Army of the Ardennes

The Army of the Ardennes (armée des Ardennes) was a French Revolutionary Army formed on the first of October 1792 by splitting off the right wing of the Army of the North, commanded from July to August that year by La Fayette. From July to September 1792 General Dumouriez also misused the name Army of the Ardennes for the right wing of what was left of the Army of the North after the split, encamped at Sedan and the name of Army of the North for the left flank of the army.

It was reorganized by a decree of the Conseil exécutif on the first of March 1793, leading to only the right flank of the army keeping the name of Army of the Ardennes. The first division of the Army of the Ardennes re-merged back into the Army of the North on 5 October 1793, at which date the rest of the Army of the Ardennes continued as the Army of the Ardennes until 29 June 1794, when it merged with the Army of the North's right wing and the Army of the Moselle's left wing to form the Army of Sambre-et-Meuse.

Command of the army

After the command of La Fayette (July–August 1792), Dumouriez leads the whole army from the 1st of October 1792 to the 4th of April 1793, but he is replaced by Lanoue and Leveneur, both under the command of Miranda, from the 12th of January to the 22nd of February. Then by Valence.

On the 5th of April 1793, Dumouriez is replaced by Dampierre which is himself replaced by Lamarche on the 29th of April 1793. Lamarche will remain in command until the 28th of July 1793, but will be subordinated to Dampierre from the 29th of April to the 7th of May, then independent from the 8th to the 27th of May, subordinated again under Custine from the 28th of May to the 16th of July, and finally under Kilmaine from the 17th to the 28th of July. Kilmaine then replaces Lamarche and is in command of the army from the 29th of July to the 10th of August 1793, and is replaced by Houchard. Houchard is in command from the 11th of August to the 12th of September 1793, and is replaced on the 13th of September by Jourdan. Jourdan will then command directly the army until the 4th of November, Ferrand will then subordinately command the army for Jourdan until the 4th of December, he is replaced by Sistrières.

Sistrières will then be subordinated to the Head General of the Army of the North, Charbonnier, from the 4th of February to the 2nd of June 1794. He is finally replaced by Jourdan, now subordinated to Pichegru, until the army ceased to exist due to its fusion with the Army of Moselle and the Army of the North.

Left flank command

The left flank of the army is under the command of Général Beurnonville from the 13th to the 20th of October 1792, and by Général Lanoue from the 12th of January to the 22nd of February 1793, under the name of Army of Belgium.

Right flank command

The right flank of the army in 1792 is successively under the command of Général Kellermann from the 6th to the 24th of October, and by Général Valence, subordinated to Dumouriez, from the 25th of October to the 29th of December. It will be commanded by Général Leveneur from the 12th of January to the 22nd of February, before becoming the only part of the army under the name of Army of the Ardennes by decree on the 1st of March 1793.

Composition in 1793

The composition of the Army of the Ardennes in January 1793 was:[1]

See also

References
  1. George, Nafziger. "French Army of the Ardennes 14 January 1793" (PDF). US Army Combined Arms Center. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
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