Royal Bavarian 7th Chevaulegers Regiment "Prince Alfons"

7th Chevaulegers Regiment "Prince Alfons"
active	October 1, 1905 to March 6, 1919
Country	Kingdom of Bavaria
Armed forces	Bavarian Army
Branch of service	cavalry
Location	Straubing (peace location)
march	Mussinan march (parade march)
commander
owner	Prince Alfons

The seventh Chevaulegers Regiment "Prinz Alfons" was a cavalry joined the Bavarian army . The regiment's peacetime location was Straubing .

history

Lineup

The regiment was set up on October 1, 1905 in Straubing as the 7th Chevaulegers Regiment . It was formed as follows:

• 1st squadron from the squadron hunters on horseback with the 1st Army Corps ,
• 2. Squadron from the squadron hunters on horseback at III. Army Corps ( 1st Chevaulegers Regiment in Nuremberg),
• 3rd squadron from taxes of all Chevaulegers regiments,
• 4th Squadron on October 1, 1906 from the 3rd Squadron of the 1st Chevaulegers Regiment.

Anton Manz was appointed first commander of the regiment on October 1, 1905. The regiment received a new standard that resembled the infantry flags. The celebratory nailing of the standard took place on October 24, 1905. In 1907, some Chevaulegers reported to the protection force in German South West Africa , two of whom were killed. On August 20, 1907, Ludwig von Gropper was entrusted with the management of the regiment. On September 24, 1909, General of the Cavalry Alfons Prince of Bavaria was appointed owner of the regiment, which on the same day was renamed the 7th Chevaulegers Regiment "Prince Alfons" . In 1910 Wilhelm von Poschinger was initially commissioned to lead the regiment and was appointed commander the following year.

First World War

1914

At the beginning of the First World War , the regiment was assigned to the 5th Infantry Division as a division cavalry and competed with 35 officers, 600 non-commissioned officers and men, and 700 horses. In August / September 1914 the regiment was used in France, then used between the Meuse and the Moselle .

1915

The unit remained in this use until June 14, 1915. On May 14, 1915, the regiment gave the 4th squadron to the newly established 11th Infantry Division . For the achievements shown during the conquest of Przemyśl on June 1, 1915, Rittmeister Otto Schroen was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order . On June 23, 1915, Hippolytus was appointed regimental commander by Kiliani.

1916

On January 12, 1916, the regiment succeeded in shooting down an enemy aircraft. From June to October 1916 the regiment was used as a division cavalry of the 11th Infantry Division in the east on the Styr and Stochod . It was entrusted with patrol activities, readiness and coverage of the division headquarters as well as with infantry operations.

From October 10, the regiment was divided into various infantry divisions.

Regimental Staff, 1st and 4th Squadrons

The staff was assigned to the 12th Infantry Division together with the 1st and 4th Squadrons on October 10, 1916 (hereinafter referred to as the Chevaulegers Department) and deployed with them in Romania . The association succeeded several times in capturing larger opposing associations. On December 6, 1916 they reached Ploieşti .

2nd and 3rd squadrons

The two squadrons were placed under the 11th Infantry Division on October 13, 1916. From October 24 to November 15, 1916, they were deployed on the volcano pass. On November 16, 1916, they captured 206 Romanians at Budieni. Two days later, Captain Kaspar Graf von Preysing led the 2nd squadron up to Scrada, took the place and was able to assert it against over 200 advancing Romanians. Preysing was seriously wounded. On December 3, 1916, the two squadrons took another 400 prisoners and marched into Bucharest two days later .

1917/18

Regimental staff

The staff remained in Focsani and from February 1917 set the local command there. From March 28, 1917 to March 29, 1918 he formed the building staff. From March 30th to May 9th, 1918 the commander was entrusted with the duties of District Officer I (later District Chief) in Flavy le Meldeux. From May 1918, the staff was responsible for traffic control and police tasks, initially in Laon and later elsewhere in northern France.

1st squadron

The squadron was used from October 1916 to December 1918 in the 12th Infantry Division (see until February 17, 1917 under regimental staff). She remained in Focsani and was assigned to the local command office there. From August the squadron was posted to the divisional command post in Precistanul, where they u. a. also performed police duties.

On May 3, 1918, the squadron was loaded and relocated to the Western Front. From May 13, 1918, she was assigned to rider and patrol duties in the Rethel area.

At the end of August 1918, still southeast of Ypres, she avoided fighting on Warcoing obigies . By November 5, 1918, she withdrew to the Antwerp-Maas position, where she experienced the armistice.

2nd squadron

The squadron remained under the 11th Infantry Division. From January 23 to April 28, 1917 she was in rest position in Bindernheim near Schlettstadt . Then she marched to Etreux and was deployed at the Chemin des Dames until June 8, 1917 . From September 14th to October 7th she was deployed in the Sedan area. She was involved in the fighting for the Poelberg (Flanders) on October 13, 1917 and for Paschendaele .

Then she moved to Lorraine. In the heavy fighting on the Berlinghem-Le Bizet-Neuve Eglise line in April 1918, the squadron chief Rittmeister Kaspar Graf von Preysing was fatally wounded on April 14 near Nieukerke. For his bravery he was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order. Deployed southwest of Soissons in July 1918 , the 11th Infantry Division was bypassed. From October 14 to November 1, 1918, she took part in the retreat from the east of Roselaere to the Hermannstellung .

3rd Squadron

The squadron was relocated from Hungary to Schlettstadt in January 1917. On March 2, 1917, she was subordinated to the 15th Infantry Division and used until May 1917 in Lorraine as a reconnaissance and observation force. Then she fought at the Chemin des Dames.

On July 4, 1918, the squadron was loaded with destination Champagne . As soon as she got there she had to endure heavy fighting.

4th Squadron

The 4th squadron was on March 3, 1915 together with the 1st squadron of the 2nd Chevaulegers Regiment and the 5th squadron of the Dragoon Regiment "Field Marshal Prince Leopold of Bavaria" (Westphalian) No. 7 to the cavalry regiment "von Savoye "and subordinated to the 11th Infantry Division. From May 11th to June 6th 1915 she was involved in the conquest of Przemyśl. In August 1915 she fought her way to Brest-Litowsk , where the squadron chief, Rittmeister Kaspar Graf von Preysing, was wounded.

The squadron was then transferred to Serbia as part of the regiment. It remained there from September to November 1915. From February 29 to June 17, 1916, the squadron in front of Verdun was used as a relay service and was used for the transport of prisoners and traffic control. With the dissolution of the “von Savoye” cavalry regiment, the squadron returned to the 7th Chevaulegers regiment on June 17, 1916. It was in use with the 12th Infantry Division from October 1916 to February 1917.

On February 18, 1917, the squadron joined the 16th Infantry Division . They marched from Campina via Sinaia and Kronstadt to Brenndorf. There she was loaded and transferred to northern France. There and in Flanders she was subsequently used as rail and coastal protection, in the field gendarmerie service and in the light signal service.

losses

During the First World War, the regiment had to complain of dead or wounded:

• fourteen officers
• thirteen non-commissioned officers
• 54 Chevaulegers

Whereabouts

After the armistice of Compiègne , the individual units of the regiment marched back home separately. In December 1918 they arrived at the Straubing garrison. The 3rd squadron had previously been ordered to the border guard in the Odenwald near Rimbach . By March 6, 1919, the regiment was demobilized and finally disbanded.

The tradition was taken over in the Reichswehr by the 6th Squadron of the 17th (Bavarian) Cavalry Regiment in Straubing, which was continued in the Wehrmacht by the Panzer Defense Department 10. In 1985, the Mountain Armored Reconnaissance Battalion 8 (now Reconnaissance Battalion 8 ) in Freyung took over the tradition.

Commanders

Rank	Surname	date
Lieutenant colonel	Anton Manz	October 1, 1905 to August 20, 1907
Lieutenant colonel	Ludwig von Gropper	August 20, 1907 to 1910
Major / Lieutenant Colonel / Colonel	Wilhelm von Poschinger	1910 to August 17, 1915
major	Hippolytus of Kiliani	August 17, 1915 to May 28, 1918
major	Heinrich Rhomberg	June 6, 1918-1919

Regimental music

• Presentation march: Mussinan march by Carl Carl, dedicated to Colonel Ludwig Ritter von Mussinan in 1882
• Parade march in step: Bavarian equestrian march by Christian Kolb
• Parade march at a trot: Paris march of 1814 by Johann Heinrich Walch
• Parade march at a gallop: Free away! by Carl Latann

literature

• Günter Wegner: Germany's armies until 1918. Origin and development of the individual formations. Volume 11: Bavaria. Cavalry, artillery, technical troops. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1984, ISBN 3-7648-1199-4 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ History of the reconnaissance battalion 8 in Freyung on www.deutschesheer.de