XIII (Royal Württemberg) Corps

The XIII (Royal Württemberg) Army Corps / XIII AK () was a corps of the Imperial German Army. It was, effectively, also the army of the Kingdom of Württemberg, which had been integrated in 1871 into the Prussian Army command structure, as had the armies of most German states. The corps was originally established as the Württemberg Corps Command (Korpskommando) in 1817. It became the XIII Army Corps when it was integrated into the Prussian numbering system on December 18, 1871, shortly after the Franco-Prussian War.

Austro-Prussian War The corps saw action in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War, on the losing Austrian side, as the Royal Württemberg Division of the VIII German Federation Army Corps (VIII. deutschen Bundesarmeekorps). It was unable to stop a Prussian advance into north Württemberg at Tauberbischofsheim, but this battle was not important in the war.

Franco-Prussian War In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, the corps served under the headquarters staff of the Württemberg Field Division of the Combined Württemberg-Baden Army Corps. The Württemberg Field Division saw action in the battles of Wörth and Sedan, and in the Siege of Paris.

Peacetime organisation The corps' two divisions were the 26th and 27th.

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 XIII (Royal Württemberg) Corps 26th Division 51st Infantry Brigade 119th (1st Württemberg) Grenadiers "Queen Olga"Stuttgart 125th (7th Württemberg) Infantry "Emperor Frederick, King of Prussia"Stuttgart 52nd Infantry Brigade 121st (3rd Württemberg)(Old Württemberg) InfantryLudwigsburg 122nd (4th Württemberg) Fusiliers "Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria, King of Hungary"Heilbronn, II Bn at Mergentheim 26th Field Artillery Brigade 29th (2nd Württemberg) Field Artillery "Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria"Ludwigsburg 65th (4th Württemberg) Field ArtilleryLudwigsburg 26th Cavalry Brigade 25th (1st Württemberg) Dragoons "Queen Olga"Ludwigsburg 26th (2nd Württemberg) Dragoons "King"Stuttgart-Cannstatt 27th Division 53rd Infantry Brigade 123rd (5th Württemberg) Grenadiers "King Charles"Ulm 124th (6th Württemberg) Infantry "King William I"Weingarten 54th Infantry Brigade 120th (2nd Württemberg) Infantry "Emperor William, King of Prussia"Ulm 127th (9th Württemberg) InfantryUlm, Waiblingen 180th (10th Württemberg) InfantryTübingen, II Bn at Schwäbisch Gmünd 27th Field Artillery Brigade 13th (1st Württemberg) Field Artillery "King Charles"Ulm, Stuttgart-Cannstatt 49th (3rd Württemberg) Field ArtilleryUlm 27th Cavalry Brigade 19th (1st Württemberg) Uhlans "King Charles"Ulm, Wiblingen 20th (2nd Württemberg) Uhlans "King William I"Ludwigsburg Corps Troops 13th (Württemberg) Pioneer BattalionUlm 13th (Württemberg) Train BattalionLudwigsburg Stuttgart Defence Command(Landwehr-Inspektion)Stuttgart

In addition, the 126th (8th Württemberg) Infantry "Grand Duke Frederick of Baden" was stationed at Straßburg as part of XV Corps.

World War I

Organisation on mobilisation On mobilization on August 2, 1914 the Corps was restructured. The 180th Infantry Regiment was assigned to the 26th Reserve Division in XIV Reserve Corps. The 26th Cavalry Brigade was withdrawn to form part of the 7th Cavalry Division and the 27th Cavalry Brigade was broken up and its regiments assigned as reconnaissance units to the divisions. The two divisions received engineer companies and other support units from the Corps headquarters. In summary, XIII Corps mobilised with 24 infantry battalions, 8 machine gun companies (48 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 Corps Division Brigade Units XIII (Royal Württemberg) Corps 26th Division 51st Infantry Brigade 119th Grenadier Regiment 125th Infantry Regiment 52nd Infantry Brigade 121st Infantry Regiment 122nd Fusilier Regiment 26th Field Artillery Brigade 29th Field Artillery Regiment 65th Field Artillery Regiment 20th Uhlan Regiment 1st Company, 13th Pioneer Battalion 26th Divisional Pontoon Train 1st Medical Company 3rd Medical Company 27th Division 53rd Infantry Brigade 123rd Grenadier Regiment 124th Infantry Regiment 54th Infantry Brigade 120th Infantry Regiment 127th Infantry Regiment 27th Field Artillery Brigade 13th Field Artillery Regiment 49th Field Artillery Regiment 19th Uhlan Regiment 2nd Company, 12th Pioneer Battalion 3rd Company, 12th Pioneer Battalion 27th Divisional Pontoon Train 2nd Medical Company Corps Troops I Battalion, 13th Foot Artillery Regiment4 heavy artillery batteries (16 heavy field howitzers) 4th Aviation Detachment 13th Corps Pontoon Train 13th Telephone Detachment 13th Pioneer Searchlight Section Munition Trains and Columns corresponding to II Corps

Combat chronicle On mobilization in 1914, the corps was subordinated to the 5th Army and saw action on the Western Front. It was transferred to the 6th Army during the Race to the Sea. In October 1914, the corps headquarters formed Corps Fabeck, which by the end of the month had become a provisional army group, commanding XV Corps, II Bavarian Corps and Corps Urach. In November, the XIII Army Corps was transferred from the 6th Army to the 9th Army on the Eastern Front. By 1916, the corps had returned to the Western Front and was subordinated to the 4th Army under Army Group Crown Prince Rupprecht. From April 1917 to March 1918, the corps commanded Group Caudry, another provisional command. In September 1918, it took over command of Group Ebene under Army Group Duke Albrecht of Württemberg, and commanded Group Ebene until war's end.XIII. (Königlich Württembergisches) Armeekorps (Chronik 1914/1918)

It was still in existence at the end of the war in Armee-Abteilung C, Heeresgruppe Gallwitz on the Western Front.

Württemberg mountain battalion In 1915, drafts from the Württemberg line regiments were used to form a Württemberg mountain battalion, which became a part of the Alpenkorps division in 1917. This was the unit in which the young Erwin Rommel distinguished himself on the Romanian and Italian fronts, winning the Pour le Mérite (Imperial German equivalent of the Victoria Cross) at the Battle of the Isonzo in 1917.

Commanders The XIII Corps had the following commanders during its existence:German Administrative History Accessed: 19 May 2012German War History Accessed: 19 May 2012The Prussian Machine Accessed: 19 May 2012

Dates Rank Nameup to 19 October 1871 Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin19 October 1871 Generalleutnant Wolf Louis Ferdinand von Stülpnagel24 December 1873 General der Infanterie Ferdinand Emil Karl von Schwartzkoppen26 January 1878 General der Infanterie Hans Ferdinand von Schachtmeyer15 May 1886 General der Kavallerie Gustav Hermann von Alvensleben26 October 1890 Generalleutnant Wilhelm von Woelckern22 March 1895 General der Infanterie Oskar von Lindequist 25 March 1899 Generalleutnant Ludwig Freiherr von Falkenhausen 22 March 1902 General der Infanterie Konrad von Hugo 4 April 1907 General der Infanterie Joseph von Fallois 25 February 1908 General der Kavallerie Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg 1 March 1913 General der Infanterie Max von Fabeck 9 March 1915 General der Infanterie Theodor Freiherr von Watter 17 March 1918 General der Infanterie Hermann von StaabsTemporary commander, then returned to command XXXIX Reserve Corps. 22 May 1918 General der Infanterie Theodor Freiherr von Watter

XIII (Royal Württemberg) Corps

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