigade: General of Brigade Pierre-Louis Binet de MarcognetPierre-Louis Binet de MarcognetPierre-Louis Binet de Marcognet joined the French army in 1781 as an officer cadet and fought in the American Revolutionary War. During the French Revolutionary Wars he fought in the Army of the Rhine and was wounded at First and Second Wissembourg...
- 25th Light Infantry Regiment, 1st and 2nd battalions
- Brigade: General of Brigade Mathieu Delabassé
- 27th Line Infantry Regiment, 1st and 2nd battalions
- 50th Line Infantry Regiment, 1st and 2nd battalions
- 59th Line Infantry Regiment, 1st and 2nd battalions
- Brigade: General of Brigade Pierre-Louis Binet de Marcognet
- Cavalry Brigade: General of Brigade Auguste François-Marie de Colbert-ChabanaisAuguste François-Marie de Colbert-ChabanaisAuguste François-Marie de Colbert-Chabanais, born 18 October 1777 in Paris - died 3 January 1809, Cacabelos, Spain), Comte de l'Empire joined the French army during the French Revolutionary Wars. He became a general officer of cavalry during the Napoleonic Wars and fought in a number of major...
(944)- 3rd Hussar Regiment, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th squadrons
- 10th Chasseurs à Cheval Regiment, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th squadrons
- Corps Artillery: unknown commander (1,323 gunners and train)
- Four 12-pound guns, 12 8-pound guns, four 4-pound guns, four 6-inch howitzers
- 1st Foot Artillery Regiment, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th companies
- 2nd Horse Artillery Regiment, 1st and 5th companies
Spain: 1 February 1809
Marshal Michel NeyMichel Ney
Michel Ney , 1st Duc d'Elchingen, 1st Prince de la Moskowa was a French soldier and military commander during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original 18 Marshals of France created by Napoleon I...
(16,780, 30 guns)
- 1st Division: General of Division Jean Gabriel Marchand
- 6,860 in 12 battalions
- 2nd Division: General of Division Maurice Mathieu de Saint-Maurice
- 6,910 in 12 battalions
- Cavalry Brigade: General of Brigade Jean-Baptiste Lorcet
- 1,440 in two dragoon and two light cavalry regiments
- Artillery:
- 1,570
Portugal: 15 September 1810
Marshal Michel NeyMichel Ney
Michel Ney , 1st Duc d'Elchingen, 1st Prince de la Moskowa was a French soldier and military commander during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original 18 Marshals of France created by Napoleon I...
(23,448)
- Chief of Staff: Colonel Louis Samuel Bechet de Léocourt
- 1st Division: General of Division Jean Gabriel Marchand
- 1st Brigade: General of Brigade Antoine Louis Popon de MaucuneAntoine Louis Popon de MaucuneAntoine Louis Popon de Maucune joined the pioneer corps of the French army in 1786 and was a lieutenant by the time the French Revolutionary Wars broke out. He fought in the north in 1792 and in the Alps in 1793. Afterward he served in Italy through 1801. During this period, he fought at Arcole in...
- 6th Light Infantry Regiment: Colonel Joseph Amy (1,478 in two battalions)
- 69th Line Infantry Regiment: Colonel Joseph François Frirjon (1,717 in three battalions)
- 2nd Brigade: General of Brigade Pierre-Louis Binet de Marcognet
- 39th Line Infantry Regiment: Colonel Jacques-Pierre Soyer (1,686 in three battalions)
- 76th Line Infantry Regiment: Colonel Jean Chemineau (1,790 in three battalions)
- 1st Brigade: General of Brigade Antoine Louis Popon de Maucune
- 2nd Division: General of Division Julien Augustin Joseph MermetJulien Augustin Joseph MermetGeneral Julien Augustin Joseph Mermet fought in the Napoleonic Wars as a division commander in Italy and in the Peninsular War.-Empire:...
- 1st Brigade: General of Brigade Martial Bardet de Maison-Rouge
- 25th Light Infantry Regiment: Colonel Vincent Martel De Conchy (1,715 in two battalions)
- 27th Line Infantry Regiment: Colonel Jean Baptiste Pierre Menne (1,886 in three battalions)
- 2nd Brigade: General of Brigade Mathieu Delabassée
- 50th Line Infantry Regiment: Colonel Fiacre Joseph Frappard (2,121 in three battalions)
- 59th Line Infantry Regiment: Colonel Pierre Coste (1,894 in three battalions)
- 1st Brigade: General of Brigade Martial Bardet de Maison-Rouge
- 3rd Division: General of Division Louis Henri LoisonLouis Henri LoisonLouis Henri Loison briefly joined the French Army in 1787 and after the French Revolution became a junior officer. Blessed with military talent and courage, he rapidly rose to general officer rank during the French Revolutionary Wars. He also got into difficulties because of his fondness for...
- 1st Brigade: General of Brigade Edouard François Simon
- Légion du Midi: Major Spring (564 in one battalion)
- Hanoverian Legion: Colonel Herrmann (1,158 in two battalions)
- 26th Line Infantry Regiment: Colonel Pierre Barrère (1,625 in three battalions)
- 2nd Brigade: General of Brigade Claude François Ferey
- 32nd Light Infantry Regiment: Colonel Martinel (413 in one battalion)
- 66th Line Infantry Regiment: Colonel Jean Pierre Béchaud (1,830 in three battalions)
- 82nd Line Infantry Regiment: Colonel Rocheron (1,236 in two battalions)
- 1st Brigade: General of Brigade Edouard François Simon
- Cavalry Brigade: General of Brigade Auguste Étienne Lamotte (1,680)
- 3rd Hussar Regiment: Colonel Louis Marie Leferrière-Levesque (three squadrons)
- 15th Chasseurs a Cheval Regiment: Colonel Pierre Mourier (three squadrons)
- Artillery: General of Brigade Joseph Claude Marie Charbonnel (1,431)
Polotsk: August 1812
General of Division Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr (23,228 infantry in 28 battalions)- 19th (Bavarian) Division: General-Leutnant Bernhard Erasmus von DeroyBernhard Erasmus von DeroyBernhard Erasmus von Deroy became a noted general officer in the army of Bavaria. His military career began shortly after the start of the Seven Years War...
- 1st Light Infantry Battalion
- 1st Line Infantry Regiment (two battalions)
- 9th Line Infantry Regiment (two battalions)
- 3rd Light Infantry Battalion
- 4th Line Infantry Regiment (two battalions)
- 10th Line Infantry Regiment (two battalions)
- 6th Light Infantry Battalion
- 8th Line Infantry Regiment (two battalions)
- 20th (Bavarian) Division: General-Leutnant Karl Philipp von WredeKarl Philipp von WredeKarl Philipp Josef Wrede, Freiherr von Wrede, 1st Fürst von Wrede , Bavarian field-marshal, was born at Heidelberg, the youngest of three children of Ferdinand Josef Wrede , created in 1791 1st Freiherr von Wrede, and wife, married on 21 March 1746, Anna Katharina Jünger , by whom he had two more...
- 2nd Line Infantry Regiment (two battalions)
- 6th Line Infantry Regiment (two battalions)
- 4th Light Infantry Battalion
- 3rd Line Infantry Regiment (two battalions)
- 7th Line Infantry Regiment (two battalions)
- 5th Light Infantry Battalion
- 5th Line Infantry Regiment (two battalions)
- 11th Line Infantry Regiment (two battalions)
- Cavalry: (1,906 in 16 squadrons)
- Artillery: (55 guns)
Leipzig: October 1813
Auguste Marmont
Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont, 1st Duke of Ragusa was a French General, nobleman and Marshal of France.-Biography:...
- 20th Division: General of Division Jean Dominique CompansJean Dominique CompansCount Jean Dominique Compans was a French Divisional General from 1811 and a participant of Napoleonic Wars....
(5,079)- Brigade: General of Brigade Pierre Pelleport
- 32nd Light Infantry Regiment (two battalions)
- 1st Naval Artillery Regiment (five battalions)
- Brigade: Joseph-Antoine-René Joubert
- 3rd Naval Artillery Regiment (three battalions)
- 20th Provisional Demi-Brigade (two battalions)
- 25th Provisional Demi-Brigade (two battalions)
- Artillery: Two foot artillery batteries (16 guns)
- Brigade: General of Brigade Pierre Pelleport
- 21st Division: General of Division Joseph Lagrange (5,543)
- Brigade: Charles-Joseph Buquet
- 2nd Naval Artillery Regiment (six battalions)
- Brigade: Jean Baptiste Jamin
- 37th Light Infantry Regiment (four battalions)
- 4th Naval Artillery Regiment (three battalions)
- Joseph Napoleon Infantry Regiment (one battalion)
- Artillery: Two foot artillery batteries (16 guns)
- Brigade: Charles-Joseph Buquet
- 22nd Division: General of Division Jean Parfait Friedrichs (4,720)
- Brigade: Claude Gabriel de Choisy
- 70th Line Infantry Regiment (two battalions)
- 121st Line Infantry Regiment (two battalions)
- 16th Provisional Demi-Brigade (two battalions)
- Brigade: Louis Jacques de Coehorn
- 23rd Light Infantry Regiment (two battalions)
- 15th Line Infantry Regiment (two battalions)
- 11th Provisional Demi-Brigade (two battalions)
- 13th Provisional Demi-Brigade (two battalions)
- Artillery: Two foot artillery batteries (16 guns)
- Brigade: Claude Gabriel de Choisy
- 25th Cavalry Brigade: General-major von Normann (935)
- Württemberg Leib Chevau-léger Nr. 2 (four squadrons)
- Württemberg König Jägers zu Pferde Nr. 4 (four squadrons)
- Artillery: One horse artillery battery (6 guns)
- Artillery reserve: General of Division Louis François Foucher de Careil
- 16 12-pound guns in two foot artillery batteries
- 12 6-pound guns in one horse and one foot artillery batteries
Waterloo: June 1815
General of Division Georges Mouton, Count of LobauGeorges Mouton
Georges Mouton, comte de Lobau was a French soldier and political figure who rose to the rank of Marshal of France.-Biography:Born in Phalsbourg, Lorraine, he enlisted in the French Revolutionary Army in 1792...
- 19th Division: General of Division François Martin Valentin Simmer
- 1st Brigade: General of Brigade Antoine Alexandre Julienne de Bellair
- 5th Line Infantry Regiment
- 11th Line Infantry Regiment
- 2nd Brigade: General of Brigade Jean Baptiste Auguste Marie Jamin de Bermuy
- 27th Line Infantry Regiment
- 84th Line Infantry Regiment84th Line Infantry RegimentThe 84th Line Infantry Regiment is an infantry unit of the French Army. It was heir of the Quercy Regiment and the 9th Light Regiment, created in 1684. At the Battle of Graz on 25 and 26 June 1809, two battalions defended a church cemetery for many hours against thousands of Austrian soldiers. In...
- 1st Brigade: General of Brigade Antoine Alexandre Julienne de Bellair
- 20th Division: General of Brigade Jean Baptiste Jeanin
- 1st Brigade: General of Brigade François Bony
- 5th Light Infantry Regiment
- 10th Line Infantry Regiment
- 2nd Brigade: General of Brigade Jacques Jean Marie François Boudin Tromelin
- 107th Line Infantry Regiment
- 1st Brigade: General of Brigade François Bony
- 21st Division: General of Division François Antoine Teste
- 1st Brigade: General of Brigade Michel-Pascal Lafitte
- 8th Light Infantry Regiment
- 2nd Brigade: General of Brigade Raymond-Pierre Penne
- 65th Line Infantry Regiment
- 75th Line Infantry Regiment
- 1st Brigade: General of Brigade Michel-Pascal Lafitte
- Artillery: General of Division Henri-Marie Le Noury de la Guignardière
- Four foot artillery batteries
- One horse artillery battery