An army of observation is a military body whose purpose is to monitor a given area1 or enemy body in preparation for possible hostilities.
Some of the more notable armies of observation include:
- French revolutionary Armée d'Observation, predecessor of the Army of the Danube (1799).
- Third Reserve Army of Observation, a Russian army tasked to monitor the Austrian border in 1811 prior to the French invasion of Russia.
- The New England Army of Observation, which was organized in April 1775 by Massachusetts Bay Colony and the other New England Colonies, in anticipation of hostilities with Great Britain.2
- The army of observation at Fort Jesup, Louisiana, United States, which monitored between 1822 and 1845 Texas' transition from Spanish to Mexican control, and to eventual independence
- The Hanoverian Army of Observation which monitored the border prior to the French Invasion of Hanover in 1757
References
References
- A Military Dictionary: Or, Explanation of the Several Systems of Discipline of Different Kinds of Troops, Infantry, Artillery, and Cavalry; the Principles of Fortification, and All the Modern Improvements in the Science of Tactics: Comprising the Pocket Gunner, Or Little Bombardier; the Military Regulations of the United States; the Weights, Measures, and Monies of All Nations; the Technical Terms and Phrases of the Art of War in the French Language. Particularly Adapted to the Use of the Military Institutions of the United States. William Duane, no. 98, Market Street. 1810. pp. 15–. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
- [1] American History Central Army of Observation (New England).