III Royal Bavarian Corps


The III Royal Bavarian Army Corps / III Bavarian AK was a corps level command of the Royal Bavarian Army, part of the German Army, before and during World War I.
As the German and Bavarian Armies expanded in the latter part of the 19th century, the III Royal Bavarian Army Corps of the Bavarian Army was set up on 1 April 1900 in Nuremberg as the Generalkommando for Middle Franconia, the Upper Palatinate and parts of Upper Franconia, Lower Bavaria and Upper Bavaria. Like all Bavarian formations, it was assigned to the IV Army Inspectorate which became the 6th Army at the start of the First World War. The Corps was disbanded at the end of the War.

Peacetime organisation

The 25 peacetime Corps of the German Army 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:
Each Corps also directly controlled a number of other units. This could include one or more
CorpsDivisionBrigadeUnitsGarrison
III Royal Bavarian Corps5th Royal Bavarian Division9th Bavarian Infantry Brigade14th Royal Bavarian Infantry "Hartmann"Nuremberg
21st Royal Bavarian Infantry "Grand Duke Frederick Francis IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin"Fürth, II Bn. Sulzbach---
10th Bavarian Infantry Brigade7th Royal Bavarian Infantry "Prince Leopold"Bayreuth--
19th Royal Bavarian Infantry "King Viktor Emanuel III of Italy"Erlangen---
5th Bavarian Field Artillery Brigade6th Royal Bavarian Field Artillery "Price Ferdinand of Bourlon, Duke of Calabria"Fürth--
10th Royal Bavarian Field ArtilleryErlangen---
5th Bavarian Cavalry Brigade1st Royal Bavarian Chevau-légers "Emperor Nicholas of Russia"Nuremberg--
6th Royal Bavarian Chevau-légers "Prince Albrecht of Prussia"Bayreuth---
6th Royal Bavarian Division11th Bavarian Infantry Brigade10th Royal Bavarian Infantry "King"Ingolstadt-
13th Royal Bavarian Infantry "Franz Josef I, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary"Ingolstadt, III Bn. Eichstätt---
12th Bavarian Infantry Brigade6th Royal Bavarian Infantry "Emperor William, King of Prussia"Amberg--
11th Royal Bavarian Infantry "von der Tann"Regensburg---
6th Bavarian Field Artillery Brigade3rd Royal Bavarian Field Artillery "Prince Leopold"Grafenwöhr--
8th Royal Bavarian Field Artillery "Prince Heinrich of Prussia"Nuremberg---
6th Bavarian Cavalry Brigade2nd Royal Bavarian Chevau-légers "Taxis"Regensburg--
7th Royal Bavarian Chevau-légersStraubing---
Corps Troops3rd Royal Bavarian Foot ArtilleryIngolstadt-
4th Royal Bavarian Pioneer BattalionIngolstadt---
3rd Royal Bavarian Train AbteilungFürth, Ingolstadt---
Nuremberg Defence Command
Nuremberg-

World War I

Organisation on mobilisation

On mobilization on 2 August 1914 the Corps was restructured. 5th Cavalry Brigade was withdrawn to form part of the Bavarian Cavalry Division and the 6th 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, III Bavarian Corps mobilised with 25 infantry battalions, 8 machine gun companies, 8 cavalry squadrons, 24 field artillery batteries, 4 heavy artillery batteries, 3 pioneer companies and an aviation detachment.
CorpsDivisionBrigadeUnits
III Royal Bavarian Corps5th Royal Bavarian Division9th Bavarian Infantry Brigade14th Bavarian Infantry Regiment
21st Bavarian Infantry Regiment---
2nd Bavarian Reserve Jäger Battalion---
10th Bavarian Infantry Brigade7th Bavarian Infantry Regiment--
19th Bavarian Infantry Regiment---
5th Bavarian Field Artillery Brigade6th Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment--
10th Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment---
7th Chevauleger Regiment--
1st Company, 3rd Bavarian Pioneer Battalion---
3rd Company, 3rd Bavarian Pioneer Battalion---
5th Bavarian Divisional Pontoon Train---
1st Bavarian Medical Company---
3rd Bavarian Medical Company---
6th Royal Bavarian Division11th Bavarian Infantry Brigade10th Bavarian Infantry Regiment-
13th Bavarian Infantry Regiment---
12th Bavarian Infantry Brigade6th Bavarian Infantry Regiment--
11th Bavarian Infantry Regiment---
6th Bavarian Field Artillery Brigade3rd Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment--
8th Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment---
2nd Chevauleger Regiment--
2nd Company, 3rd Bavarian Pioneer Battalion---
6th Bavarian Divisional Pontoon Train---
2nd Bavarian Medical Company---
Corps TroopsI Battalion, 3rd Bavarian Foot Artillery Regiment-
3rd Bavarian Aviation Detachment---
3rd Bavarian Corps Pontoon Train---
3rd Bavarian Telephone Detachment---
3rd Bavarian Pioneer Searchlight Section---
Munition Trains and Columns corresponding to II Corps---

Combat chronicle

On mobilisation, III Royal Bavarian Corps was assigned to the predominantly Bavarian 6th Army forming part of the left wing of the forces for the Schlieffen Plan offensive in August 1914.

Commanders

The III Royal Bavarian Corps had the following commanders during its existence:
DatesRankName
22 March 1900General der InfanterieHeinrich Ritter von Xylander
19 March 1904General der InfanterieKarl Freiherr von Horn
10 April 1905General der InfanterieLuitpold Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen
4 May 1910General der KavallerieOtto Kreß von Kressenstein
6 February 1912General der KavallerieLuitpold Freiherr von Horn
19 March 1914General der KavallerieLudwig Freiherr von Gebsattel
12 January 1917GeneralleutnantHermann Freiherr von Stein
28 May 1918General der ArtillerieHermann Freiherr von Stein
19 December 1918No commander
19 June 1919Eugen Ritter von Zoellner