V. Army Corps (German Empire)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The V Army Corps was a large unit of the Prussian Army .

structure

Peace structure 1914

Source: Ranking list of the Royal Prussian Army

history

The corps was established on May 30, 1818 from the existing General Command in the Province of Posen . The General Command was in Poznan until it was dissolved at the end of December 1918 and was subordinate to the 8th Army Inspection until the outbreak of World War I.

German War 1866

Karl Friedrich von Steinmetz

During the German War the corps was under the commanding general of the infantry von Steinmetz and was part of the left wing of the 2nd Army under Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia , which broke in from the Glatz area in Bohemia . As the vanguard of the 2nd Army, the V Corps crossed the Metau, the border river between the County of Glatz and Bohemia, on the evening of June 26, 1866 . On the route from Nachod to Trautenau, the Prussian I. Army Corps and the Guard Corps moved into Bohemia at the same time , the VI. Army Corps was still in reserve in the Glatzer area and followed belatedly. At Schlaney the advance guard of the 9th Division under Major General von Löwenfeld crossed the Silesian border. The Běloves border crossing was insufficiently secured by the Austrians and quickly abandoned. The onward march of the V Corps took place over the narrow passes of the Mettau to Nachod, the Crown Prince went from Braunau to the headquarters of the V Corps. On June 27th the battle of Nachod broke out , which was decided in favor of the Prussian arms by the timely intervention of the 10th Division under Lieutenant General von Kirchbach . The Austrian VI. General Ramming's corps was defeated and the important heights of Wysokov was conquered by the Prussians. The defeat of the I. Army Corps at Trautenau also had an impact on the left wing of the Crown Prince's army. General von Steinmetz had waited in vain to establish the planned union with the Guard Corps, but then received the order to proceed alone. On June 28th the V Corps continued the advance, the intervention of the Corps in the battle at Skalitz - the 9th Division advanced in the forest of Dubno - secured the victory over the Austrian Corps under Archduke Leopold . After the unsuccessful attacks by the Austrians, the 10th Division had managed to occupy the opposing center, while at the same time the 9th Division had taken the heights in front of the Aupa. General v. Steinmetz ordered the march of the V Corps with the detachment of Major General von Hoffmann on Gradlitz for June 29th . Another victory followed in the Battle of Pig Skulls on June 29th . Ordered on July 2nd to observe Josephsstadt, the V Corps lost its leadership role to the VI. Corps and could therefore no longer intervene in the battle of Königgrätz on July 3 . In the disposition for the pursuit of the Austrians, the 1st Corps was given precedence; General von Clausewitz was to advance with the 2nd Division on the road from Tobitschau to Prerau. On July 17th the Prussian Cavalry Division was to cover the march of the V Corps as far as Kremsier . The further advance led the 10th Division to Hungary. On September 20, after the end of the campaign, the V Corps moved back into the Posen garrison .

Franco-German War

General Hugo von Kirchbach

In the war of 1870/71 General Hugo von Kirchbach was at the head of the V Army Corps, his predecessor General von Steinmetz, received the supreme command of the 1st Army . Colonel von der Esch acted as chief of staff of the corps, the 9th Division was headed by Major General von Sandrart and the 10th Division by Lieutenant General von Schmidt . The V Corps gathered in the Landau area by August 3 and began the advance towards Schweighofen on August 4. The 9th Division took over the leadership and advanced via Altenstadt to Weissenburg, at the same time the 2nd Bavarian Corps under General Hartmann advanced via Schweigen against Weissenburg . After Altenstadt was taken, the Battle of Weissenburg developed on August 4th . After the capture of Weissenburg one turned to the French positions on the Geisberg. After the 41st Brigade of the southern XI. Army Corps had bypassed Geisberg to the south and stormed the mountain from the southeast, the positions of the French could be rolled up from behind. The V Corps lost 18 officers and 162 dead at Weißenburg; 37 officers 631 wounded; 16 men were missing.

The Crown Prince had given orders for the defensive for August 6th, but the 20th Brigade (Major General Walther von Montbarry) of the 10th Division had allowed themselves to be misled into occupying the town of Wörth during their reconnaissance. Kirchbach first tried to break off the battle at Wörth, which was initiated against his will . At around 8 o'clock, General Kirchbach ordered the cessation of the battle, but had to resume it within the next hour, as the 2nd Bavarian Corps on the far right wing was now on the attack. At about 1.30 p.m. the Prussian V Corps stormed the western edge of the Sauer valley between Wörth and Fröschweiler , while at the same time the Württemberg cavalry appeared on the left wing and the Prussian XI. Army Corps developed to attack the Niederwald . The Prussians advanced from the south and east towards the town of Fröschweiler and stormed it.

When advancing towards Sedan , the V Corps had an insignificant battle on August 30 at Stonne. On September 1st there was the decisive battle at Sedan , the V and XI. Corps initially had the task of preventing the French retreat to the west. Only now did the Germans clearly realize that the French did not want to march to Mézières in order to escape enclosure. During the battle, the V Corps, reaching north, reinforced the ring which the French army was gripping and sought contact with the guards corps of the newly formed Maas Army coming from the east . The corps sealed off the road from Illy and captured the strategically important Calvary. After the French surrendered at Sedan, the march to Paris continued. On September 17, the corps made its way across the Seine in a battle near Valenton ; on September 19, it forced the march on the southern apron of Paris at Bicêtre -Villecoublay before French counterattacks. The siege of Paris began on September 19 and the corps moved into positions on the western front near Versailles , where the German headquarters were also established. On October 11th, the Corps secured the Meudon -Bougival section , and the XI. Army Corps, on the left wing on the northern wing of the Seine, the IV Corps joined. As a result of the siege, the corps repulsed all sorts of Parisians. Of the attacks directed against this section, the most important was the defensive attempt of January 19, 1871, known as the Battle of Mont Valérien . In February, the V Corps marched to Orléans and in March 1871 to Vesoul . After the capitulation of Paris, the corps moved to Burgundy in March and returned home in early June 1871.

First World War

General of the Infantry Hermann von Strantz

The V Corps took part in the First World War as part of the 5th Army under Crown Prince Wilhelm . At the beginning of the war in August 1914, the 9th Division under Lieutenant General Eduard von Below and the 10th Division under Lieutenant General Robert Kosch were subordinate to the corps under General von Strantz . On August 22nd, the French 3rd Army was advancing from the Verdun area over the Othain and Meuse in a northerly direction to the Longuyon - Montmédy line . The 3rd Cavalry Division operated on the right in front of the front of the 5th Army Corps and cleared out from Etalle via Jamaigne-Izel against Florenville . As the right wing of the 5th Army, the corps was assigned to Virton and had the 9th Division advance to the heights between Robelpont and Virton, east of which the 19th Brigade of the 10th Division was assigned to Belmont and the village of Ethe. On August 24, the 10th Division occupied Charency and Vezin and reached Marville , behind which the 9th Division was still at Ruette . By evening the V Corps stood between Vezin and Petit Xivry , next to it the XIII. Army Corps Noers to Le Haut Bois, the VI. Reserve Corps stood between Bellefontaine Ferme and Bois Deffoy.

The V Army Corps was already planned for the beleaguered Eastern Front , but it was stopped in time in Metz and, according to the new guidelines of the OHL , remained on the front east of Verdun . During the battle of the Marne that followed, the German 5th Army was finally put on the defensive in front of the north-eastern fortress front of Verdun. The 10th Division bombarded Fort Troyon from September 8-10 . If the Fort of Troyon had fallen, the German troops would have crossed the Meuse and encircled the city of Verdun. On September 11, 1914, General Strantz, in addition to his position as Commanding General of the V Corps, was also Commander-in-Chief of the Strantz Army Department , which covered the left wing of the 5th Army. Between September 12 and 13, the 5th Army withdrew from the southern Argonne . The headquarters were in the Château de Moncel near Jarny in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department . In the following years the corps fought position battles between the Meuse and the Moselle.

During the Battle of Verdun in the spring of 1916, the corps covered the attacks of the 5th Army on the left wing in the Woëvre plain. On February 2, 1917, General Eduard von Below was appointed the new commanding general. In June 1917, the corps was part of Army Division C, subordinated to the 8th Landwehr Division , as well as the 44th and 45th Reserve Divisions .

The combat area of ​​the kuk 35th Infantry Division in the section of the "Corps Group Combres" (General Command VAK)

The V Corps was known between March 14 and November 11, 1918 as the " Group Combres ". During the Battle of St. Mihiel , the Corps were subordinated to the 13th Landwehr Division , the Imperial and Royal 35th Infantry Troop Division and the 88th Division as a reserve . Together with the “Group Mihiel” (General Command XII. RK ) and the “Group Gorze” ( General Command 57 ), the St. Mihiel Arch had to be abandoned in September 1918 before the Franco-American attacks.

Commanding general

The general command as the command authority of the army corps was under the leadership of the commanding general .

Rank Surname date
Lieutenant General August von Thümen March 18, 1815 to January 25, 1820
Lieutenant General Friedrich Erhard von Röder 0April 3, 1820 to March 28, 1832
General of the Infantry Karl von Grolman March 29, 1832 to September 20, 1843
Lieutenant General Peter of Colomb September 21, 1843 to May 9, 1848
Lieutenant General Friedrich Wilhelm von Brünneck May 13, 1848 to November 3, 1851
Lieutenant General Wilhelm von Tietzen and Hennig 0November 4, 1851 to March 22, 1852 (in charge of the tour)
Lieutenant General /
General of the Cavalry 		Wilhelm von Tietzen and Hennig March 23, 1852 to August 4, 1856
Lieutenant General /
General of the Cavalry 		Franz Heinrich von Waldersee August 15, 1856 to August 14, 1864
General of the Infantry Karl Friedrich von Steinmetz August 18, 1864 to July 17, 1870
General of the Infantry Hugo Ewald von Kirchbach July 18, 1870 to February 2, 1880
General of the Infantry Alexander von Pape 0February 3, 1880 to October 17, 1881
General of the Infantry Gustav von Stiehle October 18, 1881 to March 21, 1886
Lieutenant General Gustav Hermann von Alvensleben March 22 to May 14, 1886
Lieutenant General /
General of the Infantry 		Oskar von Meerscheidt-Hüllessem November 23, 1886 to September 18, 1888
Lieutenant General Richard von Hilgers September 19, 1888 to April 7, 1889 (in charge of the tour)
Lieutenant General Richard von Hilgers 0April 8, 1889 to January 8, 1890
Lieutenant General /
General of the Infantry 		Richard von Seeckt January 27, 1890 to January 23, 1897
General of the Infantry August von Bomsdorff January 27, 1897 to April 3, 1899
General of the Infantry Ferdinand von Stülpnagel 0April 4, 1899 to June 12, 1906
General of the Infantry Alexander von Kluck June 13, 1906 to September 10, 1907
General of the Infantry Günther Emanuel von Kirchbach September 19, 1907 to April 2, 1911
General of the Infantry Hermann von Strantz 0April 3, 1911 to September 1, 1914
General of the Infantry Adolf von Oven September 1914 to May 1915 (substitute)
General of the Infantry Hermann von Strantz May 1915 to February 1917
General of the Infantry Eduard von Below 0February 2, 1917 to January 1, 1919
General of the Infantry Georg Wichura 0January 2 to September 20, 1919

Flags / flag decorations

literature

  • Grosser Generalstab (Ed.): The campaign of 1866 in Germany. War history department, ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1867.
  • Stieler von Heydekampf: The V. Armes Corps in the war against France 1870–1871. ES Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1872.
  • Scheibert: The war between France and Germany 1870/71. Pauli's successor, Berlin 1895.
  • Reichsarchiv (Ed.): The World War 1914–1918. Volume I: The border battles in the west 1914. ES Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1925.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ War Ministry, Secret War Chancellery (editors): Ranking list of the Royal Prussian Army and the XIII. (Royal Württemberg) Army Corps for 1914. […] As of May 6, 1914. […] , Verlag Ernst Siegfried Mittler & Sohn. Berlin 1914. p. 66ff.
  2. ^ The campaign of 1866 in Germany. War history department of the great general staff, intermediary. Berlin 1867, pp. 130f.
  3. ^ The campaign of 1866 in Germany. War history department of the great general staff, intermediary. Berlin 1867, p. 172f.
  4. ^ The campaign of 1866 in Germany. War history department of the great general staff, intermediary. Berlin 1867, p. 226f.
  5. ^ The campaign of 1866 in Germany. War history department of the great general staff, intermediary. Berlin 1867, p. 514ff.
  6. ^ Justus Scheibert : The war between France and Germany 1870/71. Pauli's successor, Berlin 1895, p. 303.
  7. ^ Justus Scheibert: The war between France and Germany 1870/71. Pauli's successor, Berlin 1895, p. 19.
  8. ^ Stieler von Heydekampf: The V. Armes Corps in the war against France 1870–1871. Ernst Siegfried Mittler and Son, Berlin 1872, p. 23.
  9. ^ Justus Scheibert: The war between France and Germany 1870/71. Pauli's successor, Berlin 1895, p. 134f.
  10. ^ Justus Scheibert: The war between France and Germany 1870/71. Pauli's successor, Berlin 1895, p. 277.
  11. ^ Reichsarchiv : Die Grenzschlachten im Westen 1914. ES Mittler Verlag, Berlin 1925, pp. 303-344.
  12. ^ Crown Prince Wilhelm: My memories. ES Mittler Verlag, Berlin 1923, p. 41.
  13. ↑ www.cheminsdememoire.gouv.fr ( Memento of the original dated August 24, 2016 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.cheminsdememoire.gouv.fr
  14. ^ Crown Prince Wilhelm: My memories. ES Mittler Verlag, Berlin 1923, pp. 84, 88f.
  15. ↑ Headquarters of Army Department C (von Strantz)
  16. ^ Reichsarchiv: The World War 1914–1918, Volume XIII, ES Mittler and Son, Appendix 2a
  17. ^ Reichsarchiv: The World War 1914-1918, Volume XIV, ES Mittler und Sohn, Berlin 1944, p. 600
  18. ↑ Dermot Bradley (ed.), Günter Wegner: Occupation of the German Army 1815-1939. Volume 1: The higher command posts 1815–1939. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1990, ISBN 3-7648-1780-1 , pp. 52-53.