Leib-Dragoon Regiment (2nd Grand Ducal Hessian) No. 24

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The Leib-Dragoon Regiment (2nd Grand Ducal Hessian) No. 24 was one of the two cavalry regiments of the Grand Ducal Hessian Army in 1914 , which were employed as the 25th Grand Ducal Hessian Cavalry Brigade in the Prussian Army .

Hessian Chevauxlegers around 1850

Organization and association membership

Lineup

With a decree of December 1, 1859 (Foundation Day), Grand Duke Ludwig III. the reclassification of the previous "Guard Chevaulegers Regiment" into two cavalry regiments and one cavalry brigade. The 1st regiment was given the name "Garde Chevaulegers Regiment" , the 2nd regiment the name "Leib Chevaulegers Regiment" . The two regiments were stationed in Darmstadt and (one Eskadron GCR from 1818 - or two Eskadron LCR) in the Chevaulegerskaserne in Butzbach .

With the military convention of April 7, 1867, the Grand Ducal Hessian troops came under Prussian command and in their entirety formed the 25th Cavalry Division. Together with the troops from the former Electorate of Hesse , the Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg and the Duchy of Nassau, they formed the XVIII. Army Corps.

After the war against France in 1870/71, the Garde Chevaulegers regiment was renamed and initially carried the name “2. Großherzoglich Hessisches Dragoon Regiment (Leib-Dragoons Regiment) No. 24 " , which on November 25, 1906 was again and finally changed into " Leib-Dragoon Regiment (2nd Grand Ducal Hessian) No. 24 " .

Since the barracks in Butzbach was needed in 1898 for the 1st Battalion of the newly established 5th Grand Ducal Hessian Infantry Regiment No. 168 , the dragoons there moved to Darmstadt, so that the entire Hessian cavalry was now united in one garrison.

Cavalry barracks in Darmstadt 1899

Campaigns and fighting

German war

In the war against Prussia in 1866, the Hessian army fought against Prussia together with Austrian, Baden and Württemberg troops in the association of the VIII Federal Army Corps and the Bavarian associations forming the VII Army Corps. The unfortunate course of the campaign in the Aschaffenburg - Würzburg area against the Prussian Main Army under Lieutenant General von Manteuffel forced the Grand Duchy of Hesse to conclude peace with Prussia on September 3, 1866, and to withdraw its troops from the armed forces . The Leib-Dragoon Regiment belonged to the reserve cavalry here and was not used.

From here on, the regiment fought in a brigade formation with its sister regiment until it was disbanded in 1919.

Franco-German War

In the war against France in 1870/71, the regiment at Vionville and Mars la Tour (August 16-18) was only used to a limited extent. It later took part in the enclosure of Metz and was used against the French Loire Army after the city fell . (Fights at Orléans on December 3rd and 4th, 1870). After that the war was practically over for the Leib-Chevaulegers.

First World War

When the First World War broke out in August 1914, the now dragoons fought first in the Ardennes and then advanced to the Rhine-Marne Canal . After the withdrawal order from September they had to retreat as far as the Aisne . The regiment was then transferred to Flanders and took part in the Battle of Ypres . Thereafter, in the spring of 1915, it was moved to the eastern theater of war. In the War of Movement, the Dragoons fought in Lithuania and Courland and near Vilnius in September 1915.

In 1916 the regiment found itself engaged in trench warfare in Galicia and was used in the 1917 campaign against Romania (November 1916 to February 1917). In March 1917 it was moved back to the Western Front . Here the dragoons provided border protection on the Dutch border until 1917 . After that, the regiment relocated to the east and operated in the Kovel area and in Ukraine . Until December 1918 there was security service in the occupied eastern territory against insurgent and Bolshevik troops. Then the march back home followed, which was associated with great difficulties, as it had to be covered partly fighting. The Leib-Dragoon Regiment arrived in Lauterbach on January 16, 1919 and were disbanded by May 1, 1919.

Until its dissolution, it retained its status as a cavalry regiment.

Whereabouts

The tradition took over in the Reichswehr by decree of the Chief of the Army Command, General of the Infantry Hans von Seeckt , on August 24th 1921 the 3rd Squadron of the 16th Cavalry Regiment in Langensalza . In the Wehrmacht , the regimental staff, the 1st, 4th, 5th and 8th squadrons of the 8th Cavalry Regiment in Darmstadt continued the tradition.

Regiment chief

Rank Surname date
Grand Duke Ludwig III. 0January 1, 1860 to June 13, 1877
Emperor Nicholas II of Russia October 10, 1896 to August 1914

Commanders

Rank Surname date
Colonel Joseph Gedult von Jungsfeld 0January 1, 1860 to January 23, 1867
Major / Lieutenant Colonel Ludwig von Bouchenröder January 24, 1867 to March 21, 1870
Lieutenant Colonel / Colonel Karl von Buseck March 22, 1870 to December 31, 1872
major Friedrich von Strantz 0January 1 to September 2, 1872 (in charge of the tour)
Major / Lieutenant Colonel / Colonel Friedrich von Strantz September 3, 1872 to September 24, 1880
Lieutenant Colonel / Colonel Eugen von Dresky September 25, 1880 to July 24, 1885
Lieutenant Colonel / Colonel Werner von Alvensleben July 25, 1885 to January 16, 1888
Lieutenant Colonel / Colonel Karl Voigt January 17, 1888 to April 17, 1893
Lieutenant Colonel / Colonel Armand Léon of Ardenne April 18, 1893 to April 16, 1897
Lieutenant colonel Edmund von Woyrsch April 17, 1897 to November 24, 1898
Lieutenant Colonel / Colonel Curt von Rothkirch and Panthen November 25, 1898 to October 17, 1901
Lieutenant Colonel / Colonel Werner von Waldenfels October 18, 1901 to August 17, 1906
Lieutenant Colonel / Colonel Karl von Ilsemann August 18, 1906 to May 22, 1911
Lieutenant Colonel / Colonel Franz Zierold May 23, 1911 to October 1, 1914
Lieutenant colonel Bernhard Meister 0October 2, 1914 to May 19, 1917
Lieutenant colonel Ludwig von Poschinger May 20, 1917 to March 25, 1919
Colonel Bernhard Meister March 26 to April 30, 1919

uniform

Colors of the uniform before the field gray uniform was introduced
  • A tunic made of dark green cloth (the Hessian cavalry was the only one in the immediate Prussian sphere of influence who did not wear blue skirts and black trousers based on this Prussian pattern, but kept their green uniforms.)
  • Swedish surcharges
  • white badge color
  • Helmet fitting: armored, crowned Hessian lion in three-quarter oak leaves / laurel wreath in nickel silver
  • Helmet: Infantry helmet (in contrast to all other dragoon regiments!) With black hair bush, round front visor and white and red country cockade (as Chevaulegers they still wore a helmet with a black caterpillar based on the Bavarian pattern)
  • White shoulder boards with name "N"
  • Buttons in white
  • Lance flag white-red

Already ordered by AKO on February 14, 1907 and gradually introduced from 1909/1910, the colorful uniform was replaced for the first time by the field-gray field service uniform (M 1910) on the occasion of the imperial maneuver in 1913. The leather gear and the boots were natural brown, the helmet was covered by a fabric cover called reed-colored. The bandolier and the cartridge were no longer applied to this uniform.

annotation

The Hessian Leib-Dragoon Regiment carried the oldest standard of an active German unit. This was originally from Landgrave Ludwig IX. 1790 awarded to the bodyguard on horseback.

In addition to the oldest still active regiment in Germany (Hess. Leibgarde Infanterie Regiment No. 115 - established in 1622), the Hessian troops could call another superlative their own.

Furthermore, the castle barracks of the Chevaulegers in Butzbach was the oldest and longest-used fiscal barracks in Europe (in operation from 1818 to 1992).

Web links

literature

  • v. Keßler: Our regiment. Leib Dragoon Regiment (2nd Grand Ducal Hessian) 1910.
  • v. Guenther: The history of the Leib Dragoon Regiment (2nd Grand Ducal Hessian) No. 24. 1914–1918. Darmstadt 1928.
  • Hugo FW Schulz: The Prussian Cavalry Regiments 1913/1914. Weltbild Verlag 1992.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Günter Wegmann (Ed.), Günter Wegner: Formation history and staffing of the German armed forces 1815-1990. Part 1: Occupation of the German armies 1815–1939. Volume 3: The occupation of the active regiments, battalions and departments from the foundation or list up to August 26, 1939. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1993, ISBN 3-7648-2413-1 , p. 88.
  2. ^ Günter Wegmann (Ed.), Günter Wegner: Formation history and staffing of the German armed forces 1815-1990. Part 1: Occupation of the German armies 1815–1939. Volume 3: The occupation of the active regiments, battalions and departments from the foundation or list up to August 26, 1939. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1993, ISBN 3-7648-2413-1 , p. 89.