I Royal Bavarian Corps


The I Royal Bavarian Army Corps / I Bavarian AK was a corps level command of the Royal Bavarian Army, part of the German Army, before and during World War I.
As part of the 1868 army reform, the I Royal Bavarian Army Corps of the Bavarian Army was set up in 1869 in Munich as the Generalkommando for the southern part of the Kingdom. With the formation of the III Royal Bavarian Corps in 1900, it was made responsible for Swabia and most of Upper and Lower Bavaria. Like all Bavarian formations, it was assigned to the IV Army Inspectorate. This became the 6th Army at the start of the First World War. The Corps was disbanded at the end of the war along with the Kingdom of Bavaria.

Franco-Prussian War

The I Royal Bavarian Corps participated in the Franco-Prussian War as part of the 3rd Army.
It initially fought in the battles of Worth, Beaumont and Bazeilles, where it lost about 7,000 men, it also fought at the decisive battle of Sedan. After Sedan, the Corps was responsible for the removal of prisoners and ensuring transport of the booty. Thereafter, it moved south of Paris to the Loire, to shield the army during the Siege of Paris. A newly formed French Corps gathered in the Orléans area, so the Corps was reinforced by the 17th Division, 22nd Division and two cavalry divisions. After the Battle of Artenay, Orléans was captured and the reinforcing divisions were removed so the Corps did not have them for the first battles against the Army of the Loire. As a result of the subsequent Battle of Coulmiers, Orléans was lost once again.
In the period from October to late December 1870, the Corps was on service without interruption, particularly from the beginning of November in the battles of Villepion, Loigny, Orléans and Beaugency, usually against a numerically superior enemy. The losses in December alone amounted to 5,600 men. A planned return to the siege army at Paris had to be postponed several times because the Bavarians could not be spared.

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
I Royal Bavarian Corps1st Royal Bavarian Division1st Bavarian Infantry BrigadeRoyal Bavarian Infantry Lifeguards RegimentMunich
1st Royal Bavarian Infantry "King"Munich---
2nd Bavarian Infantry Brigade2nd Royal Bavarian Infantry "Crown Prince"Munich--
16th Royal Bavarian Infantry "Grand Duke Ferdinand of Tuscany"Passau, Landshut---
1st Bavarian Field Artillery Brigade1st Royal Bavarian Field Artillery "Prince Regent Luitpold"Munich--
7th Royal Bavarian Field Artillery "Prince Regent Luitpold"Munich---
1st Bavarian Cavalry Brigade1st Royal Bavarian Heavy Cavalry "Prince Charles of Bavaria"Munich--
2nd Royal Bavarian Heavy Cavalry "Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria"Landshut---
2nd Royal Bavarian Division3rd Bavarian Infantry Brigade3rd Royal Bavarian Infantry "Prince Charles of Bavaria"Augsburg-
20th Royal Bavarian Infantry "Prince Francis"Lindau, Kempten---
4th Bavarian Infantry Brigade12th Royal Bavarian Infantry "Prince Arnulf"Neu-Ulm--
15th Royal Bavarian Infantry "King Frederick August of Saxony"Neuburg an der Donau---
2nd Bavarian Field Artillery Brigade4th Royal Bavarian Field Artillery "King"Augsburg--
9th Royal Bavarian Field ArtilleryFreising---
2nd Bavarian Cavalry Brigade4th Royal Bavarian Chevau-légers "King"Augsburg, Neu-Ulm--
8th Royal Bavarian Chevau-légersDillingen---
Corps Troops1st Royal Bavarian Jäger BattalionFreising-
1st Royal Bavarian Foot Artillery "vakant Bothmer"Munich, Neu-Ulm---
1st Royal Bavarian Pioneer BattalionMunich---
Royal Bavarian Railway BattalionMunich---
1st Royal Bavarian Telegraph BattalionMunich---
2nd Royal Bavarian Telegraph BattalionAugsburg---
1st Royal Bavarian Luft- u. Kraftfahrer BattalionMunich---
1st Royal Bavarian Flieger BattalionOberschleißheim---
1st Royal Bavarian Train AbteilungMunich---
Munich Defence Command
Munich-

World War I

Organisation on mobilisation

On mobilization, on 2 August 1914, the Corps was restructured. 1st Cavalry Brigade was withdrawn to form part of the Bavarian Cavalry Division and the 2nd 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, I 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
I Royal Bavarian Corps1st Royal Bavarian Division1st Bavarian Infantry BrigadeBavarian Leib Infantry Regiment
1st Bavarian Infantry Regiment---
2nd Bavarian Infantry Brigade2nd Bavarian Infantry Regiment--
16th Bavarian Infantry Regiment---
1st Bavarian Jäger Battalion---
1st Bavarian Field Artillery Brigade1st Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment--
7th Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment---
8th Chevauleger Regiment--
1st Company, 1st Bavarian Pioneer Battalion---
3rd Company, 1st Bavarian Pioneer Battalion---
1st Bavarian Divisional Pontoon Train---
1st Bavarian Medical Company---
3rd Bavarian Medical Company---
2nd Royal Bavarian Division3rd Bavarian Infantry Brigade3rd Bavarian Infantry Regiment-
20th Bavarian Infantry Regiment---
4th Bavarian Infantry Brigade12th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment--
15th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment---
2nd Bavarian Field Artillery Brigade4th Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment--
9th Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment---
4th Chevauleger Regiment--
2nd Company, 1st Bavarian Pioneer Battalion---
2nd Bavarian Divisional Pontoon Train---
2nd Bavarian Medical Company---
Corps TroopsII Battalion, 1st Bavarian Foot Artillery Regiment-
1st Bavarian Aviation Detachment---
1st Bavarian Corps Pontoon Train---
1st Bavarian Telephone Detachment---
1st Bavarian Pioneer Searchlight Section---
Munition Trains and Columns corresponding to II Corps---

Combat chronicle

On mobilisation, I 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. It was still in existence at the end of the war in the 18th Army, Heeresgruppe Deutscher Kronprinz on the Western Front.

Commanders

The I Royal Bavarian Corps had the following commanders during its existence:
DatesRankName
8 January 1869General der InfanterieLudwig Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen
16 June 1881General der InfanterieKarl Freiherr von Horn
3 March 1887GeneralleutnantPrince Leopold of Bavaria
29 October 1890GeneraloberstPrince Arnulf of Bavaria
19 April 1906General der InfanterieRupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria
22 March 1913General der InfanterieOskar Ritter von Xylander
19 June 1918GeneralleutnantNikolaus Ritter von Endres
25 April 1919General der ArtillerieMaximilian Ritter von Höhn

Headquarters staff during World War I

From 2 August 1914, its headquarters staff were: