Royal Bavarian 1st Uhlan Regiment "Kaiser Wilhelm II., King of Prussia"

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Captain of the Royal Bavarian 1st Uhlan Regiment in parade (re-enacted in 2008)

The 1st Uhlan regiment "Kaiser Wilhelm II., King of Prussia" (also known as "Bamberger Uhlans" , "Kaiser Uhlans" or by the nickname "Sekt Uhlans" ) was an Uhlan regiment of the Bavarian Army , which was based in Bamberg stationed and in 1914 was subordinate to the 4th Cavalry Brigade .

The regiment was set up in 1863 and took part in the German War (1866), the Franco-German War (1870/71) and the First World War (1914-1918). It was dissolved in 1919.

history

Precursors to the time of the wars of liberation

A Uhlan regiment was set up by King Maximilian I Joseph on August 19, 1813 during the wars of liberation in Aschaffenburg and disbanded on June 30, 1822. Uhlans had repeatedly proven themselves as lancers based on the Polish model during the Napoleonic wars and were now raised in large numbers by many armies in Europe. The regiment moved from the Aschaffenburg garrison to France on June 11, 1815 to take part in the last campaign against Napoleon , but was no longer involved in combat operations.

Positioning and development

The regiment was set up on December 21, 1863 on the orders of King Maximilian II in Dillingen and Augsburg . It was formed from the 3rd Division (5th and 6th Squadron) of the 3rd Chevaulegers Regiment and the 3rd Division (5th and 6th Squadron) of the 4th Chevaulegers Regiment . The commoner Georg Korb was appointed the first regimental commander. On May 29, 1864, King Ludwig II became the owner of the regiment , which on May 25, 1864 was called the 1st Uhlan Regiment "King Ludwig II" . On July 6, 1864, however, Nikolaus Alexandrowitsch , Grand Duke of Russia, was appointed owner, which on the same day led to the renaming of the 1st Uhlan Regiment "Grand Duke Nikolaus" . After the early death of the Grand Duke on April 24, 1865, the 1st Uhlan Regiment was called "vacant Grand Duke Nikolaus" on the same day .

War against Prussia 1866

On June 2, 1866, the regiment entered with four squadrons with 443 horses; the 5th squadron was intended as a depot squadron with 170 men and 175 horses. A 6th (reserve) squadron with 205 men and 150 horses was set up. It was subordinate to the 1st light cavalry brigade under Major General Duke Ludwig in Bavaria to the Reserve Cavalry Corps under General of the Cavalry Prince von Thurn und Taxis. The regiment was only involved in the Hammelburg affair on July 10, 1866 . There it lost twelve wounded, four of whom later died, as well as 24 horses during the Saale crossing to Prussian artillery fire. On September 1, the 1st Uhlans returned to Dillingen without having participated in any further fighting.

In 1867 the 3rd Squadron of the 3rd Uhlan Regiment was added. The regiment was now divided into five squadrons with 962 lancers and 626 horses. On October 11, 1868, Moritz Graf von Ysenburg-Philippseich was appointed commander of the regiment.

Franco-German War 1870/71

In the war of 1870/71 against France, the regiment under Colonel Graf von Ysenburg moved on August 2, 1870 with twenty officers, five officials, 528 lancers, 22 training horses and seven vehicles. The sabers were sharpened in the grinding mill in Donau-Altheim according to the war. Loading at the Offingen train station, it was transported in three trains to Bruchsal , from where the Bavarian Uhlan Brigade (1st and 2nd Uhlan Regiment ) marched to France under Major General Baron von Mulzer. The Uhlan Brigade was part of the II. Army Corps under General of the Infantry Jakob von Hartmann in the III. Army (Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia ) subordinated, which marched into Northern Alsace.

In the battle of Wörth , in which the III. Army defeated the 1st Army Corps of the French Rhine Army under Marshal Mac Mahon on August 6, 1870 , the Uhlans - deployed as reserves - had no contact with the enemy except for ineffective French artillery fire. Scheduled too late to pursue the defeated French, on August 7, 1870 the regiment was only able to capture isolated French stragglers.

The III. The army lost contact with the French and marched west towards Chalon, where Mac Mahon gathered the remains of his defeated army corps and other French corps to form a new army. In the course of the general advance, the regiment reached the Dieuze area on August 13 and took part in the Marsal surrender on August 14. Then the regiment marched on to Toul (August 16), which offered resistance and was shot at by the Massenbach riding battery . The next day the Uhlan Brigade bypassed Toul south by swimming through the Moselle and marched further west towards Bar-le-Duc .

The situation changed fundamentally when, from August 16 to 18, the French Rhine Army under Marshal Bazaine near Metz was defeated in several battles by the First and Second Prussian Army and had to allow itself to be locked in the fortress of Metz . After several days of reconnaissance and outpost service in connection with the further advance, the Uhlan Brigade reached the area 30 km southeast of Chalon ahead of the II Corps on August 25th.

Now it became clear to the German high command that Mac Mahon and his army were no longer staying in Chalon, but were trying to relieve the French Rhine Army in Metz from the north. The Bavarian II. Corps, which had reached Charmont on August 25, was joined by the III. Army scheduled as part of a large-scale pincer move north. The regiment collected after forced marches on 27./28. August in Ripont to rejoin the Bavarian II Army Corps near Binorville.

On August 30th, Mac Mahon was surrounded by the German army corps near Sedan . The regiment took part in the Battle of Sedan on September 1 as part of the southern containment ring , but had no significant enemy contact. The II Army Corps initially held them in readiness behind the northern wooded areas of the Bois de la Marfee and then pulled them towards the left wing on the road from Sedan to Mezieres during the last attempts at breakthrough by French troops around 2:30 in the afternoon.

After the Battle of Sedan, the regiment marched as part of the general advance on Paris , securing and clearing up, and had several contacts with Franctireurs . On September 17th, the left bank of the Seine was reached at Corbeil . On September 19th, the ring around Paris was completely closed. For the next few months until the end of the war, the Uhlans were deployed to secure the southern ring of enclosure of Paris and had quarters in Massy.

After the surrender of Paris, the regiment was allowed to take part in the victory parade in Paris on March 1, 1871. The Uhlans then marched back, with the 1st Squadron remaining in France as part of the occupation army until August 1873, where they were housed in Donchery and temporarily in Sedan. Most of the regiment marched via Sezanne and Vitry to Maxau, loaded onto three trains there on June 27, 1871 and arrived on the night of 27/28. June Günzburg , where unloading took place. On June 28th the regiment returned to Dillingen.

The regiment's losses in this war were small: seven dead, three wounded and 96 sick. Three of the horses were killed by gunshot wounds, seven were euthanized because of illnesses and 52 became ill.

Between the Franco-German War and the First World War

Private commemorative stamp for the 50th anniversary of the regiment, 1913

On July 17, 1871, General Field Marshal Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia was appointed owner of the regiment, which on the same day was renamed the 1st Uhlan Regiment "Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm" . In September 1872 the regiment was transferred to Bamberg . From 1872 to 1887 a squadron was in Neustadt an der Aisch every two years . On July 4, 1882, the regiment received its standard. After Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm succeeded his late father Wilhelm I as Emperor of the Germans, the regiment changed its name on March 9, 1888 to the 1st Uhlan Regiment "Kaiser Friedrich III., King of Prussia" . After Friedrich III. had died on June 15, 1888, was born on June 19, 1888 his son, Emperor Wilhelm II. , appointed owner of the regiment, which from now on the name of the first Lancers Regiment "Kaiser Wilhelm II., King of Prussia ' led . In 1890, Max Emanuel Herzog was placed in Bavaria à la suite of the regiment, who donated an amount of 3000 Reichsmarks, the interest of which was to be used to support officers and NCOs of the regiment. On February 8, 1896, three NCOs, 24 Uhlans and 27 horses were handed over to the messenger rider detachment of the II Army Corps in Nuremberg . In 1897, Friedrich Wilhelm , Crown Prince of Prussia, was placed à la suite of the regiment. On July 16, 1900, a trumpeter and five men, on August 23, a lieutenant volunteered for the China expedition . On September 28, 1900, two non-commissioned officers and five men with fifteen horses were handed over to the squadron hunters on horses of the 1st Army Corps . On October 15, 1911, Lieutenant Colonel Eduard Freiherr von Crailsheim was appointed regimental commander.

The regiment, which, along with the Leibregiment and the 1st Heavy Rider Regiment, was one of the three “noble” regiments of the Bavarian Army, had an above-average proportion of noble officers . Members of the Egloffstein , Guttenberg , Stauffenberg and Wittelsbach families (e.g. Max Emanuel in Bavaria) served in this association. There is the following anecdote : Since up to six members of the Gebsattel family served in the unit at times , Wilhelm II is said to have called the regiment the Gebsattel regiment .

First World War

1914

The regiment entered on August 3, 1914 with 33 officers, 654 Uhlans, 729 horses and 19 vehicles. It was divided into four field squadrons, the 2nd squadron was the replacement squadron. In addition, the 2nd and 3rd Landsturm Squadrons of the II Army Corps were established in August. As part of the 6th Army , it was initially used on the Western Front. On August 11, 1914, three squadrons under the Uhlan Brigade took part in the attack at Lagarde , with the brigade capturing eleven guns, several machine guns and an eagle; they also took 1,400 French prisoners. In the course of the attack, the regiment lost four officers, 31 lancers and 29 horses to the dead, three officers, 61 lancers and thirteen horses to the wounded and 32 lancers and 87 horses to the missing. On August 20, the brigade was assigned the replacement of four officers, 88 lancers and 120 horses. In September 1914, two replacement transports with three officers, 93 lancers and 139 horses arrived. During the battle at Hazebrouck on October 9, 1914, it took part in the cavalry division. It suffered losses of ten dead, 38 wounded and eight missing. The regimental history mentions the penetration of some Uhlans into Ypres in October 1914 - that would make them the only German troops who succeeded. In the battle at Partyntie Ferme on October 21, 1914, the 4th Squadron was particularly hard hit and only had 28 Uhlans ready for action. On November 19, 1914, replacements of 180 Uhlans, 156 horses and two wagons of material were taken over.

1915

At the beginning of 1915, the regiment with the Bavarian Cavalry Division was transferred to the Eastern Front in Kielmy . On February 8, 41 uhlans and 63 horses were replaced. On March 20, 1915, the regiment had to deliver one officer, two NCOs and 19 lancers to the cyclist company of the cavalry division. In the battle near Kielmy on April 28, 1915, it fought as part of the cavalry division and lost fourteen officers, 145 lancers and 83 horses. On May 19, 1915, a first lieutenant and 200 Uhlans reported to the regiment to replace them. Major General Freiherr von Crailsheim, the last peace commander who rode the Lagarde attack at the head of the regiment and was now commander of the Uhlan Brigade , was seriously wounded by a saber stab on May 8, 1915 in a rearguard battle with Russian dragoons near Krakinow and died on the way to the hospital. Crailsheim was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order for his bravery on May 8, 1915 . As his successor, Major Maximilian Zürn was appointed regimental commander on July 14, 1915 . The regiment continued to advance in Courland until October 1915 . After marches all over Lithuania , the Uhlans were able to distinguish themselves when they captured the city of Soloki on September 14, 1915. After the end of the great advance of 1915, the regiment was then in the trench warfare at the Komaika (tributary of Disna used) in Lithuania until April 1916th

1916

In the course of 1916 General of the Cavalry Ludwig Freiherr von Gebsattel was placed à la suite of the regiment. On May 1, 1916, the regiment had eighteen officers, 816 NCOs and Uhlans, and 860 horses. In July 1916 the regiment's budget was reduced: 31 NCOs and 139 Uhlans were transferred to the replacement squadron. When the Brusilov offensive of the Russians almost collapsed the Austro-Hungarian front in the south, the regiment was transported to Volhynia , where it was used in infantry warfare on the Stochod until February 1918 . In the defensive battles near Toboly from August 18 to 20, 1916, the regiment was able to assert itself in the fight against superior forces of all weapons, fourteen Uhlans were killed and 59 were wounded. The losses were offset by the arrival of two officers, five non-commissioned officers and 95 Uhlans who arrived on August 25, 1916. Four non-commissioned officers and twenty Uhlans were assigned to protect the harvest. In September 1916 there were 481 horses for the potato harvest in the German Reich. In further skirmishes at Toboly from September 9-11, 1916, the regiment had to accept another sixteen fallen and 86 wounded Uhlans.

1917

On April 3 and 4, 1917, the regiment took part in the storming of the Toboly bridgehead , capturing four machine guns and seven mortars, five Russian officers and 275 men were taken prisoner.

1918/19

On February 19, 1918, the regiment was withdrawn from the front. On March 1, 1918, the regiment was reclassified into four rifle squadrons of 740 men and two mounted squadrons with 160 lancers. On March 8, 1918, the regiment reported a food supply of 32 officers, 96 NCOs and 664 Uhlans and 533 riding horses. It also had 260 prey horses and 32 purchase horses. The regiment now took part in the advance in Ukraine and fought in the railway war mainly against the Bolsheviks via Kiev to Novomoskowsk until April 1918. There the regiment could be made fully mounted again using Russian cavalry horses. Until May 1918 the march continued to the southeast and participated in the capture of Rostov . In June the regiment was then transported back to the core of Ukraine south of Kiev in order to put down an uprising there by September and to disarm the insurgents. In October and November 1918 the relocations to the south in the Nogai steppe and the Crimea took place as occupation troops. On October 28, 1918 Berthold Freiherr von Bibra was appointed regimental commander. After the news of the outbreak of the revolution in Germany, the regiment then marched from November 28, 1918 to February 4, 1919 1,800 km from the Black Sea through the Ukraine, Lithuania and Poland to East Prussia. The return march took place with great difficulty in temperatures of up to −30 degrees Celsius, poor accommodation and food, and constant fighting with gangs and semi-regular enemy troops. On January 8, 1919, the last battle took place near Zaslaw. On February 10, 1919, the regiment returned to Bamberg by train from East Prussia and rode through the city one last time, cheered by the Bambergers.

Total losses during the First World War:

  • Fallen / wounded: 16 officers, 17 NCOs and 191 men
  • Missing: 17 men

Four NCOs and 29 men were taken prisoner.

Whereabouts

After the signing of the Versailles Treaty and the transfer of military sovereignty from Bavaria to the Weimar Republic in 1919, the regiment was disbanded.

The tradition was taken over in the Reichswehr by the 1st Squadron of the 17th (Bavarian) Cavalry Regiment in Bamberg . The regiment was renamed Cavalry Regiment 17 in 1936 and disbanded in 1939 to set up reconnaissance departments.

Commanders

  • 1813–1822: Colonel Georg Freiherr von Seckendorff
  • 1863–1866: Colonel Georg Korb
  • 1866–1873: Colonel Moritz Graf von Ysenburg
  • 1873–1875: Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Faber
  • 1875–1883: Colonel Albrecht Negrioli
  • 1883–1886: Colonel Karl von Kraft
  • 1886–1889: Colonel Karl Trombetta
  • 1889–1892: Lieutenant Colonel Ludwig von Poschinger
  • 1892–1894: Lieutenant Colonel Karl Horadam
  • 1894–1899: Colonel Günther von Le Suire
  • 1899–1904: Colonel Hugo Bouhler
  • 1904–1907: Colonel Ludwig Hermann Freiherr von Gebsattel
  • 1907–1910: Lieutenant Colonel Karl von Staudt
  • 1910–1911: Major Maximilian Braun
  • 1911–1915: Colonel Eduard Freiherr von Crailsheim
  • 1915–1918: Major Maximilian Zürn
  • 1918–1919: Major Bertold Freiherr von Bibra

Marches of the regiment

  • Parade march on foot: Revue March, AM II 151 by August Reckling
  • Parade march in step: speed march (march of the Guard Cuirassier Regiment), AM III 55 by Hereditary Princess Charlotte of Saxony-Meiningen
  • Parade march at a trot: Anvil Polka, HM III B 42 by Albert Parlow
  • Parade march at a gallop: Bavarian Gallop Fanfare, AM III 140 by Max Böhme
  • Presentation march: Parade March No. 1, AM III 51 by Julius Möllendorf

literature

  • Oskar Renz: History of the KB 1st Uhlan Regiment, Kaiser Wilhelm II, King of Prussia, 1863–1898. Edited for NCOs and men on behalf of the regiment. W. Gärtner's printing press, Bamberg 1898.
  • Karl Müller: The organization, clothing, equipment and armament of the Royal Bavarian Army from 1806 to 1906. A. Oehrleins Verlag, Munich 1906.
  • Karl Schmidt: My regiment. Royal Bavarian 1st Uhlan Regiment. Owner: His Majesty Kaiser Wilhelm II, King of Prussia. Location: Bamberg. Germania-Verlag, Bamberg 1911.
  • Karl Max Lilier: War memorial book of the 1st Squadron KB 1st Uhlan Regiment "Kaiser Wilhelm II., King of Prussia". Book and art print shop Dr. J. Kirsch, Bamberg 1920.
  • Ludwig Frh. Von Gebsattel : The KB 1st Uhlan Regiment "Kaiser Wilhelm II. King of Prussia" (= memorial sheets of German regiments. The participation of the troops of the former German army in the world war, processed using the official war diaries 2: Bavarian Army. Book 33a). Publishing house of the book and art print company JP Himmer, Augsburg 1924.
  • Konrad Krafft von Dellmensingen , Friedrichfranz Feeser : The Bavaria book of the world wars 1914-1918. 2 volumes. Chr.Belser AG Publishing House, Stuttgart 1930.
  • Günter Wegner: Germany's armies until 1918. Volume 11: Bavaria: Cavalry, artillery, technical troops. Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1984, ISBN 3-7648-1199-4 .

Web links