IX. Army Corps (German Empire)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The IX. Army Corps was a major unit of the Prussian Army from 1866 to 1919.

structure

In 1914 with the last state of peace, the following were subordinate to the corps:

history

General Command in Altona (Palmaille 67-71)
Official seal of the General Command

The corps was established on October 11, 1866 from the previously existing high command in the Elbe duchies and from the governorate in Schleswig on October 11, 1866. The general command was initially in Schleswig and from 1871 was on the Elbe side of the Palmaille in Altona . Until the outbreak of the First World War it was the III. Army inspection subordinated. Until then, it was also known as the "Northern Army".

Franco-German War

General Gustav von Manstein

In the war against France the IX. Corps 1870/71 under the commanding General von Manstein , Major Bronsart von Schellendorf acted as chief of staff. The corps formed together with the Saxon XII. Corps in the Mainz area the immediately available reserve. The 17th Division had been withdrawn from the corps and assigned to coastal protection in the Hamburg area . For the duration of the war, the Grand Ducal Hessian (25th) Division under Prince Ludwig of Hesse took its place , which was deployed in the Worms area until July 25th . The 18th division under General von Wrangel marched at Mainz until August 2nd . After the war progressed successfully in the first week, the IX. Corps released for war use and followed by the 2nd Army operating in the Metz area under Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia as reinforcement. The Prussian Chief of Staff von Moltke tried to get the French Rhine Army under Marshal Bazaine to leave his troops on the eastern bank of the Moselle in order to be able to encompass and cut them off with the German 3rd Army in the west.

The IX. Corps intervened on August 14th with the 18th Division in the final phase of the Battle of Colombey . The German 1st Cavalry Division under General von Hartmann had already advanced to the village of Mercy le Haut from the south . The following IX. Army Corps occupied Peltre and advanced against the right flank of the French position. The French Guard Corps then evacuated the village of Grigy on the east bank and abandoned the Borny forest. Bazaine, however, rejected his original plan to completely abandon the right bank of the Moselle and let himself be tied up there by troops of the German 1st Army, based on the fortress of Metz.

The 2nd Army crossed the Moselle on a broad front south of Metz on August 15 and began the operation. Bazaine was to be bound in the east and cut off from its rear connections by a large-scale enclosure of the German 2nd and 3rd Armies. The previous III. Corps reached the Moselle at Corny at night and crossed the river at Pagny . The IX. Corps stopped behind at Verny , the Xth Corps was already advancing westward at Pont-à-Mousson . The German Guard Corps went south at Dieulouard and the IV Corps crossed the river above at Custine.

The commanding generals of the German army corps in the war of 1870/71: I. Edwin Freiherr v. Manteuffel. - II. Eduard Friedrich v. Fransecky. - III. Constantin v. Alvensleben. IV. Gustav v. Alvensleben. - V. Hugo Ewald v. Kirchbach. - VI. Wilhelm v. Puddling. - VII: Heinrich Adolph v. Zastrow. - August 8th v. Goeben. - IX. Gustav v. Manstein. - X. Constantin Bernhard v. Voigts-Rhetz. - XI. Julius v. Angry. - XII. Crown Prince Albert of Saxony

The troops of the German 3rd Army, which formed the outermost encircling arm, were still far behind on August 16. The IX. Corps was to advance to Sillegny an der Seille that day and then to the previous III. Follow the corps to Gorze . On August 16, the 25th Division intervened in the battle of Vionville that evening , and on the east side of the forest of Ognon the Hessians met French guardsmen. On August 18, the IX. Corps advanced on Flavigny and got into battle at Verneville . Standing in the center of the now developing Battle of Gravelotte , the IX. Corps launched the attack in the center. Shortly before noon the 18th Division advanced from Caulre to Verneville and occupied it without a fight. The artillery took up position and dueled with the French artillery, which was in good position. Then fierce fighting broke out over the farmhouses of Champenois, L'Envie and la Folie. Only the first two could be taken by the Prussian troops around 5 p.m., La Folie remained in French hands. The artillery of the corps and especially the 36th Infantry Brigade under Major General von Below suffered heavy losses. Starting north of Arnoux la Grange, the 25th Hessian division attacked the ridge north of the de la Cusse forest. While the 50th Infantry Brigade under Colonel von Lyncker invaded the Bois de la Cusse forest, the 49th Infantry Brigade under Major General von Wittich strode north of it, between Habonville and the forest to the east, towards the French troops. Between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., after a hard fight for the leasehold of Champenoy and Chantrenne, they crossed the railway line to Amanvillers. At the same time as the first cannon shots in the center, the 8th Army Corps of the German 1st Army set in motion to the east north of the Rezonville - Gravelotte road. When the Guard Corps caught up with Saint-Privat on the north wing after 6 p.m. , attempts were again in vain to wrest the well-fortified town of Amanvillers from the French 4th Corps under General Ladmirault. Marshal Bazaine, seeing his entire position in danger by retreating his right flank at Gravelotte, cleared the battlefield and let his army fall back on Metz. On August 19th the 2nd Army camped in the positions it had reached: the IX. Corps occupied the leasehold farms in Leipzig and La Folie, the Prussian guards to the north were now encamped in Amanvillers and Montigny Castle. Seven corps and the 3rd Reserve Division (von Kummer) now enclosed Bazaine's army, which had fallen back on the fortress, the IX. Corps was assigned to cover the north-western section at Pierrevillers and Montois la Montagne, and the Xth Army Corps joined it as far as the Moselle .

On October 28th, the 2nd Army was released after Bazaine's surrender and moved to the central Loire to oppose a newly established French army near Orleans . On November 10th, the army of Friedrich Karl reached II., III., IX. and X Corps the line from Troyes to Chaumont . On November 14th, the IX. Corps with the assigned 1st Cavalry Division Fontainebleau and continued the march on Angerville. On November 20, the 2nd Army reached the line Pithiviers (III.), Montargis (X.), the IX. Corps was at Angerville. The prince pulled the III. and IX. Corps about as high as Toury and ordered the division of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg to advance to Tours via Le Mans in order to cut off the rear connections of the French Loire Army. On the afternoon of December 3rd, the IX. Occupy Artenay during the Battle of Orleans after a lengthy artillery battle . General von Manstein advanced in the center with the 18th Division via Pambron to Vilchat, while the III. Corps under General von Alvensleben together with the 6th Cavalry Division against the French 18th Corps against the forest of Orléans. When night fell, General von Manstein no longer expected that the capture of Orléans would still be possible that day. Only on December 4, after the French withdrawal, did it break through the fortifications at Gidy and Cercottes. After the entry into Orléans, the commanding general of the corps, General von Manstein, took over the invasion of the troops arranged according to their seniority . This happened in the most emblematic place in the city, Matroy Square, under the equestrian statue of the Maid of Orléans . On December 10, the 25th Division of the Corps stood in support of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg during the Battle of Beaugency on the left bank of the Loire and pursued to the south of Blois .

At the end of December 1870, another 150,000 French soldiers gathered at Le Mans . However, before the reorganization could be completed, the Prussians planned their advance on Le Mans from January 1, 1871, in order to smash the Second Loire Army as well. For this purpose, the III., IX., X. and XIII. Corps gathered in and around Vendôme . The IX. Corps advanced from Orleans on Moree . The IX. Corps took part in the final battle at Le Mans between January 12 and 15, 1871 . In the center were the III. and the IX. Corps, on the right the XIII. and on the left the X Corps. Manstein fought in the battle for the heights of Auvours, General von Alvensleben at Landiere and La Terte. The Loire Army under General Chanzy was completely defeated.

Army increase in 1897

Since the IV (half) battalions of the infantry regiments established in 1893 had not proved their worth, a proposal to change the army structure was accepted by the Reich government in August 1896:

A new infantry brigade was to be set up in each army corps on April 1, 1897. Their two regiments were formed from the previous half-battalions. In the area of ​​the IX. Army Corps, the 81st Infantry Brigade in Lübeck was established within the 17th Division , consisting of Infantry Regiment No. 162 in Lübeck and Infantry Regiment No. 163 in Neumünster .

First World War

Ferdinand von Quast

At the beginning of the First World War, the IX. Army Corps to Lieutenant General von Quast and was subordinate to the 1st Army on the Western Front . Lieutenant Colonel von Sydow acted as chief of staff, the 17th division led Lieutenant General von Bauer , and the 18th division commanded Lieutenant General von Kluge . After marching through neutral Belgium, the 1st Army under Colonel General von Kluck met the British Expeditionary Force under General French on August 23, 1914 in the Battle of Mons . General Quast commissioned the 18th Division to fill the crossings over the Canal du Center at Nimy and Obourg. Fierce fighting developed at the crossings, which the attackers won. Nimy was stormed around 4 p.m. Mons, which is adjacent to the south, was occupied shortly afterwards without a fight. British troops resisting in the south-east and east of the city were thrown back to the south-west in conjunction with the 17th Division, which had crossed the Channel further east.

On September 5th the 1st Army had crossed the Marne with three corps in pursuit . In the evening the IX. Corps reached the Neuvy - Esternay line . Opposite the British forces had already gone back to the Grand Morin . On the morning of September 6th, General Quast, whose corps now formed Kluck's left wing , received notification from the neighboring VII Army Corps that the 2nd Army , which had also been attacked, had not advanced south via Montmirail and that the X Reserve Corps at Charleville was heavily attacked by the French. In the evening, the III. and IX. Corps were completely isolated and had advanced furthest south on the Petit Morin. To the north of the Marne, the IV Reserve Corps , which had been left behind to secure the flank, was violently attacked by new French forces at Etrépilly on this decisive 6th September. Colonel General Kluck, concerned about the right flank of the army, had on this day, in addition to the reinforcements that had already left the previous day, now also the removal of III. and IX. Army corps at the Petit Morin and dispatched these formations to the Ourcq . As a result, the right flank was negligently exposed and there was a large gap in the front to the adjoining 2nd Army. By the evening of September 8, most of the IX. Army Corps took the right wing of the 1st Army on the Mareuil - La Ferté-Milon line after a long march . On the morning of the 9th, the corps was ready on the Gondreville-Antilly line to repel Maunoury's left wing. By 9 a.m. the village of Ormoy le Davien was occupied and the attack against Vargny had begun. With the additional intervention of the 43rd Reserve Brigade under Major General Lepel, which was approaching from the north, the planned encirclement of the French via Nanteuil-le-Haudouin was promising. As a result of the penetration of the Entente troops in the gap at Château-Thierry and the general withdrawal order for the 1st Army, the IX. Corps to break off the fight and to retreat via Villers-Cotterêts to the Aisne . On September 12, 1914, the IX. Corps the extreme right wing of the new defensive position of the 1st Army. The 17th division stood ready for defense on the heights of Attichy-Bitry, the 18th division in the Autrêches area and in the area north of it. On September 16, the French IV Corps began an attack between Ribecourt-Nampcel. The seam between the German IX. Corps and the IX. Reserve Corps breached and a wedge 3 kilometers deep struck in the German front. The IX. Corps then held a somewhat indented front line north of the forest of Aigle, on the heights from Torcy - Carlepont to Nampcel.

During the Battle of the Somme from July 9, 1916, the group "Quast" (General Command IX Army Corps) was created to protect the threatened city of Péronne on the north wing of the XVII. Army Corps pushed in on the threatened Biaches- Barleux line . The Frentz division, oppressed by the French, was replaced by the 17th division. South of the Somme, the French were wrestling with the group “Quast” on the Clery – Biaches – Barleux line until July 19 and were close to Péronne. At the end of July, in addition to the Quast group, the 16th Division, the Liebert Division , the 1st Guard Reserve Division , the 4th Guard Division and the 28th Division were added as reinforcements. In September 1916, the new line of defense of the group "Quast" and the group "Kathen" , which was added in mid-September, ran from Barleux via Fresnes - east past Vermandovillers to the western edge of Chaulnes.

Between April 12 and October 6, 1917, the corps command was referred to as the "Cambrai" group. After his replacement and relocation, the General Command was called the "Saint Quentin" group between October 10, 1917 and April 5, 1918.

At the Michael company from March 21, 1918, the “Oettinger” group was subordinate to the 50th and 231st divisions and the 54th reserve division as part of the 18th Army . Left of the III. Corps advanced the IX. Corps on both sides of the St. Quentin - Ham road with the 50th Division, the 45th Reserve Division and the 5th Guard Division. The corps fought when crossing the Somme and Crozat Canal between St. Christ and Tergnier . From March 25th to March 31st the corps advanced via Noyon to Montdidier . On June 9th, the corps took part in the battle west of Noyon as part of the "Gneisenau attack". The 222nd Division on the left supported the XVII, which was attacking the positions of the French 35th Corps to the east . Army Corps . After a two-month positional warfare, the corps, to which the 2nd and 11th Divisions were subordinate at that time , had to give up the western promontory at Montdidier due to attacks by the French 3rd Army (General Humbert ) in the direction of Assainvillers and Orvillers (10 August) go back to Roye by the end of August .

Commanding general

The general command as the command authority of the army corps was under the leadership of the commanding general .

Rank Surname date
General of the cavalry Edwin von Manteuffel October 30, 1866 to January 25, 1867
General of the Infantry Gustav von Manstein January 26, 1867 to September 23, 1873
General of the Infantry Hermann von Tresckow September 23, 1873 to August 1, 1888
General of the Infantry Paul von Leszczynski 0August 2, 1888 to February 1, 1891
General of the cavalry Alfred von Waldersee 0February 2, 1891 to April 4, 1898
General of the cavalry Robert von Massow 0April 5, 1898 to October 28, 1903
Lieutenant General /
General of the Infantry 		Friedrich von Bock and Polach October 29, 1903 to May 20, 1907
General of the cavalry Hermann von Vietinghoff May 21, 1907 to April 11, 1910
General of the Infantry Karl von Plettenberg April 12, 1910 to February 28, 1913
Lieutenant General Ferdinand von Quast 0March 1 to 21, 1913 (in charge of the tour)
Lieutenant General /
General of the Infantry 		Ferdinand von Quast March 22, 1913 to January 23, 1917
Lieutenant General Horst von Oetinger January 24, 1917 to November 24, 1918 (entrusted with the tour)
Lieutenant General Horst von Oetinger November 25, 1918 to February 2, 1919 (ordered to take over the business of the commanding general)

Deputy General Command

Rank Surname date
Lieutenant General / General of the Infantry Friedrich August von Etzel July 18, 1870 to May 19, 1871
General of the artillery Maximilian von Roehl 0August 2, 1914 to June 1, 1916
General of the Infantry Adalbert von Falk 0June 2, 1916 to November 24, 1918

In order to master the Kiel sailors' uprising , the chief of the naval station of the Baltic Sea and the Kiel governorate , Admiral Souchon , did not turn to the senior military commander in his home region on November 3, 1918, but to the deputy general command of the adjoining corps area in Altona. Their commanding general thereupon instructed the troop leader of the deputy brigade command closest to the Kiel fortress area, Lieutenant General Wright , to collect all available infantry forces from the replacement battalions subordinate to him under uniform orders and to transport them to Kiel that same night and left in Lübeck and Neumünster for their transports Provide trains . Wright alerted the reserve battalions of the 162 and the Schleswig Reserve Regiment of the 84 in Lübeck and the 163 in Neumünster. However, as it was said during the night that the unrest in Kiel had been suppressed, the measures initiated were reversed before midnight.

But already the next morning the unrest there revived and at 10 o'clock Souchon asked the chief of the deputy general staff of the corps for help from Rendsburg ( Infantry Regiment "Duke of Holstein" (Holstein) No. 85 ) and Lübeck. The latter named Wright by telephone at 11 o'clock to command all the replacement battalions to be deployed against Kiel.

Wright's plan was to gather all of the intervention troops arriving from the corps area south of Kiel and to march into Kiel with united forces. His plan was based not only on his experiences in the history of war , but also on the general staff study from 1908 on the struggle in insurgent cities, which was distributed to the brigade staff .

Souchon, however, rejected the plan and, as a result, the commander. It would be ruled out that a troop commander of the land army would be in command in the area of ​​the naval war port of Kiel. He got in touch with the military commander in Altona and managed to come to an understanding with him, largely asserting his personal reputation and immediate position . At noon, Wright was released from his command by a phone call from the General Command and the reaction forces were placed under Souchon's direct command. His tactical concept consisted of creating Remedur within the fortress area with the help of the last formations still loyal to him and the army troops that had been sent to them.

However, his tactics should prove to be useless right from the start. Contrary to the forceful counter-ideas of the army commander, who had been rejected by him, the station command allowed all special trains manned by intervention troops to enter the main station of the rebel- ruled city. The revolutionary crowd took the incoming transports by surprise.

Flags / flag decorations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ War Ministry, Secret War Chancellery (editors): Ranking list of the Royal Prussian Army and the XIII. (Royal Württemberg Army Corps for 1914. […] As of May 6, 1914. […] . Verlag Ernst Siegfried Mittler and Son, Berlin 1914. P. 81 ff.
  2. ↑ Harry von Rège : Officer list of the infantry regiment No. 76. Mauke, Hamburg 1902. “9/12/95 as chief d. General Staff d. Northern Army to Sr. Majesty commdt the Kaiser. "
  3. ^ Scheibert: The war between France and Germany 1870/71. Pauli's successor, Berlin 1895, p. 65 f.
  4. ^ Scheibert: The war between France and Germany 1870/71. Pauli's successor, Berlin 1895, pp. 80–85.
  5. ^ Scheibert: The war between France and Germany 1870/71. Pauli's successor, Berlin 1895, p. 190.
  6. ^ Scheibert: The war between France and Germany 1870/71. Pauli's successor, Berlin 1895, pp. 219–230.
  7. ^ Reichsarchiv: Volume I., ES Mittler & Sohn, Kriegsgliederungen p. 668.
  8. ^ Reichsarchiv, Volume I: Grenzschlachten. P. 419 f.
  9. ^ Reichsarchiv Volume IV: The Marne Campaign. ES Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1926, p. 27.
  10. ^ Reichsarchiv: Volume IV: The Marne campaign 1914. ES Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1929, p. 70 f.
  11. ^ Reichsarchiv: Volume V: The Autumn Campaign 1914. ES Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1929, pp. 16–80.
  12. ^ Reichsarchiv: The World War 1914–1918. Volume X. Berlin 1936, p. 338 f.
  13. ^ Crown Prince Wilhelm: My memories. ES Mittler and Son, Berlin 1923, p. 303 f.
  14. ^ Reichsarchiv: The World War 1914-18, Volume XIV., ES Mittler und Sohn, 1944, card insert 25
  15. ↑ a b 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. 65.
  16. ↑ See also list of abandoned buildings in Lübeck: Wisbystraße