XVI. Army Corps (German Empire)

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General command in Metz

The XVI. Army Corps was a large unit of the Prussian Army from 1890 to 1919.

structure

Peace structure 1914

Assigned by the II. Bavarian Army Corps :

Source: Ranking list of the Royal Prussian Army 1914

history

The corps was established on April 1, 1890 and had its general command in the fortress of Metz . At the beginning of the First World War it was subordinated to the VII Army Inspection .

First World War

Bruno from Mudra

At the beginning of the war in 1914, General of the Infantry Bruno von Mudra was the commanding general of the XVI. Corps, initially Colonel Rudolf von Borries acted as chief of staff, and from April 1915 Friedrich von Esebeck . The subordinate 33rd and 34th divisions were led by Lieutenant General Franz Reitzenstein and Heinemann .

Together with the V. and XIII. Army Corps , the corps was in the first meeting of the 5th Army , which invaded Lorraine through Luxembourg under the command of the German Crown Prince . Forming the left wing of the army, the XVI. Corps from the Diedenhofen area to the Ville au Montois – Bezailles – Boismont line to Sancy by August 20, 1914. The 34th Division had advanced through Serronville to Joppecourt, the 33rd Division from Sancy to Anderny. Further south began the attack of the 34th Division on Malavillers, the 67th Brigade under Colonel Brosius was assigned to Bonvillers via Sancy. The other brigade of the 34th Division was meanwhile still fighting for Mercy-le-Haut. The bulk of the 33rd Division was brought forward to the northwest via Higny-Preutin and followed the declining French 6th Corps to the west of Xivry-Circourt.

On August 23rd, the 5th Army on the left wing was followed by the 2nd Landwehr Division to observe the fortress front northeast of Verdun . The 43rd and 45th Landwehr Brigade were brought forward at Landres, the 13th and 53rd Landwehr Brigade, as well as the Bavarian 9th Landwehr Brigade to Briey . As a result, the 5th Army needed the XVI. Do not weaken the army corps in the attack on Verdun, General Mudra was able to continue his attack on Nouillon Pont-Spincourt. In front of the front, the 6th Cavalry Division operated via Spincourt on Damvillers. The popular old Field Marshal Gottlieb von Haeseler , a veteran of the war of 1870/71 , appeared during the fighting for Longwy at the headquarters of his former XVI. Army Corps and watched the operations at Damvillers. On August 24, the 34th Division advanced from Olliers and Rechicourt to Nouillon-Spincourt. The 33rd Division pursued over Domprix and reached the line Othainufer between Duzy-Domremy. On August 25, the weakened garrison of the fortress Metz (General Pelkmann) was reinforced by the 10th replacement division under General of the Infantry Georg von Gayl . The 8th Bavarian Brigade (General Riedl ) of the 33rd Reserve Division arriving at the front at Rouvres was able to repel French counter-attacks from the north-eastern front of Verdun between Etain-Lanheres. The XVI. Corps continued to grasp the north-western front of Verdun on the Duzey-Haudelaucourt line. The 33rd Division captured Vaudoncourt and Muzeray, north of which the 34th Division advanced to Warpremont. The attack of the 33rd Division over the Othain section had to be stopped, the south wing with the XVI. Corps and the advanced group "Oven" had to go back to the line Nouillonpont-Rechicourt-Avillers-Landres-Mairy. The first German advance on Verdun had failed.

The 34th Division went back via Rechicourt and based on the heights between Avillers – Landres a strong defensive position, which the 33rd Division also had to use via Avillers. To the east of it, the “Oven” group went back to the Landres – Mairy line. After the retreat of the 34th Division, the V. Reserve Corps had to extend its left wing to Muzeray, at the same time the VI. Reserve corps on the heights south of the Othainbach between St. Laurent and Sorbey are still gaining ground. The XVI. Army Corps went back to the Wiecourt-Avillers-Landres-Mairy line. On August 26, the newly reached line of the 5th Army stabilized on the northern edge of the Argonne.

From August 28th the 5th Army tried to reach the Meuse , aiming to bypass the fortress area of ​​Verdun in the north and to cut it off from the west. The XVI. Corps was assigned to Sivry- Consenvoye via Damvillers . On the left, the V Reserve Corps was responsible for observing the northern front off Verdun. Right reached the VI. Reserve Corps and the XIII. Corps proceeding parallel to the west on August 30 the Meuse at Dun . On August 29, the troops stood west of Dannevoux as far as Gercourt. On September 1st, the XVI. Corps set up on Avocourt via Montfaucon and penetrated south into the Argonne Forest . On September 4, the XIII. Corps advance via Varennes to the Clermont area. The left wing of the 4th Army, with the Higher Cav.Kdo, had moved to the west. Hollen and with the VI. Army corps on both sides of the Argonne via St. Menehould to Revigny to the Marne-Rhine Canal . The XVI. Corps had to force the Cousance section from Aubréville . Mudra's troops encountered strong resistance from the French again on September 6th around Bulainville on the Aire, the 34th Division to the south was violently attacked near Beauzee, the 33rd Division from the Heippes-Souilly area and placed on the defensive. To the north tried the following VI. Reserve Corps was attacked by the Verdun Western Front even before Jubecourt. On September 9th and 10th, the XIII. Corps, the 12th Reserve Division and the XVI. Corps to take the heights at Sommaisne, Serancourt and Heippes. In heavy fighting the line Rebercourt-Courcelles-Rignaucourt-Souilly was reached by the evening of the 10th, when, as a result of the Battle of the Marne, the order to withdraw for the 5th Army was received. The positions were held until September 11th, when the retreat took place through the Strait of Varennes to the north. At the end of September the troops of the XVI. Corps around the forest positions between Montblainville via Binarville and in the valley of the Biesme near Four de Paris. Heavy fights with opponents, who were well organized in guerrilla warfare, ensued for possession of the high altitude St. Hubert Pavilion.

German position in the Argonne at the end of 1914

In the now frozen front, the 27th division was closing in on the left , the 33rd and 34th division in the Argonner Forest, followed in an easterly direction by the subordinate 2nd Landwehr Division ( group "Franke" ), the left neighbor was the VI. Reserve Corps. In February 1915 there was even greater fighting for La Harazée and the high-lying Vauquois, then it became quieter in the Argonne. In the following trench warfare in 1915, the Germans had the French 3rd Army under Maurice Sarrail , with the V Corps and the XXXII, drawn from Flanders. Corps opposite.

On December 8, 1915, the neighboring Württemberg 27th Division was replaced by the 25th Reserve Division and transported to Flanders . The guerrilla war continued, the mine warfare gained considerably in importance. In December 1916 the XVI. Army corps pulled out of the Argonne and deployed in front of Verdun. From February 1917 the General Command returned to the Argonne, but now had other divisions under its command.

Whereabouts

Since the former general command in the fortress Metz could no longer be reached after the end of the war, the corps was demobilized and disbanded through the settlement center in Blankenburg (Harz) by September 1919 .

Commanding general

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

Rank Surname date
General of the cavalry Gottlieb von Haeseler March 24, 1890 to May 17, 1903
General of the Infantry Louis Stoetzer May 18, 1903 to April 23, 1906
General of the Infantry Maximilian von Prittwitz and Gaffron April 24, 1906 to February 28, 1913
General of the Infantry Bruno from Mudra 0March 1, 1913 to October 28, 1916
Lieutenant General Adolf Wild von Hohenborn October 29, 1916 to April 2, 1919
Lieutenant General Theodor Teetzmann 0April 3 to September 30, 1919

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 and Son, Berlin 1914. P. 98ff.
  2. ^ Reichsarchiv: The World War 1914–1918. Band IES Middle & Son. Berlin 1925, war organizations p. 676.
  3. ^ Reichsarchiv: Die Grenzschlachten im Westen 1914. ES Mittler Verlag, Berlin 1925, pp. 322–344.
  4. ^ Crown Prince Wilhelm: Memories. ES Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1923, p. 55.
  5. ^ Crown Prince Wilhelm: Memories. ES Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1923, p. 65f.
  6. ↑ Dermot Bradley (ed.), Günter Wegner: Occupation of the German Army 1815-1939. Volume 1: The higher command posts 1815–1939. Biblio Publishing House. Osnabrück 1990. ISBN 3-7648-1780-1 . P. 79.