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Strategy and Doctrine

Corps System

/kɔːr/ (KOR); the p and s are silent
Also Known As Corps d'Armée
Modern

The corps system (corps d'armee) was Napoleon's organizational innovation that broke a large army into several self-contained combined-arms formations, each with its own infantry, cavalry and artillery, capable of marching, fighting and even holding off a superior enemy independently until the rest of the army concentrated. Precedents existed in the French Revolutionary armies, but Napoleon fully developed and systematized the structure for the campaigns of 1805 onward, most famously in the Grande Armee. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Core Claim
Divide the army into several independent, combined-arms corps able to fight alone until the rest of the army arrives. 1
Origin Year
1800 1
Formally introduced 1 March 1800 when Napoleon ordered General Moreau to divide his command into four corps, with earlier precedent in Jourdan's three-corps Army of Sambre and Meuse (1795); Napoleon fully developed the system for the 1805 campaign.
Classification
Domain (Land, Sea, Air, Cyber)
Land 1
Connections

Associated With

Grande Armee, Armed Forces and Units
Source Wikipedia: Corps

Developed By

Napoleon Bonaparte, Commanders

Precedents existed in Jourdan's Army of Sambre and Meuse (1795, three corps) and Moreau's four-corps division (ordered 1800); Napoleon fully developed and systematized the corps d'armee for the 1805 campaign.

Source Wikipedia: Corps

Practiced By

Grande Armee, Armed Forces and Units

Derived from entity-description (backfill w-bfill-g2-0924): "most famously in the Grande Armee"

Sources
1. Wikipedia: Corps
Wikipedia
  • France/Napoleonic Wars section
    A military innovation by Napoleon, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered General Jean Victor Marie Moreau to divide his command into four corps.
  • history section on Napoleonic corps
    The French Imperial Army under Napoleon used corps-sized formations (French: corps d'armée) as the first formal combined-arms groupings of divisions with reasonably stable manning and equipment establishments
  • lead sentence, IPA gloss
    Corps (/kɔːr/; plural corps /kɔːrz/)
  • Domain attribute (napoleonic-corps-system)
    The corps system (corps d'armee) was Napoleon's organizational innovation that broke a large army into several self-contained combined-arms formations, each with its own infantry, cavalry and artillery, capable of marching, fighting and even holding off a superior enemy independently until the rest of the army concentrated.
  • Developed By: Napoleon Bonaparte, body text
    Napoleon first used the corps d'armee in 1805
  • Associated With: Grande Armee, opening list of formation types
    an operational formation, sometimes known as a field corps, which consists of two or more divisions, such as the Corps d'armée, later known as I Corps ("First Corps") of Napoleon I's Grande Armée
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