French Army of Alsace (WWI)
The Army of Alsace was a World War I French field army that operated from 11–28 August 1914.
Formation
On 7 August 1914, the French VII Corps (General Bonneau) captured Mulhouse during the Battle of Mulhouse but three days later, they were forced out by German counter-attacks. Bonneau was dismissed by Joffre and the VII Corps was reinforced with several units and became the Army of the Alsace under command of Paul Pau.
The reinforcements were
- 44th Division
- 55th Reserve Division
- 58th Reserve division
- 63rd Reserve division
- 66th Reserve division
- 8th Cavalry Division
A new attack was launched, Mulhouse was taken and the Germans were even pushed over the Rhine. French defeats in Lorraine and the Ardennes forced the Army of the Alsace to withdrew from Mulhouse, to a more defensible line near Altkirch and to provide reinforcements for the French armies closer to Paris.[1]
After the disbandment
The army was disbanded on 28 August and many of its units distributed among the remaining French armies. The units that remained in the Southern Alsace, came under the First Army and received the name of Groupement des Vosges, which became the 34th Army Corps on 22 October 1914. On 8 December 1914, with the stabilisation of the Western Front, more units were added to this sector and they formed the independent Army Detachment of the Vosges under General Henri Putz. On 4 April 1915, the force became the Seventh Army.
Footnotes
- ↑ Michelin 1920, p. 37.
References
- L'Alsace et les Combats des Vosges 1914–1918: I Le Ballon d'Alsace, le Vieil-Armand, la Route des Crêtes (PDF). Guides Illustrés Michelin des Champs de Bataille (1914–1918). IV. Clemonf-Ferrand: Michelin & Cie. 1920. OCLC 769538059. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
- Strachan, H. (2001). The First World War: To Arms. I. Oxford: OUP. ISBN 0-19-926191-1.
