Unit Name: | Army of England |
Dates: | 26 October 1797 – 16 January 1800 |
Branch: | French Revolutionary Army |
Battles: | Chouannerie |
Commander1: | Napoleon Bonaparte Louis Desaix Charles Edward Jennings de Kilmaine Jean-François-Auguste Moulin Jean Dembarrère Claude Ignace François Michaud Gabriel de Hédouville |
Commander1 Label: | Commanders |
The Army of England (French: Armée d'Angleterre) was a command of the French Revolutionary Army that existed from 1797 to 1800.
On 26 October 1797, the French Directory established the Army of England with the goal of invading Great Britain. By the end of the year, 40,000 men from the Army of Italy, along with 10,000 from both the Army of the Rhine and the Army of Mainz had been called to the new army, which was yet to be assembled. General Napoleon Bonaparte was appointed commander, with General Louis Desaix serving as provisional commander in Paris during Bonaparte's absence.
Although destined for an invasion of Great Britain, this plan was eventually abandoned, and instead the Army of England was charged with suppressing the Chouannerie of 1799, in Western France. On 14 January 1800, it was renamed the Army of the West and the order went into effect on 17 January.