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It was one of five armies created and placed on a war footing by the Grand Quartier Général when Plan XVII was launched in response to the German attack of August 1914.
Commanders
World War I
Commanders
Tribute to the Fourth Army which liberated Sommepy-Tahure.
On mobilization in August 1914, the 4th Army of the French Army was commanded by General de Langle de Cary. It comprised the 12th and 17th Corps, the Colonial Army Corps and a cavalry division.
Chief of Staff: General Paul Maistre (replaced on 12 September 1914 by Colonel Alphonse Nudant, then on 21 November 1914 by Colonel Gabriel Alexandre Paquette);
Deputy Chief: Lieutenant-Colonel Dessens;
Head of 3rd Office: Commandant de La Fontaine ;
Head of Aviation Services: Commandant Barès;
Head of Stages and Services: General Sentis.
The 1st echelon of staff from Paris arrived at Saint-Dizier on 5 August at 8:15 a.m.; the 2nd echelon on 6 August at 9 p.m. from Fontainebleau.
The Fourth Army was one of five armies mobilized as part of Plan XVII in August 1914 after the declaration of war. Its strength on mobilisation was 4,689 officers, 154,899 NCOs and men, and 58,491 horses organised into three corps of four infantry divisions, two colonial infantry divisions, and one cavalry division.[2] In August 1914, it was concentrated, in reserve between Saint-Dizier and Bar-le-Duc in the Argonne Region.[3]
The Outbreak of World War I
On the 2nd of August, the French Fourth Army was officially mobilized. From the 2nd to the 14th of August, the Fourth Army became concentrated in the south and west of the Argonne. From the 8th of August, the Fourth Army had coverage by the 2nd Army Corps and the 9th Cavalry Division from Mangiennes (3rd Army) to Mouzon (5th Army).
On August 21, the Fourth Army participated in an offensive in the general direction of Neufchâteau in coordination with the Third Army. Participating in the Battle of Ardennes, the French Fourth Army advanced to the Robelmont line, where the Third Army was located, Tintigny, Jamoigne [fr], Chiny, Bertrix, Houdremont, and Revin where the 5th Army was located. After heavy fighting, they withdrew to the right bank of the Chiers. [4] On the 24th and 26th of August, they withdrew to the Meuse. From Sassey-sur-Meuse, the 3rd Army withdrew to Mézières.
On the 27th and 28 of August, the Fourth Army participated in the Battle of the Meuse as part of a counter-attack on the Beaumont front in the town of Signy-l'Abbaye to prevent German troops from crossing the Meuse.
From the 6th to the 10th of September, the Fourth Army engaged in the Battle of Marne (Battle of Vitry). They resisted the German thrust, fiercely fighting on the Marne front's left wing which was located south of Sompuis. They fought in conjunction with the 9th Army.
1914
10–15 September: pursuit of retreating German troops, up to the Varennes-en-Argonne line (3rd Army), Ville-sur-Tourbe, Sabot Wood (9th Army).
15–22 September: attempts to break the German front, then stabilization and organization of the positions reached.
22–23 September: loss of Varennes-en-Argonne.
26–29 September: violent German attacks in the Argonne. On September 29th, right limit in liaison with the 3rd Army at Le Four de Paris.
7 October: extension of the front to the left as far as Ferme des Marquises (5th Army) following the suppression of the 9th army.
October–November: numerous German attacks in Argonne on Grurie wood, Bagatelle, Saint-Hubert and Four de Paris.
20 November: right limit (3rd Army) brought to the Aire river.
First Battle of Champagne
December 1914 – March 1915: First Battle of Champagne, French offensives followed by German counter-attacks in the Perthes-lès-Hurlus [fr] region, Beauséjour Farm, Souain; capture of Perthes-lès-Hurlus and Fort Beauséjour.
1915
8 January: sector reduced to the right as far as Aisne (Oise) (3rd Army).
31 May: front reduced to the right as far as Massiges (3rd Army).
10 August: front reduced to the right as far as Sabot Wood (2nd Army introduced on the front).
25 September: engaged in the Second Battle of Champagne, capture of Navarin Farm; then organization and defense of conquered positions.
1916
5 January: as a result of the 2nd Army's withdrawal from the front, right limit (3rd Army) extended to the Aisne (Oise).
9 January: German attacks on Mont Têtu.
12 February: German attack in the Navarin farm area.
25 February: French attack in the Navarin farm area.
27 February: German counter-attack in the same area.
15 March: French attack in the same area.
16 May: German coup de main at Mount Têtu.
26 June: following the withdrawal of the 3rd Army, right limit brought to Le Four de Paris (2nd Army).
17 April – 16 July: Battle of the Champagne Mountains, offensive on the Aubérive front. Prosnes; capture of Aubérive, Mount Sans Nom, Mount Blond, Téton, Casque, Mount Haut and Mount Cornillet. Organization and defense of conquered positions.
10 May: right limit brought to Le Four de Paris (2nd Army).
Late July and August: German attacks in the Monts region.
1918
6 February: right boundary brought back to Beaurain Wood (2nd Army).
29 March: left limit brought up to the Courcy cavalrymen (withdrawal of the 5th Army).
26–27 May: following the withdrawal of the 6th Army, some elements of the left of the 4th Army fall back slightly to the south in the area northwest of Reims.
29 May: left limit (5th Army) brought back to the Prunay area (introduction of the 5th Army) and on May 31 brought to Fort de la Pompelle.
On 16 June 1918, on the orders of General Pershing, the United States' 42nd Division were attached to the Fourth Army and assigned under Henri Gouraud's command until the end of the war. [5]
4 July: left boundary (5th Army), moved to Prunay; right boundary 2nd Army, moved to the Houyette ravine.
On the 15th of July, the German First and Third Army attacked the French Fourth Army east of Reims. At 11:00, the attack on the French Fourth Army was halted, while the simultaneous attack on the French Sixth Army, by the German Seventh and Ninth Armies, west of Reims, was successful. [6]
15–18 July: Battle of Champagne, German offensive towards the Hand of Massiges [fr] at Prunay, halted in front of the French resistance position, after voluntary abandonment of the front lines (battle of Prosnes-Massiges).
16 July: right limit (2nd Army) brought back to Beaurain Wood.
From September 26 to October 16, the Fourth Army engaged in the Meuse–Argonne offensive, initially fighting in the Battle of Somme-Py, which lasted from September 26 to October 4. Exploiting the confusion of the Germans, the French Fourth Army advanced to the Aisne.
Second phase (October 4–28, 1918)
On the 8th and 9th of October, working in coordination with I Corps, the French Fourth Army conducted a pincer attack that resulted in the Germans withdrawing.[8] After the battle, the Fourth Army reorganized itself on the Termes front with the 1st American Army and in the Vouziers, Rethel region with the 5th Army. [9][10] On October 14th, attacking at the same time as the attack on the Hindenburg line, the French Fourth Army attack on the left of the First American Army. [10] From 16-20 October, there was a French offensive with heavy fighting in the Olizy, Vouziers region. On October 18, there was a crossing of the Aisne towards Vouziers, and a creation of a bridgehead north of the Aisne. On 21 October, there was a strong German attack towards Terron-sur-Aisne.
6–11 November: thrust towards the Meuse, progression via Tourteron and Omont towards the Meuse. Front reached at armistice: Noyers-Pont-Maugis (American Army), Sedan, course of the Meuse, Mézières (liaison with the 5th Army).
Parade of the French Fourth Army on the Place de la République in Strasbourg on November 22, 1918, with General Gouraud in front of the rostrum.
^ abAdam, Alain; Delporte, David; Houliez, Didier; Denis, Eric; Capdebosq, Eric. "Situation des troupes du 05 au 25 juin 1940" [Situation of troops from June 5 to 25, 1940] (PDF). atf40.fr (in French). Archived(PDF) from the original on 2024-01-06. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
Doughty, R. A. (2005). Pyrrhic victory: French Strategy and Operations in the Great War. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press. ISBN978-0-674-01880-8.
James, D. Clayton (1 October 1970). The Years of MacArthur. Vol. I (1st ed.). Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN978-0-3951-0948-9. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
