The IV 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 ...

. It consisted of several different units and commanders.

War of the Third Coalition

The corps was formed in 1805, with

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 ...

Jean-de-Dieu Soult Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia (; 29 March 1769 – 26 November 1851) was a French general and statesman. He was a Marshal of the Empire during the Napoleonic Wars, and served three times as President of the Council of ...

being appointed as its commander.Chandler, 417. The IV Corps formed part of the extended center of the French line at the

Battle of Austerlitz The Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805/11 Frimaire An XIV French Republican calendar, FRC), also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important military engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle occurred near t ...

in December 1805.Chandler, 31. During the battle, Napoleon ordered Soult to attack the Pratzen Heights, from which the Allies had been attacking the French right wing. Repeated attacks from the Russians under General Kutuzov almost broke through the line of IV Corps, but aid from Marshal

Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte Charles XIV John (; 26 January 1763 – 8 March 1844) was King of Sweden and King of Norway, Norway from 1818 until his death in 1844 and the first monarch of the Bernadotte dynasty. In Norway, he is known as Charles III John () and before he be ...

's I Corps allowed the French to maintain their control of the Heights. The survivors then moved south and enveloped General Friedrich Wilhelm von Buxhoeveden's column, sending the Allies into a retreat.Chandler, 35.

War of the Fourth Coalition

The corps formed the right wing of the French line at the

Battle of Jena A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

in October 1806.Chandler, 215. At Eylau in February 1807, the corps was beaten back by the Russian Army under Generals Tutchkov and Dmitry Dokhturov.Chandler, 146 In 1808, Soult was transferred to Spain, where he took command of the II Corps in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

Russian campaign

The corps consisted mainly of troops from the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

by the time of the invasion of Russia in 1812. It was commanded by

Napoleon 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 ...

's stepson

Eugène de Beauharnais Eugène Rose de Beauharnais (; 3 September 1781 – 21 February 1824) was a French statesman and military officer who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Through the second marriage of his mother, Joséphine de Beauharnais, ...

. The corps participated in the

Battle of Borodino The Battle of Borodino ( ) or Battle of Moscow (), in popular literature also known as the Battle of the Generals, took place on the outskirts of Moscow near the village of Borodino on 7 September 1812 during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. ...

, where it formed the left wing of the French line. Commanders at Borodino:
*Corps commander: Prince

; **Divisional commanders: ***General de division Delzons ***General de division Broussier ***General de brigade Lechi ** Corps cavalry under General de division d'Ornano ** Corps artillery under General de division d'Anthouard de Vraincourt Later, it also fought at the battles of Malojaroslavec and Viazma. The corps suffered heavy casualties during the retreat. In the Battle of Krasnoi it was cut off from Napoleon and the Viceroy of Italy refused to surrender.D. Buturlin (1824) Histoire militaire de la campagne de Russie en 1812, p. 213
/ref> The remnants made a detour.

War of the Sixth Coalition

Under the command of General

Henri Gatien Bertrand Henri-Gatien Bertrand (; 22 March 1773 Dictionnaire Napoléon - Jean Tulard - P207 – 31 January 1844) was a French general who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Under the Empire he was the third and last G ...

, it took part in the battles of Lützen,

Großbeeren Großbeeren is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district of Teltow-Fläming in the Germany, German state of Brandenburg. Geography Located about 3 km south of Berlin's city limits. It includes the localities of ''Diedersdorf'' ...

Dennewitz Dennewitz is a village of Germany, in the federal state and old Prussian province of Brandenburg, near Jüterbog, 40 km. S.W. from Berlin. It is part of the municipality of Niedergörsdorf, Teltow-Fläming district. History It is memorable a ...

, Wartenburg and

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 ...

War of the Seventh Coalition

The corps was headed by General

Étienne Maurice Gérard Étienne Maurice Gérard, 1st Comte Gérard (; 4 April 177317 April 1852) was a French general and statesman. He served under a succession of French governments including the ''ancien regime'' monarchy, the Revolutionary governments, the Restor ...

in 1815 and took part in the

Battle of Ligny The Battle of Ligny, in which French troops of the under the command of Napoleon I defeated part of a Prussian army under Field Marshal Blücher, was fought on 16 June 1815 near Ligny in what is now Belgium. The result was a tactical victor ...

and the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

Notes

References

* Chandler, David G. (1979). ''Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars''. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. {{DEFAULTSORT:IV Corps (Grande Armee) 1805 establishments in France GAI04