1808-1811 VI Corps (Grande Armée)

alba de tormes

the vi corps marched spain fought in peninsular war 1808 1811. in 1808, corps numbered 20,000 men, organized cavalry brigade under auguste françois-marie de colbert-chabanais, 1st division under marchand , 2nd division under joseph lagrange. later, maurice mathieu took on lagrange. ney attempted occupy galicia in northwest, in june 1809 evacuated province. next, corps participated in futile attempt cut off british army after battle of talavera. while returning north, ney s troops brushed aside robert thomas wilson s portuguese-spanish column @ battle of puerto de baños on 12 august.

in autumn of 1809, marchand led corps when ney went on leave. under marchand s leadership, vi corps suffered defeat @ battle of tamames on 18 october. in battle of alba de tormes under command of françois Étienne de kellermann, vi corps gained revenge against spanish victors of tamames on 28 november. jean-baptiste lorcet s cavalry , kellermann s dragoon division did of fighting, while marchand s infantry arrived in time mop up.

battle of bussaco, 27 september 1810

at end of siege of ciudad rodrigo 26 april 9 july 1810, vi corps seized fortress. french casualties 1,180 men, while spanish lost 461 killed, 994 wounded, , 4,000 captured. in battle of coa on 24 july, louis henri loison s division forced anglo-portuguese light division behind coa river, trapping unit. when ney unwisely ordered men rush bridge, serious casualties resulted. allied losses totaled 36 killed, 189 wounded, , 83 missing. french casualties numbered 117 killed , 414 wounded. corps began siege of almeida day after battle. on 26 august lucky hit blew main portuguese magazine, killing 600 men , leveling parts of town , defenses. garrison capitulated following day.

the corps heavily engaged @ battle of bussaco on 27 september 1810. loison s division suffered 1,252 casualties, including brigade commander Édouard françois simon captured. marchand s division lost additional 1,173, while julien augustin joseph mermet reported 24 casualties. during retreat portugal, ney directed several rear guard actions @ pombal, redinha, casal novo, , foz arouce between 11 , 15 march 1811. week later, ney flatly refused obey direct order , marshal andré masséna dismissed him. loison led corps @ battle of fuentes de onoro , claude françois ferey took command of loison s division. in fighting on 3 may, ferey s , marchand s divisions suffered 652 casualties, including 76 killed, 409 wounded, , 167 missing. on 5 may, 3 divisions lost 107 killed, 804 wounded, , 33 missing. after battle, new army commander marshal auguste marmont dissolved corps organizations, including vi corps. among others, marchand , mermet sent home.

while ney s corps fighting in spain, second vi corps formed in italy during war of fifth coalition. @ end of april 1809, napoleon authorized eugène de beauharnais form army of italy v corps, vi corps, , xii corps. eugène assigned paul grenier lead vi corps consisted of 8th hussar regiment , 2 infantry divisions under pierre françois joseph durutte , michel marie pacthod. pacthod had not yet arrived, brigadier louis jean nicolas abbé became acting commander during battle of caldiero on 29 , 30 april , battle of piave river on 8 may. pacthod assumed leadership of division in time take part durutte in battle of tarvis between 15 , 17 may 1809. on 25 may, grenier led durutte , attached division of jean mathieu seras victory in battle of sankt michael. @ battle of raab, grenier directed divisions of durutte , seras in first line, while pacthod s soldiers placed in reserve. after austrians repulsed opening attack, pacthod s division committed combat. both pacthod , durutte fought @ battle of wagram. durutte s division participated in unsuccessful attack on evening of 5 may. both divisions engaged on 6 may, pacthod s troops storming deutsch-wagram durutte s division moved russbach plateau on right.