Armée du Rhin (Army of the Rhine) | |
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Commander of the Army, Marshal Bazaine
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Active | 1870 |
Country | France |
Allegiance | Second French Empire |
Branch | French Army |
Engagements | Franco-Prussian War |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders |
Maréchal de France Bazaine |
The Army of the Rhine (French: ) was created since the declaration of war on July 18, 1870. The army dite du Rhin was a French military unit which combat engaged during the Franco-Prussian War.
The unit participated in combats of Lorraine, then divided in two elements while forming a second army, the Army of Châlons.
The unit finished by being capitulated on October 27 at the Siege of Metz.
The Army of the Rhine was the first French Army constituted at the declaration of war, formed from the available troops during peace time. Commander initially by the Emperor himself, the Army included The Imperial Guard (French: La Garde Impériale), 7 Army Corps and a general reserve. Each Army Corps was constituted of 3 or 4 infantry division and 1 cavalry division made up of 2 or 3 brigades each, one artillery reserve and one engineer reserve. Each brigade counted 2 or 3 line infantry or line cavalry regiments.
The infantry divisions included an artillery component with 2 batteries de canons de 4 and 1 de mitrailleuse, while the cavalry divisions constituted 2 batteries horse mounted.
The forthcoming of the formed troops and the constitution of these grand units took effect within the following format:
On August 1, 1870, the Army of the Rhin was constituted of seven Army Corps and of artillery and reserve cavalry. Lieutenant-colonel Rousset tendered an estimative decomposition by grand units:
The 1st Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard (French: La Garde Impériale) was commanded by général Deligny
The 2nd Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard was commanded by général Picard
The Cavalry Division of the Imperial Guard was commanded by général Desvaux