IX Corps (German Empire)


The IX Army Corps / IX AK was a corps level command of the Prussian and German Armies before and during World War I.
IX Corps was one of three formed in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War. The Corps was formed in October 1866 with headquarters in Altona. The catchment area included the newly annexed Province of Schleswig-Holstein, the Grand Duchies of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz and the Hanseatic cities of Lübeck, Hamburg and Bremen.
During the Franco-Prussian War it was assigned to the 2nd Army.
The Corps was assigned to the III Army Inspectorate but joined the 1st 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.

Franco-Prussian War

During the Franco-Prussian War, the corps formed part of the 2nd Army. The 17th Division was initially part of the reserve of the Prussian Army, so the 18th Division was joined by the Grand Ducal Hessian Division. The Corps participated in the battles of Gravelotte, Orléans and 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 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
IX Corps17th Division33rd Infantry Brigade75th InfantryBremen, III Bn at Stade
76th InfantryHamburg---
34th Infantry Brigade89th GrenadiersSchwerin, II Bn at Neustrelitz--
90th Fusiliers "Emperor William"Rostock, II Bn at Wismar---
81st Infantry Brigade162nd InfantryLübeck, II Bn at Eutin--
163rd InfantryNeumünster, III Bn at Heide---
17th Field Artillery Brigade24th Field ArtilleryGüstrow, Neustrelitz--
60th Field ArtillerySchwerin---
17th Cavalry Brigade17th DragoonsLudwigslust--
18th DragoonsParchim---
18th Division35th Infantry Brigade84th Infantry "von Manstein"Schleswig, Hadersleben-
86th Fusiliers "Queen"Flensburg, III Bn at Sonderburg---
36th Infantry Brigade31st Infantry "Count Bose"Altona--
85th Infantry "Duke of Holstein"Rendsburg, III Bn at Kiel---
18th Field Artillery Brigade9th Field Artillery "General Field Marshal Graf Waldersee"Itzehoe--
45th Field ArtilleryAltona, Rendsburg---
18th Cavalry Brigade15th Hussars "Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands"Wandsbek--
16th Hussars "Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria, King of Hungary"Schleswig---
Corps Troops9th Jäger BattalionRatzeburg-
20th Foot ArtilleryAltona---
9th Pioneer BattalionHarburg---
9th Train BattalionRendsburg---
Altona Defence Command
Altona-

World War I

Organisation on mobilisation

On mobilization on 2 August 1914 the Corps was restructured. 17th and 18th Cavalry Brigades were withdrawn to form part of the 4th Cavalry Division. The 16th Dragoons, formerly of the X Corps, 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 17th and 18th Divisions. 81st Infantry Brigade was transferred to 17th Reserve Division in IX Reserve Corps. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from the Corps headquarters. In summary, IX Corps mobilised with 25 infantry battalions, 9 machine gun companies, 6 cavalry squadrons, 24 field artillery batteries, 4 heavy artillery batteries, 3 pioneer companies and an aviation detachment.
CorpsDivisionBrigadeUnits
IX Corps17th Division33rd Infantry Brigade75th Infantry Regiment
76th Infantry Regiment---
34th Infantry Brigade89th Grenadier Regiment--
90th Fusilier Regiment---
9th Jäger Battalion---
17th Field Artillery Brigade24th Field Artillery Regiment--
60th Field Artillery Regiment---
staff and half of 16th Dragoon Regiment--
1st Company, 9th Pioneer Battalion---
17th Divisional Pontoon Train---
1st Medical Company---
3rd Medical Company---
18th Division35th Infantry Brigade84th Infantry Regiment-
86th Fusilier Regiment---
36th Infantry Brigade31st Infantry Regiment--
85th Infantry Regiment---
18th Field Artillery Brigade9th Field Artillery Regiment--
45th Field Artillery Regiment---
half of 16th Dragoon Regiment--
2nd Company, 9th Pioneer Battalion---
3rd Company, 9th Pioneer Battalion---
18th Divisional Pontoon Train---
2nd Medical Company---
Corps TroopsI Battalion, 20th Foot Artillery Regiment-
11th Aviation Detachment---
9th Corps Pontoon Train---
9th Telephone Detachment---
9th Pioneer Searchlight Section---
Munition Trains and Columns corresponding to II Corps---

Combat chronicle

On mobilisation, IX Corps was assigned to the 1st Army on the right wing of the forces for the Schlieffen Plan offensive in August 1914 on the Western Front. It participated in the Battle of Mons and the First Battle of the Marne which marked the end of the German advances in 1914. Later it saw action in the Battle of Pozières and Battle of Amiens.
It was still in existence at the end of the war.

Commanders

The IX Corps had the following commanders during its existence:
FromRankName
30 October 1866General der InfanterieEdwin Freiherr von Manteuffel
26 January 1867General der InfanterieAlbrecht Gustav von Manstein
23 September 1873General der InfanterieHermann von Tresckow
2 August 1888General der InfanteriePaul von Leszczynski
2 February 1891General der KavallerieAlfred Graf von Waldersee
5 April 1898General der KavallerieRobert von Massow
29 October 1903GeneralleutnantFriedrich von Bock und Polach
21 May 1907General der KavallerieHermann Freiherr von Vietinghoff genannt Scheel
12 April 1910General der InfanterieKarl Freiherr von Plettenberg
1 March 1913General der InfanterieFerdinand von Quast
24 January 1917GeneralleutnantHorst Ritter und Edler von Oetinger