The Army of the Rhine (french: Armée du Rhin) was formed in December 1791, for the purpose of bringing the French Revolution to the German states along the

Rhine River ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

. During its first year in action (1792), under command of Adam Philippe Custine, the Army of the Rhine participated in several victories, including

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

, Frankfurt and Speyer. Subsequently, the army underwent several reorganizations and merged with the Army of the Moselle to form the

Army of the Rhine and Moselle The Army of the Rhine and Moselle (french: Armée de Rhin-et-Moselle) was one of the field units of the French Revolutionary Army. It was formed on 20 April 1795 by the merger of elements of the Army of the Rhine and the Army of the Moselle. Th ...

on 20 April 1795. Armée du Rhin (page 1)

Revolutionary Wars

The Army of the Rhine (''Armée du Rhin'') was one of the main

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 ...

operated in the Rhineland theater, principally in the

valley, from 1791 to 1795. At its creation, the Army of the Rhine had 88,390 men. It was formed on 14 December 1791, to defend France's eastern frontier in conjunction with two other armies, the

Army of the North The Army of the North ( es, link=no, Ejército del Norte), contemporaneously called Army of Peru, was one of the armies deployed by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in the Spanish American wars of independence. Its objective was fre ...

and the Army of the Center (name changed in October 1792 to Army of the Moselle). These armies were subdivided, fresh forces were raised and gradually grew until, by 30 April 1793, eleven armies encircled France on its coastal and the land frontiers. In October 1792, a portion of the army was used to form the

Army of the Vosges The Army of the Vosges (french: Armée des Vosges) was a volunteer force placed under the command of Giuseppe Garibaldi, formed in order to ensure the defense of the road to Lyon from the Prussian Army during the Franco-Prussian war. Backgroun ...

but these units rejoined the Army of the Rhine on 15 March 1793.

Song of Glory

In the first months of fighting, victories for France were few. Although Custine had succeeded in driving the ecclesiastical authorities from the Swiss village of

Porrentruy Porrentruy (, fc, Poérreintru , german: Pruntrut) is a Swiss municipality and seat of the district of the same name located in the canton of Jura. Porrentruy is home to National League team, HC Ajoie. History The first trace of human pre ...

by 27 April 1792, this singular victory was accomplished largely through the enterprises of a local uprising assisted by some advanced guard and it was the last French victory for several weeks: subsequently, the borders of France had been assaulted by the Habsburgs and their allies. At Mons (18–29 April 1792), Tournay (29 April 1792),

Bavay Bavay () is a commune in the Nord department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. The town was the seat of the former canton of Bavay. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Bavaisiens'' or ''Bavaisiennes'' Geography Bava ...

(17 May 1792), Rumégies (19 May 1792),

Florennes Florennes (; wa, Florene) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. As of 1 January 2006, Florennes has a total population of 10,754. The total area is 133.55 km² which gives a population density of 81 inhabita ...

28 May 1792, and La Glisuelle, a village north of

Maubeuge Maubeuge (; historical nl, Mabuse or nl, Malbode; pcd, Maubeuche) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is situated on both banks of the Sambre (here canalized), east of Valenciennes and about from the Belgian border ...

(11 June 1792), Austrian skirmishers repeatedly defeated French forces. Although much of the spring and summer of 1792 action continued throughout in the border regions with Belgium, the cities along the Upper Rhine, especially the city of

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

, felt under threat of invasion by the Habsburg armies massing on the east side of the Rhine River. On 25 April 1792,

Philippe Friedrich Dietrich Baron Philippe Friedrich Dietrich (german: Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Dietrich; 14 November 1748 – 29 December 1793) was a French scholar and politician. He was most well known as the first mayor of Strasbourg who encouraged Rouget de l'Isl ...

, mayor of

, asked a guest,

Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle (), sometimes spelled de l'Isle or de Lile (10 May 1760 – 26 June 1836), was a French army officer of the French Revolutionary Wars. He is known for writing the words and music of the ''Chant de guerre pour l'armé ...

, to compose a song to rally against the Habsburg threat. That evening, Rouget de Lisle wrote "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin" (English: "War Song for the Army of the Rhine"), and dedicated the song to

Marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...

Nicolas Luckner Nicolas, Count Luckner (german: Johann Nikolaus, Graf Luckner; 12 January 1722, Cham in der Oberpfalz – 4 January 1794, Paris) was a German officer in French service who rose to become a Marshal of France. Luckner grew up in Cham, in eastern ...

, a

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

n in French service. The melody soon became the rallying call to the Revolution: ''Allons enfants de la Patrie'' (Arise, children of the Fatherland)/''Le jour de gloire est arrivé!'' (The day of glory has arrived!). It was renamed "

La Marseillaise "La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du R ...

Successes under Custine's command

The French government ordered Luckner to take command of the Army of the North, and Custine replaced him as overall commander of the Army of the Rhine in Spring 1793. Under his experienced command, the Army took several important positions on the Rhine, including at Speyer, Mainz, Limburg and Frankfurt (see chart of battles below).

Final reorganization

On 29 December 1794, the left wing of the Army and the right wing of the Army of the Moselle combined to form the Army besieging Mainz. The rest of the Army of the Moselle united with the Army of the Rhine on 20 April, to form the

. This army united with the

Army of Sambre-et-Meuse The Army of Sambre and Meuse (french: Armée de Sambre-et-Meuse) was one of the armies of the French Revolution. It was formed on 29 June 1794 by combining the Army of the Ardennes, the left wing of the Army of the Moselle and the right wing ...

to form the Army of Germany on 29 September 1797.Orders of Battle show the same troops, under the amalgamation, reformed into these armies .

Principal battles

1793 Order of Battle

In its five-year history, the Army had several Orders of Battle. This is the OOB at the beginning of the 1793 campaign.

Right wing

* Column Munnier :*

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

::*1st and 2nd Battalions Haute-Saône ::*2nd Battalion Nièvre ::*4th Battalion Vosges ::*4th Battalion Seine-et-Oise ::*3rd Battalion Bas-Rhin ::*2nd Battalion Puy-de-Dôme ::*1st, 3rd Battalions Ain ::*3rd Battalion

Grenadier A grenadier ( , ; derived from the word '' grenade'') was originally a specialist soldier who threw hand grenades in battle. The distinct combat function of the grenadier was established in the mid-17th century, when grenadiers were recruited fr ...

s de l'Indre-et-Loire ::*2nd Battalion Rhône-et-Loire :Total 20 battalions

Center

* Column Custine, positioned at

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

. :*Grenadiers (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th battalions) :*57th

Infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

Regiment (two battalions) :*62nd Infantry Regiment (one battalion) :*82nd Infantry Regiment (one battalion) :*National Guard ::*2nd Battalion Ain ::*4th Battalion Haut-Rhin ::*9th and 10th Battalions Haute-Saône ::*4th Battalion Calvados ::*10th Battalion Meurthe ::*2nd Battalion Républicque ::*1st Battalion Chasseurs républicains ::*3rd, 7th, and 8th Battalions Vosges ::*5th and 6th Battalions Bas-Rhin ::*1st Battalion Fédérés Nationaux ::*2nd Battalion Seine-et-Oise :*14th Cavalry Regiment (3 squadrons) :*2nd

Chasseurs à Cheval ''Chasseur'' ( , ), a French term for "hunter", is the designation given to certain regiments of French and Belgian light infantry () or light cavalry () to denote troops trained for rapid action. History This branch of the French Army origi ...

(light cavalry) (1 squadron) :*7th Chasseurs à Cheval(4 squadrons) :*10th Chasseurs à Cheval (5 squadrons) :Total 26 battalions, 12 squadrons

Left wing

Positioned at Bingen. :*1st Infantry Brigade Neuwinger :Brigade Houchard ::*7th Light Infantry Regiment (1st Battalion) ::*36th Infantry Regiment (1 battalion) ::*37th Infantry Regiment (1 battalion) ::National Guard ::*4th and 6th Battalions Jura ::*2nd Battalion Haute-Rhin ::*1st Battalion Seine-et-Loire ::*1st and 2nd Battalions Vosges :*8th Chasseurs à Cheval (4 squadrons) :2nd Brigade Gilot :*13th Infantry Regiment :*48th Infantry Regiment :*National Guard ::*1st Battalion Haute-Rhin ::*1st Battalion Bas-Rhin ::*1st Battalion Correze ::*3rd Battalion Nievre

Cavalry

Beaurevoir Beaurevoir is a commune in the department of Aisne in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Population See also * Communes of the Aisne department The following is a list of the 799 Communes of France, communes in the French Departments o ...

:*2nd Chasseurs à Cheval (3 squadrons) :*2nd Cavalry Regiment (3 squadrons :*3rd Cavalry Regiment (3 squadrons) :*9th Cavalry Regiment (3 squadrons) :*11th Cavalry Regiment (3 squadrons) :*12th Cavalry Regiment (3 squadrons) :Total 22 squadrons

Reserves

:*Grenadiers (12 companies) :* 6th Battalion of Chasseurs :*2nd Infantry Regiment :*2nd Carbine Regiment (3 Squadrons) :*16th Dragoon Regiment (3 squadrons) :*National Guard ::*6th, 10th and 13 Battalions Vosges ::*5th Battalion de l'Eure ::*6th Battalion Calvados ::*12h Battalion Haute-Saône ::*Hussards de la Liberté (unknown ) ::*National Gendarmarie :Reserve totals 8 battalions, 12 squadrons, 2 platoons

Commanders

Stability of command of the Army of the Rhine reflected the overall chaos of the French Revolutionary governments, especially in the years 1791–1794. Four of the generals serving in those years were guillotined (see chart below).

Other incarnations

An army of the

Bourbon Restoration Bourbon Restoration may refer to: France under the House of Bourbon: * Bourbon Restoration in France (1814, after the French revolution and Napoleonic era, until 1830; interrupted by the Hundred Days in 1815) Spain under the Spanish Bourbons: * ...

bore this name. In 1815 during the

Hundred Days The Hundred Days (french: les Cent-Jours ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition, marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration ...

the V Corps – ''Armée du Rhin'' under the command of General

Jean Rapp General Count Jean Rapp (27 April 1771 – 8 November 1821) was a French Army officer during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars and twice governor of the Free City of Danzig (Napoleonic), Free City of Danzig. He served as Ai ...

, was cantoned near

Strassburg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eur ...

, and fought holding actions against contingents of Russians and Austrians, the largest of which was the

Battle of La Suffel The Battle of La Suffel was a French victory over Austrian forces of the Seventh Coalition and the last French pitched battle victory in the Napoleonic Wars. It was fought on 28 June 1815 at Souffelweyersheim and Hoenheim, near Strasbourg. ...

on fought on 28 June 1815. This name was also used for the French military forces posted to Germany during the

Occupation of the Rhineland The Occupation of the Rhineland from 1 December 1918 until 30 June 1930 was a consequence of the collapse of the Imperial German Army in 1918, after which Germany's provisional government was obliged to agree to the terms of the 1918 armist ...

(1919–1930), following the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Related people

People known to have served in this Armée include: * General Baraguey d'Hilliers * General Custine * Antoine Marie Chamans de Lavalette * The

utopian socialist Utopian socialism is the term often used to describe the first current of modern socialism and socialist thought as exemplified by the work of Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, Étienne Cabet, and Robert Owen. Utopian socialism is often de ...

Charles Fourier François Marie Charles Fourier (;; 7 April 1772 – 10 October 1837) was a French philosopher, an influential early socialist thinker and one of the founders of utopian socialism. Some of Fourier's social and moral views, held to be radical in ...

(1794–1795) * General Victor Claude Alexandre Fanneau de Lahorie *

Jean Théophile Victor Leclerc Jean Théophile Victor Leclerc, a.k.a. Jean-Theophilus Leclerc and Theophilus Leclerc d'Oze (1771 – 1820), was a radical French revolutionary, publicist, and soldier. After Jean-Paul Marat was assassinated, Leclerc assumed his mantle. Leclerc ...

* General Louis-Théobald Ihler * General

François-Joseph Offenstein François-Joseph is a given name, and may refer to: * François-Joseph Amon d'Aby (1913–2007), Ivoirian playwright and essayist * François-Joseph de Beaupoil de Sainte-Aulaire (1643-1742), French poet and army officer * François-Joseph Bélange ...

* Captain

writer of

* General

Charles Pichegru Jean-Charles Pichegru (, 16 February 1761 – 5 April 1804) was a French general of the Revolutionary Wars. Under his command, French troops overran Belgium and the Netherlands before fighting on the Rhine front. His royalist positions led to h ...

* Balthazar Alexis Henri Schauenburg

Notes

Sources

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