The III Corps of the ''

Grande Armée The (; ) was the primary field army of the French Imperial Army (1804–1815), French Imperial Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Commanded by Napoleon, from 1804 to 1808 it won a series of military victories that allowed the First French Empi ...

'' was a French military unit that existed during the

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 ...

. The corps came to prominence between 1805 and 1809 under the command of

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

Louis-Nicolas Davout, when it repeatedly scored impressive victories single-handedly or in conjunction with other French forces. Napoleon called it ''"My tenth legion"'', in reference to

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

's finest unit, the X Equestris. Troops from III Corps then took part in many battles in Poland, during the War of the Fourth Coalition, e.g. Czarnowo, Pultusk, Golymin, Eylau.. These troops were later reorganized as the I Corps and included French, German, and Polish units.

Size

By the time of

Napoleon's invasion of Russia The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign (), the Second Polish War, and in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812 (), was initiated by Napoleon with the aim of compelling the Russian Empire to comply with the continent ...

in 1812, the III Corps had been reorganized and went under the command of Marshal

Michel Ney Michel Ney, 1st Prince de la Moskowa, 1st Duke of Elchingen (; 10 January 1769 – 7 December 1815), was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The son of ...

. It consisted of a mixture of Croatian, French, Portuguese, Dutch and Württemberger units and like the rest of Napoleon's forces, suffered heavy casualties as the campaign progressed. At the crossing of the Niemen River in June 1812, the size of the corps was estimated at 44,000 men; by the Battle of Smolensk in August, only 22,000 men remained.

Battles

The corps participated in a number of battles, including Austerlitz, Auerstedt, Eylau, Borodino, Lützen,

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin (), until 1868 ''Budissin'' in German, is a town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the Bautzen (district), district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree (river), Spree river, is the eighth most ...

, Katzbach,

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, Ligny, and Waterloo.

Commanders

*Corps commander: Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout (1805 through 1809); **Divisional commanders: ***General Louis Friant ***General Charles-Étienne Gudin de La Sablonnière ***General Charles Antoine Morand ***General Louis Vincent Le Blond de Saint-Hilaire ** Corps cavalry under General of Brigade Louis-Pierre Montbrun *Corps commander: Marshal

(1812-1813) **Divisional commanders: ***General Ledru (1812), later General Girard (1813) ***General Razout (1812), later General

Ricard Ricard is a surname, as well as a Catalan name. Notable people with the surname include: *Amable Ricard (1828–1876), French politician *Étienne Pierre Sylvestre Ricard (1771–1843), French general under Napoleon *Hámilton Ricard (born 1974), C ...

(1813) ***General Royal Prince of Württemberg, later General of Division Jean Gabriel Marchand ***General Souham (1813) ***General Montmorand (1813) **Corps cavalry under General-Major Woellwarth (1812), later General of Brigade Laboissière *Corps commander: General Joseph Souham (1813) **Divisional commanders: ***General Brayer ***General Delmas ***General

**Corps cavalry under General of Brigade Beurmann *Corps commander: General Dominique Vandamme (1815) **Divisional commanders: ***General Lefol ***General Habert ***General Berthézène **Corps cavalry under General Domon

References and notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:III Corps (Grande Armee) GAI03