Cuirassier Regiment "von Driesen" (Westphalian) No. 4

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Memorial to the Westphalian Cuirassier Regiment No. 4 "von Driesen" on the promenade in the Westphalian Münster.

The cuirassier regiment "von Driesen" (Westphalian) No. 4 was a cuirassier association of the Prussian army , which existed from 1717 to 1919.

organization

In the course of its existence, the structure of the regiment changed several times. From 1817 it consisted of four squadrons and the staff. A fifth squadron was added in 1866.

It was last stationed in Münster as part of the 13th Cavalry Brigade .

history

Lineup

The officers' casino of the "Von-Eine-Kavallerie-Kaserne" in Münster was not located on the barracks premises, but on the opposite side of the street.

The area of ​​the last garrison of the cuirassiers, the "Von-Eine-Kavalleriekaserne" in Münster.

The regiment was on 17 July 1717 as a new Dragoon - Regiment by order of the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm I in East Prussia erected. General Heinrich Jordan von Wuthenau became the first commander . The formation was preceded by the intention of King Augustus the Strong of Poland and Saxony to reduce his German troops stationed in Poland. Friedrich Wilhelm I took over 780 riders without horses, of which General von Wuthenow chose 600 riders for his new regiment.

Silesian Wars

The regiment's first operations were during the Silesian Wars . In a battle near Austerlitz in the First Silesian War on April 10, 1742 , it rode a successful attack against outnumbered Austrian hussars and received recognition from the king for it.

In the Second Silesian War in 1745, the regiment of the "Möllendorfdragoner" - named after their regiment chief Möllendorf - was involved with two hussar regiments in a surprise attack against the Austrians near Landshut . In doing so, they drove three enemy hussar regiments and two battalions to flight. The regiment was also involved as part of the Prussian left wing in the Battle of Hohenfriedberg on June 4, 1745.

Seven Years War

In 1747 Major General von Schorlemer took over the regiment. He led it through the skirmishes of the Seven Years War . On August 30, 1757, the regiment captured a Russian battery in the battle of Groß-Jägersdorf and then fought against Swedish troops in Pomerania . The battle of Zorndorf on August 25, 1758, brought fame and honor, but also great loss , when it defeated Wilhelm von Fermor's Russian troops under the command of General Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz together with other cavalry units . Among the 199 dead and wounded was the then commanding officer, Major General von Froideville . The Dragoon Regiment also suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Kay on July 22, 1759 and the Battle of Kunersdorf on August 12, 1759. The latter alone suffered losses of 18 officers, 252 riders and 378 horses.

Coalition wars

The regiment's next major missions were in 1806/07. At the Battle of Heilsberg on June 10, 1807, the Dragoons first routed a French cuirassier division and then captured an enemy battery. Thereupon they knocked down a French line of screechers and blew up a battalion square . The renewed attack by the French cavalry, which had meanwhile formed again, however, failed and the enemy riders were once again put to flight. Numerous members of the regiment received awards for this work. The order Pour le Mérite , the highest Prussian honor for bravery, was awarded to 16 officers.

Despite the successes in the battles, the French troops under Napoléon Bonaparte could not be decisively beaten back. After the defeat of Prussia, Napoleon forced the remaining Prussian troops to serve him. The riders of the regiment were assigned to the Corps of MacDonald , which was used to cover the left flank of the Grande Armée . The Dragoons took part under his command on July 19, 1812 in a victorious battle near Eckau against Russia in the Russian campaign of 1812 .

After Napoléon's defeat, the Dragoon Regiment belonged to the armed forces of the allies Great Britain , Russia, Prussia and Austria, which attacked him on French soil. It took part in the battles at La Chaussee, Château-Thierry and Sézanne . After Napoléon was exiled to the island of Elba and returned shortly afterwards, there were skirmishes in Gilly as well as the Battle of Ligny , the Battle of Waterloo and the Battle of Nanteuil, in which the Dragoons took part. On July 7, 1815, they rode into Paris at the head of the mounted troops .

After more than two years as an occupying power in France, the riders returned to their homeland in October 1817, renaming them “Westphalian Dragoon Regiment No. 2” and moved into garrisons in Münster, Hamm , Dortmund and Coesfeld . On May 27, 1819, the dragoon regiment was converted into a cuirassier regiment with regiment number 4. The first squadron of the regiment moved into the garrison of Schloss Neuhaus ⊙ at the Senne military training area from October 6, 1820 to 1833 .

After the regiment was moved to Silesia at the end of April 1833, it was used against insurgents in Poland and Baden . The relocation to Münster, Hamm and Telgte took place at the end of 1849. After participating in the German-Danish War in 1864 and the German War in 1866, the riders were stationed in Verden and Celle until 1870 .

Franco-German War

In 1870/71 they took part in the Battle of Mars-la-Tour and later in the siege of Paris as part of the 11th Brigade in the 5th Cavalry Division during the Franco-Prussian War .

After the German victory, the Cuirassier regiment returned to Münster on June 17, 1871. Individual squadrons were stationed in Hamm, Telgte and Warendorf and only moved to Münster in 1885. On January 27, 1889, the regiment of Kaiser Wilhelm II was given its final name "von Driesen" with reference to the Prussian Lieutenant General Georg Wilhelm von Driesen (1700–1758).

First World War

Immediately after the outbreak of the First World War, the regiment moved to France for the third time on August 2, 1914. Among other things, it was involved in the advance of German troops into the suburbs of Paris. On the transition to trench warfare , the Cuirassiers stood for a long time the British at Warneton over in the trenches. Since trench warfare contradicted the duties of a mounted regiment, the cuirassiers moved to the Eastern Front at the beginning of November 1914 , where they were involved in the breakthrough of Brzeziny . But also in the east the advance came to a standstill a short time later and the regiment spent the first months of 1915 in the trenches at Brzozovka and Rawa Mazowiecka, among others . It was not until the end of July 1915 that the horses were used again in the attacks on the heights of Chynow. Already on October 1st, trench warfare began again in the east. The cuirassier regiment spent the time until February 1916 in the trenches between the Narocz and Swir , before it performed police services in the General Government of Warsaw . From the end of August 1916 it was moved to the Stochod front, where it was to remain for a year and a half.

Since the horses were not needed in the trenches, the conversion into a cavalry rifle regiment took place in October 1916 , whereby 400 horses were given up. In January 1918, the withdrawal from the Eastern Front followed and in Zossen training for deployment in the west, which was continued in Maubeuge from April . After training, the regiment took up position in Champagne in early June 1918 and was involved in the storming of Reims . Due to heavy losses, it was withdrawn from the front on July 20, 1918, and took up position near Soissons in mid-August . Here it had to hold its own against French attacks. Due to special achievements in holding the position, the brigade leader Franz Graf von Magnis was awarded the order Pour le Mérite.

Whereabouts

After the Armistice of Compiègne , the regiment entered Berlin on December 10, 1918. It was last involved in the suppression of left-wing socialist uprisings in Berlin and Munich in early 1919 . On August 18, 1919, the regiment returned to Münster and was disbanded that same year.

The tradition was taken over by the 6th squadron of the 15th (Prussian) cavalry regiment in the Reichswehr .

Commanders

1717–1721: Anton Ludolf von Krosigk, Colonel 1721–1733: Franz Christoph von Friesenhausen, Colonel 1733: from Bredow 1733–1734: from Korßfleisch 1734–1742: vd Goltze 1742–1747: Bernhard Christian von Katte 1747–1751: from Quoss 1751–1756: Karl Aemilius von Katte 1756–1758: Gabriel Monod of Froideville 1758–1759: von Lettow 1759–1762: von Schweinichen 1762–1769: Friedrich Wilhelm von Podewils 1769–1770: Friedrich von Hirsch 1770–1775: von Treskow 1775–1782: from Müllenheim 1782–1784: Werner von Blumenthal senior 1784–1787: Karl Wilhelm von Brausen 1787–1790: Philipp August Wilhelm von Werther 1790–1803: Werner von Blumenthal junior 1803–1810: Johann Leopold Konstantin von Larisch 1810–1813: Karl Ludwig von Wuthenau 1813–1815: Friedrich Christoph Wilhelm von Unruh 1815–1817: Friedrich Ferdinand von Woyski 1817–1818: Alexander von Romberg

1818–1834: Lebrecht von Graevenitz 1834–1842: Karl von Strantz 1842–1845: Konrad von Zedlitz and Neukirch 1845–1848: Michael von Grodzki 1848-1853: Alexander of Johnston 1853–1858: Daniel von Schoeler 1858–1863: Louis von Engelhart 1863–1867: Karl von Schmidt 1867–1872: Otto von Arnim 1873–1881: Alfred von Buddenbrock 1881–1886: Harry von Ludowig 1886–1889: Eduard zu Salm-Horstmar 1889: Axel von Usedom 1889–1893: Hugo von Sichart 1893–1895: Karl von One 1895–1897: Max von Ziegler and Klipphausen 1897–1901: Ferdinand von Bothmer 1901–1903: Paul von Windheim 1903–1908: Oskar von der Goltz 1908–1909: Lamoral by Villers 1909–1912: Rudolf von Keudell 1912–1917: Heinrich von Albedyll 1917–1919: Maximilian von Oertzen 1919: Hubert von Platen

literature

• NN Alt: The Royal Prussian Standing Army. Volume 2: History of the royal. Prussian cuirassiers and dragoons. Berlin 1870, p. 112ff.
• Hans Graf Praschma : The cuirassier regiment of Driesen (Westphalia) No. 4: 1717-1900. Münster 1901 ( ULB Münster )
• Heinrich Glasmeier: History of the cuirassier regiment of Driesen (Westf.) No. 4 (=  memorial sheets of German regiments. Troops of the former Prussian contingent . Volume 334 ). Stalling, Oldenburg iO 1932 ( digitized version of the Württemberg State Library ).

Web links

Commons : Cuirassier Regiment “von Driesen” (Westphalian) No. 4  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• History , locations , facts and pictures of the Cuirassier Regiment No. 4 on the private website kuerassierregimenter.de
• Cuirassier Regiment No. 4 on the Great General Staff website
• To the memorial to the Kürrasier-Regiment on the promenade on the urban side " Remembering in public space ".

Individual evidence

1. ↑ History Garrison Schloss Neuhaus, Marstall-Museum ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF file; 10.67 MB)