VII Corps (Grande Armée)


The VII Corps of the Grande Armée was a French military unit that existed during the Napoleonic Wars. It was formed in 1805 and assigned to Marshal Pierre Augereau. From 1805 to 1807, Augereau led the VII Corps in the War of the Third Coalition and the War of the Fourth Coalition. It was disbanded after being nearly wiped out at the Battle of Eylau in February 1807 and its surviving troops were distributed to other corps. At the end of 1808, the VII Corps was reconstituted in Catalonia during the Peninsular War and General Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr was given command of it. The corps fought in Spain until 1811, when it was renamed the Army of Catalonia. At that time it was again led by Augereau.
A parallel VII Corps was created for the War of the Fifth Coalition in 1809 and assigned to Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre. This formation was entirely made up of troops from Bavaria. In 1812, a new VII Corps composed of soldiers from Saxony was created for the invasion of Russia and General Jean Reynier took command. This formation survived to fight during the War of the Sixth Coalition, but ceased to exist after the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813 due to the defection of the Saxons. The VII Corps was recreated during the 1814 campaign in France and assigned to Marshal Nicolas Oudinot. The formation consisted of one Young Guard division and two regular divisions of Peninsular War veterans.

Order of battle

October 1806

Marshal Pierre Augereau
General of Division Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr
Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre
Marshal Pierre Augereau
General of Division Jean Reynier
General of Division Jean Reynier