Army of the Rhine (1870)

Armée du Rhin (Army of the Rhine)
Commander of the Army, Marshal Bazaine
Active	1870
Country	France
Allegiance	Second French Empire
Branch	French Army
Engagements	Franco-Prussian War
Commanders
Notable commanders	Maréchal de France Bazaine

The Army of the Rhine (French: ) was created since the declaration of war on July 18, 1870. The army dite du Rhin was a French military unit which combat engaged during the Franco-Prussian War.

The unit participated in combats of Lorraine, then divided in two elements while forming a second army, the Army of Châlons.

The unit finished by being capitulated on October 27 at the Siege of Metz.

The Army of the Rhine was the first French Army constituted at the declaration of war, formed from the available troops during peace time. Commanded initially by the Emperor himself, the Army included The Imperial Guard (French: La Garde Impériale), 7 Army Corps and a general reserve. Each Army Corps was constituted of 3 or 4 infantry division and 1 cavalry division made up of 2 or 3 brigades each, one artillery reserve and one engineer reserve. Each brigade counted 2 or 3 line infantry or line cavalry regiments.

The infantry divisions included an artillery component with 2 batteries de canons de 4 and 1 de mitrailleuse, while the cavalry divisions constituted 2 batteries horse mounted.

Formation of the army corps:

On August 1, 1870, the Army of the Rhin was constituted of seven Army Corps and of artillery and reserve cavalry. Lieutenant-colonel Rousset tendered an estimative decomposition by grand units:

The 1st Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard (French: La Garde Impériale) was commanded by général Deligny

The 2nd Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard was commanded by général Picard

The Cavalry Division of the Imperial Guard was commanded by général Desvaux

The 1st Army Corps (French: ) was commanded by Patrice de MacMahon, Duke of Magenta, with chef d'état-major général Colson. général Ducrot, former commander of the 1st Division, succeeded Marshal Mac Mahon who recently assumed command of the Army of Châlons. général Joly Frigola commanded the artillery.