III Corps (Grande Armée)

The III Corps of the Grande Armée was the designation of a few military units during the Napoleonic Wars. The III Corps came to prominence between 1805 and 1809 under the command of Marshal Louis Nicolas Davout, when it repeatedly scored impressive victories single-handedly or in conjunction with other French forces. Napoleon called it "My tenth legion", in reference to Julius Caesar's finest unit, the X Equestris. Then troops from that Corps took part in many battles in Poland (1807) e.g. Czarnowo, Pultusk, Golymin, Eylau, in Bavaria at Teugen-Hausen, Eckmuhl and in Austria 1809 at Wagram. These troops later were reorganized as I Corps and included French, German/Polish units. It also included the 127th to 129th "régiment d'infanterie de ligne" from the north German countries of Oldenburg, Bremen and Hamburg that were annexed shortly before and thus counted as French.

A parallel III Corps existed in Spain from 1808 until 1811 when it became the Army of Aragon. Its commanders were Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey, Jean-Andoche Junot, and Louis Gabriel Suchet. Cobbled together from hastily-raised French conscripts and Polish auxiliaries, the corps later became one of the most effective French forces in Spain under Suchet.

Size
By the time of Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812, III Corps was reorganized and went under the command of Marshal Ney. It consisted of French, Württemberg, Portuguese and Croatian units and like the rest of Napoleon's forces, suffered heavy casualties as the campaign progressed: at the crossing of the Niemen River in 1812, the III Corps' size was estimated at around 44,000 men; by the Battle of Smolensk, only 22,000 men remained.

Battles
The III Corps participated in a number of battles, including Austerlitz, Auerstadt, Eylau, Teugen-Hausen and Eckmuhl. The III Corps also fought at Borodino.

Commanders
Marshal Michel Ney (1812)
 * Corps commanders: Marshal Louis Nicolas Davout (1805 through 1809);
 * Divisional commanders:
 * General Louis Friant
 * General Charles-Étienne Gudin de La Sablonnière
 * General Charles Morand
 * General Louis Vincent Le Blond de Saint-Hilaire
 * Corps cavalry under General of Brigade Louis-Pierre Montbrun
 * Divisional commanders:
 * General Ledru
 * General Razout
 * General Royal Prince of Württemberg, later General of Division Jean Gabriel Marchand
 * Corps cavalry under General-major Woellwarth