Magdeburg Hussar Regiment No. 10

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sergeant and hussar , illustration by Georg Arnould , around 1890

The Magdeburg Hussar Regiment No. 10 was a light cavalry unit of the Prussian Army . It was set up in the Wars of Liberation in 1813 as a voluntary Elb National Hussar Regiment and in 1815 it was taken over as the 10th regiment in the Prussian Hussars. Until 1884 his garrison was Aschersleben , then Stendal .

history

Formation as the Elbe National Hussar Regiment

Uniform of the Elbe National Hussar Regiment from 1813–1815. Watercolor by Friedrich Neumann, (Art Library in Berlin)

On October 17, 1813, the Anhalt-Bernburg District Councilor Breymann and other patriotically minded former Prussian officers asked King Friedrich Wilhelm III. to agree to the establishment of a volunteer hussar regiment. The request was granted on October 28th and the highest cabinet ordre ordered the establishment of the regiment for November 19th, 1813. The day was later set as the regiment's foundation date.

The uniform was determined by the military government of Halle (Saale) . Every volunteer who joined the “Green Hussars” had to bring a horse into the regiment from their own resources. Those who couldn't do that had to pay at least 25 thalers. The Breymann District Councilor provided the regiment with 20,000 thalers.

A regiment was planned, consisting of four squadrons of 150 horses each. Three of these squadrons were to be set up in Aschersleben, the fourth in Salzwedel . These squadrons were formed relatively quickly, because the regiment was very popular. Aschersleben was assigned as a garrison, continuing the tradition of the place as a cavalry location (previously: Quitzow cuirassiers and 1st Westphalian cuirassier regiment ). The regiment was popularly known as the “Green Hussars from Aschersleben” because of its uniform color.

On November 25, 1813, 324 volunteers had already gathered and by the end of the year the Aschersleber squadrons were complete. For interim commander was Captain William of Breymann appointed. By cabinet order of 20 February, the Major was August Ludwig von Ledebur of Gardes du Corps to regimental commander determined. The regiment at that time consisted of 750 volunteers. After being fully equipped with English weapons, the regiment reported operational on April 1, 1814. A short time later it took part in the siege of Magdeburg .

1814

The newly formed regiment had its first practical test with its deployment in front of Magdeburg. The regiment was formed into five squadrons of hussars and two squadrons of hunters. The two Jäger squadrons had been together with other Prussian troops in front of the city, which at that time was still occupied by the French, since February 1814.

On the morning of April 2, the French pushed back the squadrons and other outposts. The villages on the Chaussee from Magdeburg to Halle were all occupied by French troops. Now other Prussian troops among them the five Aschersleber hussar squadrons were alerted. They succeeded in driving the French out of the villages and taking some prisoners. Subsequently, the Aschersleber squadrons also took part in the further siege of Magdeburg. After Napoleon's abdication on April 6, 1814, it was not until April 27, 1814 before the city of Magdeburg was handed over to the French. The Elb National Hussar Regiment moved into the city. The two Jäger squadrons were then disbanded and the rest of the regiment moved back into the garrison.

In June 1814 the regiment was posted to Westphalia , where it was under the command of General Tauentzien . It was stationed in the Minden , Ravensberg and Lippstadt area, and later moved to the Höxter and Herford area . From November the regiment was deployed in the Kingdom of Saxony . The 5th Squadron was handed over to Cuirassier Regiment No. 8 in April 1815. The regiment was taken over into the line cavalry on May 25, 1815 and it was now named “10. Hussar Regiment ”.

1815

After Napoleon came to power again on March 1, 1815 in France, the hussar regiment was mobilized on April 15, 1815, which was part of the reserve cavalry of Prince Wilhelm of Prussia , within the IV Army Corps , under the leadership of the General Infantry Bülow was turned off. This Prussian army marched to Belgium via Wetzlar and Koblenz . On June 15, the armed forces met the French army near Ligny .

On June 15th it moved into a bivouac near Hanaut and on June 17th the unit received the order to form the rearguard of the IV Army Corps with two battalions and half a battery . They reached the village of St. Guibert without touching the enemy. The 3rd and 5th Squadrons formed the outermost outpost. Strong French units forced the Arriere Guard, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Ledebur, to retreat to Wavre . The retreat of the infantry was covered by the 10th Hussar Regiment, after which the regiment followed the IV Army Corps through Wavre to Chapelle-Lambert. Here the regiment received orders to secure the place as French cavalry tried to cross the Dijle River . As a result, the regiment was not used in the battle of Waterloo . Still there were some casualties: three NCOs, 18 hussars and 28 horses.

The reserve cavalry now received orders to maintain contact with the 1st Army with a battalion and to advance to Paris . On July 1st, the Seine was crossed and camp was set up at Versailles . After the armistice with France on July 9, 1815, the troops of the Alliance entered Paris. The regiment's tasks were to disarm the national guards and to maintain order.

At the beginning of November they marched back and on December 28th they reached Aschersleben. The Rittmeister von Hagen, a sergeant and four hussars were awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class for their behavior during the fighting .

The 2nd squadron Egeln and Tarthun and the 4th squadron Cochstedt, Börnecke and Schneidlingen were assigned as provisional standing quarters. The 1st and 3rd squadrons were again housed in Aschersleben.

Line standards from 1816

1816 to 1866

In 1816, the Hussar Regiment received the line standard embroidered in gold as an appreciation for an excellent fight against Napoleon's armies . Furthermore, in the same year the 2nd squadron was relocated to Aschersleben, the 4th squadron went to Oschersleben , garrison on the fortress, today's Oschersleben Castle.

From November 5, 1816 to March 9, 1823 the regiment had the addition "(1. Magdeburgisches)", on March 10, 1823 it was named "10. Hussar Regiment ”, the addition of Magdeburg was initially dropped. In the peace years around 1827, Rittmeister Thadden was intensely committed to beautifying Aschersleben and its surroundings and was therefore made the city's first honorary citizen. When a devastating flood hit the town of Aschersleben in 1830, numerous people were saved through the use of the hussars. From 1843 the ruling Duke Wilhelm (Braunschweig) was appointed head of the regiment by King Friedrich Wilhelm IV .

The regiment was deployed in Magdeburg in the March Revolution of 1848 to establish internal order and security.

After the revolutionary uprisings in the Electorate of Hesse , the regiment marched into Hesse under Prince Radziwill in 1850 without any fighting. The Bronnzell mold became famous .

On May 7, 1861, the regiment was given its final name, Magdeburg Hussar Regiment No. 10, as part of Roon's army reform .

In 1862, the city of Aschersleben set up a canteen in what was then the armory, which later became an officers' mess. The city continued to feel very attached to its Green Hussars, and so in 1863 a large celebration was held to mark the 50th anniversary of the regiment in Aschersleben.

When the war between Prussia and Austria broke out in 1866, the hussars moved out with great sympathy from the population. Under Colonel Besser, the regiment distinguished itself in the battles of Münchengrätz , Gitschin , Königgrätz and Pressburg- Blumau.

After this campaign against Austria, the regiment received the ribbon with the commemorative cross on March 3, 1867 . A fifth squadron was set up between 1866 and 1870.

In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71 the regiment was involved in numerous battles ( Weißenburg , Wörth and Spichern ). In the battle of Mars-la-Tour it rode an attack near Vionville. When the German troops surrounded Paris, the regiment was assigned to the siege troops. On June 20, 1871, the hussars returned to Aschersleben.

Until the leave of absence of June 15, 1882 and transfer on December 12, 1882 to Hussar Regiment No. 13 , the 1st Squadron of the regiment was led by Rittmeister Gerd von Rundstedt , the father of the later General Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt .

In 1884 the regiment was moved to Stendal . A newly built barracks was also available here in 1905 .

In 1900 members of the regiment were assigned to the East Asian Expeditionary Corps ( Boxer Rebellion ) in China. Likewise, a detachment of the hussars strengthened the German troops in German Southwest Africa in the years 1903-1904 on the occasion of the uprising that broke out there.

1914 to 1920

Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich the Younger , chief of the regiment

During the mobilization in July 1914, the regiment was reinforced to six squadrons and divided into two half regiments of three squadrons each. After initial skirmishes in the area of ​​the Belgian border, the hussars advanced inland and took part in the capture of Brussels on August 20, 1914 . In the course of the general forward movement, the regiment reached the Marne , but had to withdraw from September 9th (withdrawal order) along the Aisne to Soissons . The regiment then took part in the so-called " Race to the Sea " and was then used in positional combat as early as mid-October 1914, initially without surrendering the horses. The units of the regiment remained on the Western Front in the area of ​​the IV Army Corps throughout 1915 . In 1916 the half regiments were disbanded and the individual squadrons were divided into infantry divisions, where they performed their original duties in the reporting and intelligence service. The year 1917 saw the surrender of the horses and the transformation into a cavalry rifle regiment. However, the 3rd and 6th squadron moved temporarily before the Eastern Front . Here the hussars fought in Eastern Galicia, Bukovina and in the Carpathians . In 1918 the individual squadrons, distributed among various infantry units, fought in the defensive battles on the Western Front. In December 1918 the remnants of the regiment arrived at their Stendal garrison, where the 1st, 3rd and 5th Squadrons were disbanded in February 1919. The 2nd and 4th squadrons had been converted into volunteer squadrons to fight the Polish insurgents in Upper Silesia . This did not happen, however, and the two squadrons were dissolved again in 1920.

The tradition took over in the Reichswehr the 3rd Squadron of the 3rd (Preuss.) Reiter Regiment in Stendal.

uniform

As a volunteer association, the regiment was already wearing a uniform based on the style of the line hussars. Dolman and Pelisse were dark green with yellow lacing. The collar and cuffs were a light blue badge color . When the tunic-like Attila replaced the Dolman in 1845 , the Mente was dropped and the badge color became pompadur red. The shako temporarily gave way to the wing cap in 1845 , but was replaced a little later by a Kolpak made of seal skin with a pouch in the color of the badge. The cap was equipped with tombac scale chains and a flying bandeau on the front with the inscription: With God for King and Fatherland . In addition a white bandolier with black cartridge , saber pouch and lance.

In Germany, around 1890 , Kaiser Wilhelm II ordered the entire cavalry to use the lance. The lance flags of the men were white and black, those of the NCOs were white with a black Prussian eagle.

Already ordered by AKO on February 14, 1907 and introduced gradually from 1909/1910, the colorful uniform was replaced for the first time by the field-gray field service uniform (M 1910) on the occasion of the Imperial Maneuver in 1913 . This resembled the peace uniform completely, but the lacing was gray. The leather gear and the boots were natural brown, the fur hat was covered by a fabric cover called reed-colored. The bandolier and the cartridge were no longer applied to this uniform.

Inclusion in the Prussian army march collection

The regiment has been represented in the army march collection since 1843 through its trot march (No. III, 32: Trot march of the 10th Hussar Regiment, composed by F. Münter). From 1841 to 1871, Münter was a trumpeter in the regiment to which he gave this trot march in 1843. Münter was active in composing for his regiment several times and after retiring from service lived as music director in Aschersleben. The Prussian Guard Music Director Wilhelm Wieprecht , who came from Aschersleben, certainly contributed to the fact that it became known and was included in the army march collection.

Until 1914 the field artillery regiments No. 35 in Deutsch-Eylau and 54 in Küstrin used the march on parades at a trot. The military music historian Joachim Toeche-Mittler (1906–1996) described the piece as a splendid rhythm for official use .

Regimental commanders

  • 1860 Hermann von Besser
  • 1867 Adolf von Weise
  • 1872 Friedrich von der Ceilings
  • 1880 Oskar von Wrangel
  • 1881 Woldemar von Troschke
  • 1883 Clemens von Poncet
  • 1885 Wilhelm von Restorff
  • 1888 Hans von Thümen
  • 1891 Gustav von Bonin

literature

  • History of the Magdeburg Hussar Regiment No. 10. Compiled on the occasion of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the same on November 19, 1863. Verlag A. Duncker, Berlin 1863.
  • Letters from campaigns in 1813 and 1814. In: Yearbooks for the German Army and Navy. 66, 1886, ZDB -ID 140029-0 .
  • Herbert von Thielen: History of the Magdeburg Hussar Regiment No. 10. 1813–1888. Hahn'sche Buchhandlung, Hanover 1888.
  • FC Drosihn: Aschersleben in the nineteenth century. Kinzenbach, Aschersleben 1900, p. 125.
  • Hein : The little book by the German army. A manual and reference book for instruction on the German military power. Lipsius and Tischer, Kiel a. a. 1901.
  • Albert Benary: Royal. Prussia. Magdeburg Hussar Regiment No. 10 in World War 1914/1918. With an honor list of all those who fell. Bernard & Graefe, Berlin, 1934, ( German deed in World War 1914/1918 9).
  • Hugo FW Schulz: The Prussian Cavalry Regiments 1913/1914. According to the law of July 3, 1913. Licensed issue. Weltbild Verlag, Augsburg 1992, ISBN 3-89350-343-9 .
  • Jürgen Kraus , Stefan Rest (Ed.): The German army in the First World War. Uniforms and equipment - 1914 to 1918. Verlag Militaria, Vienna 2004, ISBN 3-9501642-5-1 , ( catalogs of the Bavarian Army Museum Ingolstadt 2).
  • Heinrich Graf von Reichenbach (Ed.): As a hussar in the 1st World War. Letters, diary excerpts and photographs from Baron Albrecht Knigge. Publishing house Dr. Köster, Berlin 2014. ISBN 978-3-89574-866-0 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.napoleon-online.de/html/neumann1813_15.html
  2. ↑ see: Dutch Wikipedia source