Third Reserve Army of Observation

The Third Reserve Army of Observation was a Russian army created during 1811 as an impromptu force to watch the Austrian frontier when it became apparent that the Austrian Emperor would possibly send troops into Russia as part of the French invasion of Russia.[citation needed] It had 44,000 men and 168 guns.[1] Alexander Tormasov took command of the army on 27 March 1812.[2] It was renamed the Third Western Army on 30 September 1812 following its merger with the Army of the Danube.[3][4] The Third Western Army, led by Pavel Chichagov, failed to cut off Napoleon's army's retreat, though it followed the French into Poland the following January.[4]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mikaberidze2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Fremont-Barnes, Gregory (2006). The encyclopedia of the French revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars: a political, social, and military history. ABC-CLIO. p. 991. ISBN 9781851096466.
  3. ^ Alexey Yermolov, Memoirs of the Napoleonic Wars, 2nd edition, 2011, pp.122–123
  4. ^ a b Mikaberidze, Alexander (2005). Russian Officer Corps of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Casemate. p. 60. ISBN 9781611210026.