# 6th Army (France)

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Field army of the French Army during World War I and World War II

The **Sixth Army** ([French](/source/French_language): *6eme Armée*) was a field army of the [French Army](/source/French_Army) during [World War I](/source/World_War_I) and [World War II](/source/World_War_II).

## World War I

The Sixth Army was formed 26 August 1914, composed of troops from various disparate French armies: two active army corps, the ([4th](/source/4th_Army_Corps_(France)) and 7th respectively detached from the Third Army and First Army, the 5th and 6th groups of reserve divisions (commanded by [General de Lamaze](/source/Henri_Beaudenom_de_Lamaze)), the 45th and [37th Infantry Divisions](/source/37th_Infantry_Division_(France)), a native brigade and a cavalry corps.

After [Alexander von Kluck](/source/Alexander_von_Kluck) rotated his [German First Army](/source/1st_Army_(German_Empire)) away from Paris to reinforce [Karl von Bülow](/source/Karl_von_B%C3%BClow)'s [German Second Army](/source/2nd_Army_(German_Empire)), [Joseph Gallieni](/source/Joseph_Gallieni) ordered the Sixth Army to attack von Kluck's forces. Although the German First Army counterattacked, this allowed [John French](/source/John_French%2C_1st_Earl_of_Ypres)'s [British Expeditionary Force](/source/British_Expeditionary_Force_(World_War_I)) to occupy a twenty-mile salient between the two armies beginning the [First Battle of the Marne](/source/First_Battle_of_the_Marne).[1]

France would end up contributing three corps to the opening attack of the [Battle of the Somme](/source/Battle_of_the_Somme) (the [20th Army Corps](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=20th_Army_Corps_(France)&action=edit&redlink=1), I Colonial and 35th Corps of the Sixth Army).[2]

## Commanders

### World War I

- General [Michel-Joseph Maunoury](/source/Michel-Joseph_Maunoury) (26 August 1914 – 13 March 1915)

- General [Pierre Joseph Dubois](/source/Pierre_Joseph_Dubois) (13 March 1915 – 26 February 1916)

- General [Émile Fayolle](/source/%C3%89mile_Fayolle) (26 February – 19 December 1916)

- General [Charles Mangin](/source/Charles_Mangin) (19 December 1916 – 4 May 1917)

- General [Paul Maistre](/source/Paul_Maistre) (4 May – 11 December 1917)

- General [Denis Auguste Duchêne](/source/Denis_Auguste_Duch%C3%AAne) (11 December 1917 – 10 June 1918)

- General [Jean Degoutte](/source/Jean_Degoutte) (10 June – 11 September 1918)

- General [Antoine Baucheron de Boissoudy](/source/Antoine_Baucheron_de_Boissoudy) (15 October – 18 November 1918)

- General [Jean Degoutte](/source/Jean_Degoutte) (18 November 1918)

### World War II

- General [Antoine-Marie-Benoît Besson](/source/Antoine-Marie-Beno%C3%AEt_Besson) (2 September 1939 - 16 October 1939)

- General [René Olry](/source/Ren%C3%A9_Olry) (16 October 1939 – 13 February 1940)

- General [Robert-Auguste Touchon](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert-Auguste_Touchon&action=edit&redlink=1) (13 February – 1 July 1940)

## See also

- [List of French armies in WWI](/source/List_of_French_armies_in_WWI)

## Footnotes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Robson, Stuart (2007). [*The First World War*](http://archive.org/details/firstworldwar0000robs_r5x1). Internet Archive (1 ed.). Harrow, England: Pearson Longman. pp. 17–19. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4058-2471-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4058-2471-2).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDoughty2005291_2-0)** [Doughty 2005](#CITEREFDoughty2005), p. 291.

## References

- [Doughty, R. A.](/source/Robert_A._Doughty) (2005). *Pyrrhic Victory: French Strategy and Operation in the Great War*. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-67401-880-X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-67401-880-X).

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