X Corps (German Empire)

The X Army Corps / X AK () was a corps level command of the Prussian and German Armies before and during World War I.

X Corps was one of three formed in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War (the others being IX Corps and XI Corps). The Corps was formed in October 1866 with headquarters in Hannover. The catchment area included the newly annexed Kingdom of Hanover (thereafter the Province of Hanover), the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg and the Duchy of Brunswick.German Administrative History Accessed: 20 May 2012

During the Franco-Prussian War it was assigned to the 2nd Army.

In peacetime, it was assigned to the III Army Inspectorate. which became the 2nd Army at the start of the First World War. It was still in existence at the end of the war, in Armee-Abteilung B, Heeresgruppe Herzog Albrecht von Württemberg at the extreme southern end of the Western Front. The Corps was disbanded with the demobilisation of the German Army after World War I.

Franco-Prussian War During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71 the army corps fought under the command of General von Voigts-Rhetz in several battles including the Battle of Mars-la-Tour, Battle of Spicheren, Siege of Metz, Battle of Beaune-la-Rolande, Battle of Orléans and Battle of Le Mans.

Flags of the Line Infantry regiments Due to the large number of Line Infantry regiments then in existence, on 18 December 1890, Kaiser Wilhelm II ordered that the flag colours were to be the same as that of the uniform epaulettes. This was to ensure that each corps attained uniformity. IX and X Corps wore white epaulettes. Notwithstanding this, the flags of the Jäger Battalions would be green.

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 X Corps 19th Division 37th Infantry Brigade 78th (East Frisian) Infantry "Duke Frederick William of Brunswick"Osnabrück, III Bn at Aurich 91st (Oldenburg) InfantryOldenburg 38th Infantry Brigade 73rd (Hannover) Fusiliers "Field Marshal Prince Albrecht of Prussia"Hannover 74th (1st Hannover) InfantryHannover 19th Field Artillery Brigade 26th (2nd Hannover) Field ArtilleryVerden an der Aller 62nd (East Frisisan) Field ArtilleryOldenburg, Osnabrück 19th Cavalry Brigade 19th (Oldenburg) DragoonsOldenburg 13th (1st Hannover) King's UhlansHannover 20th Division 39th Infantry Brigade 79th (3rd Hannover) Infantry "von Voigts-Rhetz"Hildesheim 164th (4th Hannover) InfantryHamelin, III Bn at Holzminden 40th Infantry Brigade 77th (2nd Hannover) InfantryCelle 92nd (Brunswick) InfantryBraunschweig 20th Field Artillery Brigade 10th (1st Hannover) Field Artillery "von Scharnhorst"Had a third (Horse Artillery) Abteilung of three batteries of 4 guns.Hannover 46th (Lower Saxony) Field ArtilleryWolfenbüttel, Celle 20th Cavalry Brigade 16th (2nd Hannover) DragoonsLüneburg 17th (Brunswick) HussarsBraunschweig Corps Troops 10th (Hannover) Jäger Battalion Goslar 10th (Hannover) Pioneer BattalionMinden 10th (Hannover) Train BattalionHannover 6th Telegraph BattalionHannover Hannover Defence Command(Landwehr-Inspektion)Hannover

World War I

Organisation on mobilisation On mobilization on 2 August 1914 the Corps was restructured. 19th Cavalry Brigade was withdrawn to form part of the 9th Cavalry Division and the 20th Cavalry Brigade was broken up. The 17th (Brunswick) Hussars was raised to a strength of 6 squadrons before being split into two half-regiments of 3 squadrons each; the half-regiments were assigned as divisional cavalry to 19th and 20th Divisions. Likewise, the 16th (2nd Hannover) Dragoons formed two half-regiments which were assigned as divisional cavalry to 17th and 18th Divisions of IX Corps. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from the Corps headquarters. In summary, X 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 X Corps 19th Division 37th Infantry Brigade 78th Infantry Regiment 91st Infantry Regiment 38th Infantry Brigade 73rd Fusilier Regiment 74th Infantry Regiment 19th Field Artillery Brigade 26th Field Artillery Regiment 62nd Field Artillery Regiment half of 17th Hussar Regiment 1st Company, 10th Pioneer Battalion 19th Divisional Pontoon Train 1st Medical Company 3rd Medical Company 20th Division 39th Infantry Brigade 79th Infantry Regiment 164th Infantry Regiment 10th Jäger BattalionWith a machine gun company. 40th Infantry Brigade 77th Infantry Regiment 92nd Infantry Regiment 20th Field Artillery Brigade 10th Field Artillery Regiment 46th Field Artillery Regiment staff and half of 17th Hussar Regiment 2nd Company, 10th Pioneer Battalion 3rd Company, 10th Pioneer Battalion 20th Divisional Pontoon Train 2nd Medical Company Corps Troops II Battalion, 20th Foot Artillery Regiment4 heavy artillery batteries (16 heavy field howitzers) 21st Aviation Detachment 10th Corps Pontoon Train 10th Telephone Detachment 10th Pioneer Searchlight Section Munition Trains and Columns corresponding to II Corps

Combat chronicle On mobilisation, X Corps was assigned to the 2nd Army forming part of the right wing of the forces for the Schlieffen Plan offensive in August 1914 on the Western Front.

It was still in existence at the end of the war in Armee-Abteilung B, Heeresgruppe Herzog Albrecht von Württemberg at the extreme southern end of the Western Front.

Commanders The X Corps had the following commanders during its existence:German Administrative History Accessed: 20 May 2012German War History Accessed: 20 May 2012The Prussian Machine Accessed: 20 May 2012

From Rank Name 30 October 1866 General der Infanterie Konstantin Bernhard von Voigts-Rhetz 12 December 1873 General der Kavallerie Prince Albert of Prussia 10 July 1888 General der Infanterie Leo von Caprivi 24 March 1890 Generalleutnant Walther Bronsart von Schellendorff 27 January 1893 General der Infanterie August Wilhelm von Seebeck 4 April 1899 General der Infanterie August von Bomsdorff 9 February 1908 General der Infanterie Dr. Alfred von Loewenfeld 29 May 1909 General der Infanterie Otto von Emmich 22 December 1915 Generalleutnant Walther von Lüttwitz 21 August 1916 Generalleutnant Konstantin Schmidt von Knobelsdorf

X Corps (German Empire)

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