 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2022) |
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.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2022) |
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.
For the Austro-Prussian War Helmuth von Moltke, the Chief of the Prussian General Staff, formed three field armies (First Army, Second Army and the Army of the Elbe) for the war in the east as well as the Army of the Main for the campaigns in the west. Command of the Second Army was given to Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia, with Generalmajor Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal as Chief of Staff and Oberst Albrecht von Stosch as Oberquartiermeister.
The Second Army had the following order of battle: [1]
Commanding General: Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia
Chief of Staff: Generalmajor Leonhard von Blumenthal
Quartermaster General: Generalmajor Albrecht von Stosch
Chief of Artillery: Generalmajor Georg Albano von Jacobi
Chief of Engineers: Generalmajor Heinrich von Schweinitz
Commanding General: Generalleutnant Adolf von Bonin
Chief of Staff: Oberstleutnant August von Borries
Commander of Artillery: Oberst Hermann Robert Knothe
Commander of Engineers: Oberst Weber
1st Division (Generalleutnant Georg Friedrich von Großmann)
2nd Division (Generalleutnant Friedrich von Clausewitz)
Commanding General: General Karl Friedrich von Steinmetz
Chief of Staff: Oberst Ludwig von Wittich
Commander of Artillery: Oberst Karl von Kraewel
Commander of Engineers: Oberst Franz von Kleist
9th Division (Generalmajor Julius Ludwig von Loewenfeld)
10th Division (Generalleutnant Hugo von Kirchbach)
Combined Cavalry Brigade Major General Karl Georg Heinrich von Wnuck
Commanding General: General Louis von Mutius
Chief of Staff: Oberst Oskar von Sperling
Commander of Artillery: Generalmajor Friedrich Wilhelm Eduard Herkt
Commander of Engineers: Oberst Schulz
11th Division (Generalleutnant Heinrich von Zastrow)
12th Division (Generalleutnant Hugo von Kirchbach)
Commanding General: Prince August of Württemberg
Chief of Staff: Oberst Friedrich Franz von Dannenberg
Commander of Artillery: Generalmajor Louis von Colomier
Commander of Engineers: Oberst Biehler
During the Austro-Prussian War the Second Army received its marching orders from Von Moltke. He ordered the I Corps to move via Liebau and Trautenau to Arnau, the Guards Corps to move via Neurode, Braunau, Eypel to Koniginhof, the V Corps to move via Glatz, Reinerz, Nachod to Gradlitz, and the VI Corps to move from Waldenburg, via Trautenau to Koniginhof. While the Army of the Elbe and the First Army were ordered to campaign further to the east; the I Corps concentrated at Liebau and Schomberg, the V Corps was at Reinerz, about twenty miles from the I, and the Guards Corps just crossed the frontier, in front of Neurode, which was between the two corps. The VI Corps was at Landeck and Glatz.
On June 23, the Second Army pushed its I Corps against Trautenau. The I Corps was divided into left and right columns. They arrived at Trautenau on 27 June. Unlike what they anticipated, Trautenau was not occupied by the Austrians. Thus Friedrich von Clausewitz, commander of the left column, waited for the right column for 2 hours (8 AM - 10 AM). While waiting, Austrian forces arrived and attacked the Prussian forces. About 3'o clock the Austrian X Corps, commanded by Ludwig von Gablenz, arrived on the field. Then the other forces of the I Corps arrived to reinforce the Friedrich von Clausewitz. However the vigorous attack of the Austrians compelled the Prussians to retreat. [2]
On 28 June, at 1 o'clock in the morning, Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia received the news of the loss at Trautenau. He ordered his divisions to again attack the Austrian X Corps. The divisions and the Guards Corps fought a tactical victory for Prussia. The Prussians lost 713 men in the battle while the Austrians lost 3,674 men. On the same day the V Corps, commanded by Karl Friedrich von Steinmetz, was fighting against the Austrians at Česká Skalice. During that battle the Prussians lost 1,365 men against Austrian losses of almost 6,000 men. [3]
On 29 June, Frederick ordered a general advance. The I Corps marched to Pilníkov and the Guards Corps to Koniginhof. The V Corps marched to Schweinschädel, meeting several Austrian Brigades on the way. There they fought the Austrians in another victorious battle. [4]
On 30 June, Chief of Staff General von Moltke ordered the Second Army to stay in the upper Elbe area. [5]
During the Battle of Königgrätz, the Second Army was not on the battlefield but started to advance from 8 o'clock in the morning. At 8 o'clock, the V Corps and VI Corps started their march while the I Corps began theirs at 9:30. [6] However the arrival was delayed by bad road conditions due to heavy rains. [7] Still the arrival of Second Army proved to be decisive and lethal for the Austrians.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain . This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .This is the complete order of battle of Allied and German forces involved during Operation Market Garden.
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 2nd Division was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed in Danzig in March 1816 as a Troop Brigade (Truppen-Brigade). It became the 2nd Division on September 5, 1818. In 1890, the headquarters of the division was relocated to Königsberg, then the capital of East Prussia. In 1899, the headquarters was moved to Insterburg, further inland and closer to the border with the Russian Empire. From the latter's formation in 1820, the division was subordinated in peacetime to the I Army Corps. The 2nd 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.
The 5th Division was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed in Crossen in 1816 as a brigade, moved to Frankfurt an der Oder in 1817, and became the 5th Division on September 5, 1818. The headquarters moved to Berlin in 1840 and back to Frankfurt in 1845. 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 52nd Infantry Division (52.Infanterie-Division) was a division of the Imperial German Army during World War I. The division was formed on March 6, 1915, from units taken from other divisions or newly raised. The division was initially mixed, with two infantry regiments from the Grand Duchy of Baden, one infantry regiment from Prussian Saxony, and Prussian and Baden support units. While the infantry regiments and the divisional cavalry squadron were regular army units, the rest of the division was made up of reserve units and units formed during the war. The 66th Magdeburg Infantry Regiment was taken from the 7th Infantry Division, and the 169th and 170th Infantry Regiments were taken from Baden's 29th Infantry Division. The 52nd Infantry Division became more Baden as the war progressed, as the 66th Magdeburg Infantry Regiment, the regiment from Prussian Saxony, was replaced on April 6, 1917, by Baden's 111th Infantry Regiment "Margrave Ludwig Wilhelm".
The 9th Division was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed in Glogau in November 1816 as a brigade, became the 10th Division on September 5, 1818, and was renumbered the 9th Division on February 28, 1820. The division was subordinated in peacetime to the V 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, primarily in Lower Silesia.
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 12th Division was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed in Neiße 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 Upper Silesia.
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 26th Division, formally the 26th Division, was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was headquartered in Stuttgart, the capital of the Kingdom of Württemberg. The division was subordinated in peacetime to the XIII Corps. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was raised and recruited in the Kingdom of Württemberg.
The 27th Division, formally the 27th Division, was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was headquartered in Ulm in the eastern part of the Kingdom of Württemberg. The division was subordinated in peacetime to the XIII Corps. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was raised and recruited in the Kingdom of Württemberg. Among the most famous soldiers to serve in the division was Erwin Rommel who fought as a lieutenant with the division on the Western Front before being transferred to the Württemberg mountain battalion.
This is an order of battle of the French and German Armies at the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870.
The 36th Division was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed on April 1, 1890, and was headquartered in Danzig. The division was subordinated in peacetime to the XVII 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 West Prussia.
The 6th Reserve Division was a unit of the German Army, in World War I. The division was formed on mobilization of the German Army in August 1914. The division was disbanded in September 1918. The division was a reserve division of the III Reserve Corps and was raised primarily in the Prussian Province of Brandenburg.
This is the German Army order of battle on the outbreak of World War I in August 1914.
The following units of the British, French and German Empires fought in the First Battle of the Marne from 5–12 September 1914 on the Western Front of World War I.
The First Army was a Prussian formation during the Austro-Prussian War. Being a wartime organization of the Prussian Army; it afterwards 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.