Royal Bavarian 12th Infantry Regiment "Prince Arnulf"

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The 12th Infantry Regiment "Prince Arnulf" was an association of the 4th Infantry Brigade of the Bavarian Army . The regiment's peacetime location was Neu-Ulm .

history

Positioning and development

The regiment was set up in Würzburg on July 16, 1814 according to the king's rescript of July 16, 1814 as the Bavarian Line Infantry Regiment "Würzburg" and put into service on August 14, 1814 as the 12th Line Infantry Regiment . It was built from the 1st and 2nd Battalion of the Grand Ducal Würzburg Infantry Regiment , each with one voltigeur and four fusilier companies, and the 3rd light infantry battalion with eight incomplete companies , and had a strength of 3,307 men. At first it had 219 men over target. On July 10, 1814, Wilhelm Moser von Filseck became the first colonel in command. On September 15, 1814, the regiment handed over the Würzburg flags to the armory in Würzburg.

Campaign against France in 1815

In 1815 the regiment was reclassified from three to two battalions and one reserve battalion. The 1st and 2nd battalions with a total of 2048 men and twelve horses were subordinate to the 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Division. Before he left, he was given new flags. From June 11, 1815 to March 19, 1817 the two battalions were near Nancy , the III. Battalion used as a crew in the Forbach area from November 6, 1815 to August 1816 . On June 23, 1815, Carl Albert von Merz (Albert Ritter Merz von Quirnheim ) was appointed colonel commandant; he was to lead the regiment for fifteen years. On November 27, 1815, the 1st (90 men) and 2nd battalions (25 men) of the Würzburg Mobile Legion were added and incorporated as IV and V battalions. On October 24, 1816, forty people from the former Fulda offices of Brückenau , Weihers and Hammelburg , who had fallen to the Kingdom of Bavaria as compensation for areas ceded to Austria, were drafted. On June 26, 1817, the III. Reserve battalion disbanded, the IV. And V battalion became III. and IV. Frame Battalion. The frame battalions were disbanded on June 1, 1822. At that time the regiment was divided into two battalions of one rifle and five fusilier companies and had a strength of 63 officers, 1939 NCOs and men and twelve horses.

Between the Restoration and the German War

On June 1, 1823, Prince Otto of Bavaria was appointed owner of the regiment, which was now called the 12th Line Infantry Regiment "Prince Otto of Bavaria" . From October 1 to November 14, 1830, three companies under the leadership of Major Herbst were relocated to the Kurhessian border to combat unrest. From December 1, 1830 Franz Zurnieden was entrusted with the command of the regiment. On October 28, 1831, it formed the cholera cordon between Tann and Dürrenried with two battalions . On June 16, 1832, two companies with 110 men each were commanded to Aschaffenburg with the task of putting down unrest after the Hambach Festival . On August 8th, Prince Otto of Bavaria was appointed to the Greek royal throne. The regiment was also renamed the 12th Line Infantry Regiment "King Otto of Greece" . The 2nd Battalion, under the leadership of Major Wilhelm Herbst, took part with 22 officers and 740 men in the Greek expedition from December 3, 1832 to July 27, 1835. During that time two sub-lieutenants and 127 men died, six officers and 101 men were recalled as unfit for the field and 22 men were transferred to Greek services. Major Herbst was promoted to lieutenant colonel, awarded the Golden Knight's Cross of the Greek Order of Savior on February 6, 1834 , and received a sword of honor from King Otto. The regiment member Franz Xaver von Predl wrote a memory book about the expedition. On May 28, 1834, Karl Freiherr von Jeetze was appointed Supreme Commander, who on December 30, 1836 handed over command to Wilhelm Herbst. On October 8, 1835, the regiment was named Infantry Regiment "King Otto of Greece" . On January 5, 1840, Queen Amalie of Greece presented the 2nd Battalion with a self-embroidered flag ribbon as a memorial for the Greece expedition. On May 29, 1842, the regiment was equipped with the new model 41 flags. In December 1846 seven officers, a doctor and 150 non-commissioned officers and men moved to Hilders -Liebhards to disarm so-called Holzfrevler. The regiment was relocated to the Palatinate from March 28 to August 6, 1848 and was subordinated to the troop corps under Lieutenant General Valentin Hartmann. During the crackdown on the insurgents, two men were killed and two were wounded. At the same time, from March to June 1848, three companies with a total of thirteen officers and 379 men were commanded to the Miltenberg , Neustadt and Tann districts with the task of fighting troublemakers. On March 31, 1848 Heinrich von Dufresne was appointed colonel in command. On April 21, 1848, the second battalion was set up with a strength of thirteen officers, 93 non-commissioned officers, eighteen miners and 687 men. On April 26, 1848 the regiment was named 12th Infantry Regiment "King Otto of Greece" . On June 6, 1848, it was ordered that flag ribbons in the colors black, red and gold should be attached to the regimental flags. They had to be removed again on May 17, 1851. On October 5, 1848, the flag was consecrated and handed over to the III. Battalion, which was initially quartered in Aschaffenburg. It moved to Würzburg in May 1849. The 1st and 2nd Battalions, under the leadership of the 1st Brigade, took part in the Lieutenant General Fürst Thurn und Taxis' occupation of Mannheim from July 6 to 16, 1849. On October 9, 1849, Colonel Maximilian von Schlägel , who had been awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order for his brave behavior in the battle of Bar-sur-Aube (February 27, 1814) , took command of the Regiment. The regimental staff moved from Würzburg to Landau in the Palatinate in November 1849 . The 1st Battalion moved to the new garrison in Munich in November 1851 . In the same year the 5th, 10th and 15th fusilier companies were dissolved. In November 1852 the II. Battalion came to Straubing , the III. Battalion to Landau. The 1st battalion was also transferred to Landau in October 1853, the III. housed in Regensburg a month later . In the meantime, on March 31, 1855, Colonel Wilhelm Merkel was appointed Colonel Commandant. In September 1855 the regimental staff came to Kempten with the 1st battalion , the III. was moved to Augsburg . In October 1856 the II. Battalion was in Kempten, the III. in Lindau . On November 15, 1856, the three rifle companies were dissolved. In September 1858 the 1st Battalion was finally relocated to Neu-Ulm. From October 1861 the regimental headquarters were also in Neu-Ulm. On May 12, 1863, three fusilier companies were reclassified into rifle companies. In December 1863 the regiment gave 48 men to the 7th Jäger Battalion , which was to be newly established; five men were transferred to the 4th medical company. On May 20, 1866, Achilles Schiber was appointed Colonel Commander, who, however, handed over command to Colonel Christoph Freiherr von Leoprechting on May 25, 1866.

War against Prussia 1866

Before the beginning of the war, the 1st and 2nd battalions were used as field battalions, the III. Battalion with 155 men as a garrison in Ulm and the IV. Battalion with 197 men as a depot. The companies of the field battalions were reinforced to 140 men each. The 1st and 2nd battalions were subordinated to the 3rd Brigade (Major General Schuhmacher), 2nd Division (Lieutenant General Freiherr von Feder). On July 4th, 1866, the regiment fought near Roßdorf and Zella, where there were no losses to complain about. For the Battle of Kissingen on July 10, 1866, 48 officers, 133 NCOs, 53 minstrels and 1,532 men competed. Lieutenant Alfred Freiherr von Bibra was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order for the return of a Bavarian gun to its own lines in this battle. At Bad Kissingen it lost two officers and twelve men to the dead, four officers and 67 non-commissioned officers and men to the wounded. In the battles near Helmstadt on July 25, 1866, the regiment suffered no losses. The next day (July 26th) it lost six dead, 33 wounded and two men from III in the affairs of Roßbrunn and Himmelreichwald. Battalion were reported missing. On July 30, 1866, the 10th company was taken prisoner near Eschenau.

In September 1866 the 2nd Battalion was relocated from Kempten to Landau. On December 25, 1867, Colonel August Heyl was given command of the regiment. In 1868, the offices of Augsburg and Dillingen were established as replacement districts for the regiment . On May 10, 1868, the rifle companies were dissolved; the regiment was now divided into three battalions of four companies each, which at that time were filled with a maximum of 42 men. In October 1868 the 2nd Battalion was finally relocated to Neu-Ulm. With the death of King Otto of Greece on July 26, 1867, the regiment was named 12th Infantry Regiment "vacant King Otto of Greece" on the same day . On April 15, 1870, Queen Amalie of Greece was appointed owner of the regiment, which was now called the 12th Infantry Regiment "Queen Amalie of Greece" .

War against France 1870/71

At the beginning of the war, the 1st and 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Division mobilized and entered 53 officers, 1980 men and 52 horses; the III. Battalion initially remained in Ulm as a crew. On August 22, 1870, Colonel Georg Narciß took command of the regiment. On August 30, 1870 it fought - subordinated to the Prussian IV Corps - near Beaumont , where it had only three wounded to complain. In the battle of Sedan on September 1, 1870, the regiment took part in strength 42 officers and 1,293 men, in which seven officers and 63 men were killed, nine officers and 241 men were wounded and thirty men were missing. On September 16, replacements of four lieutenants and 200 men arrived; on October 6, 1870 the III. Battalion with 22 officers and 931 men moved from Ulm to France. In the battles on October 9 and 10, 1870 near Méréville and Artenay , the regiment reported almost no casualties. In the fighting off Orléans on October 11, 1870, two officers, five non-commissioned officers and 17 men were killed, seven officers and 83 men were wounded, of which two officers died shortly afterwards. Seven men were missing. For his brave behavior in front of Orléans, the Colonel Commandant Georg von Narciß was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order. The losses could have been replenished by replacing four officers and 230 men on October 16 if typhus had not broken out in the regiment. During that period the regiment was placed under the Prussian 2nd Cavalry Division. In the battle of Coulmiers on November 9, 1870, the regiment fought with a strength of 52 officers and 1,730 men. The losses amounted to five dead, 40 wounded and 34 missing. On November 22nd, 1870, it took 150 French prisoners from “only” one wounded man and captured extensive food supplies. While on December 1, 1870 the regiment recorded no losses in the battle reconnaissance off Patay, it suffered heavy losses in the battle of Loigny and Poupry on December 2, 1870 (dead: four officers and 40 men, wounded: fourteen officers, 300 Man, missing: 45 men). The flag of the III. Battalions were badly damaged and buried by a direct artillery hit at Ferme Beauvilliers. It was poorly sewn together again in January 1871 and attached to a new pole. One of the torn pieces was kept by the regiment as a memorial. The III fighting at Meung on December 6, 1870. The battalion captured 50 French gendarmes with 24 casualties. After the Battle of Beaugency from December 8th to 10th, there were again three officers and eleven men killed, six officers and 79 men wounded and eleven missing. The regiment then had a strength of thirteen officers and 800 NCOs and men. The 2nd Battalion was hit particularly hard; it only had a combat strength of four officers and 312 men. The 9th and 10th companies were combined into one unit, two companies were led by (flag) junkers. On December 10, 1870, replacements for three officers and 312 men arrived. On the same day the regiment fought at Villorceau, where another five men were killed, two officers and 69 men were wounded and ten men were missing. The following strengths were reported after the fighting:

  • 1st battalion: one first lieutenant, 1 second lieutenant , 240 men
  • 2nd battalion: one first lieutenant, one second lieutenant, one Junker, 370 men
  • III. Battalion: one first lieutenant, one second lieutenant, two Junkers, 560 men
  • Regiment: fourteen officers and 1170 men

From January 2 to April 30, 1871, the regiment was part of the siege ring around Paris . A delegation of the regiment with the flag of the 1st Battalion and three men accompanying the flag of the III. Battalion took part in the imperial proclamation in Versailles . The II. Battalion was then relocated to the homeland, the I. and III. Battalion remained as an occupation force until July 21, 1873.

The regiment had to complain during the war against France:

  • Twelve officers as well as seventeen NCOs and 106 men of the dead;
  • of the wounded 52 officers as well as 75 NCOs and 698 men;
  • of six non-commissioned officers and 126 men missing.

On November 3, 1872, Maximilian Freiherr von Gumppenberg-Pöttmes-Oberbrennberg was appointed regimental commander. From 1874 Neu-Ulm was the place of peace for the entire regiment. In 1878, Colonel Maximilian Freiherr von Gumppenberg, now leader of the 7th Infantry Brigade, was assigned à la suite of the regiment. On February 27, 1879, Prince Arnulf of Bavaria was appointed owner of the regiment, which was now called the 12th Infantry Regiment "Prince Arnulf of Bavaria" until its dissolution . On November 3, 1880, Colonel Ludwig Müller was appointed regimental commander. On April 1, 1881, the 3rd Company was handed over to the 18th Infantry Regiment . After Colonel Müller had handed over command to Colonel Carl Lindhamer on February 22, 1883 and was appointed leader of the 2nd Infantry Brigade , he was placed à la suite in 1883. In 1895 Prince Arnulf donated 10,000 Reichsmarks with the stipulation that every year on December 2, in commemoration of the Battle of Loigny, interest should be paid out to deserving NCOs of the regiment. On October 1, 1893, the IV Half Battalion with the 13th and 14th Companies was set up. The solemn flag consecration of the 4th Battalion took place on October 23, 1893 in the Frauenkirche in Munich. The regiment now had a nominal strength of 65 officers, seven doctors, four paymasters and 2048 NCOs and men. The 13th and 14th companies were surrendered on April 1, 1897 and incorporated as the 7th and 8th companies in the 22nd Infantry Regiment . In 1899, Prince Arnulf donated 3000 Reichsmarks to the officer corps in the course of the opening of the new officers' dining establishment , and well-known patrons of the regiment donated table silver and knight armor. Prince Regent Luitpold presented a life-size portrait painted by August Heyn. In the same year it was decreed that the regiment's standard bearers were to be appointed by the regiment commander in future. For China expedition in June 1900 forty men, of whom a man did not return came forward from the regiment. After Prince Arnulf's death on November 12, 1906, the regiment received a sum of 20,000 Reichsmarks from his estate, the interest of which is to be used for the facilities of the officer corps. The machine gun company was set up on October 1, 1911 . In 1913, the districts of Dillingen and Mindelheim were designated as replacement districts . On March 19, 1914 Maximilian Policzka was appointed regimental commander. On June 28, 1914, the regiment celebrated its 100th anniversary in the presence of Princess Therese and her son, Prince Heinrich of Bavaria . Curiously, the anniversary took place on the same day that the attack on the Austrian heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo triggered the outbreak of the First World War.

First World War

1914

Guard Command Kaisheim (1913)
Kitchen staff of the 12th Infantry Regiment, 1914

The regiment entered at the beginning of the First World War with about 90 officers, 3,300 NCOs and men, 235 horses and 75 vehicles. It was subordinated to the 4th Infantry Brigade under Major General Maximilian von Kirschbaum , and then to the 2nd Infantry Division under Lieutenant General Maximilian von Höhn . On August 28, 1914, the soldiers of the 2nd Battalion were about to give up the hill near Goromühle, which was under heavy artillery fire. The battalion's standard-bearer, Sergeant Kölbl, forced the troops to hold out on the spot by unfolding the flag until his battalion leader arrived for reinforcements. For this he was awarded the Silver Medal for Bravery . On September 2, 1914, the standard-bearer of the III. Battalion, Sergeant Funk, which is why a commemorative ring was awarded. In the course of the Battle of Lorraine from August 20 to September 5, 1914, the regiment lost 10/217 to fallen (Offz / Uffz and Msch), 22/1086 to wounded and to missing - / 156. On September 1, the regiment reported a combat strength of 27 officers and 1,650 men. On September 7, 1914, the first replacement (nine officers, twelve officer deputies, 67 NCOs and 954 men) arrived. The 4th Infantry Brigade was marched on September 18, 1914 as an advance formation to Lassigny to cover the left flank of the 1st Army there as quickly as possible . On September 21, 1914, the 15th Infantry Regiment in front of Lassigny, to the left of it the regiment in front of Thiescourt, were thrown in order to prevent an encircling attack by French-Moroccan forces. On September 24th the regiment crossed the Somme at Péronne . In the battles at Thiescourt from September 21 to October 26, 1914 it suffered a loss of dead 4/87, wounded 11/268 and missing 1/1. Over the winter of 1914/15 the regiment was in position at Feuillières and Péronne and had to endure comparatively only minor losses.

1915

From May 13 to June 28, 1915, the 1st Battalion was used together with the 1st Battalion of the 16th Infantry Regiment and the 20th Infantry Regiment as a combined regiment at Arras . Seven officers, two ensigns and 104 men of the battalion remained in the field, 468 officers and men were wounded, eleven men were missing. Three officers had to be released from the front because of a nervous breakdown. On May 31, 1915, replacements of four officers and four vice sergeants arrived (strength on May 31, 1915: 76 officers, 3,428 men, ten machine guns, 205 horses), followed by 484 men on June 19. In July 1915, the regiment was his flags from the armory, as they in trench warfare were no longer appropriate. At the beginning of the battle of La Bassée and Arras from October 6, 1915 to May 7, 1916, the regiment dissolved the VI. Army Corps deployed half battalions of Reserve Infantry Regiment 1 and Reserve Infantry Regiment 2 in their positions east of Neuville. On October 11, 1915 attacked after heavy artillery preparation in front of the section of the regiment parts of the French III. and XII. Army Corps. They were caught in the crossfire well before the trenches. The few French who broke in were thrown from their positions again by counter-attacks. From October 1915 to May 1916 four officers and 183 NCOs and men died. Seven officers and 571 men were wounded, of which two officers died from their wounds. Eleven men were missing.

1916

In 1916 the 2nd and 3rd machine gun companies (strength: one officer, fourteen non-commissioned officers and 140 men) were set up using machine-gun platoons. During the Battle of Verdun from May 8 to July 3, 1916, the regiment was used in the focus of the fighting. After the French broke into the Prussian 5th and 6th Infantry Divisions on both sides of Fort Douaumont on May 22, 1916 , the 15th Infantry Regiment east of the fort and the regiment west of it counterattacked on May 23 scheduled to retake the fort and the village. When the old positions were taken again, the I. Army Corps intended to use the success and advance further south and west, but failed on May 25 because of insufficient preparation and already noticeable exhaustion. The regiment captured eleven French officers and about 300 men and captured fourteen machine guns. The replacement of six officers, 23 non-commissioned officers and 1,000 men arriving on June 1, 1916, could no longer make up for their own losses. Until June 12, 1916 the regiment fought its way to Thiaumont. In the course of these battles fifteen of the officers died, including the regimental commander Colonel Policzka, who was killed on June 12, 1916 in the Fosses forest near Verdun, eight were wounded and two were missing, who were later declared dead. From June 16, 1916, Lieutenant Colonel Heinrich Zeyß was appointed regimental commander, who had been missing from the fighting in front of the Thiaumont intermediate plant since June 26, 1916 . Released briefly by the Alpine Corps for further attack operations off Verdun, the regiment now had to occupy the very unfavorably located positions and prepare for defense. From July 11th until the end of the war, Lieutenant Colonel Wolf led the regiment. In September 1916, a Landwehr battalion was placed under the regiment. On October 15 it was west of Sailly on the left flank of the 2nd Infantry Division, the Prussian 16th Infantry Division on the left . After the French broke into the 16th Infantry Division, the regiment had to withdraw its left wing to the east and at the same time hold it against the English and French attacks. By November 5, 1916, almost the entire old front line was restored. On the Somme (October 9 to November 7, 1916) 110 men were killed again, six officers and 276 men were wounded, ten officers and 339 men were reported missing. During this time, the regiment was not assigned a replacement, but received over fifty Iron Crosses . On November 13, 1916, the regiment arrived in St. Mihiel , where it was in position until May 4, 1917 and had only minor losses.

1917

In January 1917, the regiment took over the first light machine guns. South of the Ailette on Chemin des Dames, it moved into position on May 8, 1917. In the Battle of the Aisne during the large-scale French attacks on May 22nd and 23rd, the regiment got away with minor losses, but had a very high sick leave. On June 16, 1916, two Iron Crosses 1st class and fifty 2nd class were distributed to the troops. The regiment was transferred to the forest northwest of Avocourt on August 25 , where there was no significant fighting until the end of November. From the beginning of December 1917 it was east of Beaumont and remained there until January 13, 1918.

1918

In 1918 a mine thrower company, regimental and battalion intelligence trains were set up. The regiment was moved forward during the Michael Battle until April 2, 1918 via Cambrai and Péronne to Moreuil on the Avre to support the attack of the 2nd Army on Amiens . By April 4, as part of the 2nd Infantry Division, despite increasing enemy resistance, it came closest to the target of Amiens to within thirteen kilometers, but was then at the end of its strength. The companies were meanwhile reduced to an average strength of one officer and twenty men. On April 17, 1918, replacements of eight NCOs and 119 men from the field recruit depot arrived. Seven officers died in April 1918, the number of non-commissioned officers and men could no longer be determined precisely. From July 15 to August 24, the remnants of the regiment fought their way in Champagne along the Somme Py road to the north of Souain, were able to penetrate the first French lines, but remained in front of the second defensive bar. After that, the attack was canceled and the regiment again had to complain about three fallen and nine wounded officers. On September 30, 1918, the regiment was nearly wiped out. Six officers died in the III. Battalion the companies were still 1/12 strong, the remnants of two companies were taken prisoner. The 4th, 8th and 12th companies were disbanded. On November 11, 1918, the remnants of the regiment were on the Meuse west of Givet .

Knight's Cross bearer of the Military Max Joseph Order:

  • Captain Joseph Ritter von Schäffer on August 25, 1916 (killed on November 1, 1918)
  • Captain Jakob Ritter von Hitzler

The military-sanitary Medal First Class, received on 25 May 1916, the regimental surgeon medical officer Dr. Hermann Ott.

The regiment suffered losses during the First War:

  • of fallen: 72 officers, two medical officers and 280 NCOs and 2,361 men;
  • of wounded: 138 officers, two medical officers as well as 747 NCOs and 5995 men;
  • of missing persons: one officer, 19 non-commissioned officers and 220 men;
  • Those who died of illnesses: two officers, six NCOs and 73 men.

Thirteen officers, 74 non-commissioned officers and 516 men were taken prisoner.

  • Presentation march: Bavarian presentation march flag march of 1822/23
  • Parade march : Bavarian parade march by Adolf Scherzer, composed in 1850

Whereabouts

After the armistice of Compiègne , the remnants of the regiment returned home via Brohl and Wetzlar . Of the regiment's regular occupation of almost 3,400 men at the start of the war, only 193 are still alive after the war. From December 14th the regiment in Neu-Ulm was demobilized and finally disbanded. Free formations formed from demobilized parts . On March 1, 1919, the Graf Security Battalion was set up with four companies and, from May, an additional MG company. In addition, the former regimental staff formed the staff of the Wolf Freikorps from April 1919. Both formations went up in June 1919 as a staff and 1st battalion in the Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 43.

The tradition was taken over in the Reichswehr on August 24, 1921 by the 11th Company of the 19th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment in Lindau and later by the 1st Battalion of the 40th Infantry Regiment in Augsburg in the Wehrmacht .

literature

  • Baptist Schrettinger: The Royal Bavarian Military Max Joseph Order and its members. R. Oldenbourg. Munich 1882.
  • Günter Wegner: Germany's armies until 1918. Volume 11: Bavaria. Biblio Publishing House. Osnabrück 1984.
  • The KB 12th Infantry Regiment Prinz Arnulf (=  memorial sheets of German regiments. Bavarian Army . Volume 60 ). Schick, Munich 1929 ( digitized version of the Württemberg State Library ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The term commander did not come into use until 1872.
  2. ^ General intelligence sheet for the Kingdom of Baiern , Munich, 1820, pages 880-881 - Google Books
  3. ↑ http://www.augsburger-allgemeine.de/neu-ulm/In-Frankreich-wartete-der-Tod-id31133357.html
  4. ^ Jürgen Kraus: Handbook of the units and troops of the German army 1914-1918. Part VI: Infantry Volume 1: Infantry Regiments. Publishing house Militaria. Vienna 2007, ISBN 978-3-902526-14-4 . P. 447.