Karl von Stumpff (General, 1858)

Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Karl Stumpff , from 1886 von Stumpff (born November 30, 1858 in Wittenberg , † August 4, 1936 in Wernigerode ) was a Prussian lieutenant general in the First World War .

Life

origin

He was the son of the later Prussian Lieutenant General Karl von Stumpff (1819–1889) and his wife Ida, née Schlichting (1836–1917). His father was raised to the hereditary Prussian nobility on December 1, 1886 .

Military career

Stumpff joined the 1st Brandenburg Field Artillery Regiment No. 3 of the Prussian Army on September 22, 1877 as a squire and was promoted to second lieutenant on February 11, 1879 . For further training, he completed the United Artillery and Engineering School from October 1879 to the end of September 1881 and the War Academy from October 1887 to July 1890 . In the meantime promoted to Prime Lieutenant on May 22, 1889 , Stumpff was commanded from April 1, 1891 to the General Staff in Berlin . With his promotion to captain on September 14, 1893, he returned to his regiment and served as chief of the 2nd mounted battery until March 17, 1899 . This was followed by his transfer as an adjutant at the General Command of the IX. Army Corps in Altona . Left in this command, Stumpff was transferred to the field artillery regiment "Prince August of Prussia" (1st Litthauisches) No. 1 on May 18, 1901 and at the same time promoted to major . As such, he served from February 18, 1902 as commander of the I. Department of the East Frisian Field Artillery Regiment No. 62 in Oldenburg. In this position Stumpff was promoted to lieutenant colonel on December 19, 1907 . On March 24, 1909, he was commissioned to lead the field artillery regiment "von Podbielski" (1st Lower Silesian) No. 5 stationed in Sprottau and shortly thereafter, on April 22, Stumpff was appointed commander. As a colonel , he was in command of the Strasbourg Field Artillery Regiment No. 84 from October 1, 1912 to May 19, 1913 and then the 7th Field Artillery Brigade in Magdeburg .

With the outbreak of the First World War, his brigade mobilized and took part in the German deployment in the west in conjunction with the 7th Division . In personal union, Stumpff was briefly city ​​commander of Aachen until he intervened with his large association in mid-August 1914 in the fighting that led to the conquest of Liège . This was followed by the battles on the Gete , Mons and Ourcq . After the retreat from the Marne Stumpff was with his brigade in position battles in Artois and fought in the December battle in French Flanders. On April 3, 1915, he gave command of the brigade to his successor, Konrad von Hippel , who was promoted to major general on April 18, 1915. Stumpff then received command of the 8th replacement division , with which he was in position battles in the Strantz Army Department in the area of Regnièville , Féy and in the Priesterwald. The combat activity was interrupted by a deployment from October 12 to November 18, 1916 in the Battle of the Somme . For the achievements of his division, Stumpff was awarded the swords for the Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd Class with Oak Leaves, in October 1915 .

On January 2, 1917, Stumpff was appointed commander of the 234th Division in Magdeburg, which was currently being formed . After the large unit was made mobile, it was deployed in the 2nd Army in front of and in the Siegfried position on the western front at the end of March 1917 . From August 30 to September 30, 1917, attempts by British troops to break through several times in the Third Battle of Flanders were prevented by the 4th Army . Due to heavy losses, the division was then withdrawn from the front and relocated to the Artois to recover . Stumpff, who had been promoted to Lieutenant General on November 6, 1917, took part with his troops in the Battle of Cambrai at the end of the month . With the newly formed 17th Army , Stumpff was able to prove himself again during the German spring offensive that began on March 21, 1918 , so that on April 22, 1918 he was awarded the highest Prussian valor award, the Order Pour le Mérite .

After the end of the German offensive, he and his division were in permanent defensive and retreat battles until the end of the war. After the armistice of Compiègne, his troops evacuated the occupied territories and the division was deployed from November 25 to December 21, 1918 in the border guard between Cologne and Düsseldorf . The remaining units were then transported to the garrisons, where they were demobilized and disbanded. On February 22, 1919 Stumpff was appointed commander of the 7th Division. In approval of his resignation request, he was put up for disposition on June 21, 1919 .

family

Stumpff married Martha Elliesen (* 1869) in Dresden on October 4, 1890 . The following children were born from the marriage:

• Barbara (* 1892) ⚭ Wilhelm Müseler, Prussian artillery officer
• Karl-Leberecht (* 1896), Prussian artillery officer ⚭ Ellen-Adrienne von Douglas (* 1899)
• Karl-Othmar (1898–1918), Prussian lieutenant in the 2nd Guards Artillery Regiment

literature

• Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Briefadeligen houses. 1919. Thirteenth year, Justus Pethes, Gotha 1918, p. 756.
• Hanns Möller: History of the knights of the order pour le mérite in the world war. Volume II: M-Z. Verlag Bernard & Graefe, Berlin 1935, pp. 392–393.
• Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Christian Zweng: The knights of the order Pour le Mérite of the First World War. Volume 3: P-Z. Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf 2011, ISBN 3-7648-2586-3 , pp. 384-385.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Kurt von Priesdorff : Soldatisches Führertum . Volume 9, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1941], DNB 986919780 , p. 443, no. 3002.
2. ^ Prussian War Ministry (ed.): Ranking list of officers of the Royal Prussian Army and the XIII. (Royal Württemberg Army Corps 1917. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1917, p. 6.
3. ^ Military weekly paper . No. 190/191 of October 23, 1915. ES Mittler & Sohn. Pp. 4501-4502.