Chef de brigade was a military rank in the French Royal Artillery and in the revolutionary French armies.

Before the revolution

Chef de brigade français de la révolution française

''Chef de brigade'' was equivalent to major in the French Royal Corps of Artillery. Each regiment of artillery was divided into two battalions, each of two

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. B ...

s under the command of a ''chef de brigade''. This rank was given to the best of the ''Capitaines en premier'' (first captains) in a regiment, commanding an artillery brigade that would be able to support an army division.Alder, Ken (2010). ''Engineering the Revolution: Arms and Enlightenment in France, 1763-1815.'' The University of Chicago Press, p. 80.

During and after the revolution

''Chef de brigade'' was equivalent to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

, in the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

ary army, in command of a demi-brigade. Both that unit (replacing a

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...

) and that rank (replacing the rank of

mestre de camp Mestre de camp or Maître de camp (; "camp-master") was a military rank in the Ancien Régime of France, equivalent to colonel. A mestre de camp commanded a regiment and was under the authority of a Colonel General, who commanded all the regimen ...

) were created at the same time, in 1793. The two designations disappeared just before the institution of the French Empire, in 1803, with the old designations restored.

References

Military ranks of France 1793 establishments in France French Revolutionary Wars {{mil-rank-stub