XIV Corps (German Empire)

XIV Army Corps XIV. Armee-Korps
Flag of the Staff of a Generalkommando (1871–1918)
Active	30 September 1870 - March 1871 1 July 1871 - 1919
Country	Baden /   German Empire
Type	Corps
Size	Approximately 44,000 (on mobilisation in 1914)
Garrison/HQ	Karlsruhe/Werderpalais, Bismarckstraße 2
Patron	Grand Duke of Baden
Shoulder strap piping	Red
Engagements	Franco-Prussian War Battle of Villersexel Battle of the Lisaine World War I Battle of the Frontiers Battle of Mulhouse Battle of Passchendaele
Insignia
Abbreviation	XIV AK

The XIV Army Corps / XIV AK (German : XIV. Armee-Korps) was a corps level command of the German Army before and during World War I. It was, effectively, also the army of the Grand Duchy of Baden, which, in 1871, had been integrated into the Prussian Army command structure, as had the armies of most German states. Both divisions and the bulk of the corps' support units were from the grand duchy. The corps was established in 1870, after the Siege of Strasbourg. ^[1]

It was assigned to the V Army Inspectorate, ^[2] which became the 7th Army at the start of the First World War. It was still in existence at the end of the war ^[3] as part of the 18th Army, Heeresgruppe Deutscher Kronprinz on the Western Front. ^[4]

Franco-Prussian War

A siege corps was formed to besiege Strasbourg during the Franco-Prussian War under the command of General der Infanterie August von Werder. After the fall of Strasbourg, these troops were formed into a new XIV Corps by the All-highest Cabinet Order (Allerhöchste Kabinettsorder, AKO) of 30 September 1870.

Werder defeated the French at Dijon and at Nuits and proceeded to besiege Belfort. General Charles Denis Bourbaki assembled an army intending to relieve Belfort, leading to the Battle of Villersexel. On 15 January 1871, Bourbaki attacked Werder along the Lisaine River; however, after a three-day battle, he was repelled and his army retreated into Switzerland.

XIV Corps was disbanded in March 1871.

Re-formation

After the peace treaty, the XIV Corps was re-established on 1 July 1871 almost exclusively with troops from the Grand Duchy of Baden.

It was assigned to the V Army Inspectorate, ^[2] but joined the 7th Army at the start of the First World War.

Peacetime organisation

The 25 peacetime Corps of the German Army (Guards, I - XXI, I - III Bavarian) had a reasonably standardised organisation. Each consisted of two divisions with usually two infantry brigades, one field artillery brigade and a cavalry brigade each. ^[5] Each brigade normally consisted of two regiments of the appropriate type, so each Corps normally commanded 8 infantry, 4 field artillery and 4 cavalry regiments. There were exceptions to this rule:

V, VI, VII, IX and XIV Corps each had a 5th infantry brigade (so 10 infantry regiments)

II, XIII, XVIII and XXI Corps had a 9th infantry regiment

I, VI and XVI Corps had a 3rd cavalry brigade (so 6 cavalry regiments)

the Guards Corps had 11 infantry regiments (in 5 brigades) and 8 cavalry regiments (in 4 brigades). ^[6]

Each Corps also directly controlled a number of other units. This could include one or more

Foot Artillery Regiment

Jäger Battalion

Pioneer Battalion

Train Battalion

Peacetime organization of the Corps ^[7]

Corps	Division	Brigade	Units	Garrison
XIV Corps	28th Division	55th Infantry Brigade	109th (1st Baden) Life Grenadiers	Karlsruhe
			110th (2nd Baden) Grenadiers "Emperor William I"	Mannheim, II Bn at Heidelberg
		56th Infantry Brigade	40th (Hohenzollern) Fusiliers "Prince Charles Anton of Hohenzollern"	Rastatt
			111th (3rd Baden) Infantry "Margrave Ludwig William"	Rastatt
		28th Field Artillery Brigade	14th (1st Baden) Field Artillery "Grand Duke"	Karlsruhe
			50th (3rd Baden) Field Artillery	Karlsruhe
		28th Cavalry Brigade	20th (1st Baden) Life-Dragoons	Karlsruhe
			21st (2nd Baden) Dragoons	Bruchsal, Schwetzingen
	29th Division	57th Infantry Brigade	113th (5th Baden) Infantry	Freiburg im Breisgau
			114th (6th Baden) Infantry "Emperor Frederick III"	Konstanz
		58th Infantry Brigade	112th (4th Baden) Infantry "Prince William"	Mülhausen/Elsaß
			142nd (7th Baden) Infantry	Mülhausen/Elsaß, II Bn at Müllheim
		84th Infantry Brigade	169th (8th Baden) Infantry	Lahr, II Bn at Villingen
			170th (9th Baden) Infantry	Offenburg, III Bn at Donaueschingen
		29th Field Artillery Brigade	30th (2nd Baden) Field Artillery	Rastatt
			76th (5th Baden) Field Artillery	Freiburg im Breisgau
		29th Cavalry Brigade	22nd (3rd Baden) Dragoons "Prince Charles"	Mülhausen/Elsaß
			5th Jäger zu Pferde	Mülhausen/Elsaß
	Corps Troops		14th (Baden) Foot Artillery	Straßburg, Müllheim
			14th (Baden) Pioneer Battalion	Kehl
			4th Telegraph Battalion	Karlsruhe, Freiburg im Breisgau
			4th Airship Battalion	Mannheim, Metz, Lahr, Friedrichshafen
			14th (Baden) Train Battalion	Durlach
	Karlsruhe Defence Command (Landwehr-Inspektion)			Karlsruhe

14th (Baden) Foot Artillery was partially garrisoned in Straßburg (as part of XV Corps) and Müllheim (as part of XIV Corps). In addition, the 66th (4th Baden) Field Artillery was stationed in Lahr and Neubreisach as part of XV Corps.^{[ citation needed ]}

World War I

Organisation on mobilisation

On mobilization on 2 August 1914, the Corps was restructured. The 28th Cavalry Brigade was withdrawn to form part of the 6th Cavalry Division ^[8] and the 29th Cavalry Brigade was broken up and its regiments assigned to the divisions as reconnaissance units. The divisions received engineer companies and other support units from the Corps headquarters. Unusually, the Corps retained its 5th Infantry brigade, making it the strongest active corps on mobilisation. In summary, XIV Corps mobilised with 30 infantry battalions, 10 machine gun companies (60 machine guns), 8 cavalry squadrons, 24 field artillery batteries (144 guns), 4 heavy artillery batteries (16 guns), 3 pioneer companies and an aviation detachment.

Initial wartime organization of the Corps ^[9]

Corps	Division	Brigade	Units
XIV Corps	28th Division	55th Infantry Brigade	109th Life Grenadier Regiment
			110th Grenadier Regiment
		56th Infantry Brigade	40th Fusilier Regiment
			111th Infantry Regiment
		28th Field Artillery Brigade	14th Field Artillery Regiment
			50th Field Artillery Regiment
			5th Jäger zu Pferde Regiment
			2nd Company, 14th Pioneer Battalion
			3rd Company, 14th Pioneer Battalion
			28th Divisional Pontoon Train
			2nd Medical Company
	29th Division	57th Infantry Brigade	113th Infantry Regiment
			114th Infantry Regiment
		58th Infantry Brigade	112th Infantry Regiment
			142nd Infantry Regiment
		84th Infantry Brigade	169th Infantry Regiment
			170th Infantry Regiment
		29th Field Artillery Brigade	30th Field Artillery Regiment
			76th Field Artillery Regiment
			22nd Dragoon Regiment
			1st Company, 14th Pioneer Battalion
			29th Divisional Pontoon Train
			1st Medical Company
			3rd Medical Company
	Corps Troops		II Battalion, 14th Foot Artillery Regiment [10]
			20th Aviation Detachment
			14th Corps Pontoon Train
			14th Telephone Detachment
			14th Pioneer Searchlight Section
			Munition Trains and Columns corresponding to II Corps

Combat chronicle

At the outbreak of World War I, the Corps was assigned to the 7th Army on the left of the forces that executed the Schlieffen Plan ^[11] and fought in the Battle of the Frontiers. In September, it was transferred to the 6th Army. From November 1916 to March 1917, the corps took command of Group Hardaumont of the 5th Army. In March 1917, it was transferred to the 3rd Army and took command of Group Prosnes. In May, it was transferred to the 4th Army's control and took command of Group Dixmude. During this period, it fought in the Battle of Passchendaele. ^[12] Taking over from the XIX Corps ^[13] at Wijtschate in November 1917, the XIV Corps formed a new Group Wytschaete, which it commanded until December 1917, after which it took over Group Busigny in the 6th Army. It remained in command of this group into 1918. ^[12]

It was still in existence at the end of the war ^[3] as part of the 18th Army, Heeresgruppe Deutscher Kronprinz on the Western Front. ^[4]

Commanders

The XIV Corps had the following commanders during its existence: ^{[14] [15] [16]}

Dates	Rank	Name
30 September 1870	General der Infanterie	August von Werder
15 April 1879	General der Infanterie	Hugo von Obernitz
10 August 1888	General der Infanterie	Sigismund von Schlichting
2 January 1896	General der Kavallerie	Adolf von Bülow
27 January 1901	General der Infanterie	Max von Bock und Polach
11 September 1907	General der Infanterie	Ernst Freiherr von Hoiningen gen. Huene
31 August 1914	Generalleutnant	Theodor von Watter
10 March 1915	Generalleutnant	Karl von Hänisch
12 August 1916	Generalleutnant	Martin Chales de Beaulieu
5 September 1917	Generalleutnant	Alfred von Böckmann
2 November 1917	Generalleutnant	Friedrich von Gontard

See also

• Germany portal

• Armee-Abteilung B
• German Army order of battle (1914)
• German Army order of battle, Western Front (1918)
• List of Imperial German infantry regiments
• List of Imperial German artillery regiments
• List of Imperial German cavalry regiments

References

1. Günter Wegner, Stellenbesetzung der deutschen Heere 1815-1939. (Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück, 1993), Bd. 1, p. 75.
2. Cron 2002 , p. 395
3. Cron 2002 , pp. 88–89
4. Ellis & Cox 1993 , pp. 186–187
5. Haythornthwaite 1996 , pp. 193–194
6. They formed the Guards Cavalry Division, the only peacetime cavalry division in the German Army.
7. War Office 1918 , p. 253
8. Cron 2002 , p. 301
9. Cron 2002 , pp. 320–321
10. 4 heavy artillery batteries (16 heavy field howitzers)
11. Cron 2002 , p. 321
12. XIV. Armeekorps (Chronik 1914/1918)
13. Sheldon 2007, p. 1.
14. German Administrative History Accessed: 17 May 2012
15. German War History Accessed: 17 May 2012
16. The Prussian Machine Archived 11 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine Accessed: 17 May 2012

Bibliography

• Claus von Bredow, bearb., Historische Rang- und Stammliste des deutschen Heeres (1905)
• Cron, Hermann (2002). Imperial German Army 1914-18: Organisation, Structure, Orders-of-Battle [first published: 1937]. Helion & Co. ISBN   1-874622-70-1.
• Ellis, John; Cox, Michael (1993). The World War I Databook. Aurum Press Ltd. ISBN   1-85410-766-6.
• Haythornthwaite, Philip J. (1996). The World War One Source Book. Arms and Armour. ISBN   1-85409-351-7.
• Sheldon, J. (2007). The German Army at Passchendaele. London: Pen and Sword. ISBN   978-1-84415-564-4.
• Histories of Two Hundred and Fifty-One Divisions of the German Army which Participated in the War (1914-1918), compiled from records of Intelligence section of the General Staff, American Expeditionary Forces, at General Headquarters, Chaumont, France 1919. The London Stamp Exchange Ltd (1989). 1920. ISBN   0-948130-87-3.
• The German Forces in the Field; 7th Revision, 11th November 1918; Compiled by the General Staff, War Office. Imperial War Museum, London and The Battery Press, Inc (1995). 1918. ISBN   1-870423-95-X.