Army of the Rhine (France)

"Army of the Rhine" and "Army Of The Rhine" redirect here. For the British Army force of that name, see British Army of the Rhine.

The Army of the Rhine (Armée du Rhin) is the name given to various French military forces during different periods.

Revolutionary Wars

The Army of the Rhine (Armée du Rhin) is the overall name for one of the main French Revolutionary armies, that operated in the German theatre along the River Rhine. La Marseillaise, the French national anthem, was initially titled Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin (War Song for the Army of the Rhine) and dedicated to Nicolas Luckner, the army's commander at the time.

Bourbon Restoration

An army of the Bourbon Restoration bore this name.

Second French Empire

The Second French Empire fielded an army of this name in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. This army fought at the battle of Sedan).

Occupation of the Rhineland (1919 - 1930)

This name was also used for the French military forces posted to Germany during the Occupation of the Rhineland, following the First World War.

Related people

People known to have served in this Armée include:

• General Baraguey d'Hilliers
• General Custine
• Antoine Marie Chamans de Lavalette
• The 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

Sources

• C. Clerget: Tableaux des armées françaises pendant les guerres de la Révolution (Librairie militaire 1905).