Hundred Days order of battle

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Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Script error: No such module "Infobox military conflict".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". During the Hundred Days of 1815, both the Coalition nations and the First French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte mobilised for war. This article describes the deployment of forces in early June 1815 just before the start of the Waterloo Campaign and the minor campaigns of 1815.

French

Upon assumption of the throne, Napoleon found that he was left with little by the Bourbons and that the state of the Army was 56,000 troops of which 46,000 were ready to campaign.Template:Sfn By the end of May, the total armed forces available to Napoleon had reached 198,000 with 66,000 more in depots training up but not yet ready for deployment.Template:Sfn

Waterloo Campaign

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By the end of May, Napoleon had deployed his forces as follows:Template:Sfn

The preceding corps were to be formed into L'Armée du Nord (the "Army of the North"), led by Napoleon Bonaparte and would participate in the Waterloo Campaign.

Armies of observation

For the defence of France, Bonaparte deployed his remaining forces within France observing France's enemies, foreign and domestic, intending to delay the former and suppress the latter. By June, they were organised as follows:

V Corps – Armée du RhinTemplate:Sfn (Rapp), cantoned near Strassburg.

VII CorpsTemplate:Sfn – Armée des Alpes (Suchet).Template:Sfn Based at Lyons, this army was charged with the defence of Lyons and to observe the Austro-Sardinian army of Frimont. Its composition in June was:

I Corps of Observation – Armée du JuraTemplate:Sfn Based at Belfort and commanded by General Claude Lecourbe, this army was to observe any Austrian movement through Switzerland and also observe the Swiss army of General Bachmann. Its composition in June was:

II Corps of ObservationTemplate:Sfn – Armée du Var.Template:Sfn Based at Toulon and commanded by Marshal Guillaume Marie Anne Brune,Template:Sfn this army was charged with the suppression of any potential royalist uprisings and to observe General Bianchi's Army of Naples. Its composition in June was:

III Corps of ObservationTemplate:Sfn – Army of the Pyrenees orientales.Template:Sfn Based at Toulouse and commanded by General Charles Mathieu Isidore Decaen, this army observed the eastern Spanish frontier. Its composition in June was:

IV Corps of ObservationTemplate:Sfn – Army of the Pyrenees occidentales.Template:Sfn Based at Bordeaux and commanded by General Bertrand Clauzel, this army observed the western Spanish frontier. Its composition in June was:[5]

Army of the West Template:Sfn – Armée de l'Ouest Template:Sfn (also known as the Army of the Vendée). Commanded by General Jean Maximilien Lamarque, the army was formed to suppress the Royalist insurrection in the Vendée region of France, which remained loyal to King Louis XVIII during the Hundred Days. The army contained line units as well as gendarmes and volunteers. Its composition in June was:

  • One Un-numbered Infantry Division (Commanded by General Brayer);Template:Sfn
  • One Un-numbered Infantry Division (Commanded by General Travot);Template:Sfn
  • Cavalry: The 4th Squadrons of the 2nd Hussar Regiment, 13th Chassuers à Cheval Regiment, 4th, 5th, 12th, 14th, 16th and 17th Dragoon Regiments Template:Sfn
  • Artillery: Three foot artillery batteries (24 guns);Template:Sfn

Total 10,000–27,000 men.[9]

Seventh Coalition

The Seventh Coalition armies formed to invade France were:

Overview

The forces at the disposal of the Seventh Coalition for an invasion of France amounted to the better part of a million men. According to the returns laid out in secret sittings at the Congress of Vienna the military resources of the European states that joined the coalition, the number of troops which they could field for active operations—without unduly diminishing the garrison and other services in their respective interiors—amounted to 986,000 men. The size of the principal invasion armies (those designated to proceed to Paris) was as follows:[10]

I Army of Upper Rhine—(Schwartzenberg) consisting of :
Austrians 150,000
Bavarians 65,000
Württemberg 25,000
Baden 16,000
Hessians, etc., 8,000
I Army of Upper Rhine—(Schwartzenberg), Total 264,000
II Army of Lower Rhine—(Blücher) Prussians, Saxons, etc. 155,000
III Army of Flanders—(Wellington) British, Dutch, Hanoverians, Brunswickers 155,000
IV First Russian Army—(Barclay de Tolly) 168,000
Total 742,000

Waterloo Campaign

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Wellington's Allied Army (Army of Flanders)

Cantoned in the southern part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in what is now Belgium, Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington commanded a coalition army,Template:Sfn made up of troops from the duchies of Brunswick, and Nassau and the kingdoms of Hanover, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

In June 1815 Wellington's army of 93,000 with headquarters at Brussels was cantoned:Template:Sfn

The Netherlands Corps, commanded by Prince Frederick of the Netherlands did not take part in early actions of the Waterloo Campaign (it was posted to a fall back position near Braine), but did besiege some of the frontier fortresses in the rear of Wellington's advancing army.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

A Danish contingent known as the Royal Danish Auxiliary Corps commanded by General Prince Frederick of Hessen-Kassel and a Hanseatic contingent (from the free cities of Bremen, Lübeck and Hamburg) later commanded by the British Colonel Sir Neil Campbell, were also on their way to join this army,Template:Sfn both however, joined the army in July having missed the conflict.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Wellington had very much hoped to obtain a Portuguese contingent of between 12,000 and 14,000 men that might be boarded on ships and sent to this army.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn However, this contingent never materialised, as the Portuguese government were extremely uncooperative. They explained that they did not have the authority to send the Prince Regent of Portugal's forces to war without his consent (he was still in Brazil where he had been in exile during the Peninsular War and had yet to return to Portugal). They explained this even though they themselves had signed the Treaty of 15 March without his consent.Template:Sfn Besides this, the state of the Portuguese army in 1815 left much to be desired and were a shadow of their former self with much of it being disbanded.Template:Sfn

The Tsar of Russia offered Wellington his II Army Corps under general Wurttemberg,Template:Sfn but Wellington was far from keen on accepting this contingent.

Prussian Army (Army of the Lower Rhine)

This army was composed entirely of Prussians from the provinces of the Kingdom of Prussia, old and recently acquired alike. Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher commanded this army with General August Neidhardt von Gneisenau as his chief of staff and second in command.Template:Sfn

Blücher's Prussian army of 116,000 men, with headquarters at Namur, was distributed as follows:

Minor campaigns

German Corps (North German Federal Army)

This army was part of the Prussian Army above, but was to act independently much further south. It was composed of contingents from the following nations of the German Confederation: Electorate of Hessen, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Duchy of Anhalt-Bernburg, Duchy of Anhalt-Dessau, Duchy of Anhalt-Kothen, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Principality of Lippe and the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe.Template:Sfn

Fearing that Napoleon was going to strike him first, Blücher ordered this army to march north to join the rest of his own army.Template:Sfn The Prussian General Friedrich Graf Kleist von Nollendorf initially commanded this army before he fell ill on 18 June and was replaced temperately by the Hessen-Kassel General von Engelhardt (who was in command of the Hessen division) and then by Lieutenant General Karl Georg Albrecht Ernst von Hake.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Its composition in June was:Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Efn

  • Hessen-Kassel Division (Three Hessian Brigades)- General Engelhardt
    • Hessian 1st Brigade (5 battalions) – Major General Prince of Solms-Braunfels
    • Hessian 2nd Brigade (7 battalions) – Major General von Muller
    • Hessian Cavalry Brigade (2 regiments) – Major General von Warburg (Prussian)
    • Hessian Artillery (2 six-pounder batteries) – Najor von Bardeleben (Prussian)
  • Thuringian Brigade – Major General Egloffstein (Weimar)
    • 1st Provisional Infantry Regiment (4 battalions):
    • 2nd Provisional Infantry Regiment (3 battalions)
    • 3rd Provisional Infantry Regiment (5 battalions including the Oldenbug Line Infantry Regiment (2 battalions))

Total 25,000Template:Sfn

Russian Army (I Army)

Field Marshal Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly commanded the First Russian Army. In June it consisted of the following:Template:Sfn

Total 200,000Template:Sfn

Austro-German Army (Army of the Upper Rhine)

The Austrian military contingent was divided into three armies. This was the largest of these armies, commanded by Field Marshal Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg. Its target was Paris. This Austrian contingent was joined by those of the following nations of the German Confederation: Kingdom of Bavaria, Kingdom of Württemberg, Grand Duchy of Baden, Grand Duchy of Hesse (Hessen-Darmstadt), Free City of Frankfurt, Principality of Reuss Elder Line and the Principality of Reuss Junior Line. Besides these there were contingents of Fulda and Isenburg. These were recruited by the Austrians from German territories that were in the process of losing their independence by being annexed to other countries at the Congress of Vienna. Finally, these were joined by the contingents of the Kingdom of Saxony, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen and the Duchy of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Its composition in June was:Template:Sfn

Corps Commander Men Battalions Squadrons Batteries
I Corps Master General of the Ordnance, Count Colloredo 24,400 86 16 8
II Corps General Prince Hohenzollern-Hechingen 34,360 36 86 11
III Corps Field Marshal the Crown Prince of Württemberg 43,814 44 32 9
IV Corps (Bavarian Army) Field Marshal Prince Wrede 67,040 46 66 16
Austrian Reserve Corps Lieutenant Field Marshal Stutterheim 44,800 38 86 10
Blockade Corps 33,314 38 8 6
Saxon Corps 16,774 18 10 6
Totals 264,492Template:Efn 246 844 66

Swiss Army

This army was composed entirely of Swiss. The Swiss General Niklaus Franz von Bachmann commanded this army. This force was to observe any French forces that operated near its borders. Its composition in July was:[11]

  • I Division – Colonel von Gady
  • II Division – Colonel Fuessly
  • III Division – Colonel d'Affry
  • Reserve Division – Colonel-Quartermaster Finsler

Total 37,000Template:Sfn

Austro-Sardinian Army (Army of Upper Italy)

This was the second largest of Austria's contingents. Its target was Lyons. General Johann Maria Philipp Frimont commanded this army. Its composition in June was:Template:Sfn

Total 50,000Template:Sfn

Austrian Army (Army of Naples)

This was the smallest of Austria's military contingents. Its targets were Marseille and Toulon. General Frederick Bianchi commanded this army.Template:Efn This was the Austrian army that defeated Murat's army in the Neapolitan War. It was not composed of Neapolitans as the army's name may suggest and as one author supposed.Template:Sfn There was however a Sardinian force in this area forming the garrison of Nice under Giovanni Pietro Luigi Cacherano d'OsascoTemplate:Sfn which may have been where the other part of this misunderstanding had arisen. Its composition in June was:Template:Sfn

Total 23,000Template:Sfn

British Mediterranean contingent

This was Great Britain's smaller military expedition. It was composed of British troops from the garrison of Genoa under General Sir Hudson Lowe transported and supported by the Mediterranean Fleet of Lord Exmouth to Marseille to aid a French Royalist uprising. The British landed about 4,000 men in Marseille, made up of soldiers, marines and sailors.Template:Sfn

Other mobilisations

Spanish armies

It was planned that a Spanish army was to invade France via Perpignan and Toulouse. General Francisco Javier Castanos, 1st Duke of Bailen commanded this army.Template:Sfn

It was planned that a second Spanish army was to invade France over the river Bidassoa and into France via Bayonne and Bordeaux. General Henry Joseph O'Donnell, Count of La Bisbal commanded this army.Template:Sfn

Both Wellington's Despatches and his Supplementary Despatches show that neither of the Spanish armies contained any Portuguese contingents nor were they likely too, (See the section Portuguese contingent below), however both Chandler and Barbero state that the Portuguese did send a contingent.Template:Sfn[12]

Netherlands reserve army

In order to support the Netherlands field army, plans had been made on 24 May to raise a reserve army. It wasn’t until 19 July until the organisation of the army was laid out: it was to consist of 30 infantry battalions, 18 cavalry squadrons, and four artillery batteries. The infantry was organised from the newly acquired Swiss regiments and newly raised Belgian Militia battalions; the cavalry from the reserves of all nine cavalry regiments, including the colonial hussars and Belgian Militia Carabiniers. By then, the Coalition armies had already set up camp around Paris. The army, existing largely only on paper, was disbanded after three months.Template:Sfn Only the 43rd National Militia Infantry Battalion, part of the 4th Infantry Brigade (2nd Infantry Division), was deployed in the observation of Bouillon.[13]Template:Sfn

Commander: Lieutenant-General baron Tindal, Quartermaster / Adjudant-general: Major General D.L. Vermaesen:Template:Sfn

  • 1st Infantry Division, Lieutenant-general baron Tindal
  • 2nd Infantry Division, Lieutenant general Cort Heyligers
  • Cavalry Division, Lieutenant general baron Evers (formed partially)

Prussian Reserve Army

Besides the four Army Corps that fought in the Waterloo Campaign listed above that Blücher took with him into the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Prussia also had a reserve army stationed at home in order to defend its borders.

This consisted of:Template:Sfn

Royal Danish Auxiliary Corps and Hanseatic Contingent

A Danish contingent known as the Royal Danish Auxiliary Corps commanded by General Prince Frederick of Hessen-Kassel and a Hanseatic contingent (from the free cities of Bremen, Lübeck and Hamburg) commanded by the British Colonel Sir Neil Campbell, were also on their way to join Wellington's army,Template:Sfn both however, joined the army in July having missed the conflict.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Portuguese contingent

Wellington had very much hoped to obtain a Portuguese contingent of 12–14,000 men that might be boarded on ships and sent to this army.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn However, this contingent never materialised, as the Portuguese government were extremely uncooperative. They explained that they did not have the authority to send the Prince Regent of Portugal's forces to war without his consent (he was still in Brazil where he had been in exile during the Peninsular War and had yet to return to Portugal). They explained this even though they themselves had signed the Treaty of 15 March without his consent.Template:Sfn Besides this, the state of the Portuguese army in 1815 left much to be desired and it was a shadow of its former self with much of it being disbanded.Template:Sfn

Russian 2nd (Reserve) Army

The Second Russian Army was behind the First Russian Army to support it if required.

  • Imperial Guard Corps
  • I Army Corps
  • II Army Corps, commanded by General Wurttemberg
  • I Grenadier Division
  • I Reserve Cavalry Corps

Russian support for Wellington

The Tsar of Russia offered Wellington the II Army Corps under General Wurttemberg from his Reserve Army,Template:Sfn but Wellington was far from keen on accepting this contingent.

Notes

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  1. ↑ Armée du Rhin men
    • 20,000 Script error: No such module "Footnotes".
    • 20,4056. Script error: No such module "Footnotes".
    • 23,000. Script error: No such module "Footnotes".
  2. ↑ Armée des Alpes guns
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    • 46 guns. Script error: No such module "Footnotes".
  3. ↑ Armée des Alpes. Men
    • 13,000–20,000 Script error: No such module "Footnotes".
    • 23,500 Script error: No such module "Footnotes".
    • 15,767 Script error: No such module "Footnotes".
  4. ↑ Armée du Jura: men
    • 5,392 Script error: No such module "Footnotes".
    • 8,400 Script error: No such module "Footnotes".
  5. ↑ a b c d e f Script error: No such module "Footnotes".
  6. ↑ Armée du Var: men
    • 5,500 Script error: No such module "Footnotes".
    • 6,116 Script error: No such module "Footnotes".
  7. ↑ III Corps of Observation, Men:
    • 3,516 Script error: No such module "Footnotes".
    • 7,600 Script error: No such module "Footnotes".
  8. ↑ IV Corps of Observation
    • 3,516 Script error: No such module "Footnotes".
    • 6,800. Script error: No such module "Footnotes".
  9. ↑ Army of the West, men:
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    • Upwards of 20,000 men.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".
    • 27,000 men.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes". cites: Plotho iv., Appendix, p. 62; and Capefigue, i., 330, 331.
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
  13. ↑ Service records of the officers of the 43rd National Militia Battalion, National Archives, the Hague

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References

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  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". (also published as: Vers la neutralité et l'indépendance. La Suisse en 1814 et 1815, Berne: Commissariat central des guerres)
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  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". (In print edition published by Kessinger Publishing, LLC (25 July 2006) Template:ISBN)
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