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The First Army was a Prussian formation during the Austro-Prussian War. Being a wartime organization of the Prussian Army; it afterwards was demobilized.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(December 2021) |
The First Army was a Prussian formation during the Austro-Prussian War. Being a wartime organization of the Prussian Army; it afterwards was demobilized.
For the Austro-Prussian War the Prussians organized their forces into three, and eventually four, field armies. Helmuth von Moltke, Chief of the Prussian General Staff, assigned four corps to attack the area of the Austria-allied kingdoms of Hanover and Saxony. [1] The command of the First Army was given to Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia, a nephew of King William of Prussia. The young General der Kavallerie had served in the First Schleswig War and Second Schleswig War and already received the prestigious Pour le Mérite with oak leaves. [2] Chief of Staff was to be Generalleutnant Konstantin Bernhard von Voigts-Rhetz, who was an intelligent but opinionated officer. [3]
During the war the First Army did not operate effectively in the opinion of the war-directing General Staff. Prince Friedrich Karl's marching orders strained the army's supply lines and prevented a link with Second Army. Fortunately, the First Army was able to link up with the Army of the Elbe, commanded by Karl Eberhard Herwarth von Bittenfeld. On June 28 both armies operated against Mnichovo Hradiště which turned into the Battle of Münchengrätz. The prince then ordered the 3rd Division to march to Jičín. Even though the campaign was successful many men died before reaching the battlefields. The combined operation of two armies worsened the already bad supply situation. [4] [5] When the armies marched separately again the First Army was the first in the Battle of Königgrätz, fighting against the Austrians under Ludwig von Benedek until the Second Army of Crown-Prince Frederick William of Prussia arrived.
The First Army had the following order of battle: [6]
Commanding General: General der Kavallerie Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia
Chief of Staff: Generalleutnant Konstantin Bernhard von Voigts-Rhetz
Quartermaster General: Generalmajor Ferdinand von Stülpnagel
Chief of Artillery: Generalmajor Albert von Lengsfeld
Chief Engineer: Generalmajor Karl Keiser
Commanding General: Generalleutnant Stephan von Schmidt
Chief of Staff: Generalmajor Georg von Kameke
Directly subordinate to the army
Directly subordinate to the army
Commanding General: General der Kavallerie Prince Albert of Prussia
Chief of Staff: Oberstleutnant Karl von Witzendorff
The following detached units also belonged to the corps:
The 7th Division was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed in Magdeburg in November 1816 as a brigade and became a division on September 5, 1818. The division was subordinated in peacetime to the IV Army Corps. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was recruited primarily in the Province of Saxony, also known as Prussian Saxony.
The 8th Division was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed in Erfurt in November 1816 as a brigade and became a division on September 5, 1818. The division was subordinated in peacetime to the IV Army Corps. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was recruited primarily in the Province of Saxony, also known as Prussian Saxony and the smaller states of the German Empire around Prussian Saxony.
The 13th Division was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed in November 1816 in Münster in Westphalia as a troop brigade and became the 13th Division on September 5, 1818. The division was subordinated in peacetime to the VII Army Corps. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was recruited primarily in the Prussian Province of Westphalia and two small principalities in the Westphalian region, Lippe-Detmold and Schaumburg-Lippe.
The 1st Division was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed in Königsberg in March 1816 as a Troop Brigade (Truppen-Brigade). It became the 1st Division on September 5, 1818. From the corps' formation in 1820, the division was subordinated in peacetime to I Army Corps. The 1st Division was disbanded in 1919, during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.
The 3rd Division was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed in Stettin in May 1816 as a Troop Brigade (Truppen-Brigade). It became the 3rd Division on September 5, 1818. From the corps' formation in 1820, the division was subordinated in peacetime to the II Army Corps. The 3rd Division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.
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The 6th Division was a unit of the Prussian Army. It was formed in Düsseldorf in 1816 as a brigade and became the 6th Division on September 5, 1818. The headquarters moved to Torgau in 1820 and then to Brandenburg in 1850. The division was subordinated in peacetime to the III Army Corps. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was recruited in the Province of Brandenburg.
The 41st Division was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was established on October 1, 1912, in Deutsch Eylau. The division was subordinated in peacetime to the XX Army Corps. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. It was mainly recruited in the Prussian province of West Prussia.
The 11th Division was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed in Breslau in November 1816 as a brigade, and became the 11th Division on September 5, 1818. The division was subordinated in peacetime to the VI Army Corps. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was recruited primarily in the Province of Silesia, mainly in the region of Lower Silesia.
The 15th Division was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed as the 16th Division on September 5, 1818, in Cologne from the 4th Brigade of the Army Corps in France. It became the 15th Division on December 14, 1818. The division was subordinated in peacetime to the VIII Army Corps. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. It was recruited in the densely populated Prussian Rhine Province, mainly in the Lower Rhine region.
The 19th Division was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed on October 11, 1866, and was headquartered in Hannover. The division was subordinated in peacetime to the X Army Corps. The division was disbanded in 1919, during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.
The 21st Division was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed on October 11, 1866, and was headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. The division was subordinated in peacetime initially to the XI Army Corps and from 1899 to the XVIII Army Corps.
The 22nd Division was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed on October 11, 1866, and was headquartered in Kassel. The division was subordinated in peacetime to the XI Army Corps. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.
The 25th Division, officially the Grand Ducal Hessian (25th) Division, was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was headquartered in Darmstadt, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Hesse. The division was subordinated in peacetime to XVIII Army Corps when that corps was formed in 1899. The division was disbanded in 1919, during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.
The 34th Division was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed on April 1, 1890, and was headquartered in Metz. The division was subordinated in peacetime to the XVI Army Corps. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was recruited heavily in the densely populated Rhine Province and in the Province of Westphalia, as its primary recruiting and garrison area was Lorraine, whose German population was insufficient to support the divisions of the XVI Army Corps.
The 38th Division was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed on April 1, 1899, and was headquartered in Erfurt. The division was subordinated in peacetime to the XI Army Corps. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.
The 113th Infantry Division was a formation of the Imperial German Army in World War I. The division was formed on March 25, 1915, and organized over the next several weeks. 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.
This is the German Army order of battle on the outbreak of World War I in August 1914.
The Second Army was a formation of the Prussian Army during the Austro-Prussian War. Being a wartime formation, afterwards the field army was demobilized.
The Army of the Elbe was a Prussian formation during the Austro-Prussian War. Being a wartime organization of the Prussian Army; it afterwards was demobilized. According to von Moltke's strategy, the Prussian Army was to march into the Kingdom of Bohemia in three independently operating units and fight Austria's northern army there. The division into three armies was heavily criticized by contemporaries, but remained victorious.
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