Army Corps

Corps is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered General Jean Victor Marie Moreau to divide his command into four corps. Before it came into force in 1800, the idea of corps was already in its infancy, but it could not take a definite form due to the relatively small size of the individual armies. Only Moreau granted the corps legal status in 1800; Napoleon finally developed them in 1805. The size of a corps varies greatly, but two to five divisions and anywhere from 40,000 to 80,000 are the numbers stated by the US Department of Defense.