3rd Cavalry Division (German Empire)

The 3rd Cavalry Division was a large unit of the Prussian Army , which existed for the duration of the mobilization on the occasion of the Sardinian War in 1859, the war against France in 1870/71 and during the First World War from 1914 to 1916.

structure

Organization of war during mobilization in 1914

• 16th Cavalry Brigade
  • Jäger-Regiment on Horseback No. 7
  • Hunter Regiment on Horseback No. 8
• 22nd Cavalry Brigade
  • Dragoon Regiment "Freiherr von Manteuffel" (Rheinisches) No. 5
  • Hussar regiment "Landgrave Friedrich II. Von Hessen-Homburg" (2nd Kurhessisches) No. 14
• 25th Cavalry Brigade
  • Guard Dragoon Regiment (1st Grand Ducal Hessian) No. 23
  • Leib-Dragoon Regiment (2nd Grand Ducal Hessian) No. 24
• Riding division / 1st Kurhessisches Feldartillerie-Regiment No. 11
• MG Division No. 2
• Pioneer department

history

The division was formed as part of the mobilization at the beginning of the First World War , initially deployed on the Western Front and moved to the Eastern Front at the end of March 1915 . There, on August 31, 1916, it was transformed into the " Schmettow Corps " and officially dissolved on November 2, 1916. The corps was transferred to General Command 65 on January 11, 1917 .

Battle calendar

1914

• 05th to 21st August - veiling battles in front of the 5th Army front
• August 22-27 - Battle of Longwy-Longuyon and the Othain Sector
• August 28th to September 1st - Battle of the Meuse crossings
• 0September 2nd to 3rd - Battle of Varennes -Montfaucon
• 0September 4-5 - pursuit west of Verdun and through the Argonne
• 0September 6-12 - Battle of Vaubecourt-Fleury
• September 17th to 24th - Battle of Varennes
• 0October 4-14 - Battle of reconnaissance and cover-up in Belgium and northern France
• October 13th to December 5th - Trench warfare in Flanders and Artois
  • October 15-28 - Battle of Lille
  • October 30th to November 24th - Battle of Ypres
• from December 5th - occupation service in Belgium

1915

• until March 30th - occupation service in Belgium and transport to the east
• 0April 1st to 22nd - Upper East Reserve in Gumbinnen
• April 26th to May 9th - advance to Lithuania and Courland
• 0May 9th to July 13th - Battles on the Lower Dubissa
• July 14th to 25th - Battle of Schaulen
• July 30th to August 7th - Battle of Kupishki
• 0August 3 to 10 - Battles near Kowarsk and Wilkomierz
• August 12th to 19th - Battle of Shimanzy-Ponedeli
• August 19 to September 8 - Battle of Nyemen
• 0September 9 to November 2 - Battle of Vilnius
• from October 3rd - position battles between Krewo- Smorgon - Narotsch -Tweretsch

1916

• until September 2nd - trench warfare between Krewo-Smorgon-Narotsch-Tveretsch
• 0September 2nd to 10th - transport to Romania
• September 10th to 25th - Fights on the Cibin and Alt sections
• September 26-29 - Battle of Sibiu
• September 29th to October 4th - Fights for Fogaras
• 0October 5th - Battle of the Geisterwalde
• 0October 7th to 9th - Battle of Kronstadt
• October 10th to November 2nd - Mountain fighting in the Ojtoz region

Commanders

Rank	Surname	date
Major general	Wilhelm von Scholten	June 14 to November 18, 1859
Lieutenant General	Georg von der Groeben	July 18, 1870 to May 23, 1871
Major general	Kurt von Unger	0August 2, 1914 to?
Major general	Günther von Etzel	0May 3, 1915 to August 8, 1916
Lieutenant General	Eberhard von Schmettow	August 31 to September 1, 1916
Major general	Georg Thumb from Neuburg	0September 1 to November 2, 1916

literature

• Hall of Fame of our Old Army. Published on the basis of official material from the Reich Archives . Military publishing house, Berlin 1927, pp. 78, 176.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Dermot Bradley (ed.), Günter Wegner: Occupation of the German Army 1815-1939. Volume 1: The higher command posts 1815–1939. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1990, ISBN 3-7648-1780-1 , p. 419.