e to take the field.

These hundred and eighty-five thousand men he had formed into four
armies, and four corps of observation.

The first, under the name of the grand army, was intended to act
immediately under his own orders. This was subdivided into five
principal corps, commanded

The 1st by Count d'Erlon;

The 2d by Count Reille;

The 3d by Count Vandamme;

The 4th by Count Gerard;

The 5th (called the 6th) by Count de Lobau[38]:

[Footnote 38: The 5th corps became the army of the
Rhine, and the 6th, which at first was only a corps of
reserve, took its place, without changing its number.]

And into a corps of cavalry commanded by Marshal Grouchy.

This army, exclusive of the imperial guard, which was 4500 horse, and
14,000 foot, amounted to a hundred thousand men, or thereabouts, of
whom sixteen thousand were cavalry.

The second, entitled the army of the Alps, was commanded by Marshal
the Duke of Albufera. It was to occupy the passes of Italy, and the
border country of the Pays de Gex. Its strength might be twelve
thousand men.

The third, styled the army of the Rhine, had at its head General Count
Rapp; and its business was, to protect the frontiers of Alsace. It was
estimated at eighteen thousand men.

The fourth, called the army of the West, was employed in La Vendee;
and, after that country was quieted, it was to be incorporated in the
grand army. It consisted of seventeen thousand men; and General
Lamarque was its commander-in-chief.

The first corps of observation, stationed at Beford, was commanded by
General Lecourbe. It had to defend the passages from Switzerland, and
Franche Comte; and to form a communication, according to
circumstances, by its left with the army of the Alps, or by its right
with the army of the Rhine[39].

[Footnote 39: Surely the army of the Alps must have been
on its right, and that of the Rhine on its left, unless
it was stationed with its rear to the enemy.--_Tr._]

The other three corps, the commanders of which were Marshal Brune at
Marseilles, General Clausel at Bordeaux, and General Decaen at
Toulouse, were to maintain the tranquillity of the country; and, in
case of need, to oppose any invasion, that the Spaniards might attempt
on the one side, or the Piedmontese and English on the other.

These four corps of observation amounted together to about twenty
thousand men.

Th