The French Royal Army () was the principal
land force
An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...
of the
Kingdom of France
The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the Middle Ages, medieval and Early modern France, early modern period. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe from th ...
. It served the
Bourbon dynasty
The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre in the 16th century. A br ...
from the reign of
Louis XIV
LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...
in the mid-17th century to that of
Charles X Charles X may refer to:
* Charles X of France (1757–1836)
* Charles X Gustav (1622–1660), King of Sweden
* Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon (1523–1590), recognized as Charles X of France but renounced the royal title
See also
*
* King Charle ...
in the 19th, with an interlude from 1792 to 1814 and another during the
Hundred Days
The Hundred Days ( ), 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 of King Louis XVIII o ...
in 1815. It was permanently dissolved following the
July Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first of 1789–99. It led to the overthrow of King Cha ...
in 1830. The French Royal Army became a model for the new
regiment
A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation.
In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...
al system that was to be imitated throughout Europe from the mid-17th century onward. It was regarded as Europe's greatest military force for much of its existence.
Early history
The first permanent army of
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, which was paid with regular wages instead of being supplied by
feudal levies, was established in the early 15th century under
Charles VII. It was formed due to the need for reliable troops during the
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...
, though the Army was not disbanded because it saw continued use by the
Kings of France
France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions.
Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I, king of the Fra ...
following the conflict. Upon the outbreak of a conflict, an
ordonnance
In French law, an ''ordonnance'' (, "order") is a statutory instrument issued by the Council of Ministers in an area of law normally reserved for primary legislation enacted by the French Parliament. They function as temporary statutes pending ...
would be issued to govern the length of service, composition and payment of units.
The
Compagnies d'ordonnance
The compagnie d'ordonnance was the first standing army of late medieval and early modern Kingdom of France, France. The system was the forefather of the modern company (military unit), company. Each ''compagnie'' consisted of 100 ''lances fourni ...
formed the core of the
Gendarme
A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to "men-at-arms" (). In France and som ...
well into the 16th century, and were stationed throughout France and summoned into larger armies as needed. There was also provisions made for
francs-archers, which was a militia of bowmen and foot soldiers raised from the non-noble classes, but the units were disbanded once war ended.
Meanwhile, the bulk of infantry was still provided by urban or provincial militias, which were raised from an area or city to fight locally and that were named for their recruiting grounds. Gradually, the units became more permanent, and in the late 15th century, Swiss instructors were recruited, and some of the 'Bandes' (Militia) were combined to form temporary 'Legions' of up to 9000 men. The men would be paid, contracted to fight and receive military training.
Henry II
Henry II may refer to:
Kings
* Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014
*Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154
*Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...
further regularised the French Army by forming standing infantry regiments to replace the Militia structure. The first of them (regiments
Picardie, Piedmont, Navarre and Champagne) were called ''Les vieux corps'' (The Old Corps). It was normal policy to disband regiments after a war was over as a cost-saving measure with the ''vieux corps'' and the
French Royal Guard being the only survivors. Regiments could be raised directly by the King and so be called after the region in which they were raised or by the nobility and so called after the noble or his appointed colonel. When
Louis XIII
Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown.
...
came to the throne, he disbanded most of the regiments in existence, leaving only the ''Vieux'' and a handful of others, which became known as the ''Petite Vieux'' and also gained the privilege of not being disbanded after a war
Army of Louis XIV
Creation of a professional royal army
When Louis XIV came to the French throne in 1661 he inherited a large but loosely organized force of about 70,000 men. Like the other European armies of the period, it consisted of a mixture of mercenaries, guard units, local militias and levies conscripted only for specific campaigns and then disbanded. Organization, cohesion, training and equipment were not of the highest standard.
Under Louis' two Secretaries of War
Michel Le Tellier and his son the
Marquis de Louvois, the French Royal Army was restructured into a highly disciplined and professional force made up of permanent regiments under central control. Weapons, promotion, drill, uniforms and organisation were improved or introduced and the army nearly doubled in size.
Military history of the reign
When Louis' father,
Louis XIII
Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown.
...
, died,
Anne of Austria
Anne of Austria (; ; born Ana María Mauricia; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was Queen of France from 1615 to 1643 by marriage to King Louis XIII. She was also Queen of Navarre until the kingdom's annexation into the French crown ...
, the queen, became regent. She and her chief minister,
Cardinal Mazarin
Jules Mazarin (born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino or Mazarini; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), from 1641 known as Cardinal Mazarin, was an Italian Catholic prelate, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Lou ...
, ordered the arrest of legislative opponents,
[The Fronde: 1649–1652](_blank)
Thenagain.info (1998-10-13). Retrieved on 2010-09-14. causing the enmity of many nobles and common citizens. When the bloody
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...
, in which France had sided with
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
-governed countries against other
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
nations in Europe, concluded, the
Fronde
The Fronde () was a series of civil wars in the Kingdom of France between 1648 and 1653, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. The government of the young King Louis XIV confronted the combined opposition ...
civil war broke out and Mazarin was forced to flee.
When Louis XIV came of age in 1652, the Fronde ended and Mazarin was permitted to return and appointed chief minister for a second time. The leader of the anti-Mazarin faction, the
Prince de Condé
A prince is a Monarch, male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in some ...
, escaped to Spain, which soon, with the
Royalists of the British Isles, went to war against France and its new ally, Oliver Cromwell's
Commonwealth of England
The Commonwealth of England was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when Kingdom of England, England and Wales, later along with Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, were governed as a republi ...
. Under the command of
Marshal Turenne, the Anglo-French army decisively defeated the Spanish in
Flanders
Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...
, part of which was a province of Spain.
In 1660, Louis married the Spanish princess
Marie-Thérèse. In 1667 he claimed the
Spanish Netherlands
The Spanish Netherlands (; ; ; ) (historically in Spanish: , the name "Flanders" was used as a '' pars pro toto'') was the Habsburg Netherlands ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs from 1556 to 1714. They were a collection of States of t ...
as her dowry, starting another conflict with Spain known as the
War of Devolution
The War of Devolution took place from May 1667 to May 1668. In the course of the war, Kingdom of France, France occupied large parts of the Spanish Netherlands and County of Burgundy, Franche-Comté, both then provinces of the Holy Roman Empire ...
.
[War of Devolution, (1667–68)](_blank)
Historyofwar.org. Retrieved on 2010-09-14. Turenne and Conde, who had been pardoned and allowed to return to France, commanded the French army. Their forces seized much of the Spanish Netherlands but, pressured by the
Triple Alliance, Louis returned much of the French conquests in the
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, with the exception of eleven towns and their surrounding areas.
Lille
Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...
,
Armentières
Armentières (; , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is part of the Métropole Européenne de Lille.
The motto of the town is ''Pauvre mais fi� ...
,
Bergues
Bergues (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department in northern France.
It is situated to the south of Dunkirk and from the Belgium, Belgian border. Locally it is referred to ...
and
Douai
Douai ( , , ; ; ; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord département in northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe (rive ...
were considered essential to reinforce France's vulnerable northern border and remain French to this day. The retention of
Tournai
Tournai ( , ; ; ; , sometimes Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicised in older sources as "Tournay") is a city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, Province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies by ...
,
Oudenarde,
Courtrai
Kortrijk ( , ; or ''Kortrik''; ), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders.
With its 80,000 inhabitants (2024) Kortrijk is the capital and largest cit ...
,
Veurne
Veurne (; , ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Belgium, Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Veurne proper and the settlements of , , ...
,
Binche,
Charleroi
Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...
and
Ath made future offensives much easier, as demonstrated in 1672.
From 1672 until 1678, France was embroiled in the
Franco-Dutch War
The Franco-Dutch War, 1672 to 1678, was primarily fought by Kingdom of France, France and the Dutch Republic, with both sides backed at different times by a variety of allies. Related conflicts include the 1672 to 1674 Third Anglo-Dutch War and ...
, with
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
and its
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
as an ally (from 1672 to 1674). The war began in May 1672 when France invaded the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
and nearly overran it, an event still referred to as ''het
Rampjaar'' or 'Disaster Year'. By late July, the Dutch position had stabilised, with support from
Emperor Leopold,
Brandenburg-Prussia and
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
; this was formalised in the August 1673 Treaty of the Hague which
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
joined in January 1674. But following English defeat and withdrawal, the French armies from 1674 to 1678, with Sweden as their only effective ally, managed to advance steadily in the southern (Spanish) Netherlands and along the Rhine, defeating the badly coordinated forces of the Grand Alliance with regularity. Eventually the heavy financial burdens of the war, along with the imminent prospect of England's reentry into the conflict on the side of the Dutch and their allies, convinced Louis to make peace despite his advantageous military position. The resulting
Peace of Nijmegen
The Treaties or Peace of Nijmegen (; ; ) were a series of treaty, treaties signed in the Dutch Republic, Dutch city of Nijmegen between August 1678 and October 1679. The treaties ended various interconnected wars among France, the Dutch Republic, ...
between France and the Grand Alliance left the Dutch Republic intact and France generously aggrandized in the Spanish Netherlands.
The famed engineer
Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban designed his intricate fortifications during Louis XIV's reign. Vauban, a genius at siege warfare, oversaw the building or improvement of many fortresses in Flanders and elsewhere.
In 1688, the Catholic King of England,
James II, was
overthrown and
William of Orange, the Dutch
Stadtholder
In the Low Countries, a stadtholder ( ) was a steward, first appointed as a medieval official and ultimately functioning as a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and ...
and old enemy of Louis, was installed as the next king. James fled to France, which he used as his base for an invasion of Ireland in 1690. As a result of James' ouster and, more directly, a French invasion of the
Electoral Palatinate
The Electoral Palatinate was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire until it was annexed by the Electorate of Baden in 1803. From the end of the 13th century, its ruler was one of the Prince-electors who elected the Holy Roman Empero ...
, the
Nine Years' War
The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...
broke out in 1689 and pitted France against the
League of Augsburg and other European states.
The war ended with no major territorial gains or losses for either side, and the two alliances were at war again by 1701.
[The Spanish Succession and the War of the Spanish Succession](_blank)
Spanishsuccession.nl. Retrieved on 2010-09-14. Despite initial French successes at
Friedlingen and
Hochstadt, the allied armies under the
Duke of Marlborough and
Prince Eugene of Savoy
Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy-Carignano (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736), better known as Prince Eugene, was a distinguished Generalfeldmarschall, field marshal in the Army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty durin ...
inflicted major defeats on French troops at
Blenheim,
Ramillies, and
Oudenarde. In Spain (the succession to that nation's throne was the war's cause), Spanish forces allied to the French lost
Gibraltar
Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
.
However, the heavy casualties suffered at
Malplaquet in 1709 provided an opening for Marlborough's political opponents and after their victory in the
1710 British general election, he was removed from command and Britain sought to end the war. France's fortune returned under the leadership of
Marshal Villars and
Marshal Vendôme but despite a major victory at
Denain
Denain (; ) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Denain had a population of 19,877, on a land area of 11.52 km2 (4.448 sq mi).
It is the largest of 47 communes which comprise the Communauté d'agglomération de la Por ...
in 1712, the war had turned into a stalemate and ended in peace that somewhat favored the French in 1714.
Louis XV's reign
Louis XV
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...
, the great-grandson of Louis XIV, was the only direct heir alive when the elderly king died in 1715. His reign was much more peaceful than his great-grandfather's, although three major wars occurred. First was the
War of the Polish Succession
The War of the Polish Succession (; 1733–35) was a major European conflict sparked by a civil war in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth over the succession to Augustus II the Strong, which the other European powers widened in pursuit of ...
of 1733. The second, the
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italian Peninsula, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King Ge ...
, began when
Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...
inherited the
Habsburg monarchy
The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...
in 1740. Her father
Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI (; ; 1 October 1685 – 20 October 1740) was Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of the Austrian Habsburg monarchy from 1711 until his death, succeeding his elder brother, Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, Joseph I. He unsuccessfully War of ...
had appointed her as his heir, and other European countries agreed to respect his wishes. However, the new
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
n king,
Frederick II, ignored the agreement, known as the
Pragmatic Sanction
A pragmatic sanction is a sovereign's solemn decree on a matter of primary importance and has the force of fundamental law. In the late history of the Holy Roman Empire, it referred more specifically to an edict issued by the Emperor.
When used ...
, and annexed Habsburg
Silesia
Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...
.
[The War of Austrian Accession](_blank)
Britishbattles.com. Retrieved on 2010-09-14.
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales
* The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
allied itself with Maria Theresa, while Louis XV forged an alliance with Frederick. Louis provided military support in the form of detachments from France's
Irish Brigade, in support of
Charles Edward Stuart
Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (31 December 1720 – 30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, making him the grandson of James VII and II, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, ...
during the
Jacobite rising of 1745
The Jacobite rising of 1745 was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the bulk of t ...
.
The Pragmatic Allies initially defeated the French in the
Battle of Dettingen in 1743 but the battle had little effect on the wider war and has been described as "a happy escape, rather than a great victory". A series of French victories (including
Marshal de Saxe's great triumph at
Fontenoy in 1745) made the French conquest of much of the
Austrian Netherlands
The Austrian Netherlands was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The period began with the acquisition by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy of the former Spanish Netherlands under the Treaty of Ras ...
possible; however, this territory was returned to Austria at the end of the war.
The situation after the war was almost the same as before, but it set the stage for the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...
, which officially began in 1756, when Prussia and Austria again went to war. This time, however, France and Austria were
allied and Britain and Prussia formed an alliance. French forces were defeated at the
Battle of Rossbach
The Battle of Rossbach took place on 5November 1757 during the Third Silesian War (1756–1763, part of the Seven Years' War) near the village of Rossbach (Roßbach), in the Electorate of Saxony. It is sometimes called the Battle of, or at, ...
in 1757. At the same time as the fighting in Europe, raiding parties composed of French-Canadian militiamen and
Indians attacked English settlements in North America. This war, known as the
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...
, was the last of four wars that occurred in North America at the same time as a European conflict. However, by 1759, the British had gone onto the offensive in America and captured
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
, the French colonial capital.
Fighting also occurred on the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...
during Louis XV's reign. During the
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italian Peninsula, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King Ge ...
, French troops captured several settlements in India, but its allies were defeated by British troops in 1756. On the whole, the Seven Years' War went badly for the French, who were forced to sign an
unfavorable treaty in 1763.
Collapse of the royal army

When Britain's North American colonies rebelled in 1775, France initially offered limited support. However, after the American victory in the
Battle of Saratoga
The Battles of Saratoga (September 19 and October 7, 1777) were two battles between the American Continental Army and the British Army fought near Saratoga, New York, concluding the Saratoga campaign in the American Revolutionary War. The Battle ...
,
Louis XVI
Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...
authorized an expeditionary force under the
Count de Rochambeau to sail to America and aid the revolutionaries. The expeditionary force participated in the
Siege of Yorktown
The siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown and the surrender at Yorktown, was the final battle of the American Revolutionary War. It was won decisively by the Continental Army, led by George Washington, with support from the Ma ...
in 1781, which resulted in the colonies' independence. In 1784,
Jean-François Coste was appointed Chief Consulting Physician of the Camps and Armies of the King.
By the 1780s, the political balance in France had shifted. The aristocracy had become despised by many lower-and-middle-class citizens who faced famine in the winter of 1788/89 and had almost no political freedom. At an earlier stage in his reign Louis had succumbed to pressure from the nobility and banned promotion to officer status from the lower ranks of the Royal Army. This measure served to embitter long serving non-commissioned officers who could no longer aspire to reach commissioned rank, although the demands of regimental discipline and training still fell heavily upon them. Some of the now almost entirely aristocratic officer corps were still dedicated professionals but many neglected their responsibilities, preferring to spend excessive periods of leave as courtiers at
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
or on their country estates.
Many French soldiers sympathised with the masses from which they were drawn, and increasing numbers deserted in 1789. The bulk of the rank and file of the
Gardes Françaises
The French Guards (, ) were an elite infantry regiment of the French Royal Army. They formed a constituent part of the maison militaire du roi de France ("military household of the king of France") under the Ancien Régime.
The French Guards, ...
: the largest regiment of the
maison militaire du roi de France
The ''maison militaire du roi de France'' (, ''military household of the king of France'') were the Royal guard, military branch of the Maison du Roi, the royal household of the List of French monarchs, French monarchy. Officially part of the Fr ...
and the permanent garrison of Paris, refused to obey their officers at a crucial point in the early stages of the
Revolution
In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...
. Some Gardes joined with the Parisian mob on 14 July 1789 and participated in the
storming of the Bastille
The Storming of the Bastille ( ), which occurred in Paris, France, on 14 July 1789, was an act of political violence by revolutionary insurgents who attempted to storm and seize control of the medieval armoury, fortress, and political prison k ...
, the medieval fortress-prison thought of as a symbol of governmental repression.
King Louis' powers were regulated by the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
, which also authorized the creation of the
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.
...
, which was intended to be used as a counterweight to the royal army. The regular army was weakened by the flight of many aristocratic officers. Faced with the creation of soldiers' clubs (
Jacobin
The Society of the Friends of the Constitution (), renamed the Society of the Jacobins, Friends of Freedom and Equality () after 1792 and commonly known as the Jacobin Club () or simply the Jacobins (; ), was the most influential political cl ...
committees), erosion of discipline, loss of their privileges as nobles and political mistrust, perhaps two thirds of the commissioned ranks emigrated after June 1791.
[The French Army : Military : History : Wars](_blank)
Napolun.com. Retrieved on 2010-09-14. They were largely replaced by experienced non-commissioned officers. In July 1791, twelve foreign regiments of mostly German mercenaries were amalgamated into the line, followed by the disbanding of the Swiss regiments a year later.
Major reorganizations of the army took place in 1791 and 1792. New officers were elected and the structure of the army was changed. Battalions of volunteers were authorized and subsequently merged with surviving units of the former royal army, to form amalgamated demi-brigades. This force underwent its first test during the
Battle of Valmy
The Battle of Valmy, also known as the Cannonade of Valmy, was the first major victory by the army of Kingdom of France (1791–92), France during the French Revolutionary Wars, Revolutionary Wars that followed the French Revolution. The battl ...
in 1792, when an Austro-Prussian army invaded to restore the King's full powers. By now, the army was considered to be loyal to the
First Republic, not to the king. From then until 1804, the army was known as the
French Revolutionary Army
The French Revolutionary Army () was the French land force that fought the French Revolutionary Wars from 1792 to 1802. In the beginning, the French armies were characterised by their revolutionary fervour, their poor equipment and their great nu ...
, and from 1804 to 1814, the
Imperial Army, and during the
Hundred Days
The Hundred Days ( ), 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 of King Louis XVIII o ...
in 1815, was reconstituted before being officially disbanded.
First Bourbon restoration
Louis XVI was
guillotined in 1793. By 1800, the First Republic, at war with much of Europe, had adopted a weak form of government that was overthrown by General
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
, who later proclaimed himself
Emperor of the French
Emperor of the French ( French: ''Empereur des Français'') was the title of the monarch and supreme ruler of the First French Empire and the Second French Empire. The emperor of France was an absolute monarch.
Details
After rising to power by ...
. When
Austrian, British, Prussian, and
Russian armies invaded France in 1814, Napoleon was forced to abdicate. Louis XVI's brother, the
Count of Provence
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star.
Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
, was declared King Louis XVIII. Under Louis XVIII, no major changes were made to the army, beyond the recreation of several regiments of the pre-revolutionary ''maison militaire du roi''. However, when Napoleon returned from exile in 1815, the army, for the most part, went over to his side, and Louis fled.
Second Bourbon restoration and July Revolution
Napoleon was defeated by a combined Allied army in 1815 at
Waterloo, and Louis XVIII was returned to the throne. Realizing that the remains of the existing army had no loyalty to the restored monarchy, the government of Louis XVIII undertook a wholesale disbandment of what had been Napoleon's regiments. In their place a system of Departmental Legions was created with no historic connections to empire, republic or even the pre-1792 monarchy. His government appointed many aristocratic officers to the new army, which lost much of its morale, much as it had in 1789.
In 1823, a French expeditionary force, the
Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis
The "Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis" was the popular name for a French army mobilized in 1823 by the Bourbon King of France, Louis XVIII, to help the Spanish Bourbon royalists restore King Ferdinand VII of Spain to the absolute power ...
, aided Spanish troops loyal to the Bourbon King
Ferdinand VII
Ferdinand VII (; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. Before 1813 he was known as ''el Deseado'' (the Desired), and af ...
when his regime was threatened by an
uprising.
In 1830, King
Charles X Charles X may refer to:
* Charles X of France (1757–1836)
* Charles X Gustav (1622–1660), King of Sweden
* Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon (1523–1590), recognized as Charles X of France but renounced the royal title
See also
*
* King Charle ...
, was forced to abdicate in the
July Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first of 1789–99. It led to the overthrow of King Cha ...
. The army participated in little fighting, and the king's cousin,
the Duke of Orléans was installed as Louis-Philippe I in what was supposed to be a constitutional monarchy. The army transferred its allegiance to Louis-Philippe's
House of Orléans
The 4th House of Orléans (), sometimes called the House of Bourbon-Orléans () to distinguish it, is the fourth holder of a surname previously used by several branches of the House of France, Royal House of France, all descended in the legitimat ...
until his overthrow in 1848, when the short-lived
Second Republic was established.
Organisation
The military household
The military household of the king of France, was the military part of the French royal household or ''
Maison du Roi
The Maison du Roi (, 'King's Household') was the royal household of the King of France. It comprised the military, domestic, and religious entourage of the French royal family during the Ancien Régime and Bourbon Restoration in France, Bourbon R ...
''. The term only appeared in 1671, though such a gathering of military units pre-dates this. Two large foot regiments of the military household participated in the campaigns of the army; the
French Guards Regiment and the
Swiss Guards. Another well known unit was the
Musketeers of the Guard
The Musketeers of the military household of the King of France ( or ''compagnie des mousquetaires du roi''), also known as the Musketeers of the Guard () or King's Musketeers (), were an elite fighting company of the military branch of the Maiso ...
.
French regiments
;Foot
There were 90 French
line infantry
Line infantry was the type of infantry that formed the bulk of most European land armies from the mid-17th century to the mid-19th century. Maurice of Nassau and Gustavus Adolphus are generally regarded as its pioneers, while Henri de la Tour d ...
regiments in 1690. The companies were not distributed equally between the regiments; the weakest, the Périgueux, had only 15 companies, while the
Picardie had 210. The regimental staff included a colonel and a lieutenant colonel both of which also nominally commanded a
company
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...
, and a major without company. A field company had a captain, a lieutenant, a sub-lieutenant (or
ensign
Ensign most often refers to:
* Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality
* Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank
Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to:
Places
* Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada
* Ensign, Ka ...
in the colonel's company), two sergeants, three corporals, five lance-corporals, 39 private soldiers and a
drummer
A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums.
Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...
. A
garrison
A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters.
A garrison is usually in a city ...
company had a captain, a lieutenant, two sergeants, a corporal, two lance-corporals, 44 privates and a drummer. A colonel's company in garrison had an additional
ensign
Ensign most often refers to:
* Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality
* Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank
Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to:
Places
* Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada
* Ensign, Ka ...
, while a
grenadier
A grenadier ( , ; derived from the word ''grenade'') was historically an assault-specialist soldier who threw hand grenades in siege operation battles. The distinct combat function of the grenadier was established in the mid-17th century, when ...
company in garrison had an additional sub-lieutenant. The tactical formation was the field
battalion
A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...
of 16 companies with an authorized strength of 800 men. A garrison battalion had a varied number of companies, mostly from different regiments and was commanded by the senior company commander.
[Belhomme, Victor (1895). ''L'armée française en 1690.'' Paris, pp. 9–12, 37, 40, 57–69, 85–86, 94, 96, 100, 120–123.]
The French line infantry contained 69 regiments in 1767. The regiments had territorial or otherwise permanent titles. The nineteenth most senior regiments had four battalions, most regiments had two battalions while the junior regiments had one battalion. Each battalion had nine companies, eight of fusiliers and one of grenadiers. The regimental staff included a colonel and a lieutenant-colonel with companies and a major without. Each company had a captain, a lieutenant and a sub-lieutenant and contained four sergeants, one fourier, eight corporals, eight lance-corporals, 40 fusiliers and two drummers.
[Tyrell, F.H. (1898). "The Old Royal Army of France." ''Journal of the Royal United Service Institution'' 52(1): 47–65, pp. 55–63.]
In 1767 the French army also had five mixed legions of light troops. Each legion had eight dragoon companies, eight fusilier companies and a grenadier company.
[
;Horse
In 1690 there were 112 ]cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...
regiments, including 105 French and seven foreign. There were also 43 independent companies of horse. 27 regiments had two squadrons and eight companies, and 85 regiments had three squadrons and 12 companies. The regimental staff included a 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 regiments ...
and a lieutenant-colonel with company and a major without a company. Each company had a captain, a lieutenant, a cornet
The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano cor ...
, a quartermaster, two brigadiers, two carabineers and 35 troopers. In addition each regiment had a company of carabineers outside the squadrons, filling the same elite role as the grenadier company of a foot regiment.[
In 1767 the cavalry contained 35 regiments. One of these was a carabineer regiment and four were ]hussar
A hussar, ; ; ; ; . was a member of a class of light cavalry, originally from the Kingdom of Hungary during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely adopted by light cavalry ...
s. All regiments were known by their titles; not by the name of their commanders. Each regiment had four squadrons; each squadron divided into two troop
A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Troo ...
s. The regimental staff included a mestre de camp and a lieutenant-colonel, both of which had troops, and a major without a troop. Each troop had a captain, a lieutenant and a sub-lieutenant, as well as four quartermasters, one fourier, eight brigadiers, eight carabineers, 31 troopers and a trumpeter
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...
. The carabineer regiment had a different organization.[
;Dragoons
In 1690 the ]dragoon
Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat wi ...
s contained 33 regiments, of which two were foreign, as well as 50 independent dragoon companies. Each regiment had three squadrons; each squadron had four companies . The regimental staff included a colonel and a lieutenant-colonel with companies, and a major without company. Each company had a captain, a lieutenant, a cornet, a quartermaster, two brigadiers, 37 dragoons and a drummer.[
There were 17 dragoon regiments in 1767. The seven oldest were known by their title; the others by the name of their commanders. Each regiment had four squadrons; each squadron had two troops. The regimental staff included a mestre de camp and a lieutenant-colonel with troops, and a major without a troop. Each troop had a captain, a lieutenant and a sub-lieutenant, as well as four quartermasters, one fourier, eight brigadiers, eight lancepessades (lance-corporals), 24 dragoons and a drummer. Of a troops 46 members, 16 served on foot.][
;Artillery
In 1690 the ]artillery
Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...
consisted of a cadre of gunnery officers stationed at the fortresses. The organization was under the Grand Master of Artillery and contained two lieutenant-generals of artillery commanding the two most important territorial divisions and during the campaign season also the artillery of the French armies in Germany and Flanders respectively; twelve lieutenants of artillery (rank as colonels of infantry) commanding the other territorial divisions including the arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
s; a number of provincial commissaries (rank as lieutenant-colonels of infantry) commanding the fortress artillery, and during a campaign the artillery train
In military contexts, a train is the military logistics, logistical transport elements accompanying a military force. Often called a supply train or baggage train, it has the job of providing materiel for their associated combat forces when in th ...
and the siege batteries. Otherwise the gunnery cadre contained a number of ordinary commissaires (captains), extraordinary commissaries (lieutenants) and ''officier-pointeurs'' (sub-lieutenants).[
At the disposal of the artillery stood in 1690, a fusilier regiment, a bombardier regiment, two companies of ]miners
A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...
, three of galiots and two of boatmen on the Rhine
The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
. The King's Fusiliers contained 88 companies with 272 officers and 4,720 men. There were five battalions and twelve gunnery companies outside the battalions. The 1st and 2nd battalions each had two companies of artificers, one of grenadiers and twelve of fusiliers. The 3rd and 4th battalions had each a grenadier company and 15 fusilier companies. The 5th battalion had 14 fusilier companies. The King's Bombardiers served the mortars and other heavy siege artillery and formed one battalion containing two bombardier companies and 13 fusilier companies.[
In 1767 the artillery formed the Royal Corps of Artillery which ranked as the 47th among the foot regiments of the line. It contained seven regiments. Each regiment had five battalions of four companies each, to a total of 20 companies; two of ]sapper
A sapper, also called a combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field defenses ...
s, four of bombardiers and 14 of gunners. Outside the brigades there was a company of artificers in each regiment. The regimental staff included a colonel, a lieutenant-colonel and five ''chef de brigades'' (majors).[
]
Foreign regiments
During the 17th and 18th centuries twelve regiments of Swiss mercenaries
The Swiss mercenaries were a powerful infantry force constituting professional soldiers originating from the cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy. They were notable for their service in foreign armies, especially among the military forces of th ...
were employed in the French Royal Army, notably the Swiss Guards. During the 10 August riot of 1792, supporters of the French Revolution, including members of the radical-leaning 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.
...
marched on the Tuileries Palace
The Tuileries Palace (, ) was a palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the Seine, directly in the west-front of the Louvre Palace. It was the Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from Henri IV to Napoleon III, until it was b ...
. King Louis XVI escaped with his family, but, after fighting broke out in the palace courtyard, the Swiss Guards were massacred by the mob. Some Guards, including the commander, were captured, jailed, and later guillotined.
In 1690 there were ten Swiss
Swiss most commonly refers to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Swiss may also refer to: Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss Café, an old café located ...
line regiments in French service; six with 16 companies each in three field battalions and one garrison battalion, and four with twelve companies each in three field battalions. Royal-Roussillon was a Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
n foreign regiment with 18 companies in two battalions. There were also six German foreign regiments, seven Italian foreign regiments, five Walloon foreign regiments and three Irish foreign regiments.[
There were 23 foreign line regiments in 1767; eleven Swiss, seven German and five Irish. German regiments had permanent titles. The Swiss and Irish regiments were known by the name of their proprietary colonels. The Swiss and German regiments had two battalions, the Irish one.][
]
Strength
Authorized strength
Size of European armies
Uniforms
The guard regiments of the ''Maison du Roi'' adopted complete uniforms in the early 1660s as a substitute for the cassocks with civilian clothing worn previously. As an example the ''Garden Francais'' were reported as wearing grey and red uniforms with silver embroidery shortly after 1661. The line infantry adopted clothing in various regimental colours decided on by their colonels, in an extended process starting in the early 1660s but not completed until the late 1670s. Cavalry wore buff leather coats and breeches without specific uniform features until "grey cloth lined in the same colour" and dark blue for royal mounted units was ordered in November 1671.
During the 1680s there was a movement towards more standardised dress, although dragoons
Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat wi ...
and foreign infantry still wore coats in a wide range of regimental colours [The French Army : Military : History : Wars](_blank)
Napolun.com. Retrieved on 2010-09-14. The guards regiments wore blue, the regular infantry wore gray-white, and the Swiss mercenary regiments in French service wore red. In 1690, during the Nine Years' War
The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...
, each regiment was given a uniform. Eighty-eight regiments wore gray uniforms with red facings, and fourteen princely regiments wore blue. The first regulations detailing specifics of uniforms is dated to 1704. Unusually, grenadier
A grenadier ( , ; derived from the word ''grenade'') was historically an assault-specialist soldier who threw hand grenades in siege operation battles. The distinct combat function of the grenadier was established in the mid-17th century, when ...
s for most of the part wore a tricorn like the fusilier
''Fusilier'' is a name given to various kinds of soldiers; its meaning depends on the historical context. While ''fusilier'' is derived from the 17th-century French word – meaning a type of flintlock musket – the term has been used in cont ...
s, rather than a mitre
The mitre (Commonwealth English) or miter (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, see spelling differences; both pronounced ; ) is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of ...
or a bearskin
A bearskin is a tall fur cap derived from mitre#Military uniform, mitre caps worn by grenadier units in the 17th and 18th centuries. Initially worn by only grenadiers, bearskins were later used by several other military units in the 19th centur ...
. Bearskins came into full use by about 1770.
During the 18th century a series of revised dress regulations made for repeated changes in the facing colours of individual infantry regiments. The Swiss and Irish mercenary regiments retained their red coats throughout this period, while other foreign units generally wore medium blue. Cavalry wore a variety of green, blue or red regimental uniforms, largely according to the whim of individual colonels. The regiments of the Royal Household were similarly variegated, although dark blue dominated. The change from the white or off-white uniforms, traditionally associated with the line infantry of the royal army, to dark blue was completed in 1793 after the overthrow of the monarchy. White uniforms were restored after the Bourbon Restoration, although modified for a more modern appearance, introducing trousers rather than breeches, taller shakos, and Fleur-de-lis
The ''fleur-de-lis'', also spelled ''fleur-de-lys'' (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a common heraldic charge in the (stylized) shape of a lily (in French, and mean and respectively). Most notably, the ''fleur-de-lis'' ...
insignia. Dark blue coatees were adopted in 1819.
Weaponry
Pikes appeared in France at the beginning of the 16th century. They were used by the army until the end of the 17th century when the pike and shot tactics were abandoned. The matchlock musket ''(mousquet)'' was introduced in France after the battle of Pavia
The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–1526 between the Kingdom of France and the Habsburg Empire of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, Holy Roman Empero ...
in 1525. The French army abandoned the musket in 1700 with the appearance of the flintlock musket ''(fusil)''. Different models of the Charleville musket, a .69 caliber standard French infantry musket was made from 1717 and into the 1840s.
The Vallière artillery system of 1732 standardized the artillery pieces. The Valliere guns proved good in siege warfare but were less satisfactory in a war of movement. In 1765 it was replaced by the Gribeauval system, which revolutionized the French artillery; improving its cannon
A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...
s, howitzer
The howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...
s, and mortars
Mortar may refer to:
* Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon
* Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together
* Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind
* Mortar, Bihar, a village i ...
, by making them lighter, without sacrificing range. The new guns contributed to French military victories even during the French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...
and Napoleonic Wars
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Napoleonic Wars
, partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
, image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg
, caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
.
Recruitment
The Royal Army during the Ancien regime
''Ancien'' may refer to
* the French word for "ancient, old"
** Société des anciens textes français
* the French for "former, senior"
** Virelai ancien
** Ancien Régime
''Ancien'' may refer to
* the French word for " ancient, old"
** Socié ...
was recruited through volunteer enlistment
Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription).
Few nations, such ...
. Almost 90% of the recruits came from the peasantry
A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...
and the working class
The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...
, while about 10% came from the petty bourgeoisie. Privates were usually promoted directly to the rank of sergeant
Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...
and bypassed the rank of corporal
Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...
. At the time of the French Revolution, a third of the sergeants came from the petty bourgeoisie or higher classes.
Three career paths existed for officers; one privileged for the high nobility, one standard for the middle and lower nobility and the higher bourgeoisie and one exceptional for promoted sergeants. The high nobility quickly reached high rank, the mean age of promotion to colonel being 36 years. The standard career path was based on seniority and was rather inert; the mean age of promotion to captain was 45 years. Promoted sergeants could normally not reach higher than to substantive lieutenants and captains by brevet although their social background significantly deviated from the rank and file; over two thirds came from the petty bourgeoisie or higher classes. The different career paths created a lack of social homogeneity
Homogeneity and heterogeneity are concepts relating to the Uniformity (chemistry), uniformity of a Chemical substance, substance, process or image. A homogeneous feature is uniform in composition or character (i.e., color, shape, size, weight, ...
in the officer corps.
The military reforms after the Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...
attempted to create a professionalized
Professionalization or professionalisation is a social process by which any tradesman, trade or occupation transforms itself into a true "profession of the highest integrity and competence." The definition of what constitutes a profession is often ...
officer corps built on the petty nobility. However, the privileged career of the high nobility being retained caused the failure of the reforms. In consequence, many noblemen in the officer corps sided with the bourgeoisie in the struggle against the class prerogative
In law, a prerogative is an exclusive right bestowed by a government or State (polity), state and invested in an individual or group, the content of which is separate from the body of rights enjoyed under the general law. It was a common facet of ...
s of the high nobility.[, pp. 18-19.]
Conflicts
* Franco-Spanish War (1652–1659)
*War of Devolution
The War of Devolution took place from May 1667 to May 1668. In the course of the war, Kingdom of France, France occupied large parts of the Spanish Netherlands and County of Burgundy, Franche-Comté, both then provinces of the Holy Roman Empire ...
(1667–1668)
*Franco-Dutch War
The Franco-Dutch War, 1672 to 1678, was primarily fought by Kingdom of France, France and the Dutch Republic, with both sides backed at different times by a variety of allies. Related conflicts include the 1672 to 1674 Third Anglo-Dutch War and ...
(1672–1678)
* War of the Reunions (1683–1684)
*Nine Years' War
The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...
(1689–1697)
*War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...
(1701–1714)
*War of the Polish Succession
The War of the Polish Succession (; 1733–35) was a major European conflict sparked by a civil war in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth over the succession to Augustus II the Strong, which the other European powers widened in pursuit of ...
(1733–1738)
*War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italian Peninsula, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King Ge ...
(1740–1748)
*Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...
(1756–1763)
*American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
(1779–1783)
*French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...
(1792)
*French invasion of Spain
The "Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis" was the popular name for a French army mobilized in 1823 by the House of Bourbon, Bourbon King of France, Louis XVIII, to help the Spanish Bourbon royalists restore King Ferdinand VII of Spain to the ...
(1823)
Notable battles
Franco-Spanish War
* Battle of Arras (1654)
* Battle of Valenciennes (1656)
* Battle of the Dunes (1658)
Franco-Dutch War
The Franco-Dutch War, 1672 to 1678, was primarily fought by Kingdom of France, France and the Dutch Republic, with both sides backed at different times by a variety of allies. Related conflicts include the 1672 to 1674 Third Anglo-Dutch War and ...
* Siege of Maastricht (1673)
* Battle of Seneffe (1674)
* Battle of Sinsheim (1674)
* Battle of Entzheim (1674)
* Battle of Mulhouse (1674)
* Battle of Turckheim (1675)
* Battle of Konzer Brücke (1675)
* Siege of Philippsburg (1676)
* Siege of Maastricht (1676)
* Siege of Valenciennes (1677)
* Siege of Cambrai (1677)
* Battle of Cassel (1677)
* Battle of Ortenbach (1678)
* Battle of Saint-Denis (1678)
Nine Years' War
The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...
* Siege of Philippsburg (1688)
* Battle of Walcourt (1689)
* Battle of Fleurus (1690)
* Battle of Staffarda (1690)
* Siege of Mons (1691)
* Siege of Cuneo (1691)
* Battle of Leuze (1691)
* Siege of Namur (1692)
* Battle of Steenkerque (1692)
*Battle of Landen
The Battle of Landen, also known as Battle of Neerwinden took place on 29 July 1693, during the Nine Years' War near Landen, then in the Spanish Netherlands, now part of Belgium. A Kingdom of France, French army under François-Henri de Montmor ...
(1693)
* Battle of Marsaglia (1693)
* Battle of Torroella (1694)
* Battle of Sant Esteve d'en Bas (1695)
* Siege of Namur (1695)
* Siege of Diksmuide (1695)
* Siege of Ath (1697)
* Siege of Barcelona (1697)
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...
* Battle of Chiari (1701)
*Battle of Luzzara
The Battle of Luzzara took place in Lombardy on 15 August 1702 during the War of the Spanish Succession, between a combined French and Savoyard army under Louis Joseph, duc de Vendôme, and an Imperial force under Prince Eugene.
Conflict in ...
(1702)
* Battle of Friedlingen (1702)
* Battle of Ekeren (1703)
* First Battle of Höchstädt (1703)
*Battle of Speyerbach
The Battle of Speyerbach took place on 15 November 1703 during the War of the Spanish Succession, near Speyer in the modern German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. A French army commanded by Camille de Tallard defeated an Allied force under F ...
(1703)
* Battle of Blenheim (1704)
* Battle of Elixheim (1705)
* Battle of Cassano (1705)
* Battle of Calcinato (1706)
*Battle of Ramillies
The Battle of Ramillies (), fought on 23 May 1706, was a battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. For the Grand AllianceAustria, England, and the Dutch Republicthe battle had followed an indecisive campaign against the Bourbon armies of K ...
(1706)
* Battle of Turin (1706)
*Battle of Castiglione
The Battle of Castiglione saw the French Army of Italy under General Napoleon Bonaparte attack an army of the Habsburg monarchy led by '' Feldmarschall'' Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser on 5 August 1796. The outnumbered Austrians were defeated ...
(1706)
* Battle of Almansa (1707)
*Siege of Toulon
The siege of Toulon (29 August – 19 December 1793) was a military engagement that took place during the Federalist revolts and the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. It was undertaken by forces of the French Re ...
(1707)
* Battle of Oudenarde (1708)
* Battle of Wijnendale (1708)
* Siege of Lille (1708)
* Battle of Malplaquet (1709)
* Battle of Saragossa (1710)
* Battle of Villaviciosa (1710)
* Battle of Brihuega (1710)
* Siege of Bouchain (1711)
* Battle of Denain (1712)
* Siege of Bouchain (1712)
* Rhine campaign (1713)
* Siege of Barcelona (1713–1714)
War of the Polish Succession
The War of the Polish Succession (; 1733–35) was a major European conflict sparked by a civil war in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth over the succession to Augustus II the Strong, which the other European powers widened in pursuit of ...
* Siege of Danzig (1734)
* Battle of Guastalla (1734)
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italian Peninsula, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King Ge ...
* Battle of Dettingen (1740)
*Battle of Fontenoy
The Battle of Fontenoy took place on 11 May 1745 during the War of the Austrian Succession, near Tournai, then in the Austrian Netherlands, now Belgium. A French army of 50,000 under Maurice, comte de Saxe, Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Ar ...
(1745)
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...
/French and Indian War
The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...
* Battle of the Monongahela (1756)
* Battle of Ticonderoga (1758)
* Battle of Minden (1759)
* Battle of Quebec (1759)
Anglo-French War/
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
* Siege of Savannah (1779)
* Battle of Martinique (1780) – several regiments acting as marines aboard ships
*Siege of Yorktown
The siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown and the surrender at Yorktown, was the final battle of the American Revolutionary War. It was won decisively by the Continental Army, led by George Washington, with support from the Ma ...
(1781)
* Hudson Bay Expedition (1782)
*Battle of the Saintes
The Battle of the Saintes (known to the French as the Bataille de la Dominique), also known as the Battle of Dominica, was an important naval battle in the Caribbean between the British and the French that took place 9–12 April 1782. The Brit ...
(1782) – several regiments acting as marines aboard ships
French Revolution/
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...
*Battle of Valmy
The Battle of Valmy, also known as the Cannonade of Valmy, was the first major victory by the army of Kingdom of France (1791–92), France during the French Revolutionary Wars, Revolutionary Wars that followed the French Revolution. The battl ...
(1792) during transition to Army of the First Republic
French invasion of Spain
The "Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis" was the popular name for a French army mobilized in 1823 by the House of Bourbon, Bourbon King of France, Louis XVIII, to help the Spanish Bourbon royalists restore King Ferdinand VII of Spain to the ...
* Battle of Trocadero (1823)
Notable personnel
*Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne
Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne (11 September 161127 July 1675), commonly known as Turenne (), was a French general and one of only six Marshal of France, marshals to have been promoted Marshal General of France. The most illus ...
*Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé
*François Henri de Montmorency, Duke of Luxembourg
*Sébastien Vauban
*Claude de Villars
*Louis Joseph, Duke of Vendôme
*Maurice de Saxe
*Nicolas Catinat
*James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick
*Jean-de-Dieu Soult
*Nicolas Oudinot
*Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette
*Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau
*Camille d'Hostun, Duke of Tallard
*Victor-François de Broglie, Duke of Broglie
*Louis de Buade de Frontenac
*François de Neufville, Duke of Villeroi
*Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:French Royal Army (1652-1830)
Military history of France
House of Bourbon
Military history of the Ancien Régime
Disbanded armies
Armies of Napoleonic Wars