View source for Army of the Rhine (1791–1795)

{{Short description|French revolutionary army}}
{{redirect|Army of the Rhine}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name                     = Army of the Rhine
| image                         = [[File:Fusilier Révolution française.jpg|200px|alt=A French fusilier carries his long muzzled musket. He wears a blue jacket and white shirt and trousers; his cartridge belt is strapped across his chest and he wears a tricorn hat with a red revolutionary cockade.]]
| caption                       = [[Fusilier]] of a French Revolutionary Army
| dates                         = 1791–95, 1797–98, 1799–1801
| country                       = {{flagicon image|Flag of France (1790-1794).svg}} [[Kingdom of France (1791-92)|Kingdom of France]] <small>(until 1792)</small><br/>{{flagicon|French First Republic}} [[French First Republic|French Republic]] <small>(from 1792)</small>
| allegiance                    = [[Kingdom of France (1791–92)|Kingdom of France]]<br/>[[First French Republic|First Republic]]
| branch                        = 
| garrison_label                = 
| nickname                      = 
| patron                        = 
| motto                         = 
| colors                        = 
| colors_label                  = 
| march                         = {{lang|fr|[[Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin]]}}
| mascot                        = 
| equipment                     = 
| equipment_label               = 
| battles                       = 
| anniversaries                 = 
| decorations                   = 
| battle_honours                = 
| disbanded                     = 20 April 1795
<!-- Commanders -->| commander1 = 
| commander1_label              = 
| commander2                    = 
| commander2_label              = 
| commander3                    = 
| commander3_label              = 
| notable_commanders            = [[Nicolas Luckner]]<br/>[[Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine]]
}}
{{Campaignbox First Coalition}}
{{Campaignbox Rhine Campaign of 1793-94}}
{{Campaignbox First Coalition 1795}}
The '''Army of the Rhine''' ({{langx|fr|Armée du Rhin}}; {{langx|de|Rheinarmee}})  was formed in December 1791, for the purpose of bringing the French Revolution to the German states along the [[Rhine River]]. During its first year in action (1792), under command of [[Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine|Adam Philippe Custine]], the Army of the Rhine participated in several victories, including [[Siege of Mainz (1792)|Mainz]], Frankfurt and Speyer. Subsequently, the army underwent several reorganizations and merged with the [[Army of the Moselle]] to form the [[Army of the Rhine and Moselle]] on 20 April 1795.
[[File:Armée du Rhin (page 1).png|thumbnail|left|Organization of French Armies, 1791–1793]]

==Revolutionary Wars==
The Army of the Rhine (''Armée du Rhin'') was one of the main [[French Revolutionary Army|French Revolutionary armies]] operated in the Rhineland theater, principally in the [[Rhine River]] valley, from 1791 to 1795. At its creation, the Army of the Rhine had 88,390 men. It was formed on 14 December 1791, to defend France's eastern frontier in conjunction with two other armies, the [[Army of the North (France)|Army of the North]] and the Army of the Center (name changed in October 1792 to [[Army of the Moselle]]). These armies were subdivided, fresh forces were raised and gradually grew until, by 30 April 1793, eleven armies encircled France on its coastal and the land frontiers. In October 1792, a portion of the army was used to form the [[Army of the Vosges (1792-1793)|Army of the Vosges]] but these units rejoined the Army of the Rhine on 15 March 1793.<ref>{{citation |first=Ramsey Weston |last=Phipps |title=Armies of the First French Republic |volume=I|publisher=Pickle Partners Publishing|date=2011 |pages=2–3}}</ref>

===Song of Glory===
In the first months of fighting, victories for France were few. Although Custine had succeeded in driving the [[episcopal see|ecclesiastical authorities]] from the Swiss village of [[Porrentruy]] by 27 April 1792, this singular victory was accomplished largely through the enterprises of a local uprising assisted by some advanced guard and it was the last French victory for several weeks: subsequently, the borders of France had been assaulted by the Habsburgs and their allies. At Mons (18&ndash;29 April 1792), [[Tournai|Tournay]] (29 April 1792), [[Bavay]] (17 May 1792), [[Rumegies]] (19 May 1792), [[Florennes]] 28 May 1792, and La Glisuelle, a village {{convert|5|km|mi|0|sp=us}} north of [[Maubeuge]] (11 June 1792), Austrian skirmishers repeatedly defeated French forces.{{sfn|Smith|1996|pp=21–22}}

Although much of the spring and summer of 1792 action continued throughout in the border regions with Belgium,{{sfn|Smith|1996|pp=22–27}} the cities along the Upper Rhine, especially the city of [[Strasbourg]], felt under threat of invasion by the Habsburg armies massing on the east side of the Rhine River. On 25 April 1792, [[Philippe Friedrich Dietrich]], mayor of [[Strasbourg]], asked a guest, [[Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle]], to compose a song to rally against the Habsburg threat.{{sfn|Billington|2011|pp=58–59}} That evening, Rouget de Lisle wrote "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin" (English: "War Song for the Army of the Rhine"),{{sfn|Weber|1976|p=439}} and dedicated the song to [[Marshal of France|Marshal]] [[Nicolas Luckner]], a [[Bavaria]]n in French service.{{sfn|Stevens|1896|p=2}} The melody soon became the rallying call to the Revolution: ''Allons enfants de la Patrie'' (Arise, children of the Fatherland)/''Le jour de gloire est arrivé!'' (The day of glory has arrived!). It was renamed "[[La Marseillaise]]".{{sfn|Weber|1976|p=439}}

===Successes under Custine's command===
The French government ordered Luckner to take command of the Army of the North, and Custine replaced him as overall commander of the Army of the Rhine in Spring 1793. Under his experienced command, the Army took several important positions on the Rhine, including at Speyer, Mainz, Limburg and Frankfurt (see chart of battles below).{{sfn|Smith|1996|pp=21–26}}

==Final reorganization==
On 29 December 1794, the left wing of the Army and the right wing of the [[Army of the Moselle]] combined to form the Army besieging Mainz. The rest of the Army of the Moselle united with the Army of the Rhine on 20 April, to form the [[Army of the Rhine and Moselle]]. This army united with the [[Army of Sambre-et-Meuse]] to form the [[Army of Germany (1797)|Army of Germany]] on 29 September 1797.<ref>Orders of Battle show the same troops, under the amalgamation, reformed into these armies {{harv|Smith|1996|pp=111, 131}}.</ref>

==Principal battles==
{| class="wikitable" width=95% align=center
|+Battles of the Army of the Rhine.<ref>Unless otherwise noted, all information in the chart comes from {{harvnb|Smith|1996|pp=28–96}}</ref><br/> 1792–1795
|-
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Battle
! scope="col" class="sortable" | Victor
! scope="col" |Commander
|-
|28 April 1792 ||[[Battle of Porrentruy]] ||France ||Adam Philippe Custine<ref>{{harvnb|Chuquet1892|p=43}}; and {{harvnb|Vautrey|1878|pp=225–227}}</ref>
|-
|21 October 1792 ||[[Siege of Mainz (1792)|1st Mainz]] ||French ||Custine
|-
|30 September 1792||Capture of Speyer|| French|| Custine
|-
|21 October 1792||Capture of Frankfurt||French||Custine
|-
|10 November 1792||Limburg||French||Custine, Houchard commanding the advanced guard.
|-
|2 December 1792||Frankfurt am Main||Coalition||Custine, GdB van Helden commanding the garrison force
|-
|14 April–23 July 1793 ||[[Siege of Mainz (1793)|2nd Mainz]]  ||Coalition ||[[Alexandre de Beauharnais]]
|-
|13 October 1793 ||[[First Battle of Wissembourg (1793)|1st Wissembourg]] ||Coalition ||Jean Pascal Carlenc
|-
|20 August–23 December 1793 ||[[Siege of Landau (1793)|Landau]]  ||French ||[[Louis Lazare Hoche]] (Army of the Moselle)<br/>[[Jean-Charles Pichegru]] (Army of the Rhine)
|-
|18 November–22 December 1793 ||[[Battle of Haguenau (1793)|Haguenau]] ||French ||Pichegru
|-
|18–22 December 1793 ||[[Battle of Froeschwiller (1793)|Fröschwiller]]  ||French ||Hoche
|-
|26–29 December 1793 ||[[Second Battle of Wissembourg (1793)|2nd Wissembourg]]  ||French ||Hoche and Pichegru
|-
|23 May 1794||[[Battle of Kaiserslautern (1794)|2nd Kaiserslautern]]  ||Prussian-Saxon ||[[Claude Ignace François Michaud]]
|-
|23 May 1794|| [[Battle of Schifferstadt]]|| French||Michaud
|-
|12–13 July 1794||[[Battle of Schänzel|Schänzel]]||French|| [[Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr]]
|-
|17–20 September 1794|| [[Second Battle of Kaiserslautern (1794)|3rd Kaiserslautern]]||Prussian-Saxon || [[François Ignace Schaal]]
|-
|25 December 1794|| [[Battle of Mannheim bridge]]||French|| [[Martial Vachot]]
|}

==1793 Order of Battle==
In its five-year history, the Army had several Orders of Battle.  This is the OOB at the beginning of the 1793 campaign.{{sfn|Smith|1996|p=41}}
{{col-begin}}{{col-2}}

===Right wing===
* Column [[Louis Dominique Munnier|Munnier]]
:*[[National Guard (France)|National Guard]]
::*1st and 2nd Battalions Haute-Saône
::*2nd Battalion Nièvre
::*4th Battalion Vosges
::*4th Battalion Seine-et-Oise
::*3rd Battalion Bas-Rhin
::*2nd Battalion Puy-de-Dôme
::*1st, 3rd Battalions Ain
::*3rd Battalion [[Grenadier]]s de l'Indre-et-Loire
::*2nd Battalion Rhône-et-Loire
:Total  20 battalions

===Center===
* Column Custine, positioned at [[Mainz]].
:*Grenadiers (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th battalions)
:*57th [[Infantry]] Regiment (two battalions)
:*62nd Infantry Regiment (one battalion)
:*82nd Infantry Regiment (one battalion)
:*National Guard
::*2nd Battalion Ain
::*4th Battalion Haut-Rhin
::*9th and 10th Battalions Haute-Saône
::*4th Battalion Calvados
::*10th Battalion Meurthe
::*2nd Battalion Républicque
::*1st Battalion Chasseurs républicains
::*3rd, 7th, and 8th Battalions Vosges
::*5th and 6th Battalions Bas-Rhin
::*1st Battalion Fédérés Nationaux
::*2nd Battalion Seine-et-Oise
:*14th Cavalry Regiment (3 squadrons)
:*2nd [[Chasseurs à Cheval]] (light cavalry) (1 squadron)
:*7th Chasseurs à Cheval(4 squadrons)
:*10th Chasseurs à Cheval (5 squadrons)
:Total 26 battalions, 12 squadrons
{{col-2}}

===Left wing===
Positioned at [[Bingen am Rhein|Bingen]].
:*1st Infantry Brigade [[Joseph Victorin Nevinger|Neuwinger]]
:Brigade [[Jean Nicolas Houchard|Houchard]]
::*7th Light Infantry Regiment (1st Battalion)
::*36th Infantry Regiment (1 battalion)
::*37th Infantry Regiment (1 battalion)
::National Guard
::*4th and 6th Battalions Jura
::*2nd Battalion Haute-Rhin
::*1st Battalion Seine-et-Loire
::*1st and 2nd Battalions Vosges
:*8th Chasseurs à Cheval (4 squadrons)

:2nd Brigade [[Joseph Gilot|Gilot]]
:*13th Infantry Regiment
:*48th Infantry Regiment
:*National Guard
::*1st Battalion Haute-Rhin
::*1st Battalion Bas-Rhin
::*1st Battalion Correze
::*3rd Battalion Nievre

===Cavalry===
* [[Louis Ferdinand Baillard de Beaurevoir|Beaurevoir]]
:*2nd Chasseurs à Cheval (3 squadrons)
:*2nd Cavalry Regiment (3 squadrons
:*3rd Cavalry Regiment (3 squadrons)
:*9th Cavalry Regiment (3 squadrons)
:*11th Cavalry Regiment (3 squadrons)
:*12th Cavalry Regiment (3 squadrons)
:Total 22 squadrons

===Reserves===
:*Grenadiers (12 companies)
:*[[Chasseurs Bretons#Revolution|6th Battalion of Chasseurs]]
:*2nd Infantry Regiment
:*2nd Carbine Regiment (3 Squadrons)
:*16th Dragoon Regiment (3 squadrons)
:*National Guard
::*6th, 10th and 13 Battalions Vosges
::*5th Battalion de l'Eure
::*6th Battalion Calvados
::*12h Battalion Haute-Saône
::*Hussards de la Liberté (unknown )
::*National Gendarmarie
:Reserve totals  8 battalions, 12 squadrons, 2 platoons

{{col-end}}

==Commanders==
Stability of command of the Army of the Rhine reflected the overall chaos of the French Revolutionary governments, especially in the years 1791–1794.  Four of the generals serving in those years were guillotined (see chart below).

{| class="wikitable" width=95% align=center
|+ Commanders-in-Chief of the Army of the Rhine<br/>1791–1795<br/>Italics indicates general was guillotined during Reign of Terror
|-
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Name
|-
|14 December 1791 – 6 May 1792   ||''[[Nicolas Luckner]]''{{sfn|Chuquet|1892|pp=5–6}}
|-
| 7 May – 20 July 1792    ||[[Alexis Magallon de la Morlière]] (intérim){{sfn|Chuquet|1892|pp=5–6}}
|-
| 21 July – 25 December 1792 ||''[[Armand Louis de Gontaut]]'' (also called "Biron") *{{sfn|Chuquet|1892|pp=5–6}}
|-
| 26 December 1792 – 14 March 1793, ||[[Étienne Deprez-Crassier]], interim and subordinate to Adam Philippe Custine, who commanded this and the [[Army of the Moselle]]{{sfn|Chuquet|1892|pp=5–6}}
|-
| 15 March – 17 May 1793 ||''Custine'', also commander of the [[Army of the Moselle]] until 19 April; he was removed from command of both armies on 29 July 1793, tried and executed in August.{{sfn|Chuquet|1892|pp=5–6}}
|-
| 18–29 May 1793||[[Dominique Diettmann]], interim and subordinate to [[Jean Nicolas Houchard]]* {{sfn|Chuquet|1892|pp=5–6}}
|-
| 30 May – 17 August 1793|| ''[[Alexandre de Beauharnais]],'' provisionally and subordinate to Houchard.{{sfn|Chuquet|1892|pp=5–6}}
|-
| 18 August – 29 September 1793||[[Charles Hyacinthe Leclerc de Landremont]], interim to 23 August, then provisionally{{sfn|Chuquet|1892|pp=5–6}}
|-
| 30 September – 1 October 1793||Louis Dominique Munnier (interim){{sfn|Chuquet|1892|pp=5–6}}
|-
| 2–26 October 1793||[[Jean Pascal Raymond Carlenc]] (provisional){{sfn|Chuquet|1892|pp=5–6}}
|-
| 27 October 1793 – 13 January 1794|| [[Jean-Charles Pichegru]], subordinate to [[Lazare Hoche]]{{sfn|Chuquet|1892|pp=5–6}}
|-
| 14 January 1794 – 10 April 1795 ||[[Claude Ignace François Michaud]], during his absences, [[Jean Philippe Raymond Dorsner]]
|-
| 4 December 1794 – 13 February 1795|| [[Jean-Baptiste Kléber]], subordinate to the Army of Mainz
|-
|14 February – 29 April 1795|| [[François Ignace Schaal]], subordinate to Army of Mainz
|-
| 11–16 April 1795,||Jean-Baptiste Kléber (interim)
|-
|  17–19 April 1795|| Jean-Charles Pichegru, during assembly of the Armies of the Rhine and Moselle
|-
|}

==Other incarnations==
An army of the [[Bourbon Restoration in France|Bourbon Restoration]] bore this name. In 1815 during the [[Hundred Days]] the [[French armies (1815)|V Corps – ''Armée du Rhin'']]{{sfn|Chandler|1981|p=180}} under the command of General [[Jean Rapp]], was cantoned near [[Strassburg]], and fought holding actions against contingents of Russians and Austrians, the largest of which was the [[Battle of La Suffel]] on  fought on 28 June 1815.{{sfn|Siborne|1895|p=772}}

This name was also used for the French military forces posted to Germany during the [[Occupation of the Rhineland]] (1919–1930), following the [[First World War]].

==Related people==
People known to have served in this Armée include:
* General [[Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers|Baraguey d'Hilliers]]
* General [[Adam Philippe de Custine|Custine]]
* [[Antoine Marie Chamans de Lavalette]]
* The [[Utopian socialism|utopian socialist]] [[Charles Fourier]] (1794–1795)
* General [[Victor Claude Alexandre Fanneau de Lahorie]]
* [[Jean Théophile Victor Leclerc]]
* General [[Louis-Théobald Ihler]]
* General [[François-Joseph Offenstein]]
* Captain [[Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle]] writer of [[La Marseillaise]]
* General [[Charles Pichegru]]
* [[Balthazar Alexis Henri Schauenburg]]

== Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Sources ==
*{{citation |last=Billington |first=James H. |date=2011|title=Fire in the Minds of Men: Origins of the Revolutionary Faith |publisher=Transaction Publishers |isbn=978-1-4128-1401-0 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=saTynFUNPD8C&pg=PA58 58]–59}}
* {{citation |last=Chandler |first=David |year=1981 |orig-year=1980 |title=Waterloo: The Hundred Days |publisher=Osprey Publishing}}
*{{citation |last=Chuquet |first=Arthur |year=1892 |title=L'expédition de Custine |publisher=L. Cert |pages=[ [https://books.google.com/books?id=ip8sAAAAYAAJ&q=Fort-Louis 5]–6, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ip8sAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA43 43] |language=fr}}
*{{citation|last=Phipps|first=Ramsey Weston|year=2011|orig-year=1933|title=The Armies of the First French Republic: Volume II The Armées du Moselle, du Rhin, de Sambre-et-Meuse, de Rhin-et-Moselle|publisher= Pickle Partners Publishing}}
*{{citation |last=Siborne |first=William |author-link=William Siborne |year=1895 |title=The Waterloo Campaign 1815 |edition=4th |publisher=Birmingham, 34 Wheeleys Road |chapter=Supplement section |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/waterloocampaig02sibogoog#page/n767/mode/1up|pages=767–780 |url=https://archive.org/details/waterloocampaig02sibogoog}}
*{{citation |last=Smith |first=Digby |author-link=Digby Smith |title=Napoleonic Wars Data Book |location=Mechanicsburg, PA |publisher=Stackpole Books |year=1996}}
*{{citation |last=Stevens |first=Benjamin F. |date=January 1896 |title=Story of La Marseillaise |journal=The Musical Record |publisher=Oliver Ditson Company|location=Boston, Massachusetts |issue=408 |page=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qWYPAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA7-PA2}}
*{{citation |last=Vautrey |first=Louis |year=1878 |title=Histoire de Porrentruy |publisher=J. Gürtler |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=_qpDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA225 225]–227 |language=fr}}
*{{citation |last=Weber |first=Eugen |date=1976  |title=Peasants Into Frenchmen: The Modernization of Rural France, 1870–1914  |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-1013-8 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=4KnC4ROsiwwC&pg=PA439 439]}}

==Further reading==
* {{citation|ref=none |last=Clerget |first=C. |year=1905 |title=Tableaux des armées françaises pendant les guerres de la Révolution |publisher=Librairie militaire|language=fr}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Army Of The Rhine}}
[[Category:Armées of the French First Republic|Rhine]]
[[Category:Field armies of France|Rhine]]
[[Category:War of the First Coalition]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1791]]
[[Category:1791 establishments in France]]