The Army of the Interior (''Armée de l'Intérieur'') was a name given to two field armies of the

French Revolutionary Army 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 equipmen ...

1792

The first formation of this name was initially formed on 4 September 1792 under

Anne François Augustin de La Bourdonnaye Anne François Augustin de La Bourdonnaye (18 July 1745 – 6 October 1793) briefly commanded three armies during the early years of the War of the First Coalition. An aristocrat, he joined the French Royal Army (1652-1830), French Royal Army as a ...

within the Army of the North and the Army of the Centre - he held its command until 22 September that year. It was reorganised on 21 October 1792 to assist the 'camp sous Paris', suppressed the day before, and given général Berruyer as its new commander. It became the ''armée de Réserve'' on 1 March 1793 (when command of its right wing retained by Berruyer and command of its subordinate left wing given to général Beaufranchet d'Ayat) then the ''

armée des côtes de la Rochelle The Army of the Coasts of La Rochelle (french: Armée des côtes de La Rochelle) was an army of the French Revolution which was created on 30 April 1793 and responsible for defending a region from the mouth of the Loire River south to the Gironde ...

'' on 30 April the same year, whilst retaining the same organisation and commanders - général Leigonyer and d'Ayat commanded its right and left wings respectively from 29 April to 27 May as interim commanders. Armand Louis de Gontaut-Biron commanded the unit from 28 May until 16 July 1793. It then had no commander until

Jean Antoine Rossignol Jean Antoine Rossignol (7 November 1759 – 27 April 1802) was a general of the French Revolutionary Wars. Life Early life Rossignol began his ''Memoirs'', published in 1820 by Victor Barrucand, with the words: "I was not born into a poor family. ...

's appointment on 31 July - for those two weeks général Pilotte commanded its right division and Alexis Chalbos its left division. Rossignol held command for the rest of the unit's existence, barring 25 to 30 August 1793, when he was temporarily replaced by

Antoine Joseph Santerre Antoine Joseph Santerre (16 March 1752 in Paris6 February 1809) was a businessman and general during the French Revolution. Early life The Santerre family moved from Saint-Michel-en-Thiérache to Paris in 1747 where they purchased a brewery kn ...

. On 2 October 1793 the

French 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 ...

decreed the merger of the

army of Mayence The Army of Mainz or Army of Mayence (''Armée de Mayence'') was a French Revolutionary Army set up on 9 December 1797 by splitting the Army of Germany into the Army of Mayence and the Army of the Rhine. Part of it split off on 4 February 1799 t ...

with the part of the ''armée des côtes de la Rochelle'' operating in the

Loire-Inférieure Loire-Atlantique (; br, Liger-Atlantel; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', br, Liger-Izelañ, link=no) is a department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. It had a population o ...

department - this new formation was named the Army of the West.

1795-1796

The second formation of this name was raised on 12 July 1795 using the forces of the 17th military division of Paris, augmented by those of the

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France *Somme, Queensland, Australia *Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), a ...

Seine-Maritime Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Infér ...

and

Eure Eure () is a department in Normandy in Northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2019, Eure had a population of 599,507.Jacques-François Menou Jacques-François de Menou, Baron of Boussay, later Abdallah de Menou, (3 September 1750 – 13 August 1810) was a French statesman and general of Napoleon during the French Revolutionary Wars, most noted for his role in the Egyptian Campaign c ...

, previously commander of the 17th Division. It was ordered to gather in a camp just outside Paris by the

on 24 July. Menou was replaced as commander on 5 October the same year by Paul Barras, with

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

as his second in command - on that date it put down the Royalist insurrection of

13 Vendémiaire 13 Vendémiaire Year 4 in the French Republican Calendar (5 October 1795 in the Gregorian calendar) is the name given to a battle between the French Revolutionary troops and Royalist forces in the streets of Paris. This battle was part of th ...

. The formation was also used to suppress the revolt in the Grenelle camp and supported the

French Directory The Directory (also called Directorate, ) was the governing five-member committee in the French First Republic from 2 November 1795 until 9 November 1799, when it was overthrown by Napoleon Bonaparte in the Coup of 18 Brumaire and replaced ...

during its

Coup of 18 Fructidor The Coup of 18 Fructidor, Year V (4 September 1797 in the French Republican Calendar), was a seizure of power in France by members of the Directory, the government of the French First Republic, with support from the French military. The coup w ...

. Bonaparte took over its command from Barras on 26 October 1795, holding it until he was put in command of the Army of Italy on 2 March 1796. Bonaparte still remained in command of the Army of the Interior for a few more days and the Directory were unable to replace him until he departed for his new command on 10 March - his replacement was

Jacques Maurice Hatry Jacques Maurice Hatry (Strasbourg, 12 February 1742 – Paris, 30 November 1802) was a French general. A colonel on the outbreak of the French Revolution, he rose to général de division in 1794 and fought with distinction in the armée du Nord ...

. It was disbanded by decree of 25 August 1796, effective on 22 September.

References

* *{{cite book , last1=Tulard , first1=Jean , last2=Fayard , first2=Jean-François , last3=Fierro , first3=Alfred , title=Histoire et dictionnaire de la Révolution française 1789-1799, url=https://archive.org/details/histoireetdictio0001tula , url-access=registration Interieur

Interior Interior may refer to: Arts and media * ''Interior'' (Degas) (also known as ''The Rape''), painting by Edgar Degas * ''Interior'' (play), 1895 play by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck * ''The Interior'' (novel), by Lisa See * Interior de ...