In 1877, it was stationed in Selimiye. It was composed of:
Infantry: Seven line regiments and seven rifle battalion.1st Regular Infantry Division (Birinci Nizamiye Fırkası)2nd Regular Infantry Division (İkinci Nizamiye Fırkası)Cavalry: Five line regiments and one Cossack brigade.Cavalry Division (Süvari Fırkası)Artillery: Nine field and three horse batteries, one İhtiyat regiment.Artillery Division (Topçu Fırkası)Engineer: One sapper company, eight companies of engineers, one company of artificers.Engineer regiment (İstihkâm Alayı) x 2After the Young Turk Revolution and the establishment of the Second Constitutional Era on July 3, 1908, the new government initiated a major military reform. Army headquarters were modernized. Its operational area was Constantinople and the Bosporus, and it had units in Europe and Asia Minor. It commanded the following active divisions: The First Army also had inspectorate functions for four Redif (reserve) divisions:
First Army Headquarters:1st Infantry Division (Birinci Fırka)2nd Infantry Division (İkinci Fırka)1st Cavalry Division (Birinci Süvari Fırkası)1st Artillery Division (Birinci Topçu Fırkası)Chataldja Fortified Area Command (Çatalca Müstahkem Mevkii Komutanlığı)Redif divisions of the First Army (name of the division denotes its location)1st Bursa Reserve Infantry Division (Birinci Bursa Redif Fırkası)2nd Kastamonu Reserve Infantry Division (İkinci Kastamonu Redif Fırkası)3rd Ankara Reserve Infantry Division (Üçüncü Ankara Redif Fırkası)4th Kayseri Reserve Infantry Division (Dördüncü Kayseri Redif Fırkası)With further reorganizations of the Ottoman Army, to include the creation of corps level headquarters, by 1911 the Army was headquartered in Harbiye. The Army before the First Balkan War in 1911 was structured as such:
Army Headquarters, Harbiye, ConstantinopleI Corps, Harbiye, Constantinople (Ferik Zeki Pasha)1st Infantry Division, Harbiye, Constantinople (Colonel Hasan İzzet Bey)2nd Infantry Division, Selimiye, Constantinople (Mirliva Prens Aziz Pasha)3rd Infantry Division, Pangaltı, Constantinople (Mirliva Osman Pasha)War Academy, Harbiye, ConstantinopleBosporus Fortified Area Command, Bosporus, ConstantinopleII Corps, Tekfur Dağı (Mirliva Şevket Turgut Pasha)4th Infantry Division, Tekfur Dağı5th Infantry Division, Gallipoli6th Infantry Division, IzmirDardanelles Fortified Area Command, ÇanakkaleIII Corps, Kırk Kilise7th Infantry Division, Kırk Kilise8th Infantry Division, Çorlu9th Infantry Division, BabaeskiIV Corps, Adrianople (Ferik Ahmet Abuk Pasha)10th Infantry Division, Adrianople11th Infantry Division, Dedeağaç12th Infantry Division, GümülcineAdrianople Fortified Area Command, AdrianopleCommanders
Otto Liman von Sanders (November 1914–March 1915)Colmar von der Goltz (March–October 1915)Esat Pasha (October 1915–24 February 1918)In August 1914, the army was structured as follows:
I Corps1st Division, 2nd Division, 3rd DivisionII Corps4th Division, 5th Division, 6th DivisionIII Corps7th Division, 8th Division, 9th Division1st Cavalry BrigadeIn November 1914, the army was structured as follows:
I Corps1st Division, 2nd Division, 3rd DivisionII Corps4th Division, 5th Division, 6th DivisionIII Corps7th Division, 8th Division, 9th DivisionIV Corps10th Division, 11th Division, 12th Division19th Division20th Division1st Cavalry BrigadeIn Late April 1915, the army was structured as follows:
I Corps1st Division, 2nd DivisionII Corps4th Division, 5th Division, 6th DivisionIV Corps10th Division, 12th Division20th Division1st Cavalry BrigadeIn Late Summer 1915, January 1916, the army was structured as follows:
1st Division20th Division1st Cavalry BrigadeIn August 1916, the army was structured as follows:
1st Cavalry Brigade49th DivisionIn December 1916, the army was structured as follows:
I Corps14th Division, 16th Division1st Cavalry BrigadeIn August 1917, the army was structured as follows:
I Corps42nd Division1st Cavalry BrigadeIn January 1918, the army was structured as follows:
I Corps42nd Division1st Cavalry Brigade15th Division25th DivisionIn June 1918, the army was structured as follows:
I Corps42nd Division1st Cavalry Brigade25th DivisionIn September 1918, the army was structured as follows:
I Corps42nd Division1st Cavalry BrigadeIn April 1919, Şevket Turgut Pasha, Cevat Pasha and Kavaklı Mustafa Fevzi Pasha hold a secret meeting in Constantinople. They prepared a report called "Trio Oath" (Üçler Misâkı) and decided to establish army inspectorate for the defense of homeland. In late April, Kavaklı Mustafa Fevzi Pasha submitted this report to the Minister of War Şakir Pasha. On April 30, 1919, the War Ministry and Sultan Mehmed VI ratified the decision about the establishing of army inspectorates that had been accepted by the Chief of General Staff And then the First Army Troops Inspectorate (stationed in Constantinople, Kavaklı Mustafa Fevzi Pasha), the Yildirim Troops Inspectorate (stationed in Konya, Mersinli Cemal Pasha, later Second Army Inspectorate) Inspectorate, the Ninth Army Troops Inspectorate (stationed in Erzurum, Mustafa Kemal Pasha, later Third Army Inspectorate) was formed. Additionally, the Rumeli Military Troops Inspectorate (Nureddin Pasha) would be established and the XIII Corps would be under the direction of the Ministry of War. In May 1919, the army inspectorate was structured as follows:
First Army Troops Inspectorate (Birinci Ordu Kıt'aatı Müfettişliği, Constantinople, Inspector: Ferik Kavaklı Mustafa Fevzi Pasha)I Corps (Adrianople, Miralay Cafer Tayyar Bey)49th Division60th DivisionXIV Corps (Tekfurdağı, Mirliva Yusuf Izzet Pasha)55th Division61st DivisionXVII Corps (Smyrna, Mirliva Ali Nadir Pasha, transferred to the Yildirim Army Troops Inspectorate after the Occupation of Smyrna)56th Division57th DivisionXXV Corps (Constantinople, Mirliva Ali Sait Pasha)1st Division10th Caucasian DivisionCommanders
Müşir (Field Marshal) Hasan Rıza Pasha (September 6, 1843 – February 3, 1847)Müşir Mehmet Rüşdi Pasha (February 3, 1847-March 1849)Müşir Mahmut Pasha (March 1849-Aug 7, 1852)Müşir Mehmet Selim Pasha (August 8, 1852 – May 15, 1853, May 1855-November 1857)Müşir Mehmet Reşit Pasha (September 1854-May 1855)Müşir Mehmet Vasıf Pasha (November 1856-September 4, 1857, -1860)Müşir Namık Pasha (July 1860-September 1861)Müşir Mehmet Fuat Pasha (September 1861-June 1863)Müşir Hüseyin Avni Pasha (June 1863-20 Aralık 1865)Müşir Abdülkerim Nadir Pasha (December 20, 1865 – June 3, 1868)Müşir Ömer Lütfi Pasha (June 4, 1868 – December 3, 1869)Müşir Mehmet İzzet Pasha (December 4, 1869 – August 27, 1870, January 1873-February 1873)Müşir Ahmet Esat Pasha (August 27, 1870 – September 1, 1871)Şehzade Yusuf İzzettin Efendi (September 1, 1871-January 1873)Müşir Mehmet Redif Pasha (February 1873-June 1876)Müşir Derviş İbrahim Pasha (June 1876-June 1877)Ferik Hüseyin Hüsnü Pasha (June 1877-March 1878)Müşir Osman Nuri Pasha (March 1878-July 12, 1880)Müşir İsmail Hakkı Pasha (July 12, 1880 – 1881)Müşir Mehmet Rauf Pasha (1881–1908)Ferik Ömer Yaver Pasha (August 24, 1909 – June 3, 1910)Ferik Zeki Pasha (June 4, 1910 – March 1, 1911)Mirliva Mahmut Şevket Pasha (March 2, 1911 – August 30, 1912)Müşir Abdullah Pasha (August 31, 1912 – 1913)Müşir Otto Liman von Sanders (August 3, 1914 – April 2, 1915)Müşir Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz (April 2, 1915 – October 5, 1915)Mirliva Mehmet Esat Pasha (October 12, 1915 – February 17, 1918)