ABSTRACT
The development of the infantry division as a tactical combat unit was a major step forward in the evolution of modern armies. Combat divisions in the Republic were basically ad hoc formations created in response to circumstances. Armies operating in Germany were with increasing frequency divided into units, each comprising infantry, cavalry, and artillery. The French army did not make provision for the existence of a division within its table of organization, and it was left to the individual army commands whether or not they would create such units. The armed forces of the revolutionary republic would also retain the administrative division and expand the combat division composed exclusively of infantry into an organic unit comprising all arms. The revolutionaries of 1789 had no intention of making drastic changes in the composition of the state's armed forces and instituted relatively few military reforms during the revolutionary activity.
