Permanent territorial military divisions were first created by the French revolutionary government in 1791 as a way of managing the large scale requisition of horses. By the time of the Consulate and Empire the divisions had become an integral part of the military bureaucratic framework of the state. At the height of the empire there were 32 divisions in France proper each comprising between 3 and 5 departments, including the newly annexed territories in Italy, the Netherlands and Northern Germany; there were also 2 separate divisions in the Illyrian provinces and the vassal kingdoms were also organised in an identical manner.

Officers

Each division would be under the command of a Général de Division, often a man too old or wounded for active field service. Under him the divisional staff would be made up of:

• 2 or more Générals de Brigade, each overseeing a department.

• An adjutant-commandant, a staff officer equivalent to a Colonel, as Chief-of-Staff

• Each general would have one or two aides-de-camp, of Chef de Bataillon rank for the Général de Division and Captain for the Générals de Brigade

• 1 or 2 adjoints, captain ranked staff officers, to assist the adjutant-commandant

• 1 to 5 inspecteurs (or sous-inspecteurs) aux revues, who were inspectors charged with reviewing and auditing regimental finances and administration. They did not inspect for combat readiness, that was the role of the inspectors of each branch or general officers. The ideal would be 1 inspecteur aux revues with 1 sous-inspector aux revues per department, however there were never enough of these specialists to meet demand

• 1 to 5 commissaires de guerre, generally 1 Commissaire-Ordonnetuer commanding with 1 Commissaire-Ordinaire per department, though the Ordonneteur would oversee the department where the division was headquartered. These were administration and supply officers responsible for gathering and organising supplies, managing convoys and the maintenance of military facilities

• Several treasury officials under a Payeur-Général, who was located in the headquarters department; there would be a Payeur-Particuleur in each of the other departments along with a divisional paymaster. These were civilians and had a dual role for civil treasury functions within the departments. The was divisional paymaster role was separated as army pay was accounted separately from other expenses.

• An agent en chef des vivres, in charge of storage of supplies with storekeepers (gardes-magasins) in various locations beneath him.

• Additionally, there would be the usual array of clerks and secretaries to handle paperwork

The staff positions were largely filled during the Peace of Amiens, however by the late Imperial period there were large numbers of vacancies especially amongst the Générals de Brigade and Inspecteurs aux Revues as they were sent to the field armies.

Units

The divisions would encompass a variety of units that were stationed within their areas of responsibility:

• There would be a varying number of regimental depots, the 21st Division had only 2 dragoon regiments while the 16th covering Bolougne had 20 infantry, 8 cavalry and 1 artillery regiments along with a train battalion and a disciplinary battalion for deserters. There would be a significant number of troops being trained within the depot battalions and squadrons, along with newly raised units being formed or cadres being brought up to strength.

• The divisions were responsible for all fortifications within their area. These were divided in 4 classes of place, commanded by Commandant de Place (of which there were 4 grades corresponding to each class, equivalent to Général de Division to Chef de Bataillon) and minor Postes, which would be used for support troops but were not expected to withstand a siege. The commandants would have 1 or more adjutants de place (captains or lieutenants) to assist them depending on the class; they would also have a secretary for paperwork

• Depending on the size of the fortifications there could be 1 or more artillery directions, under the command of a Colonel-Directeur, which could have sous-directions underneath for heavily fortified regions. Captains would be stationed in the various places with gardes to maintain the cannon, ammunition and other stores. Depending on what facilities were within the divisional area the artillery direction could include inspectors for state arms factories, forges, saltpetre and powder mills; the companies of armourers and ouvriers would also fall under the divisional command, as would the companies of coastal artillery.

• Similarly there could be an engineer direction, with the same hierarchy of directeurs des fortifications, sous-directeurs, captains and gardes to maintain the physical fortifications (Engineer directions did not necessarily correspond territorialy to those of the artillery)

• A gendarmerie legion would be assigned to the territory of the division

• The Legions of the National Guard and Departmental Reserve Companies organised above the departmental level would be formed on the basis of the Division.

• There could be miscellaneous other units such as military hospitals, schools or veteran colonies. Inspectors for these units would be under divisional command.