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The Battle of Lagarde took place on August 11, 1914, during World War I and was one of the last battles in military history to feature a large-scale cavalry charge at the brigade level. [1] [2] [3]
In early August 1914, the Bavarian Cavalry Division, serving as army cavalry, probed the well-entrenched French border defenses in Lorraine during the initial deployment on the Western Front. [4] The Bavarian Uhlan Brigade, consisting of the 1st Uhlan Regiment and the 2nd Uhlan Regiment, part of the Bavarian Cavalry Division, had to march back and forth across Lorraine between August 6 and 10 without finding a gap in the French lines. [5] The hard roads took a severe toll on the horses. [3]
On August 10, the French became active and managed to capture the village of Lagarde (known as Gerden from 1871 to 1918) near the border in the German part of Lorraine. [6] To counter this, Lieutenant General Otto von Stetten, commander of the Bavarian Cavalry Division, and Lieutenant General Hasso von Bredow, leader of the 42nd Infantry Division, decided to conduct a forceful reconnaissance against Lagarde on August 11. [7] [8]
The Germans captured eleven guns, several machine guns, and 1,400 prisoners. A fallen French brigadier general was found with a two-day-old army order revealing the French battle plan in Lorraine. The Bavarian Uhlan Brigade lost 16 officers, 219 soldiers, and 304 horses. [8]
The Battle of the Ardennes took place during the First World War fought on the frontiers of France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg from 21 to 23 August 1914. The German armies defeated the French and forced their retreat. The battle was part of the larger Battle of the Frontiers, the first battle of the Western Front.
The Battle of Liège was the opening engagement of the German invasion of Belgium and the first battle of the First World War. The city of Liège was protected by a ring of modern fortresses, one of several fortified cities to delay an invasion to allow troops from the powers which had guaranteed Belgian neutrality to assist the Belgian Army in the expulsion of the invaders.
The Battle of Mulhouse, also called the Battle of Alsace, which began on 7 August 1914, was the opening attack of the First World War by the French Army against the German Empire. The battle was part of a French attempt to recover the province of Alsace, which France had ceded to the new empire following its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. The French occupied Mulhouse on 8 August and were then forced out by German counter-attacks on 10 August. The French retired to Belfort, where General Louis Bonneau, the VII Corps commander, was sacked, along with the commander of the 8th Cavalry Division. Events further north led to the German XIV and XV corps being moved away from Belfort and a second French offensive by the French VII Corps, reinforced and renamed the French Army of Alsace, began on 14 August.
The Great Retreat, also known as the retreat from Mons, was the long withdrawal to the River Marne in August and September 1914 by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French Fifth Army. The Franco-British forces on the Western Front in the First World War had been defeated by the armies of the German Empire at the Battle of Charleroi and the Battle of Mons. A counter-offensive by the Fifth Army, with some assistance from the BEF, at the First Battle of Guise failed to end the German advance and the retreat continued over the Marne. From 5 to 12 September, the First Battle of the Marne ended the Allied retreat and forced the German armies to retire towards the Aisne River and to fight the First Battle of the Aisne (13–28 September). Reciprocal attempts to outflank the opposing armies to the north known as the Race to the Sea followed from (17 September to 17 October).
The 4th Guards Infantry Division was a unit of the Imperial German Army in World War I. The division was formed on May 18, 1915. It was part of a wave of new infantry divisions formed in the spring of 1915. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. It was a division of the Prussian Guards and hence recruited from all over the Kingdom of Prussia.
The Guards Corps/GK was a corps level command of the Prussian and then the Imperial German Armies from the 19th century to World War I.
The IV Army Corps / IV AK was a corps level command of the Prussian and then the Imperial German Armies from the 19th Century to World War I.
The III Army Corps / III AK was a corps level command of the Prussian and then the Imperial German Armies from the 19th century to World War I.
The 3rd Royal Bavarian Division was a unit of the Royal Bavarian Army which served alongside the Prussian Army as part of the Imperial German Army. The division was formed on November 27, 1815, as an Infantry Division of the Würzburg General Command. It was called the 3rd Army Division between 1822 and 1848, again between 1851 and 1859, and again from 1869 to 1872. It was called the 3rd Infantry Division from 1848 to 1851 and was named the Nuremberg General Command from 1859 to 1869. From April 1, 1872, until mobilization for World War I, it was the 3rd Division. In 1901, it had swapped division numbers with the 5th Division. In Bavarian sources, it was not generally referred to as a "Royal Bavarian" division, as this was considered self-evident, but outside Bavaria, this designation was used for it, and other Bavarian units, to distinguish them from similarly numbered Prussian units. The division was headquartered in Nuremberg from 1815 to 1843, in Ansbach from 1843 to 1848, and then again in Nuremberg until 1901, when after the renumbering of divisions, it became the 3rd Division in Landau and the division in Nuremberg became the 5th Division. The division was part of the II Royal Bavarian Army Corps.
The 2nd Royal Bavarian Uhlan Regiment was a Bavarian Army Cavalry Regiment formed in 1863 in Ansbach. From 6 July 1864 it was nominally commanded by King Ludwig II of Bavaria until he was succeeded by King Otto of Bavaria on 13 June 1886.
The Household Cavalry Composite Regiment was a temporary, wartime-only, cavalry regiment of the British Army consisting of personnel drawn from the 1st Life Guards, 2nd Life Guards and Royal Horse Guards. It was active in 1882 for service in the Anglo-Egyptian War, in 1889–1900 during the Second Boer War, from August to November, 1914 during the opening months of World War I and in World War II.
The Affair of Néry was a skirmish fought on 1 September 1914 between the British Army and the German Army, part of the Great Retreat from Mons during the early stages of the First World War. A British cavalry brigade preparing to leave their overnight bivouac were attacked by a German cavalry division of about twice their strength, shortly after dawn. Both sides fought dismounted; the British artillery was mostly put out of action in the first few minutes but a gun of L Battery, Royal Horse Artillery kept up a steady fire for two and a half hours, against a full battery of German artillery. British reinforcements arrived at around 8:00 a.m., counter-attacked the Germans and forced them to retreat; the German division was routed and did not return to combat for several days. Three men of L Battery were awarded the Victoria Cross for their part in the battle, the battery was later awarded the honour title of "Néry", the only British Army unit to have this as a battle honour.
The 2nd Cavalry Division was a unit of the German Army in World War I. The division was formed on the mobilization of the German Army in August 1914. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.
The Bavarian Cavalry Division was a unit of the Royal Bavarian Army, part of the German Army, in World War I. The division was formed on the mobilization of the German Army in August 1914. The division was disbanded in 1919, during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was raised and recruited in Bavaria.
The 6th Cavalry Division was a unit of the German Army that fought on Eastern and Western Fronts during World War I. The division was formed on the mobilization of the German Army in August 1914 and was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.
The 4th Cavalry Division was a unit of the German Army in World War I. The division was formed on the mobilization of the German Army in August 1914. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.
The history of the German Cavalry in World War I is one of an arm in decline.
The XXI Army Corps / XXI AK was a corps level command of the German Army, before and during World War I.
The VII Army Corps / VII AK was a corps level command of the Prussian and then the Imperial German Armies from the 19th Century to World War I.
Otto von Stetten was a German General of the Cavalry in World War I.