France Army August, 1914
v.1.0 August 12, 2001
Graham Watson
On mobilisation in August 1914, the bulk of the French Army was organised into five armies which formed up along the common frontier with Germany. These five armies did not exist in peacetime. The highest permanent formation was the Army Corps, which was composed of two infantry divisions, with supporting cavalry, artillery and engineers. Each Army Corps, and its subordinate units, was located in a particular region of France. On mobilisation each corps moved to a designated part of the frontier with Germany and became part of one of the new-formed armies. Several corps were designated as ‘covering corps’: they were located closest to the frontier, mobilised first, and were intended to contain the German Army until all five armies were in place. Mobilisation would take about ten days to complete.
One peacetime corps-XIX Army Corps –was based in North Africa and was not included in the original mobilisation process.
The five armies –in line from west to east, from the Ardennes to Alsace -were designated 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd and 1st Armies. This was the reverse of the order in which the German Armies were designated. There was a major gap in that no French army was formed to cover the frontier with Belgium. The left flank of the 5th Army remained ‘in the air’ until the arrival of the British Expeditionary Force and the organisation of a ‘mobile reserve’ of four territorial divisions.
In general terms, the five armies covered the following parts of the frontier with Germany:
5th Army- faced Ardennes from Hirson to Sedan with 240,000 men
4th Army- faced Luxemburg from Sedan to Longwy with 160,000 men
3rd Army- faced Thionville and Metz in Lorraine with 200,000 men
2nd Army-faced eastern Lorraine, in front of Nancy with 180,000 men
1st Army- faced northern Alsace between Luneville and Epinal with extra
responsibility for the Belfort ‘gap’ near the Swiss frontier, with
280,000 men.
In addition to the mobilised army corps, each army was provided with a number of cavalry divisions and territorial divisions. In the following lists, the peacetime locations of each corps, division, brigade and infantry regiment is indicated. Army corps are listed in order of place in the line from west to east.
GHQ [General Joffre]
GHQ RESERVE
1st Cavalry Division (Paris)
2nd Cavalry Division (Meaux)
3rd Cavalry Division (Melun)
TERRITORIAL DIVISIONS IN NORTH-EAST
57th Division
71st Division
72nd Division
73rd Division
5TH ARMY [General Lanrezac]
XVIII Army Corps (Bordeaux) [General de Mas]
35th Division (Bordeaux)
36th Division (Bayonne)
This corps was intended to join 2nd Army but was diverted to 5th Army
III Army Corps (Rouen) [General Sauret]
5th Division (Rouen)
6th Division (Paris)
X Army Corps (Rennes) [General Deffarges]
19th Division (Rennes)
20th Division (St Servan)
I Army Corps (Lille) [General D’Esperey] *covering corps
1st Division (Lille)
2nd Division (Arras)
XI Army Corps (Nantes) [General ??? ] in Army Reserve
21st Division (Nantes)
22nd Division (Vannes)
Under direct army command
4th Cavalry Division
38th Division
52nd Division
60th Division
4th Reserve Group
51st Division
53rd Division
69th Division
4TH ARMY [General Langle de Cary]
II Army Corps (Amiens) [General Gerard] *covering corps
3rd Division (Amiens)
4th Division (Paris)
Colonial Corps (Paris) [General Lefevre]
1st Colonial Division (Paris)
2nd Colonial Division (Paris)
3rd Colonial Division (Paris)
XII Army Corps (Limoges) [General Roques]
23rd Division (Angouleme)
24th Division (Perigueux)
XVII Army Corps (Toulouse) [General Polin]
33rd Division (Toulouse)
34th Division (Montauban)
under direct army command
9th Cavalry Division (newly formed)
3RD ARMY [General Ruffey]
VI Army Corps (Chalons-sur-Marne) [General Sarrail] *covering corps
12th Division (Rheims)
40th Division (Compiegne)
42nd Division –newly formed
V Army Corps (Orleans) [General Brochin)
9th Division (Orleans)
10th Division (Paris)
IV Army Corps (Le Mans) [General Boelle]
7th Division (Le Mans)
8th Division (Paris)
under direct army command
7th Cavalry Division (Rheims)
3rd Reserve Group
54th Division
55th Division
56th Division
2ND ARMY [General Castelnau]
IX Army Corps (Tours) [General Dubois]
17th Division (Angers)
18th Division (Chateauroux)
XX Army Corps (Nancy) [General Foch] *covering corps
11th Division (Nancy)
39th Division (Toul)
40th Division –newly formed
XV Army Corps (Marseilles) [General Espinasse]
29th Division (Avignon)
30th Division (Nice)
XVI Army Corps (Montpelier) [General Taverna]
31st Division (Montpelier)
32nd Division (Perpignan)
under direct army command
2nd Cavalry Division (Luneville)
10th Cavalry Division –newly formed
2nd Reserve Group
59th Division
68th Division
70th Division
1st ARMY [General Dubail]
VIII Army Corps (Bourges) [General De Castelli]
15th Division (Bourges)
16th Division (Dijon)
XIII Army Corps (Clermont-Ferrand) [General Alix]
26th Division (St Etienne)
35th Division (Clermont-Ferrand)
XXI Army Corps (formed on mobilisation) [General Legrand] *covering corps
13th Division (Chaumont)
43rd Division (Remiremont)
XIV Army Corps (Lyons) [General Pouradier]
27th Division (Chambery)
28th Division (Grenoble)
VII Army Corps (Besancon) [General Bonneau]
** original covering corps for 1st Army but detached 11th August to form bulk of Alsace Army under General Pau
14th Division (Belfort)
41st Division –newly formed
44th Division –newly formed
under direct army command
6th Cavalry Division (Lyons)
8th Cavalry Division (Dohl) –detached to Alsace Army
1st Reserve Group
58th Division
63rd Division
66th Division
Alpine Group
WAR MINISTRY RESERVE
61st Division
62nd Division
67th Division
REGIONAL RESERVES
64th Division
65th Division
74th Division
75th Division
NORTH AFRICA
XIX Army Corps (Algiers) [General Moinier]
37th Division (Algiers)
38th Division (Constantine)