VIII Corps (Grande Armée)

VIII Corps (Grande Armée)
Active 1805–1813
Country France First French Empire
Branch Army
Type Army Corps
Size One to three infantry divisions, cavalry, artillery
Engagements Napoleonic Wars
Commanders
Notable
commanders		 Édouard Mortier
André Masséna
Jean-Andoche Junot
Dominique Vandamme
Józef Poniatowski

The VIII Corps of the Grande Armée was the name of a French military unit that existed during the Napoleonic Wars. Emperor Napoleon formed it in 1805 by borrowing divisions from other corps and assigned it to Marshal Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier. Marshal André Masséna's Army of Italy was also reorganized as the VIII Corps at the end of the 1805 campaign. The corps was reformed for the 1806 campaign under Mortier and spent the rest of the year mopping up Prussian garrisons in western Germany.

After Jean-Andoche Junot's Army of Portugal was repatriated after the Convention of Cintra in 1808, it was reconstituted as the VIII Corps. However, Junot's command was broken up before the end of the year. In 1809, the soldiers from the Kingdom of Württemberg were formed into a new VIII Corps under the leadership of Dominique Vandamme. After seeing a few battles, they were used to protect Napoleon's rear areas. By January 1810 a new VIII Corps was created in Spain and placed under Junot. This unit participated in Masséna's invasion of Portugal before being discontinued in 1811.

A new VIII Corps was formed from Westphalians for the 1812 French invasion of Russia and placed under Junot's command. The corps was effectively destroyed during the retreat. The following year, the corps was rebuilt with Polish units and assigned to Józef Poniatowski. The VIII Corps fought in the fall 1813 campaign and ceased to exist after the Battle of Leipzig.

History

1805

Black and white print shows several men standing around a cannon on a riverbank. Casualties are strewn about and a castle stands on a tall crag in the background.
Battle of Dürenstein

The corps was first called into existence during the War of the Third Coalition in 1805. After destroying much of the Austrian Empire's military strength in the Ulm Campaign, Emperor Napoleon ordered his generals to advance toward the Austrian capital of Vienna. The emperor formed a new VIII Corps under Marshal Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier and assigned four divisions to the new organization. Mortier's task was to operate on the north bank of the Danube River and protect the French army's strategic left flank.[1] The divisions were led by Generals of Division Jean-Baptiste Dumonceau, Honoré Théodore Maxime Gazan, Pierre Dupont, and Louis Klein. Dumonceau's division transferred from the II Corps, Gazan's from the V Corps, Dupont's from the VI Corps, and Klein's from the Cavalry Corps.[2] On 11 November 1805, Mortier with the 5,000 men of Gazan's division bumped into a greatly superior force of Russians and Austrians. In the Battle of Dürenstein, Gazan suffered 3,000 casualties but was saved from annihilation when Dupont's division arrived later in the day. Neither Klein nor Dumonceau were engaged in the action.[3] The VIII Corps missed the Battle of Austerlitz.[4]

Even after his decisive triumph at Austerlitz, Emperor Napoleon believed Archduke Charles' large army to be a threat. Therefore, he ordered Marshal André Masséna to reorganize his Army of Italy as VIII Corps. Masséna was to march east with his main body while sending his heavy cavalry to Graz. General of Division Auguste Marmont assembled at Graz with the II Corps while Marshal Michel Ney arrived at Klagenfurt with the VI Corps. The emperor placed Marshal Louis Nicolas Davout's III Corps at Bratislava (Pressburg) and Marshal Nicolas Soult's IV Corps south of Vienna. In this way, Charles' army was totally contained. On 26 December, the Treaty of Pressburg was signed, ending the war.[5]

1806–1807

Print shows a curly-haired man with long sideburns in early 1800s court dress. The dark coat has a high collar and is braided down the front.
Louis Henri Loison

In the War of the Fourth Coalition, the VIII Corps was re-established at Mainz under Mortier. Together with troops from the Kingdom of Holland under King Louis Bonaparte, the corps defended against a westward thrust by the Prussian forces in the former Electorate of Hanover.[6] On 17 October 1806, Napoleon ordered Mortier to seize Fulda while Louis was to capture Paderborn and Münster. From these locations they would converge on Kassel whose ruler, William I, Elector of Hesse the emperor wished to depose.[7] On 1 November, Mortier entered Kassel from the south with General of Division Louis Henri Loison's 5,500-man division composed of three French light infantry regiments. Louis arrived from the north with Dutch soldiers a few hours later to complete the bloodless conquest. On 7 November the French and their allies arrived near Hamelin (Hameln). Two days later, Louis pleaded illness and withdrew from the campaign.[8]

Mortier left Dumonceau's Dutch division to carry out the Siege of Hameln. Though Dumonceau's 6,000 soldiers and 12 guns were outnumbered by General Karl Ludwig von Lecoq's 10,000 defenders, the operation was a success.[9] General of Division Anne Jean Marie René Savary showed up on 19 November 1806 with a preliminary armistice in which all Prussian fortresses were to be surrendered. Though the document was not ratified, Savary used it to bully Lecoq into capitulating.[10] Afterward the Dutch Division marched to Nienburg where it accepted the surrender of 2,911 Prussian soldiers on 26 November.[9]

The VIII Corps was involved in the unsuccessful Siege of Kolberg from 20 March to 2 July 1807. Mortier's 14,000 men and 41 guns included the Fusilier-Chasseurs and Fusilier-Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard under Savary, Loison's French division of six infantry battalions and nine cavalry squadrons, General of Division Charles Louis Dieudonné Grandjean's Dutch contingent with 12 battalions and two hussar regiments, six Italian battalions with supporting cavalry, two Polish battalions, and seven German battalions. The VIII Corps lost 5,000 killed, wounded, or died of illness. The defenders of the 230-gun Kolberg fortress lost 3,000 of the 6,000-man garrison killed, wounded, or died of disease.[11] In June, however, Mortier was called to join the main army. He led 8,465 foot soldiers and 1,200 horsemen in the thick of the action at the Battle of Friedland on 14 June 1807. General of Division Pierre-Louis Dupas led the all-French 1st Division, General of Division Jean Henri Dombrowski commanded the all-Polish 2nd Division, and General of Brigade Maurice Ignace Fresia directed the Dutch and Polish cavalry contingent.[12]

1808–1809

Map of the Battle of Abensberg
Battle of Abensberg map

In late 1807, General of Division Jean-Andoche Junot led a small army in the initially successful Invasion of Portugal.[13] The French troops were isolated there when the Peninsular War broke out first in Spain, then in Portugal. After being defeated by the British at the Battle of Vimeiro, Junot's army was repatriated to France by the Convention of Cintra, signed on 22 August 1808.[14] Upon return, the troops became the VIII Corps under Junot with three divisions. On 10 October, there were 25,730 men on the muster rolls of whom 2,137 were detached and 3,523 were in hospital. The corps had only a brief existence before being dissolved in December 1808. Junot's cavalry units were provisional; these were dispersed to join their regular regiments. General of Division Loison's 2nd Division was entirely broken up and distributed to other corps. General of Division Étienne Heudelet de Bierre's 3rd Division became the 4th Division of Soult's II Corps. General of Division Henri François Delaborde's 1st Division[15] became the 3rd Division of II Corps.[16]

During the War of the Fifth Coalition, General of Division Dominique Vandamme assumed command of the Württemberg Corps. This unit consisted of a 3-brigade infantry division under General-Leutnant Baron von Neubronn, a two-brigade cavalry division led by General-Leutnant Freiherr von Wöllwarth, a 10-gun foot artillery company, and two 6-gun horse artillery companies.[17] Vandamme's troops were involved in the Battle of Abensberg on 20 April 1809.[18] At the Battle of Eckmühl on 22 April the Württembergers lost 15 killed, 98 wounded and two captured.[19] By 17 May, when the Kingdom of Württemberg troops were engaged in the Battle of Linz-Urfahr they were officially called the VIII Corps.[20] The corps missed the Battle of Wagram because it was serving as a garrison for Vienna.[21] On 5 July 1809, the unit counted 10,793 soldiers including 7,560 infantry, 2,130 cavalry, and 34 guns.[22]

1810–1811

In the 1809 war, a formation known as the Reserve Corps of the Army of Germany was assembled. This later became a new VIII Corps that served in Spain in 1810.[23] The Reserve Corps was under the command of Marshal François Christophe de Kellermann. Its three divisions were led by Generals of Division Olivier Rivaud de la Raffinière, Eloi Laurent Despeaux, and Joseph Lagrange. Rivaud's 1st Division was composed of three brigades under Generals of Brigade Charles Malo François Lameth, Eloi Charlemagne Taupin, and Jean-André Valletaux. Each brigade was made up of three 4th Battalions. Despeaux's 2nd Division and Lagrange's 3rd Division were formed from provisional units.[24]

Photo shows a 10-meter high stone wall made from irregular pieces. Round towers are spaced every 20 to 30 meters along the wall. A path runs along the outside of the wall.
Astorga city wall

This corps was ordered to march to Spain and its first units reached Burgos around 1 January 1810.[25] On 15 January, the new corps was massed at Burgos under the command of Junot and consisted of three divisions under Generals of Division Bertrand Clausel, Lagrange, and Jean Baptiste Solignac. Clausel's 1st Division numbered 10,777 men in 12 battalions, Lagrange's 2nd Division counted 10,343 soldiers in 13 battalions, and Solignac's 3rd Division had 8,074 troops in 12 battalions. General of Brigade Charles Marie Robert Escorches de Saint-Croix led 5,479 dragoons in 32 squadrons. There were 1,710 gunners, sappers, and wagon drivers, 866 men detached to garrison Burgos, and 88 members of the staff. The grand total was 37,337 soldiers of whom 956 officers and 32,239 men were present under arms.[26]

The VIII Corps moved into the Province of León in February. Clausel scouted the region and sent a summons of surrender to the city of Astorga on 26 February 1810. This was refused by its governor, General José María Santocildes even though the ancient walls mounted only 14 guns, the heaviest of which were two 12-pound pieces.[27] No siege guns were immediately available, but a large convoy with heavy artillery was plodding slowly across Spain. But Junot was too impatient to wait for it. Anxious to erase the stain of his defeat at Vimeiro, Junot obtained Spanish fortress guns from Burgos and Segovia to form his own siege train. On 15 March he directed his troops to march on Astorga. Clausel's division began the Siege of Astorga on 21 March while Saint-Croix's dragoons covered the siege from La Bañeza and Solignac supported the operation from León and Benavente. Because the guns had not arrived, Clausel's men occupied themselves by digging the first parallel and preparing artillery positions.[28]

When General Nicolás de Mahy assembled 5,000 troops, Junot ordered Clausel's division to oppose them, while sending Solignac's division and one of Lagrange's brigades into the trenches. Saint-Croix routed a Spanish detachment on 10 April near Alcañizas. On 15 April the small siege train finally arrived and the guns were mounted in batteries. By noon on the 21st a breach was battered in the wall at the northwest corner. The evening, 700 men from the elite companies of the 47th Line Infantry and Irish Regiments seized the breach and a house just inside the wall. Though they were blocked from advancing any farther,[29] Santocildes capitulated the next morning because his men had shot away most of their ammunition. The siege cost the French 160 killed and 400 wounded of whom 112 were killed and 294 were wounded in the assault. The Spanish suffered only 51 killed and 109 wounded, but 2,500 were captured.[30]

Clausel's and Solignac's divisions of Junot's corps joined the II Corps and the VI Corps in Marshal André Masséna's 1810 invasion of Portugal. VIII Corps was not engaged during the Battle of Bussaco.[31] When Masséna's army arrived before the Lines of Torres Vedras, Clausel's men clashed with the defenders in the Battle of Sobral in mid-October.[32] Checked before the Lines, the French army starved[33] and the unsuccessful invasion caused serious losses in VIII Corps. Clausel's division shrank from 6,794 men on 15 September 1810, to 3,610 men on 15 March 1811. By the latter date, the 4th Battalions of the division were so weak that the cadres had to be sent home and the survivors distributed to II Corps units. Solignac's division diminished from 7,226 men on 15 September 1810, to 4,553 men on 15 March 1811.[34] Solignac's division was present at the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro on 3–5 May 1811. It was not engaged and suffered only two men wounded.[35] After Marshal Auguste Marmont replaced Masséna in command, the army's three corps were suppressed and the troops reorganized into independent divisions. The new 5th and 6th Divisions under Generals of Division Antoine Louis Popon de Maucune and Antoine François Brenier de Montmorand were created from units of VIII Corps and of Loison's VI Corps division.[36]

1812–1813

Portrait of a somewhat plump man with his right hand tucked in his coat in the style of Napoleon. His military uniform consists of a dark blue coat with a high collar, red cuffs, and much silver braid, and red breeches.
Jean Henri Dombrowski

The corps was reconstituted for the French invasion of Russia and leadership was given to Vandamme. Together with the V Corps (Poles), VII Corps (Saxons), and IV Cavalry Corps, it was assigned to the 2nd Support Army under King Jerome Bonaparte. All the corps troops belonged to Jerome's Kingdom of Westphalia. General of Division Jean Victor Tharreau commanded the 1st Division and General of Division von Ochs led the 2nd Division. On 24 June 1812, the corps consisted of 15,885 infantry in 18 battalions, 2,050 cavalry in 12 squadrons, and 34 artillery pieces. Later, command of the corps passed to Junot.[37] Jerome's inexperience as a general was mitigated by the appointment of General of Division Jean Gabriel Marchand as his chief of staff.[38] Nevertheless, after being harshly criticized in a letter by his imperial brother, Jerome resigned his command on 14 July and went home.[39]

At the Battle of Valutino on 18 August 1812, the VIII Corps was ordered to cross the Dnieper River and block the retreat of the Russian army toward Moscow. After taking a long time to cross the river, Junot failed to advance any farther, allowing the Russians to escape.[40] At the Battle of Borodino on 7 September, the corps started out in reserve along with the Imperial Guard and the reserve cavalry.[41] By 8:30 AM, Junot's men were sent into action. At 10:00 AM they joined the I Corps and III Corps in a massed attack on the flèches which was successful.[42] Tharreau was among Borodino's many fatalities.[43] That autumn, the Imperial armies withdrew from Moscow. By the time they reached Smolensk, the combined V and VIII Corps counted no more than 1,500 men.[44]

In the following year, Prince Józef Poniatowski was appointed to command the VIII Corps, which was rebuilt as an all-Polish unit. At the Battle of Leipzig on 16–19 October 1813 the corps consisted of the 26th Infantry Division under General of Division Kaminiecki, the 27th Infantry Division led by General of Division Jean Henri Dombrowski (Jan Henryk Dąbrowski), the 27th Light Cavalry Brigade of Brigadier General Jan Nepomucen Umiński, and the 44 guns of the corps artillery under Colonel Redel.[45] Marshal Joachim Murat assumed command of a wing that included the II, V, and VIII Corps plus cavalry. His orders were to delay the advance of the Army of Bohemia from the south.[46] On 16 October, the 26th Division fought near the villages of Markkleeberg and Dölitz in the southern part of the battlefield.[47] Meanwhile, Dombrowski's division became involved in the fighting to the north.[48] During the rear guard fighting on the 19th, a panicky sapper prematurely blew up the bridge over the Weisse Elster River, trapping the VII, VIII, and XI Corps in Leipzig. The wounded Poniatowski drowned trying to escape and the encircled troops surrendered.[49]

Orders of Battle

Dürenstein: November 1805

Color portrait depicts a clean-shaven man with a small mouth. He wears early 1800s court costume, a high-collared dark blue coat with gold braid, a red sash, and a white frill at the throat.
Édouard Mortier

Marshal Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier

Source: Smith, Digby (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill. p. 213. ISBN 1-85367-276-9. 

Hameln: November 1806

Color painting of a long-faced European man with black hair. He wears early 1800s court dress. His long blue coat with gold braiding is opened to show white breeches and long white stockings.
Jean-Baptiste Dumonceau

Marshal Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier

Source: Smith, Digby (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill. p. 233. ISBN 1-85367-276-9. 

Spain: October 1808

Painting shows a man in a large bicorne hat and a dark blue uniform with his hands resting on a musket.
Jean-Andoche Junot

General of Division Jean-Andoche Junot (20,070)

Source: Oman, Charles (2010). A History of the Peninsular War Volume I. La Vergne, Tenn.: Kessinger Publishing. pp. 243, 643–645. ISBN 1432636820. 

Abensberg: April 1809

Dominique Vandamme led the Württemberg contingent.
Dominique Vandamme

General of Division Dominique Vandamme

Source: Bowden, Scotty; Tarbox, Charlie (1980). Armies on the Danube 1809. Arlington, Texas: Empire Games Press. p. 62.  Cite uses deprecated parameter |coauthors= (help)

Portugal: September 1810

Black and white print shows a confident-looking man with long sideburns and a receding hairline. He wears a dark military uniform with a high collar, epaulettes, and one decoration.
Bertrand Clausel

General of Division Jean-Andoche Junot (16,939)

Source: Pelet, Jean Jacques (1973). Horward, Donald D., ed. The French Campaign in Portugal 1810–1811. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. pp. 520–521. ISBN 0-8166-0658-7. 

Borodino: September 1812

Print shows a man with large eyes, curly hair and long sideburns. He wears an early 19th century high-collared military uniform with lots of gold braid and epaulettes.
Jean Victor Tharreau

General of Division Jean-Andoche Junot (8,900, 30 guns)

Source: Mikaberizde, Alexander; Vovsi, Eman (2007). "The Battle of Borodino: Order of Battle of the Allied Army". The Napoleon Series. Retrieved 20 December 2012. 

Leipzig: October 1813

Color portrait of a man with dark brown hair, mutton chops and a moustache. He wears a dark blue uniform with silver braid and a fur cape over his right side.
Józef Poniatowski

Marshal Józef Poniatowski †

Source: Millar, Stephen (2004). "French Order of Battle at Leipzig: The Northern Sector". The Napoleon Series. Retrieved 18 October 2013. 
Source: Millar, Stephen (2004). "French Order of Battle at Leipzig: The Southern Sector". The Napoleon Series. Retrieved 18 October 2013. 

Notes

  1. ↑ Chandler (1966), p. 403
  2. ↑ Chandler (1966), p. 1103
  3. ↑ Chandler (1966), p. 406
  4. ↑ Smith (1998), pp. 215–216
  5. ↑ Schneid, pp. 42–43
  6. ↑ Petre (1993), pp. 192–193
  7. ↑ Petre (1993), pp. 293–294
  8. ↑ Petre (1993), p. 297
  9. 1 2 Smith (1998), p. 233
  10. ↑ Petre (1993), p. 298
  11. ↑ Smith (1998), p. 252
  12. ↑ Smith (1998), p. 249
  13. ↑ Chandler (1966), p. 599
  14. ↑ Chandler (1966), p. 619
  15. ↑ Oman (2010), I, pp. 643–644
  16. ↑ Oman (2010), I, p. 585
  17. ↑ Bowden & Tarbox (1980), p. 62
  18. ↑ Chandler (1966), pp. 684–685
  19. ↑ Smith (1998), p. 292
  20. ↑ Smith (1998), p. 305
  21. ↑ Bowden & Tarbox (1980), p. 156
  22. ↑ Bowden & Tarbox (1980), p. 161
  23. ↑ Oman (1996), III, pp. 202–203
  24. ↑ Bowden & Tarbox, p. 159
  25. ↑ Oman (1996), III, p. 203
  26. ↑ Oman (1996), III, p. 537
  27. ↑ Oman (1996), III, pp. 220–221
  28. ↑ Oman (1996), III, p. 223
  29. ↑ Oman (1996), III, pp. 224–225
  30. ↑ Oman (1996), III, p. 226
  31. ↑ Smith (1998), pp. 346–347
  32. ↑ Smith (1998), p. 348
  33. ↑ Oman (1996), III, p. 481
  34. ↑ Oman (1996), III, p. 542
  35. ↑ Smith (1998), p. 359
  36. ↑ Oman (1996), IV, pp. 360–361
  37. ↑ Chandler (1966), p. 1112
  38. ↑ Chandler (1966), p. 755
  39. ↑ Chandler (1966), p. 776
  40. ↑ Chandler (1966), p. 788–789
  41. ↑ Chandler (1966), p. 799
  42. ↑ Chandler (1966), p. 801
  43. ↑ Smith (1998), p. 391
  44. ↑ Chandler (1966), p. 828
  45. ↑ OSG, Napoleon at Leipzig, p. 4
  46. ↑ Chandler (1966), p. 917
  47. ↑ Chandler (1966), pp. 926–927
  48. ↑ Chandler (1966), p. 931
  49. ↑ Chandler (1966), pp. 935–936

References

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