The Royal Saxon Army (German: Königlich Sächsische Armee) was the military force of the Electorate (1682–1807) and later the Kingdom of Saxony (1807–1918).

With the formation of the Confederation of the Rhine by Napoleon the Royal Saxon Army joined the French "Grande Armée" along with 37 other German states.

He convinced the Saxon Estates in 1681 that the established practice of in case of war hiring mercenaries and dismissing them in peace, was as costly as the formation of a standing army.

The Saxon army suffered heavily under Friedrich August Graf Rutowski in the battle of Kesselsdorf against Prussia.

The growing crisis bankrupted the state and forced the Saxon Prime Minister Graf Brühl in 1749 to reduce the army to 17,000 men.

[1] After the war, Prince Francis Xavier as regent for the underage Elector Friedrich August III sought to reform the army to Prussian model, but failed because of the resistance of the estates because of high costs.

Saxony became a member state of the Confederation of the Rhine and on 20 December 1806, the Electorate was created a kingdom by the graces of Napoleon.

During the Battle of Friedland, a small division of two brigades, two cavalry regiments, and two foot batteries served in the French Reserve Corps under Marshal Jean Lannes.

Further changes in the Saxon military reforms: The new army administration brought totally different conditions, especially in relation to food, clothing and equipment of the troops.

After the defeat of the Allies at Lützen and Bautzen and due to the hesitant attitude of Austria, Frederick Augustus had no choice but to support Napoleon.

The Saxon army was reorganized in 1813 at Merseburg then at 1814 at Flanders by Johann von Thielmann and participated in the occupation of the Netherlands.

The Congress of Vienna decided in favor of dividing Saxony by giving Prussia a large portion of its population and parts of his army.

In the Armed Forces of the German Confederation Saxony provided the fourth largest contingent, after Austria, Prussia and Bavaria.

When the Austro-Prussian War in 1866 began, Saxony supported Austria and mobilized its 32,000-strong army around Dresden under the command of Crown Prince Albert.

The Crown Prince, however, succeeded in effecting the retreat in good order, and with his troops took part in the decisive Battle of Königgrätz (3 July 1866) where the Saxons held the extreme left of the Austrian position.

Albert and the Saxons took a leading part in the operations which preceded the battle of Sedan, the 4th army being the pivot on which the whole army wheeled round in pursuit of Mac-Mahon; and the actions of Buzancy and Beaumont on 29 and 30 August 1870 were fought under his direction; in the Battle of Sedan itself (1 September 1870), with the troops under his orders, Albert carried out the envelopment of the French on the east and north.

Albert's conduct in these engagements won for him the complete confidence of the army, and during the Siege of Paris his troops formed the north-east section of the investing force.

After the conclusion of the Treaty of Frankfurt (1871), he was left in command of the German army of occupation, a position which he held till the fall of the Paris Commune.

After the founding of the German Empire on 18 January 1871, the Kingdom of Saxony kept the limited autonomy in military matters which it had under the Convention of 1867.

It retained, despite certain jurisdictional disputes in the postwar period, a separate Ministry of War, general staff and military academy.

After the stabilization of the front on the Aisne River, on September 9, 1914, Hausen was relieved of his command due to illness and replaced by General Karl von Einem.