IV Corps (German Empire)

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.

It was established on 3 October 1815 as the General Command in the Duchy of Saxony (Generalkommando im Herzogtum Sachsen) and became the IV Army Corps on 30 August 1818. Its headquarters was in Magdeburg and its catchment area included the Prussian Province of Saxony and the adjacent Saxon Duchies (Saxe-Altenburg, Anhalt) and Principalities (Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Reuss Elder Line and Reuss Junior Line).German Administrative History Accessed: 2 June 2012

In peacetime, the Corps was assigned to the VI Army Inspectorate but joined the 1st Army at the start of the First World War. It was still in existence at the end of the war in the 6th Army, Heeresgruppe Kronprinz Rupprecht on the Western Front. The Corps was disbanded with the demobilisation of the German Army after World War I.

Austro-Prussian War The IV Corps formed part of Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia's 1st Army and fought in the Austro-Prussian War against Austria in 1866, including the Battle of Königgrätz.Hermann Cron et al., Ruhmeshalle unserer alten Armee (Berlin, 1935); Wegner, pp=360,356-357

Franco-Prussian War In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, the Corps formed part of the 2nd Army that was commanded by Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia. It saw action in the battles of Beaumont and Sedan, and in the Siege of Paris.Cron et al., Ruhmeshalle; Wegner, pp=360,356-357

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. 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).They formed the Guards Cavalry Division, the only peacetime cavalry division in the German Army. 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 Corps Division Brigade Units Garrison IV Corps 7th Division 13th Infantry Brigade 26th (1st Magdeburg) Infantry "Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau"Magdeburg 66th (3rd Magdeburg) InfantryMagdeburg 14th Infantry Brigade 27th (2nd Magdeburg) Infantry "Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia"Halberstadt 165th (5th Hannover) InfantryQuedlinburg, II Bn at Blankenburg 7th Field Artillery Brigade 4th (Magdeburg) Field Artillery "Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria"Magdeburg 40th (Altmark) Field ArtilleryBurg 7th Cavalry Brigade 10th (Magdeburg) HussarsStendal 16th (Altmark) Uhlans "Hennigs von Treffenfeld"Salzwedel, Gardelegen 8th Division 15th Infantry Brigade 36th (Magdeburg) Fusiliers "General Field Marshal Count Blumenthal"Halle, II Bn at Bernburg 93rd (Anhalt) InfantryDessau, II Bn at Zerbst 16th Infantry Brigade 72nd (4th Thuringian) InfantryTorgau, III Bn at Eilenburg 153rd (8th Thuringian) InfantryAltenburg, III Bn at Merseburg 8th Field Artillery Brigade 74th (Torgau) Field ArtilleryTorgau, Wittenberg 75th (Mansfeld) Field ArtilleryHalle 8th Cavalry Brigade 7th (Magdeburg) Cuirassiers "von Seydlitz"Halberstadt, Quedlinburg 12th (Thuringian) HussarsTorgau Corps Troops 4th (Magdeburg) Jäger Battalion "von Neumann" Naumburg (Saale) 4th (Magdeburg) Foot Artillery "Encke"Magdeburg 4th (Magdeburg) Pioneer BattalionMagdeburg 4th (Magdeburg) Train BattalionMagdeburg Halle an der Saale Defence Command(Landwehr-Inspektion)Halle

World War I

Organisation on mobilisation On mobilization on 2 August 1914 the Corps was restructured. 8th Cavalry Brigade was withdrawn to form part of the 2nd Cavalry Division and the 7th Cavalry Brigade was broken up: the 10th Hussar Regiment was raised to a strength of 6 squadrons before being split into two half-regiments of 3 squadrons each and the half-regiments were assigned as divisional cavalry to 7th and 8th Divisions; the 16th Uhlan Regiment was likewise assigned as two half-regiments to 13th and 14th Divisions of VII Corps. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from the Corps headquarters. In summary, IV Corps mobilised with 25 infantry battalions, 9 machine gun companies (54 machine guns), 6 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 Corps Division Brigade Units IV Corps 7th Division 13th Infantry Brigade 26th Infantry Regiment 66th Infantry Regiment 14th Infantry Brigade 27th Infantry Regiment 165th Infantry Regiment 7th Field Artillery Brigade 4th Field Artillery Regiment 40th Field Artillery Regiment staff and half of 10th Hussar Regiment 2nd Company, 4th Pioneer Battalion 3rd Company, 4th Pioneer Battalion 7th Divisional Pontoon Train 2nd Medical Company 8th Division 15th Infantry Brigade 36th Fusilier Regiment 93rd Infantry Regiment 4th Jäger BattalionWith a machine gun company. 16th Infantry Brigade 72nd Infantry Regiment 153rd Infantry Regiment 8th Field Artillery Brigade 74th Field Artillery Regiment 75th Field Artillery Regiment half of 10th Hussar Regiment 1st Company, 4th Pioneer Battalion 8th Divisional Pontoon Train 1st Medical Company 3rd Medical Company Corps Troops I Battalion, 4th Foot Artillery Regiment4 heavy artillery batteries (16 heavy field howitzers) 9th Aviation Detachment 4th Corps Pontoon Train 4th Telephone Detachment 4th Pioneer Searchlight Section Munition Trains and Columns corresponding to II Corps

Combat chronicle On mobilisation, IV Corps was assigned to the 1st Army on the right wing of the forces for the Schlieffen Plan offensive in August 1914 on the Western Front. It participated in the Battle of Mons and the First Battle of the Marne which marked the end of the German advances in 1914. Later, it participated in the Battle of the Somme, particularly the Battle of Delville Wood and the Battle of Pozières.

It was still in existence at the end of the war in the 6th Army, Heeresgruppe Kronprinz Rupprecht on the Western Front.

49th Landwehr Brigade During the war, the 49th Landwehr Brigade joined the corps; it had originally been part of 4th Army. It had its headquarters at Bois de Lord farm on the River Aisne for most of the First World War. From 1915 the 49th Landwehr Brigade was commanded by Lt. General Hans von Blumenthal, who had retired in 1910 after disagreements with his commanding officer General Maximilian von Prittwitz. On the outbreak of war he had returned to active service, first to command 60th Landwehr Brigade.

Commanders The IV Corps had the following commanders during its existence:German Administrative History Accessed: 2 June 2012German War History Accessed: 2 June 2012The Prussian Machine Accessed: 2 June 2012

From Rank Name 3 October 1815 General der Infanterie Friedrich Graf Kleist von Nollendorf 5 March 1821 General der Infanterie Friedrich Wilhelm von Jagow 4 September 1830 Generalleutnant Georg Leopold Graf von Hake 30 March 1836 Generalleutnant Prince Charles of Prussia 5 March 1848 Generalleutnant August Georg von Hedemann 19 February 1852 General der Kavallerie Wilhelm Fürst von Radziwill 3 January 1858 General der Infanterie Hans Wilhelm von Schack 30 October 1866 General der Infanterie Gustav von Alvensleben 2 October 1871 General der Infanterie Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal 17 April 1888 General der Infanterie Wilhelm von Grolmann 22 March 1889 General der Kavallerie Carl von Hänisch 1 September 1897 General der Infanterie Richard von Klitzing 27 January 1903 General der Infanterie Paul von Hindenburg 20 March 1911 General der Infanterie Friedrich Sixt von Armin 25 February 1917 Generalleutnant Richard von Kraewel 20 December 1918 General der Infanterie Kuno von Steuben 30 January 1919 Generalleutnant Johannes von Malachowski 10 February 1919 Generalleutnant

IV Corps (German Empire)

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