Military mobilisation during the Hundred Days


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. 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.

Waterloo Campaign

By the end of May, Napoleon had deployed his forces as follows:
The preceding corps were to be formed into L'Armée du Nord and led by Napoleon Bonaparte 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 Rhin, cantoned near Strassburg.
On 20 June 1815 Rapp's three infantry divisions contained 28 Battalions. These 28 Battalions consisted of both Line and Light Infantry Regiments. Belonging to the above three Infantry Divisions were the following Line Infantry Regiments: 18th , 32nd , 36th , 39th , 40th , 57th , 58th , 101st , 103rd and the 104th . The 7th Light Infantry Regiment and the 10th Light Infantry Regiment also belonged to Rapp's Infantry Divisions.
2nd and 7th Chasseurs à Cheval Regiments
11th and 19th Dragoon Regiments
The 3rd, 4th, and 5th Battalions of the National Guard of the Bas-Rhin and the 6th, 7th and 8th Battalions of the National Guard of the Haut-Rhin. Two National Guard Lancer Cavalry Regiments also appear to have been attached to Berckheims command – a Haut-Rhin National Guard Lancer Regiment and a Bas-Rhin National Guard Lancer Regiment
VII Corps – Armée des Alpes. 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:
7th Line Infantry Regiment and the 14th Line Infantry Regiment
20th Line Infantry Regiment and the 24th Line Infantry Regiment
67th Line Infantry Regiment and the 6th Light Infantry Regiment . The two battalions of the 6th Light Infantry Regiment had been detached to Marshal Brune's II Corps of Observation – see below
42nd Line Infantry Regiment and the 53rd Line Infantry Regiment
10th Chasseurs à Cheval and the 18th Dragoon Regiments. This division had only one brigade.
I Corps of Observation – Armée du Jura 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:
6th Line Infantry Regiment and the 52nd Line Infantry Regiment
62nd Line Infantry Regiment and the 102nd Line Infantry Regiment
2nd and 3rd Hussar Regiments
13th Chasseurs à Cheval Regiment
II Corps of Observation – Armée du Var. Based at Toulon and commanded by Marshal Guillaume Marie Anne Brune, 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 Observation – Army of the Pyrenees. Based at Toulouse and commanded by General Charles Mathieu Isidore Decaen, this army observed the eastern Spanish frontier. Its composition in June was:
3rd Light Infantry Regiment
66th Line Infantry Regiment and the 94th Line Infantry Regiment
IV Corps of Observation – Army of the Pyrenees. Based at Bordeaux and commanded by General Bertrand Clauzel, this army observed the western Spanish frontier. Its composition in June was:
60th Line Infantry Regiment
79th Line Infantry Regiment and the 81st Line Infantry Regiment
Army of the West – Armée de l'Ouest . 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:
3rd Battalion of the 8th Light Infantry Regiment, a Battalion of the 27th Line Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion of the 47th Line Infantry Regiment and Foot Gendarmes
2nd Young Guard Tirailleur Regiment and the 2nd Young Guard Voltigeur Regiment
Parisian Gendarmes , Marine Artillerymen , 15th Line Infantry Regiment, 43rd Line Infantry Regiment and the 2nd Battalion of the 65th Line Infantry Regiment
3rd Battalion of the 14th Line Infantry Regiment, 26th Line Infantry Regiment and some volunteer Vendee Chasseurs
Total 10,000–27,000 men.

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 was as follows:

Waterloo Campaign

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, 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:
The Netherlands Corps, commanded by Prince Frederick of the Netherlands did not take part in early actions of the Waterloo Campaign, but did besiege some of the frontier fortresses in the rear of Wellington's advancing army.
A Danish contingent known as the Royal Danish Auxiliary Corps commanded by General Prince Frederick of Hessen-Kassel and a Hanseatic contingent later commanded by the British Colonel Sir Neil Campbell, were also on their way to join this army, both however, joined the army in July having missed the conflict.
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. 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. They explained this even though they themselves had signed the Treaty of 15 March without his consent. 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.
The Tsar of Russia offered Wellington his II Army Corps under general Wurttemberg, 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.
Blücher's Prussian army of 116,000 men, with headquarters at Namur, was distributed as follows:

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, Duchy of Oldenburg, Duchy of Saxe-Gotha, Duchy of Anhalt-Bernburg, Duchy of Anhalt-Dessau, Duchy of Anhalt-Kothen, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Principality of Waldeck, Principality of Lippe and the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe.
Fearing that Napoleon was going to strike him first, Blücher ordered this army to march north to join the rest of his own army. 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 and then by Lieutenant General Karl Georg Albrecht Ernst von Hake. Its composition in June was:
Total 25,000

Russian Army (I Army)

Field Marshal Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly commanded the First Russian Army. In June it consisted of the following:
Total 200,000

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, 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:
CorpsCommanderMenBattalionsSquadronsBatteries
I CorpsMaster General of the Ordnance, Count Colloredo24,40086168
II CorpsGeneral Prince Hohenzollern-Hechingen34,360368611
III CorpsField Marshal the Crown Prince of Württemberg43,81444329
IV Corps Field Marshal Prince Wrede67,040466616
Austrian Reserve CorpsLieutenant Field Marshal Stutterheim44,800388610
Blockade Corps33,3143886
Saxon Corps16,77418106
Totals264,49224684466

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:
Total 37,000

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:
Total 50,000

Austrian Army (Army of Naples)

This was the smallest of Austria's military contingents. Its targets were Marseilles and Toulon. General Bianchi commanded this army. 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. There was however a Sardinian force in this area forming the garrison of Nice under Louis Cacherano d'Osasco which may have been where the other part of this misunderstanding had arisen. Its composition in June was:
Total 23,000

Anglo-Sicilian Army

This was Great Britain's smaller military contingent. It was composed of Anglo-Sicilian troops under General Sir Hudson Lowe transported and supported by the Mediterranean Fleet of Lord Viscount Exmouth. Its targets were Marseilles and Toulon.

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.
It was planned that a second Spanish army was to invade France via Bayonne and Bordeaux. General Henry Joseph O'Donnell, Count of La Bisbal commanded this army.
Both Wellington's Despatches and his Supplementary Despatches show that neither of the Spanish armies contained any Portuguese contingents nor were they likely too,, however both Chandler and Barbero state that the Portuguese did send a contingent.

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

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. 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. They explained this even though they themselves had signed the Treaty of 15 March without his consent. Besides this, the state of the Portuguese army in 1815 left much to be desired and were a shadow of their former with much of it being disbanded.

Russian 2nd (Reserve) Army

The Second Russian Army was behind the First Russian Army to support it if required.
The Tsar of Russia offered Wellington the II Army Corps under General Wurttemberg from his Reserve Army, but Wellington was far from keen on accepting this contingent.