Otto von Schmidt (General, 1856)

Otto Schmidt , since 1904 Ritter von Schmidt (born July 21, 1856 in Ingolstadt , † February 21, 1929 in Munich ) was a Bavarian general of the cavalry .

Life

family

He was the son of the Bavarian general of the infantry Otto von Schmidt (1820-1902) and his wife Maria, née Steiger. His father had received the Knight's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order for his achievements in the battle near Beaumont during the Franco-German War .

Military career

Schmidt graduated from the cadet corps and then joined the 1st field artillery regiment "Prince Regent Luitpold" on August 2, 1874 as a porter ensign . On March 22, 1876 he was transferred to the 4th Chevaulegers Regiment "King" and promoted there on November 27, 1876 to secondary lieutenant. From 1881 to 1883 he graduated from the Equitation Institute and from 1884 to 1887 the War Academy , which made him qualified for the General Staff and the Higher Adjutantur. As Prime Lieutenant , Schmidt was assigned to the War Ministry in 1888 and transferred to the Central Office of the General Staff on April 1, 1890. In 1891 he became Rittmeister and from 1892 was adjutant to the Chief of the Army General Staff. In 1895 Schmidt resigned briefly as squadron chief in the 4th Chevaulegers regiment "König" and returned to the central office of the General Staff a year later. On February 4, 1897, he was assigned to the General Staff in Berlin for two years . After his return, Schmidt initially worked in the General Staff of the 1st Army Corps and in 1900 was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the 2nd Army Corps . In this position, Schmidt was born on March 4, 1901 to lieutenant colonel and 18 May 1903 Colonel promoted. From December 5, 1903 to April 10, 1906, he was in command of the 2nd Uhlan Regiment "König" . By being awarded the Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown and the associated elevation to the personal nobility, he was allowed to call himself a Knight of Schmidt from March 4, 1904 after being entered in the knight class of the nobility register .

After Schmidt had surrendered the regiment, he was promoted to major general on April 12, 1906 and appointed commander of the 5th Cavalry Brigade . With his promotion to lieutenant general on December 19, 1909, he was appointed commander of Munich. On March 17, 1913 was adjusted Schmidt award of the character as a cavalry general for disposition .

With the outbreak of the First World War , Schmidt was reactivated on August 2, 1914 and appointed deputy commandant of Munich. On March 20, 1915, Schmidt received a troop command and was commander of the 6th Landwehr Division . With her he had the order to hold the strategically important mountain range Lingekopf-Schratzmännele-Barrenkopf-Kleinkopf in the Vosges . After the French armed forces had succeeded in bloody hand-to-hand combat in July 1915 to take the Linge head, Schmidt initiated the counterattack despite being wounded himself. He succeeded in retaking the previously lost terrain and thus repulsing the French attempted breakthrough in the direction of Colmar . For this achievement, Schmidt was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order.

After further trench warfare in Upper Alsace, Schmidt had to surrender his division on April 24, 1916 due to illness. After his recovery he became deputy leader of the General Command zbV No. 64, made the preparations for the evacuation of Alsace-Lorraine with the armistice of Compiègne and began the march back home on November 14, 1918. After his return, Schmidt was relieved of this post and retired.

In addition to both classes of the Iron Cross , Schmidt was awarded the Crown Order II Class with Star, the Military Merit Order II Class with Star and Swords, the Honor Cross First Class of the Princely House Order of Hohenzollern and the Hanseatic Cross of Lübeck and Hamburg for his achievements during the war excellent.

literature

• Othmar Hackl : The Bavarian War Academy (1867-1914). CH Beck´sche publishing house bookstore. Munich 1989. ISBN 3-406-10490-8 . Pp. 564-565.
• Rudolf von Kramer, Otto Freiherr von Waldenfels: VIRTUTI PRO PATRIA. The Royal Bavarian Military Max Joseph Order. Acts of War and Book of Honor 1914–1918. Self-published by the Royal Bavarian Military Max Joseph Order. Munich 1966. pp. 401-402.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Othmar Hackl: The Bavarian War Academy (1867-1914). CH Beck´sche publishing house bookstore. Munich 1989. ISBN 3-406-10490-8 . P. 565.