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98-473: Great Army may refer to: Grande Armée , army commanded by Napoleon during the Napoleonic Wars in the 19th century Great Heathen Army , coalition of Norse warriors that originated from Sweden, Norway, and Denmark in the 9th century Ejército Grande , an Argentine coalition army under the command of Justo José de Urquiza in 1852 Topics referred to by

196-472: A Général de Division and likewise capable of independent actions. The Imperial Guard ( Garde impériale ) was one of the most elite military forces of its time, and grew out of the Consular Guard ( Garde consulaire ). It formed a single Corps d'Armée with infantry, cavalry and artillery units like other corps, but with unique identities and uniforms. Napoleon also wanted it to be an example for

294-464: A Chamber of Deputies. A Council of Ministers functioned as the executive body of the duchy. Serfdom was partially abolished, as the serfs were granted personal freedom without gaining any economic liberties or privileges. All classes were to be equal before the law, although the nobility was still greatly favoured as members of the Sejm. While Roman Catholicism was the state religion, and religious tolerance

392-438: A line infantry battalion had four companies of fusiliers, one company of grenadiers, and one company of voltigeurs. According to the 1808 regulation, the staff of each company and the regiment HQ was the following: In total, there were supposed to be 3,970 men in a regiment (840 in each four main battalions, and 560 in the rear battalion), among them 108 officers and 3,862 noncommissioned officers and privates. Grenadiers were

490-575: A small part of Austria's First Partition gains. De facto a Russian puppet state , it maintained its separate status only until 1831 when it was effectively annexed to the Russian Empire. Its constituent territories became the Vistula Land in 1867. The Constitution of the Duchy of Warsaw could be considered liberal for its time. It provided for a bicameral Sejm consisting of a Senate and

588-574: A specific task. The first modern use of a General Staff was in the French Revolutionary Wars , when General Louis-Alexandre Berthier (later Marshal) was assigned as Chief of Staff to the Army of Italy in 1795. Berthier was able to establish a well-organised staff support team. Napoleon took over the army the following year and quickly came to appreciate Berthier's system, adopting it for his own headquarters, although Napoleon's usage

686-528: A substantial contingent of Polish troops, set out with the purpose of bringing the Russian Empire to its knees, but his military ambitions were frustrated by his failure to supply the army in Russia and Russia's refusal to surrender after the capture of Moscow; few returned from the march back. The failed campaign against Russia proved to be a major turning point in Napoleon's fortunes. After Napoleon's defeat in

784-593: A total of 1,136 men, but this was severely reduced during the Russian campaign, and only 350 officers and men remained in its ranks by 1813. With Napoleon's first abdication, an ensign and 21 marines accompanied him to Elba, and returned with him for the Hundred Days campaign when their strength was increased to an equipage of 150 officers and men. The marines were distinct in several ways from other Grande Armée units in that naval rather than army ranks were used,

882-508: A very large indemnity it owed to France), causing the Polish economy to suffer heavily. Indeed, to this day the phrase "sum of Bayonne" is a synonym in Polish for a huge amount of money. All these problems resulted in both inflation and over-taxation. To counter the threat of bankruptcy, the authorities intensified the development and modernization of agriculture. Also, a protectionist policy

980-621: Is France herself we must now defend", were Napoleon's words to the Senate at the end of 1813. The emperor managed to raise new armies, but strategically he was in a virtually hopeless position. Allied armies were invading from the Pyrenees , across the plains of Northern Italy, and via France's eastern borders as well. The campaign began ominously when Napoleon suffered a defeat at the Battle of La Rothière , but he quickly regained his former spirit. In

1078-571: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Grande Arm%C3%A9e The Grande Armée ( pronounced [ɡʁɑ̃d aʁme] ; French for ' Great Army ') was the main military component of the French Imperial Army commanded by Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte during the Napoleonic Wars . From 1804 to 1808, it won a series of military victories that allowed

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1176-824: The Army of the Rhine into four corps. These were only temporary groupings, however, and it was not until 1804 that Napoleon made them permanent units. He would sometimes form the cavalry into separate corps, so they would be able to move and mass more quickly without being slowed by the infantry or foot artillery. The main tactical units of the corps were the divisions , usually consisting of 4,000 to 10,000 infantry or 2,000 to 4,000 cavalrymen. These in turn were made up of two or three brigades of two regiments apiece and supported by an artillery brigade of three or four batteries , each with six field cannons and two howitzers , making 24 to 32 guns in all. The divisions were also permanent administrative and operational units, commanded by

1274-582: The Battle of Austerlitz , where the numerically inferior Grande Armée routed a combined Russo-Austrian army led by Russian Emperor Alexander I . The stunning victory led to the Treaty of Pressburg on 26 December 1805, with the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire the following year. The alarming increase of French power in Central Europe disturbed Prussia , which had remained neutral

1372-593: The Battle of Laon and the Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube dampened moods. At the end of March, Paris fell to the Allies . Napoleon wanted to keep fighting, but his marshals refused, forcing him to abdicate on 6 April 1814. After returning from exile on Elba in February 1815, Napoleon busied himself in making a renewed push to secure his empire. For the first time since 1812, the Army of the North he would be commanding for

1470-844: The Division de Marine at the battles of Lützen, Bautzen, Dresden, and won high praise at the Battle of Leipzig. The Marine Guard units were disbanded in 1815. In 1804, the Cavalry of the Guard consisted of two regiments, the Chasseurs à Cheval and the Grenadiers à Cheval , along with a small unit of elite Gendarmes and a squadron of Mamelukes . A third regiment was added in 1806, the Regiment de Dragons de la Garde Impériale (Later known as

1568-591: The Dragons de l'Imperatice , the Empress Dragoons). Following the campaign in Poland in 1807, a regiment of Polish lancers , the Regiment de Chevau-Légers de la Garde Impériale Polonais was added. The final addition was made in 1810, with another regiment of lancers, this time drawn from French and Dutch recruits, the 2e Regiment de Chevau-Légers Lanciers de la Garde Impériale or Red Lancers. The Cavalry of

1666-539: The French Empire to exercise unprecedented control over most of Europe. Widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest fighting forces ever assembled, it suffered catastophic losses during the disastrous Peninsular War followed by the invasion of Russia in 1812, after which it never recovered its strategic superiority and ended in total defeat for Napoleonic France by the Peace of Paris in 1815. The Grande Armée

1764-706: The Grand Duchy of Kraków . Finally, the bulk of the former Duchy of Warsaw, measuring some 128,000 km (49,000 sq mi), was re-established as what is commonly referred to as the " Congress Kingdom " of Poland, in a personal union with the Russian Empire . This broadly corresponded to the Prussian and Austrian portions of the Third Partition (apart from the area around Białystok) plus around half of Prussia's Second Partition conquests and

1862-602: The Grande Armée 's utter destruction as a fighting force. Only 120,000 men survived to leave Russia (excluding early deserters); of these, 50,000 were Austrians, Prussians, and other Germans, 20,000 were Poles, and just 35,000 were French. As many as 380,000 died in the campaign. Napoleon led a new army during the campaign in Germany in 1813, the defense of France in 1814, and the Waterloo campaign in 1815, but

1960-555: The Grande Armée had been lost during the summer. The French were harassed repeatedly by the converging Russian armies, Marshal Michel Ney even conducting a rearguard separation between his troops and the Russians, and by the time the Berezina was reached Napoleon only had about 49,000 troops and 40,000 stragglers of little military value. The resulting battle and the monumental work of General Jean Baptiste Eblé 's engineers saved

2058-658: The Grande Armée throughout the entire campaign. Marshal Emmanuel de Grouchy 's delayed advance against the Prussians allowed Blücher to rally his men after Ligny and march on to Wellington's aid at the Battle of Waterloo , which resulted in the final, decisive defeat for Napoleon. Prior to the late 18th century, there was generally no organisational support for staff functions such as military intelligence , logistics , planning or personnel. Unit commanders handled such functions for their units, with informal help from subordinates who were usually not trained for or assigned to

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2156-418: The Grande Armée was known in history for its innovative formations, tactics, logistics, and communications. While most contingents were commanded by French generals, except for the Polish and Austrian corps, soldiers could climb the ranks regardless of class, wealth, or national origin, unlike many of the other European armies at the time. Upon its formation, the Grande Armée consisted of six corps under

2254-592: The Grande Armée were divided into the Bataillon des Marins de la Garde Impériale , also known eventually as the Matelots de la Garde , formed on 17 September 1803, and Matelots des Bataillons de la Marine Impériale of which some 32,000 served with the French Navy at its height of expansion by Napoleon. Units of the latter were created for service on land by conscripting naval personnel surplus to requirement of

2352-729: The Grande Armée would never regain its height of June 1812, and France would find itself invaded on multiple fronts from the Spanish border to the German border. In total, from 1805 to 1813, over 2.1 million Frenchmen were conscripted into the French Imperial Army. For a history of the French Army in the period of 1792–1804 during the wars of the First and Second Coalitions see French Revolutionary Army . The Grande Armée

2450-609: The Imperial Guard ; in 1809, while retaining their military status, they were taken under control of the Grand Écuyer in the Emperor's Civil Household. The decrees regulating their service were signed on 15, 19 and 24 September 1806 and finally on 19 September 1809. Alongside the Emperor's Military Household but functioning as a totally independent organisation was the Grand État-Major Général (Army General Headquarters). Since

2548-493: The Province of Posen . The city of Kraków and some surrounding territory, previously part of the Duchy of Warsaw, were established as the semi-independent Free City of Cracow [ sic ], under the "protection" of its three powerful neighbors. The city's territory measured some 1,164 km (449 sq mi), and had a population of about 88,000 people. The city was eventually annexed by Austria in 1846, becoming

2646-420: The Province of West Prussia ; the remaining territories (i.e., Greater Poland /Poznań), which covered an area of approximately 29,000 km (11,000 sq mi), were reconstituted into the Grand Duchy of Posen . The Grand Duchy and its populace had some nominal autonomy (although it was de facto subordinate to Prussia) but following the 1848 Greater Poland Uprising was fully integrated into Prussia as

2744-460: The Six Days' Campaign of February 1814, the 30,000-man Grande Armée inflicted 20,000 casualties on Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher 's scattered corps at a cost of just 2,000 for themselves. They then headed south and defeated Field Marshal Karl von Schwarzenberg 's corps at the Battle of Montereau . These victories, however, could not remedy such the situation, and French defeats at

2842-649: The Treaties of Tilsit between France, Russia, and Prussia in July, leaving Napoleon with no enemies on the continent. The Grande Armée was dissolved in October 1808 and its constituents formed into the Army of Spain and the Army of the Rhine , which in 1809 was reorganized into the Army of Germany . With the exception of Spain, a three-year lull ensued. Diplomatic tensions with Russia, however, became so acute that they eventually led to war in 1812. Napoleon assembled

2940-676: The campaigns of 1806/7 , the French invasion of Spain , and in the War of the Fifth Coalition , where the French army slowly lost a large portion of its veteran soldiers, strength and prestige, and in the conflicts of 1812 , 1813–14 , and 1815 . In practice, however, the term Grande Armée is used in English to refer to all the multinational forces gathered by Napoleon in his campaigns. In addition to its size and multinational composition,

3038-424: The shield line of its formation. During a campaign, grenadier companies could be detached to form a grenadier battalion or occasionally a regiment or brigade . These formations would then be used as a shock force or the vanguard for a larger formation. Voltigeurs (literally, Vaulters or Leapers ) were elite light infantry of the line regiments. In 1805, Napoleon ordered that the smallest, most agile men of

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3136-622: The Allies, his strategic situation grew bleak. The campaign reopened in August with a significant French victory at the two-day Battle of Dresden . However, the adoption of the Trachenberg Plan by the Allies, which called for avoiding direct conflict with Napoleon and focusing on his subordinates, paid dividends as the French suffered defeats at Großbeeren , the Katzbach , Kulm , and Dennewitz . Growing Allied numbers eventually hemmed

3234-457: The Austrians and the Treaty of Schönbrunn ) increased to 10 (as the duchy territory increased). Each department was named after its capital city. In January 1807: The above 6 departments were divided into 60 powiats . Added in 1809: The duchy's armed forces were completely under French control via its war minister, Prince Józef Poniatowski , who was also a Marshal of France . In fact,

3332-453: The Duchy annexed West Galicia , the area of the 1795 Austrian partition , and the district of Zamość ( Zamoscer Kreis  [ de ] ): The duchy's area increased significantly, to around 155,000 km (60,000 sq mi), and the population also substantially increased, to roughly 4,300,000. According to the 1810 census, the duchy had a population of 4,334,000, of whom a clear majority were ethnic Poles. Jews constituted 7% of

3430-508: The Duchy of Warsaw. It kept all its gains from the three previous partitions, together with Białystok and the surrounding territory that it had obtained in 1807. Its demands for the whole Duchy of Warsaw were denied by other European powers. Prussia regained some of the territory it had lost to the Duchy of Warsaw in 1807: a portion of what it had conquered in the Second Partition. The Kulmerland and Gdańsk (Danzig) became part of

3528-607: The Emperor ) was Napoleon's personal military staff and included the department of aides-de-camp (ADCs), orderly officers (until 1809), the Emperor's Cabinet with the Secretariat, a department that collected intelligence about the enemy using spies and the topographical department. Attached was also the Emperor's Civil Cabinet that included the office of the Grand Marshal of the Palace and the Grand Écuyer . The ADCs to

3626-527: The French in at Leipzig, where the three-day Battle of the Nations witnessed a heavy loss for Napoleon when a bridge was prematurely destroyed, abandoning 30,000 French soldiers on the other side of the Elster River . The campaign, however, did end on a victorious note when the French destroyed an isolated Bavarian corps which was trying to block their retreat at Hanau . "The Grand Empire is no more. It

3724-477: The Guard , but more accurately Marines of the Guard) were organised into five equipages (ship's company), each with five escouades , with a total strength of 737 men, the unit having been created ostensibly for preparation of the invasion of Britain. The unit was almost entirely destroyed in the Spanish campaign of 1808 at Bailén , but was rebuilt, and in 1810 the battalion was expanded to eight equipages with

3822-524: The Guard was involved in combat numerous times, and with few exceptions proved its worth in action. The scouts had only the time to distinguish themselves during the defence of France in 1814 and were dissolved by King Louis XVIII upon the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy. While the infantry was perhaps not the most glamorous arm of service in the Grande Armée, they bore the brunt of most of

3920-599: The Infantry of the Line was the battalion . A line infantry battalion was numbered at about 840 men; however, this was the battalion's 'full strength' and few units ever reached this. A more typical strength for a battalion would be 400–600 men. From 1800 to 1803, a line infantry battalion had eight fusilier companies and one grenadier company. From 1804 to 1807, a line infantry battalion had seven fusilier companies, one grenadier company, and one voltigeur company. From 1808 to 1815,

4018-657: The Poles expected that the duchy would be upgraded to the status of a kingdom and that during Napoleon's invasion of Russia, they would be joined by the liberated territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , Poland's historic partner in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . On 28 June, the Sejm formed the General Confederation of the Kingdom of Poland , establishing a system of government similar to

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4116-466: The Prussians at Jena and Auerstedt , both fought on 14 October 1806. After a legendary pursuit, the French took 140,000 prisoners and killed and wounded roughly 25,000. Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout 's III Corps , the victors at Auerstedt, received the honours of marching into Berlin first. Once more, the French had defeated an enemy before its allies could arrive, and once more, this did not bring peace. Napoleon now turned his attentions to Poland, where

4214-544: The area through his generals. Although many European states and ex-rulers were represented at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the decision-making was largely in the hands of the major powers. It was perhaps inevitable, therefore, that both Prussia and Russia would effectively partition Poland between them; Austria was to more-or-less retain its gains of the First Partition of 1772. Russia sought all territories of

4312-552: The areas annexed by Austria in the Partitions of Poland . During the war, the German colonists settled by Prussia during Partitions openly rose up against the Varsovian government. After the Battle of Wagram , the ensuing Treaty of Schönbrunn allowed for a significant expansion of the duchy's territory southwards with the regaining of once-Polish and Lithuanian lands. As a result of Napoleon's campaign in 1812 against Russia,

4410-432: The campaign with a series of victories at Lützen and Bautzen . But due to the poor quality of French troops and cavalry following the Russian campaign, along with miscalculations by certain subordinate marshals, these triumphs were not decisive enough to win the war and only secured an armistice. Napoleon hoped to use this respite to increase the quantity and improve the quality of the Grande Armée , but when Austria joined

4508-523: The capture of Smolensk and victory at Borodino , the French reached Moscow on 14 September 1812. However, the army was already drastically reduced by skirmishes with the Russians, disease (principally typhus ), desertion , heat, exhaustion, and long communication lines. The army spent a month in Moscow but was ultimately forced to march back westward. Cold, starvation, and disease, as well as constant harassment by Cossacks and Russian partisans, resulted in

4606-552: The command of Napoleon's marshals and senior generals. When the Austrian and Russian armies began their preparations to invade France in late 1805, the Grande Armée was quickly ordered across the Rhine into southern Germany, leading to Napoleon's victories at Ulm and Austerlitz . The French Army grew as Napoleon seized power across Europe, recruiting troops from occupied and allied nations; it reached its peak of one million men at

4704-507: The duchy had already been liberated by a popular uprising that had escalated from anti-conscription rioting in 1806. One of the first tasks for the new government included providing food to the French army fighting the Russians in East Prussia . The Duchy of Warsaw was created by French Emperor Napoleon I , as part of the Treaty of Tilsit with Prussia . Its creation met the support of both local republicans in partitioned Poland, and

4802-497: The duchy was heavily militarized, bordered as it was by Prussia , the Austrian Empire , and Russia , and it was to be a significant source for troops in various campaigns of Napoleon. The duchy's army was of considerable size when compared to the duchy's number of inhabitants. Initially consisting of 30,000 of regular soldiers (made up of both cavalry and infantry), its numbers were to rise to over 60,000 in 1810, and by

4900-478: The duchy's economy. To make matters worse, in 1808 the French Empire imposed on the duchy an agreement at Bayonne to buy from France the debts owed to it by Prussia. The debt , amounting to more than 43 million francs in gold, was bought at a discounted rate of 21 million francs. Although the duchy made its payments in installments to France over a four-year period, Prussia was unable to pay it (due to

4998-571: The earliest collaboration of Napoleon and Berthier, its organisation was more or less fixed and it would see only slight changes during the later campaigns of the empire. The Army General Headquarters included the office of the Major-Général ' s (Chief of Staff's) Cabinet with their four departments: Movements, Secretariat, Accounting and Intelligence (orders of battle). The Major-Général also had his own private Military Staff which included duty Generals and Staff aides-de-camp. Finally there

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5096-483: The east, most of the territory of the Duchy of Warsaw was occupied by Russia in January 1813 during their advance on France and its allies. The rest of the duchy was restored to Prussia. Although several isolated fortresses held out for more than a year, the existence of the Varsovian state in anything but the name came to an end. Alexander I of Russia created a Provisional Highest Council of the Duchy of Warsaw to govern

5194-449: The elite of the line infantry and the veteran shock troops of the Grande Armée . Newly formed battalions did not have a grenadier company; rather, Napoleon ordered that after two campaigns, several of the strongest, bravest, and tallest fusiliers were to be promoted to a grenadier company, so each line battalion which had seen more than two campaigns had one company of grenadiers. Regulations required that grenadier recruits were to be

5292-411: The emperor were mainly loyal, experienced generals or, at times, other senior officers whom he knew from his Italian or Egyptian campaigns. All were known for their bravery and were experts in their own branches of service. Working directly under the supervision of the emperor, these officers were sometimes assigned to temporary command of units or formations or entrusted with diplomatic missions. Most of

5390-520: The entire army to follow, and a force that, since it had fought with him over several campaigns, was completely loyal. Although the infantry was rarely committed en masse, the Guard's cavalry was often thrown into battle as the killing blow and its artillery used to pound enemies prior to assaults. There were three sections: The four regiments of marines of the Ancien Régime disappeared on 28 January 1794. The Marins (French spelling) of

5488-429: The fighting, and their performance resulted in victory or defeat. The infantry was divided up into two major types, the Infantry of the Line ( Infanterie de Ligne ) and the Light Infantry ( Infanterie Légère ). The line infantry made up the majority of the Grande Armée . In 1803, Napoleon had reinstated the term "regiment", the revolutionary term " demi-brigade " (due to the fact there were two per brigade and it lacked

5586-427: The fires while hunting down arsonists and guarding the city's historic districts. Napoleon and his army spent over a month in Moscow, vainly hoping that the Russian emperor would respond to the French peace offers. After these efforts failed, the French set out on October 19, now only a shadow of their former selves. The epic retreat over the Russian winter dominates popular conceptions of the war, even though over half of

5684-415: The forces and support services discussed below. While capable of fully independent operations and of defending themselves until reinforced, the corps usually worked in close concert together and kept within a day's marching distance of one another. The corps would often follow separate routes on a wide front and were small enough to live by foraging, allowing fewer supplies to be carried. Through dispersion and

5782-409: The former Prussian provinces of New East Prussia , Southern Prussia , New Silesia , and West Prussia . In addition, the new state was given the area along the Noteć river and the Land of Chełmno . Altogether, the duchy had an initial area of around 104,000 square kilometres (40,000 sq mi), with a population of approximately 2,600,000. The bulk of its inhabitants were Poles . In 1809

5880-562: The former commonwealth with the hope of reclaiming the partitioned territories. However, Napoleon did not want to make a permanent decision that would tie his hands before his anticipated peace settlement with Russia, and did not recognize the confederation of 28 June. Nevertheless, he proclaimed the attack on Russia as a second Polish war and allowed the Lithuanian Provisional Governing Commission to fall under Polish influence. Any peace settlement or restoration of Poland-Lithuania were not to be, however. Napoleon's Grande Armée , including

5978-401: The fortress of Ulm . The Ulm campaign , as it came to be known, resulted in 60,000 Austrian prisoners at the cost of just 2,000 French soldiers. By November, Vienna was taken but Austria refused to capitulate, maintaining an army in the field. In addition, its ally Russia had yet to commit to action. The war would continue for a while longer. Affairs were decisively settled on 2 December 1805 at

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6076-411: The inhabitants (perhaps an underestimation), Germans – 6%, Lithuanians and Ruthenians – 4%. Superficially, the Duchy of Warsaw was just one of the various states set up during Napoleon's dominance over Eastern and Central Europe, lasting only a few years and passing with his fall. However, its establishment a little over a decade after the Second and Third Partitions, that had appeared to wipe Poland off

6174-407: The large Polish diaspora in France, who openly supported Napoleon as the only man capable of restoring Polish sovereignty after the Partitions of Poland of the late 18th century. However, it was created as a satellite state (and was only a duchy , rather than a kingdom). The Duchy has also been described as a puppet state or a client state of Napoleon's France. The newly recreated state

6272-601: The largest field army he had ever commanded to deal with this menace. On 24 June 1812, shortly before the invasion, the assembled troops with a total strength of 685,000 men were made up of: • 410,000 from the French Empire (present-day France, Italy, the Low Countries, and several German states) • 95,000 Poles • 35,000 Austrians • 30,000 Italians • 24,000 Bavarians • 20,000 Saxons • 20,000 Prussians • 17,000 Westphalians • 15,000 Swiss • 10,000 Danes and Norwegians • 4,000 Spaniards • 4,000 Portuguese • 3,500 Croats • 2,000 Irish The new Grande Armée

6370-541: The line battalions be chosen to form a voltigeur company. These troops were to be second only to the grenadiers in the battalion hierarchy. Their name comes from their original mission; Voltigeurs were to vault upon horses of friendly cavalry for faster movement, an idea which proved impractical if not outright impossible. Despite this, the voltigeurs did perform a valuable task, skirmishing and providing scouts for each battalion, as well as providing an organic light infantry component for each line regiment. In training, emphasis

6468-423: The map, meant that Poles had their hopes rekindled of a resurrected Polish state. Even with Napoleon's defeat, a Polish state continued in some form until the increasingly autocratic Russian state eliminated Poland once again as a separate entity. Altogether, this meant that an identifiable Polish state was in existence for at least a quarter of a century. At the 200th anniversary of the creation of this iteration of

6566-451: The most important ones and transmit them to the emperor; nothing was to be concealed from Napoleon. Lest one think this was as safe a job as modern staff officers, a contemporary subordinate staff officer, Brossier, reports that at the Battle of Marengo : "The General-in-Chief Berthier gave his orders with the precision of a consummate warrior, and at Marengo maintained the reputation that he so rightly acquired in Italy and in Egypt under

6664-554: The navy. There was also the marine artillery, which were mostly naval gunners used for coastal batteries and fortresses called bataillons de la Matelot du Haut-Bord (or Les Equipages de Haut-Bord – marines of the High Shore) created by decree of Napoleon on 1 April 1808. The flag of the 1er Régiment d'Artillerie de Marine survives today, and lists Lützen 1813 as one of its battle honours. Some 63 artillery batteries were manned (some numbers remaining vacant). Some examples include: The Marins de la Garde (transliterated as Sailors of

6762-470: The number of orderly officers, half the number of the petits aides de camp (two or three personal ADCs to the general ADCs, who might also be commanded directly by the emperor) and half the number of pages. Their number differed from time to time, but only 37 officers were ever commissioned ADC to the emperor and at normal times their number was restricted to 12. Each of these officers wore the normal general's uniform of his rank, but with gold aiguillettes as

6860-558: The orders of Bonaparte. He himself was hit by a bullet in the arm. Two of his aides-de-camp, Dutaillis and La Borde, had their horses killed." One of the most important factors in the Grande Armée ' s success was its superior and highly flexible organisation. It was subdivided into several corps (usually from five to seven), each numbering anywhere between 10,000 and 50,000, with the average size being around 20,000 to 30,000 troops. These Corps d'Armée were self-contained, smaller armies of combined arms , consisting of elements from all

6958-532: The orders that he had just given. Since the emperor was his own " operations officer ", it can be said that Berthier's job consisted of absorbing Napoleon's strategic intentions, translating them into written orders and transmitting them with the utmost speed and clarity. He also received in the emperor's name the reports of the marshals and commanding generals and when necessary signed them on Napoleon's behalf. Detailed reports on everything that occurred for good or ill were to be sent to Berthier, who would in turn select

7056-497: The previous year. After much diplomatic wrangling, Prussia secured promises of Russian military aid and the Fourth Coalition against France came into being in 1806. The Grande Armée advanced into Prussian territory with the famed bataillon-carré (battalion square) system, whereby corps marched in close supporting distances and became vanguards, rearguards, or flank forces as the situation demanded, and decisively defeated

7154-447: The remaining Prussian armies were linking up with their Russian allies. A difficult winter campaign produced nothing but a stalemate, made worse by the Battle of Eylau on 7–8 February 1807, where Russian and French casualties soared for little gain. The campaign resumed in the spring and this time General Levin August von Bennigsen 's Russian army was soundly defeated at the Battle of Friedland on 14 June 1807. This victory brought about

7252-457: The remnants of the Grande Armée . Napoleon left his men in order to reach Paris and address new military and political matters. Of the 685,000 men that constituted the initial invasion force, only 93,000 survived. The catastrophe in Russia now emboldened anti-French sentiments throughout Europe. The Sixth Coalition was formed and Germany became the centrepiece of the upcoming campaign. With customary genius, Napoleon raised new armies and opened up

7350-533: The requirements of the French raison d'état , who largely treated the state as a source of resources. The most important person in the duchy was, in fact, the French ambassador, based in the duchy's capital, Warsaw. Significantly, the duchy lacked its own diplomatic representation abroad. In 1809, a short war with Austria started. Although the Duchy of Warsaw won the Battle of Raszyn , Austrian troops entered Warsaw, but Varsovian and French forces then outflanked their enemy and captured Kraków , Lwów and some of

7448-400: The respect due to their function. On 29 April 1809, a decree organised their service. Every morning at 0700, the duty ADC and his staff were relieved and the new ADC for the next 24 hours had to present the emperor with a list of names of the staff under his command. This would consist of two supplementary daytime general ADCs and one night ADC, one equerry and (through a rotation system) half

7546-470: The royal connotations) was now only used for provisional troops and depot units. At the time of the formation of the Grande Armée , the French Army had 133 Régiments de Ligne , a number which roughly corresponded with the number of départements in France. There would eventually be 156 Ligne regiments. The Régiments de Ligne varied in size throughout the Napoleonic Wars, but the basic building block of

7644-417: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Great Army . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_Army&oldid=1121933535 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

7742-427: The standard Charleville model 1777 and bayonet, grenadiers were also equipped with a short sabre . This was to be used for close combat , but most often ended up serving as a tool to cut wood for campfires. A grenadier company would usually be situated on the right side of a formation , traditionally the place of greatest honour since the days of hoplite warfare in which a corps' right flank had less protection from

7840-526: The start of the Russian campaign in 1812, with the Grande Armée reaching its height of 413,000 French soldiers and over 600,000 men overall when including foreign recruits. In summer of 1812, as large of an amount as 300,000 French troops fought in the Peninsular War . Napoleon opened a second war front as the Grande Armée marched slowly east, and the Russians fell back with its approach. After

7938-599: The symbol of his function. The appointment of ADC to the emperor did not always last as long as the emperor's reign; an ADC might be given another position such as a field command, a governorship, etc. and would be removed from his ADC status until recalled to that post. The officiers d'ordonnance (orderly officers) may be considered as junior ADCs, with the rank of chef d'escadron , captain or lieutenant . They, too, were used for special missions such as reconnaissance and inspections, but also to carry written orders. In 1806, when these posts were created, they were members of

8036-405: The tallest, most fearsome men in the regiments, and all were to have moustaches . To add to this, grenadiers were initially equipped with a bonnet à poil or bearskin, as well as red epaulettes on their coat. After 1807, regulations stipulated that line grenadiers were to replace their bearskin with a shako lined red with a red plume; however, many chose to retain their bearskins. In addition to

8134-412: The time of Napoleon's campaign in Russia in 1812, its army totaled almost 120,000 troops out of a total population of just 4.3 million people – a similar number of troops in total available to Napoleon at Austerlitz, from a country of more than 25 million people. The heavy drain on its resources by forced military recruitment, combined with a drop in exports of grain, caused significant problems for

8232-406: The time, however, their tasks consisted of making detailed inspection tours and long-distance reconnaissances. When they had to carry orders from the emperor to an army commander, these would be verbal rather than written. The appointment of ADC to the emperor was so influential that they were considered to be "Napoleon's eyes and ears" and even marshals were wise to follow their advice and render them

8330-565: The uniform was based on that of those of the hussars , and it was the only unit of the Grande Armée in which the musicians used both the drums and the trumpets . The battalions of marine artillery were conscripted for the 1813 German Campaign, and included four regiments with the 1st regiment intended to have 8 battalions, 2nd regiment with 10 battalions, and the 3rd and 4th regiments with four battalions each, totalling 9,640 men in all serving with Marshal Auguste de Marmont 's VI Corps . Combined with sailor battalions, these fought as part of

8428-578: The upcoming campaign was professional and competent. Napoleon hoped to catch and defeat the Allied armies under the Duke of Wellington and Blücher in Belgium before the Russians and Austrians could arrive. The campaign, beginning on 15 June 1815, was initially successful, leading to victory over the Prussians at the Battle of Ligny on 16 June; however, poor staff work, and bad commanders led to many problems for

8526-705: The use of forced marches the Grande Armée was often able to surprise opposing armies by its speed of manoeuver. A corps, depending on its size and the importance of its mission, was commanded by a marshal or Général de Division (major general). Napoleon placed great trust in his corps commanders and usually allowed them a wide freedom of action, provided they acted within the outlines of his strategic objectives and worked together to accomplish them. When they failed to do this to his satisfaction, however, he would not hesitate to reprimand or relieve them and in many cases took personal command of their corps himself. Corps were first formed in 1800, when General Jean Moreau divided

8624-476: Was also guaranteed by the constitution. The administrative divisions of Duchy of Warsaw were based on departments , each headed by a prefect . This organization was based on the French model , as the entire duchy was in fact created by Napoleon and based on French ideas, although departments were divided into Polish powiats (counties). There were 6 initial departments, after 1809 (after Napoleon's defeat of

8722-462: Was characterized by many frustrations, as the Russians succeeded no less than three times in evading Napoleon's pincers. A final stand for the defence of Moscow led to the massive Battle of Borodino on 7 September 1812. There the Grande Armée won a bloody but indecisive and arguably pyrrhic victory . A week after the battle, the Grande Armée finally entered Moscow only to find the city largely empty and ablaze. Its soldiers were now forced to deal with

8820-510: Was formally an independent duchy, allied to France , and in a personal union with the Kingdom of Saxony . King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony was compelled by Napoleon to make his new realm a constitutional monarchy , with a parliament (the Sejm of the Duchy of Warsaw ). The Varsovian duchy was never allowed to develop as a truly independent state; Frederick Augustus' rule was subordinated to

8918-415: Was formally divided between the two countries at the Congress of Vienna . The east-central territory of the duchy acquired by the Russian Empire was subsequently transformed into a polity called Congress Poland , and Prussia formed the Grand Duchy of Posen in the west. The city of Kraków, Poland's cultural centre, was granted "free city" status until its incorporation into Austria in 1846. The area of

9016-561: Was formed in 1804 from L'Armée des côtes de l'Océan (The Army of the Ocean Coasts), a force of over 100,000 men that Napoleon had assembled for the proposed invasion of Britain . Napoleon later deployed the army in Central Europe to eliminate the combined threat of Austria and Russia , which were part of the Third Coalition formed against France. Thereafter, the Grande Armée was the principal military force deployed in

9114-469: Was introduced to protect industry . According to the Treaties of Tilsit , the area of the duchy covered roughly the areas of the 2nd and 3rd Prussian partitions , with the exception of Danzig (Gdańsk) , which became the Free City of Danzig under joint French and Saxon "protection", and of the district around Białystok , which became part of Russia. The Prussian territory was made up of territory from

9212-670: Was limited to his own command group. The Staff of the Grande Armée was known as the Imperial Headquarters and was divided into two major sections: Napoleon's Military Household and the Army General Headquarters. A third department dependent on the Imperial Headquarters was the office of the Intendant Général (Quartermaster General), providing the administrative staff of the army. The Maison Militaire de l'Empereur ( Military Household of

9310-457: Was originally formed as L'Armée des côtes de l'Océan (Army of the Ocean Coasts) intended for the invasion of Britain, at the port of Boulogne in 1804. Following Napoleon's coronation as Emperor of the French in 1804, the Third Coalition was formed against France and the Grande Armée turned its sights eastwards in 1805. The army left Boulogne in late August and through rapid marches, surrounded General Karl von Mack 's isolated Austrian Army at

9408-431: Was placed on marksmanship and quick movement. Duchy of Warsaw The duchy was held in personal union by Napoleon's ally, Frederick Augustus I of Saxony , who became the duke of Warsaw and remained a legitimate candidate for the Polish throne . Following Napoleon's failed invasion of Russia , Napoleon seemingly abandoned the duchy, and it was left to be occupied by Prussian and Russian troops until 1815, when it

9506-469: Was somewhat different from before; over one-third of its ranks were now filled by non-French conscripts coming from satellite states or countries allied to France. The behemoth force crossed the Niemen River on 24 June 1812, and Napoleon hoped that quick marching could place his men between the two main Russian armies, commanded by Generals Barclay de Tolly and Pyotr Bagration . However, the campaign

9604-631: Was the Army General Staff with the offices of the three Assistant Major-Generals to the Major-Général . The role of Chief of Staff in the Grande Armée became almost synonymous with Berthier, who occupied this position in almost all the major campaigns of Napoleon. The General Headquarters was Berthier's unique domain and the emperor respected this demarcation. Its personnel received orders only from Berthier and even Napoleon did not interfere in its immense tasks; he would never walk in on Berthier's private staff while they were writing and copying

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