VII Corps (German Empire)


The VII Army Corps / VII 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 Province of Westphalia, the headquarters was in Münster and its catchment area was the Province of Westphalia and the Principalities of Lippe and Schaumburg-Lippe.
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 III Army Inspectorate which became the 2nd Army at the start of the First World War. It was still in existence at the end of the war in the 7th Army, Heeresgruppe Deutscher Kronprinz on the Western Front. The Corps was disbanded with the demobilisation of the German Army after World War I.

Austro-Prussian War

VII 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 and fought in several battles and engagements, including the Battle of Spicheren, the Battle of Borny-Colombey, the Battle of Gravelotte and the Siege of Metz.

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
VII Corps13th Division25th Infantry Brigade13th Infantry "Herwarth von Bittenfeld"Münster
158th InfantryPaderborn, III Bn at Senne---
26th Infantry Brigade15th Infantry "Prince Frederick of the Netherlands"Minden--
55th Infantry "Count Bülow von Dennewitz"Detmold, I Bn at Höxter, II Bn at Bielefeld---
13th Field Artillery Brigade22nd Field ArtilleryMünster--
58th Field ArtilleryMinden---
13th Cavalry Brigade4th Cuirassiers "von Driesen"Münster--
8th Hussars "Emperor Nicholas II of Russia"Neuhaus, Paderborn---
14th Division27th Infantry Brigade16th Infantry "Baron Sparr"Cologne-
53rd InfantryCologne---
28th Infantry Brigade39th FusiliersDüsseldorf--
159th InfantryMülheim/Ruhr, III Bn at Geldern---
79th Infantry Brigade56th Infantry "Vogel von Falkenstein"Wesel, III Bn at Kleve--
57th Infantry "Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick"Wesel---
14th Field Artillery Brigade7th Field ArtilleryWesel, Düsseldorf--
43rd Field ArtilleryWesel---
14th Cavalry Brigade11th HussarsKrefeld--
5th UhlansDüsseldorf---
Corps Troops7th Jäger BattalionBückeburg-
7th Machine Gun AbteilungPaderborn---
7th Foot ArtilleryCologne---
7th Pioneer BattalionCologne---
24th Pioneer BattalionCologne---
7th Train BattalionMünster---
Dortmund Defence Command
Dortmund-
Düsseldorf Defence Command
Düsseldorf-

World War I

Organisation on mobilisation

On mobilization on 2 August 1914 the Corps was restructured. 13th and 14th Cavalry Brigades were withdrawn to form part of the 9th Cavalry Division. The 16th Uhlans, formerly of the IV 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 13th and 14th Divisions. 28th Infantry Brigade was assigned to the 14th Reserve Division with the VII Reserve Corps. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from the Corps headquarters. In summary, VII 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
VII Corps13th Division25th Infantry Brigade13th Infantry Regiment
158th Infantry Regiment---
26th Infantry Brigade15th Infantry Regiment--
55th Infantry Regiment---
7th Jäger Battalion---
13th Field Artillery Brigade22nd Field Artillery Regiment--
58th Field Artillery Regiment---
staff and half of 16th Uhlan Regiment--
1st Company, 7th Pioneer Battalion---
13th Divisional Pontoon Train---
1st Medical Company---
3rd Medical Company---
14th Division27th Infantry Brigade16th Infantry Regiment-
53rd Infantry Regiment---
79th Infantry Brigade56th Infantry Regiment--
57th Infantry Regiment---
16th Field Artillery Brigade7th Field Artillery Regiment--
43rd Field Artillery Regiment---
half of 16th Uhlan Regiment--
2nd Company, 7th Pioneer Battalion---
3rd Company, 7th Pioneer Battalion---
14th Divisional Pontoon Train---
2nd Medical Company---
Corps TroopsI Battalion, 7th Foot Artillery Regiment-
18th Aviation Detachment---
7th Corps Pontoon Train---
7th Telephone Detachment---
7th Pioneer Searchlight Section---
Munition Trains and Columns corresponding to II Corps---

Combat chronicle

On mobilisation, VII Corps was assigned to the 2nd Army forming part of the right wing of the forces for the Schlieffen Plan offensive in August 1914 on the Western Front.
It participated in the First Battle of the Marne and First Battle of Ypres in 1914.
It was still in existence at the end of the war in the 7th Army, Heeresgruppe Deutscher Kronprinz on the Western Front.

Commanders

The VII Corps had the following commanders during its existence:
FromRankName
30 October 1815GeneralleutnantJohann Adolf Freiherr von Thielmann
3 April 1820GeneralleutnantPhilipp von Luck und Witten
24 May 1820GeneralleutnantHeinrich Wilhelm von Horn
28 November 1829GeneralleutnantKarl Freiherr von Müffling
30 March 1837General der InfanterieErnst von Pfuel
2 March 1848General der KavallerieKarl von der Gröben
2 June 1853General der KavallerieLudwig Freiherr Roth von Schreckenstein
3 June 1858GeneralleutnantEduard von Bonin
6 November 1858General der KavallerieCharles Anthony, Prince of Hohenzollern
20 January 1860General der InfanterieEberhard Herwarth von Bittenfeld
21 November 1864General der InfanterieEduard Vogel von Falckenstein
30 October 1866General der InfanterieHeinrich von Zastrow
5 September 1871GeneralleutnantWilhelm Graf zu Stolberg-Wernigerode
15 April 1882General der InfanterieCarl Friedrich von Witzendorff
7 August 1888General der KavallerieEmil von Albedyll
3 June 1893General der InfanterieRobert von Goetze
5 April 1898General der InfanterieViktor von Mikusch-Buchberg
27 January 1900GeneralleutnantErnst Freiherr von Bülow
18 May 1901GeneralleutnantMoritz von Bissing
12 December 1907General der KavallerieFriedrich von Bernhardi
11 August 1909General der KavallerieKarl von Einem
16 September 1914General der InfanterieEberhard von Claer
29 June 1915General der InfanterieHermann von François
6 July 1918GeneralleutnantWilhelm von Woyna