VI. Army Corps (German Empire)

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The VI. 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 March 30, 1818 from the General Command in Silesia , which had existed since November 4, 1815 . The General Command was in Breslau until it was dissolved at the end of December 1918 and was subordinate to the 8th Army Inspectorate until the outbreak of the First World War .

German War 1866

The VI. During the German War, the Corps was part of the left wing of the Prussian 2nd Army under Crown Prince Friedrich of Prussia , which broke into the Austrian Empire from Silesia . On June 26, 1866, the corps was still in reserve in the Glatz area behind the V Army Corps and followed the crossing over the Bohemian border with a delay. According to the deployment plan, the commanding general von Mutius was to advance behind the Steinmetz corps over the pass from Nachod to Bohemia. Mutius had to surrender some formations from his corps that remained in Upper Silesia. The Knobelsdorff detachment was set up as a security group from three regiments and a battery. On the morning of June 28th, General von Mutius, whose main body reached Alt-Hayde during the day, received orders to advance quickly via Nachod in order to strengthen the army's left flank. During the Battle of Skalitz only one brigade from Corps Mutius had arrived on the Wysokov plateau . On June 29th the approach took place over Gradlitz to unite with the other corps of the 2nd Army. After the Steinmetz Corps had orders to observe Josephsstadt, the VI. Corps the vanguard and attacked on July 3 in the afternoon along with the Guard Corps still crucial in the battle of Hradec Kralove one. The VI. Corps crossed the Trotina near Racitz and occupied Nedelischt and Lochenitz , so by 3 p.m. the northern Austrian main line of defense between Chlum and Lochenitz was in Prussian hands. The intervention of the 11th Division under General Adolf von Zastrow against the right flank of the Austrians forced Feldzeugmeister von Benedek to retreat. The Guard and VI. Corps in pursuit of the Austrians reached the Brno area by July 18 . General of Mutius died after completing the campaign in early August in the Moravian Austerlitz of cholera . Thereupon General of the Cavalry Wilhelm von Tümpling received the command of the corps on October 30, 1866.

Franco-German War

General Wilhelm von Tümpling

Also in the war against France in 1870/71 the corps was under the command of General von Tümpling. The corps remained first in Silesia to serve as security against Austria, the VI. Corps did not move to France until the beginning of August. Colonel von Salviati acted as chief of the general staff, the 11th Division led Lieutenant General von Gordon , the 12th Division was under Lieutenant General von Hoffmann . On August 6th, the corps had assembled at Landau and had orders to follow the 3rd Army of the Crown Prince of Prussia, which was already engaged in heavy fighting. On August 14th, Tümpling tried in vain to capitulate the Palatinate Castle , which was on the advance direction, by bombarding it. After the 3rd Army swung to the north towards the Belgian border after a right turn, Tümping's corps remained behind as flank protection and took over the observation of Mézières . During the Battle of Sedan Tümpling was able to get his order, the French XIII. To prevent the Corps under General Vinoy from marching to Paris, could not be achieved. On September 10, the bulk of the German 3rd Army had reached the Dormans- Sezanne line while advancing on Paris . Corps crossed the Marne at Château-Thierry .

The main mission of the corps was its participation in the siege of Paris . The French occupation of Paris made a major sortie on September 30, 1870 against the southern section of the German besiegers. The attack by General Vinoy between Chevilly - L`Haye as far as Choisy-le-Roi hit the VI. Corps and parts of the V Corps on the flank. A brigade from the XI. Corps was attacked. As a result of these attacks, the villages of Vitry-Villejuif and Cachan were heavily fortified by the Parisian troops. Another skirmish at Bagneux followed on October 13, and one at Ourcelle on October 25. Towards the southwest, where the VI. Corps had his line, but none of the French attempts to break through were directed. On the night of November 28th to 29th, 1870, another diversionary attack by General Ducrot at Villiers-Champigny followed. The French advance on Chevilly managed to occupy the Choisy-le-Roi station for some time. The VI. Corps were generally able to hold their positions and the French had to withdraw into the city.

First World War

In August 1914 the VI. Army Corps under General Kurt von Pritzelwitz subordinated to the 4th Army and formed the left wing of the army of the Duke of Württemberg on the L'Eglise-Thibesart line . The VI. Army Corps was assigned the protection of the right wing of the 5th Army at the request of the German Crown Prince . The corps was temporarily subordinated to the 5th Army on August 22, 1914 to support the attack on Virton . The VI. Corps advanced south from the L'Eglise area towards Rossignol and Tintigny and achieved a tactical success in the battle of Longwy together with the 5th Army Corps . Here, the 12th Division under Lieutenant General Chales de Beaulieu was assigned to Rossignol and the 11th Division under Lieutenant General von Webern to Tintigny, to the south the attack covered the 3rd Cavalry Division . The 12th Division threw back parts of the French 2nd Corps at Termes on Les Bulles. The 3rd Cavalry Division attacked Belle-Fontaine from Saint Marie, the 12th Division reached St. Vincent. At Bellefontaine the Algerian 3rd Colonial Division was almost completely surrounded. Below Montmédy , the 4th Army had crossed the Chiers river at La Ferte after the victory on the Semois and reached Olizy. After the transition from VI. Corps over the Chiers, fighting between Inor and Martincourt followed on August 27. On September 2 and 3, the corps fought on the Varennes- Montfaucon line and pursued the French west of Verdun through the Argonne. On September 4, the left wing of the 4th Army reached the VI. Corps and the advanced Cavalry Command No. 4 under Gustav von Hollen via St. Menehould to Revigny, pushing the Marne-Rhine Canal . During the Battle of the Marne , the troops of the Pritzelwitz Corps fought on the Louppy-Vaubecourt line, and on September 11th the 4th and 5th Armies retreated. The VI. Corps was withdrawn from the 4th Army at Binarville after the beginning of the Battle of the Aisne on September 15, and from September 18, initially with the 12th Division at the seam between the 2nd and 3rd Army , the 2nd Guard at Prunay -To vacate division . The 11th Division remained in the Cernay-Binarville section of the XVIII. Army Corps subordinated.

At the end of September 1914, position battles followed between Prunay- Auberive in the section of the 3rd Army in Champagne . During the winter battle in Champagne in February 1915, the corps wrestled with Perthes and Massiges. At the end of July 1915, the corps moved to Flanders and later to the Artois to replace the positions of the VIII Army Corps . Between September 25 and October 7, 1915, the Corps' troops took part in the autumn battle at La Bassée and Arras . Until the arrival of the Guard Corps between Givenchy and Thelus , the corps was initially alone against the attacking north wing of the French 10th Army , whose aim was to break through to the Douai transport hub . From mid-October 1915 to June 23, 1916, the corps fought west of Peronne in positions on the Somme . While the 11th and 12th Divisions remained in the Battle of the Somme , the Corps Command was transferred to the Eastern Front as a result of the Brusilov offensive .

Since November 7, 1915, General of the Cavalry von der Marwitz was the new commanding general, from June 15, 1916 he also led the army group named after him "Marwitz" in Volhynia . The General Command of the VI. AK coordinated the operations of the "Marwitz" army group during the counterattacks on the Styr and the upper Stochod . Between July and November 1916, the corps command was in the Kovel area . Between November 5, 1916 and August 23, 1917, the General Command, which was relocated to the northern eastern front, was named after the Luga section. At the beginning of September 1917, the part of Riga east of the Daugava was captured by the subordinate 2nd Guards Division , followed by new positional battles north of the Daugava. On February 18, 1918, the VI. Corps under the commanding officer von Heineccius as part of the 8th Army from the area east of Riga with the subordinate 205th and 219th divisions with the advance in Livonia to force the Bolsheviks to sign the peace by March 1918.

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 Friedrich Heinrich von Hünerbein April 15, 1815 to February 10, 1819
Lieutenant General /
General of the Cavalry 		Hans Ernst Karl von Zieten February 11, 1819 to November 28, 1839
Lieutenant General /
General of the Cavalry 		Friedrich Wilhelm of Brandenburg November 29, 1839 to September 9, 1849
Lieutenant General /
General of the Infantry 		Karl Friedrich von Lindheim September 10, 1849 to May 10, 1862
General of the cavalry Louis of Mutius January 30, 1863 to August 6, 1866
General of the cavalry Wilhelm von Tümpling October 30, 1866 to November 26, 1883
Lieutenant General /
General of the Cavalry 		Hermann von Wichmann November 27, 1883 to October 27, 1886
General of the Infantry Octavio Philipp von Boehn November 23, 1886 to January 12, 1889
General of the artillery Eduard Julius Ludwig von Lewinski January 12, 1889 to February 20, 1895
General of the Infantry Bernhard of Saxe-Meiningen February 21, 1895 to May 28, 1903
General of the Infantry Remus of Woyrsch May 29, 1903 to September 12, 1911
General of the Infantry Kurt von Pritzelwitz September 13, 1911 to November 6, 1915
General of the cavalry Georg von der Marwitz 0November 7, 1915 to December 16, 1916
General of the Infantry Julius Riemann December 17, 1916 to November 22, 1917
General of the artillery Constance by Heineccius November 23, 1917 to December 19, 1918
General of the Infantry Kurt of the Borne December 20, 1918 to June 27, 1919
Lieutenant General Carl Briese June 28 to August 1919 (in charge of the tour)

Flags / flag decorations

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. 70ff.
  2. ^ Gustav von Glasenapp : The Generals of the German Army. Berlin 1874, p. 372f. Accordingly, the bulk of the 12th Division stayed at Josephsstadt on July 3rd.
  3. ^ Biography of Tümpling according to Bernhard von Poten :  Tümpling, Wilhelm von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 38, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1894, pp. 785-787.
  4. ^ Scheibert: The war between France and Germany. after the General Staff Works, Pauli's successor, Berlin 1895, p. 305.
  5. ^ Scheibert: The war between France and Germany. after the General Staff Works, Pauli's successor, Berlin 1895, p. 173.
  6. ^ Reichsarchiv : The World War 1914–1918. Volume I: The border battles in the west 1914. ES Mittler & Sohn. Berlin 1925, p. 315f.
  7. ^ Reichsarchiv: The Marne campaign. Volume VES Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1929, p. 47f.
  8. ^ Reichsarchiv: The World War 1914–1918. Volume 10, Berlin 1936.
  9. ^ Reichsarchiv: Liberation of Livonia and Estonia. (February 18 to March 5, 1918) edited by Major Hugo Kaupisch
  10. ↑ 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. 55-56.