VIII Corps (German Empire)

The VIII Army Corps / VIII AK () was a corps level command of the Prussian and then the Imperial German Armies from the 19th Century to World War I.

Originating on 21 June 1815 as the General Command for the Grand Duchy of the Lower Rhine and established on 3 April 1820 as VIII Corps. The headquarters was in Koblenz and its catchment area was the Rhine Province and the Principality of Birkenfeld of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg.German Administrative History Accessed: 26 May 2012

The Corps served in the Austro-Prussian War. During the Franco-Prussian War it was assigned to the 1st Army.

In peacetime the Corps was assigned to the V Army Inspectorate but joined the 4th Army at the start of the First World War. It was still in existence at the end of the war. The Corps was disbanded with the demobilisation of the German Army after World War I.

Austro-Prussian War VIII Corps fought in the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, seeing action in the Battle of Königgrätz.

Franco-Prussian War During the Franco-Prussian War, the Corps formed part of the 1st Army. Initially involved in the battles around Metz (Battle of Gravelotte) and subsequent siege of the fortress. After the capitulation of Metz in October 1870 it took part in the fighting north of Paris in the Battle of Hallue and the siege of the fortress of Péronne. Subsequent battles followed at Amiens and finally at St. Quentin.

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 VIII Corps 15th Division 29th Infantry Brigade 25th (1st Rhenish) Infantry "von Lützow"Aachen 161st (10th Rhenish) InfantryDüren, II Bn at Eschweiler, III Bn at Jülich 80th Infantry Brigade 65th (5th Rhenish) InfantryCologne 160th (9th Rhenish) InfantryBonn, I Bn at Diez, III Bn at Euskirchen 15th Field Artillery Brigade 59th (Berg) Field ArtilleryCologne 83rd (3rd Rhenish) Field ArtilleryBonn, Düren 15th Cavalry Brigade 8th (Rhenish) Cuirassiers "Count Geßler"Deutz 7th (1st Rhenish) Hussars "King William I"Bonn 16th Division 30th Infantry Brigade 28th (2nd Rhenish) Infantry "von Goeben"Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, II Bn at Koblenz 68th (6th Rhenish) InfantryKoblenz 31st Infantry Brigade 29th (3rd Rhenish) Infantry "von Horn"Trier 69th (7th Rhenish) InfantryTrier 16th Field Artillery Brigade 23rd (2nd Rhenish) Field ArtilleryKoblenz 44th (Trier) Field ArtilleryTrier 16th Cavalry Brigade 7th Jäger zu PferdeTrier 8th Jäger zu PferdeTrier Corps Troops 2nd Machine Gun Abteilung Trier 7th Fortress Machine Gun Abteilung Cologne 9th (Schleswig-Holstein) Foot ArtilleryEhrenbreitstein Fortress 8th (1st Rhenish) Pioneer BattalionKoblenz 30th (3rd Rhenish) (Fortress-)Pioneer BattalionEhrenbreitstein Fortress 3rd Telegraph Battalion Koblenz, Darmstadt 6th Fortress Telephone Company Cologne 3rd Airship Battalion Cologne, Düsseldorf, Darmstadt 3rd Flying Battalion Cologne, Hannover, Darmstadt 8th (1st Rhenish) Train BattalionKoblenz Cöln Defence Command(Landwehr-Inspektion)Cologne

World War I Organisation on mobilisation On mobilization on 2 August 1914 the Corps was restructured. 16th Cavalry Brigade was withdrawn to form part of the 3rd Cavalry Division and the 15th Cavalry Brigade was broken up and its regiments assigned to the divisions as reconnaissance units. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from the Corps headquarters. In summary, VIII 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 VIII Corps 15th Division 29th Infantry Brigade 25th Infantry Regiment 161st Infantry Regiment 80th Infantry Brigade 65th Infantry Regiment 161st Infantry Regiment 15th Field Artillery Brigade 59th Field Artillery Regiment 83rd Field Artillery Regiment 8th Cuirassier Regiment 1st Company, 8th Pioneer Battalion 15th Divisional Pontoon Train 1st Medical Company 3rd Medical Company 16th Division 30th Infantry Brigade 28th Infantry Regiment 68th Fusilier Regiment 31st Infantry Brigade 29th Infantry Regiment 69th Infantry Regiment 16th Field Artillery Brigade 23rd Field Artillery Regiment 44th Field Artillery Regiment 7th Hussar Regiment 2nd Company, 8th Pioneer Battalion 3rd Company, 8th Pioneer Battalion 16th Divisional Pontoon Train 2nd Medical Company Corps Troops III Battalion, 9th Foot Artillery Regiment4 heavy artillery batteries (16 heavy field howitzers) 10th Aviation Detachment 8th Corps Pontoon Train 8th Telephone Detachment 8th Pioneer Searchlight Section Munition Trains and Columns corresponding to II Corps

Combat chronicle On mobilisation, VIII Corps was assigned to the 4th Army forming part of the centre of the forces for the Schlieffen Plan offensive in August 1914. It was still in existence at the end of the war.

Commanders The VIII Corps had the following commanders during its existence:German Administrative History Accessed: 26 May 2012German War History Accessed: 26 May 2012The Prussian Machine Accessed: 26 May 2012

From Rank Name 21 June 1815 General der Infanterie August Neidhardt von Gneisenau 20 May 1816 Generalleutnant Ernst von Hake 3 April 1820 General der Kavallerie Johann Adolf Freiherr von Thielmann 18 June 1825 General der Kavallerie Karl Ludwig von Borstell 9 May 1840 Generalleutnant Adolf Eduard von Thile 5 May 1848 General der Kavallerie Friedrich Wilhelm Graf von Brandenburg 15 May 1849 General der Infanterie Karl Friedrich von Hirschfeld 27 November 1859 General der Infanterie Eduard von Bonin 29 June 1865 General der Infanterie Eberhard Herwarth von Bittenfeld 18 July 1870 General der Infanterie August Karl von Goeben 11 December 1880 Generalleutnant Ludwig von Thile 12 January 1884 General der Kavallerie Walter Freiherr von Loë 27 January 1895 General der Kavallerie Adolf von Bülow 2 January 1896 General der Infanterie Maximilian Vogel von Falckenstein 27 January 1897 General der Infanterie Frederick II, Grand Duke of Baden 18 October 1902 General der Kavallerie Adolf von Deines 2 October 1906 General der Infanterie Paul von Ploetz 27 January 1912 Generalleutnant Erich Tülff von Tschepe und Weidenbach 5 October 1914 General der Infanterie Julius Riemann 18 December 1916 Generalleutnant Karl Dieffenbach 12 March 1917 General der Infanterie Otto von Plüskow 11 May 1917 Generalleutnant Roderich von Schoeler

VIII Corps (German Empire)

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