The Army of the Centre (''armée du Centre'') was one of the first

French Revolutionary Armies The French Revolutionary Army (french: Armée révolutionnaire française) was the French land force that fought the French Revolutionary Wars from 1792 to 1804. These armies were characterised by their revolutionary fervour, their poor equipment ...

, named after the location it was set up, the Centre region. It was established by the order of King

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

on 14 December 1791 and attached to

Champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

. It had only an ephemeral existence after the Battle of Valmy and the Prussians' evacuation of the territory. Its name reflects its position occupying the centre of the French order of battle on the northern and eastern frontiers, between the

armée du Nord The Army of the North or Armée du Nord is a name given to several historical units of the French Army. The first was one of the French Revolutionary Armies that fought with distinction against the First Coalition from 1792 to 1795. Others existe ...

and armée du Rhin, the 3rd and 4th military divisions on their creation, then also the 2nd division from 23 March. By a

National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year National ...

decree of 1 October 1792, it was renamed the armée de la Moselle, but remained known as the armée du Centre whilst Kellermann was at its head (i.e. until 7 November 1792).

Generals

* 14 December 1791 - 11 July 1792 : général La Fayette * 12 July - 1 September 1792 : maréchal Luckner, as part of his supreme command of the armée du Rhin * 2 September - 7 November 1792 : général Kellermann, subordinated to général Dumouriez to leave 19 September.

Sources

* C. Clerget : ''Tableaux des armées françaises pendant les guerres de la Révolution'' (Librairie militaire 1905) ;

Centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

Field armies of France War of the First Coalition Military units and formations established in 1791 1791 establishments in France