V Corps (German Empire)

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

Originating in 1815 as the General Command for the Grand Duchy of Posen (later called the Province of Posen) with headquarters in Posen. Its catchment area included the Regierungsbezirk (administrative district) Posen and Regierungsbezirk Liegnitz from the Province of Silesia.German Administrative History Accessed: 1 June 2012

The Corps served in the Austro-Prussian War. During the Franco-Prussian War it was assigned to the 3rd Army.

In peacetime the Corps was assigned to the VIII Army Inspectorate but joined the 5th Army at the start of the First World War. It was still in existence at the end of the war in Armee-Abteilung C, Heeresgruppe Gallwitz on the Western Front. The Corps was disbanded with the demobilisation of the German Army after World War I.

Austro-Prussian War V 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 joined the 3rd Army. It saw action in the opening battles of Weissenburg and Wörth, in the Battle of Sedan and in the Siege of Paris.Cron et al., Ruhmeshalle; Wegner, pp.360

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 V Corps 9th Division 17th Infantry Brigade 19th (2nd Posen) Infantry "von Coubière"Görlitz, II Bn at Lauban 58th (3rd Posen) InfantryGlogau, III Bn at Fraustadt 18th Infantry Brigade 7th (2nd West Prussian) Grenadiers "King William I"Liegnitz 154th (5th Lower Silesian) InfantryJauer, III Bn at Striegau 9th Field Artillery Brigade 5th (1st Lower Silesian) Field Artillery "von Podbielski"Had a third (Horse Artillery) Abteilung of three batteries of 4 guns.Sprottau, Sagan 41st (2nd Lower Silesian) Field ArtilleryGlogau 9th Cavalry Brigade 4th (1st Silesian) Dragoons "von Bredow"Lüben 10th (Posen) Uhlans "Prince August of Württemberg"Züllichau 10th Division 19th Infantry Brigade 6th (1st West Prussian) Grenadiers "Count Kleist von Nollendorf"Posen 46th (1st Lower Silesian) Infantry "Count Kirchbach"Posen, III Bn at Wreschen 20th Infantry Brigade 47th (2nd Lower Silesian) Infantry "King Ludwig III of Bavaria"Posen, II Bn at Schrimm 50th (3rd Lower Silesian) InfantryRawitsch, III Bn at Lissa 77th Infantry Brigade 37th (West Prussian) Fusiliers "von Steinmetz"Krotoschin 155th (7th West Prussian) InfantryOstrowo, III Bn at Pleschen 10th Field Artillery Brigade 20th (1st Posen) Field ArtilleryPosen 56th (2nd Posen) Field ArtilleryLissa 10th Cavalry Brigade 1st (West Prussian) Uhlans "Emperor Alexander III of Russia"Militsch, Ostrowo 1st Jäger zu PferdePosen Corps Troops 5th (1st Silesian) Jäger Battalion "von Neumann" Hirschberg 6th Fortress Machine Gun Abteilung Posen 5th (Lower Silesian) Foot ArtilleryPosen 5th (Lower Silesian) Pioneer BattalionGlogau 29th (Posen) (Fortress-) Pioneer BattalionPosen 8th Fortress Telephone Company Posen 2nd Flying Battalion Posen, Graudenz, Königsberg 5th (Lower Silesian) Train BattalionPosen Posen Defence Command(Landwehr-Inspektion)Posen

World War I Organisation on mobilisation On mobilization on 2 August 1914 the Corps was restructured. 9th Cavalry Brigade was withdrawn to form part of the 5th Cavalry Division and the 10th Cavalry Brigade was broken up and its regiments assigned to the divisions as reconnaissance units. 77th Infantry Brigade was assigned to the 10th Reserve Division with the V Reserve Corps. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from the Corps headquarters. In summary, V Corps mobilised with 25 infantry battalions, 9 machine gun companies (54 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 V Corps 9th Division 17th Infantry Brigade 19th Infantry Regiment 58th Infantry Regiment 18th Infantry Brigade 7th Grenadier Regiment 154th Infantry Regiment 5th Jäger BattalionWith a machine gun company. 9th Field Artillery Brigade 5th Field Artillery Regiment 41st Field Artillery Regiment 1st Uhlan Regiment 1st Company, 5th Pioneer Battalion 9th Divisional Pontoon Train 1st Medical Company 3rd Medical Company 10th Division 19th Infantry Brigade 6th Grenadier Regiment 46th Infantry Regiment 20th Infantry Brigade 47th Infantry Regiment 50th Infantry Regiment 10th Field Artillery Brigade 20th Field Artillery Regiment 56th Field Artillery Regiment 1st Jäger zu Pferde 2nd Company, 5th Pioneer Battalion 3rd Company, 5th Pioneer Battalion 10th Divisional Pontoon Train 2nd Medical Company Corps Troops I Battalion, 5th Foot Artillery Regiment4 heavy artillery batteries (16 heavy field howitzers) 19th Aviation Detachment 5th Corps Pontoon Train 5th Telephone Detachment 5th Pioneer Searchlight Section Munition Trains and Columns corresponding to II Corps

Combat chronicle On mobilisation, V Corps was assigned to the 5th Army forming part of centre 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 C, Heeresgruppe Gallwitz on the Western Front.

Commanders The V Corps had the following commanders during its existence:German Administrative History Accessed: 1 June 2012German War History Accessed: 1 June 2012The Prussian Machine Accessed: 1 June 2012

From Rank Name 15 Match 1815 Heinrich Ludwig von Thümen 3 April 1820 Friedrich von Roeder 30 March 1832 General der Infanterie Karl von Grolman 21 September 1843 General der Kavallerie Friedrich August Peter von Colomb 13 May 1848 Friedrich Wilhelm von Brünneck 4 November 1851 Wilhelm von Tietzen und Hennig 15 August 1856 General der Kavallerie Franz Graf von Waldersee 15 August 1864 General der Infanterie Karl Friedrich von Steinmetz 18 July 1870 General der Infanterie Hugo von Kirchbach 3 February 1880 General der Infanterie Alexander August Wilhelm von Pape 18 October 1881 General der Infanterie Gustav von Stiehle 22 March 1886 General der Kavallerie Gustav Hermann von Alvensleben 23 November 1886 Generalleutnant Oskar Freiherr von Meerscheidt-Hüllessem 19 September 1888 Generalleutnant Franz Freiherr von Hilgers 27 January 1890 Generalleutnant Richard von Seeckt 27 January 1897 General der Infanterie August von Bomsdorff 4 April 1899 General der Infanterie Ferdinand von Stülpnagel 13 June 1906 General der Infanterie Alexander von Kluck 11 September 1907 General der Infanterie Günther von Kirchbach 3 April 1911 General der Infanterie Hermann von Strantz 1 September 1914 Generalleutnant Robert Kosch (deputising for von Strantz) 9 October 1914 Adolf von Oven (deputising for von Strantz) 13 May 1915 Eduard von Below (deputising for von Strantz) 2 February 1917 General der Infanterie Eduard von Below 2 January 1919 General der Infanterie Georg Wichura

V Corps (German Empire)

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