X Corps (German Empire)


The X Army Corps / X AK was a corps level command of the Prussian and German Armies before and during World War I.
X Corps was one of three formed in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War. The Corps was formed in October 1866 with headquarters in Hannover. The catchment area included the newly annexed Kingdom of Hanover, the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg and the Duchy of Brunswick.
During the Franco-Prussian War it was assigned to the 2nd Army.
In peacetime, it 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 Armee-Abteilung B, Heeresgruppe Herzog Albrecht von Württemberg at the extreme southern end of the Western Front. The Corps was disbanded with the demobilisation of the German Army after World War I.

Franco-Prussian War

During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71 the army corps fought under the command of General von Voigts-Rhetz in several battles including the Battle of Mars-la-Tour, Battle of Spicheren, Siege of Metz, Battle of Beaune-la-Rolande, Battle of Orléans and Battle of 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
X Corps19th Division37th Infantry Brigade78th Infantry "Duke Frederick William of Brunswick"Osnabrück, III Bn at Aurich
91st InfantryOldenburg---
38th Infantry Brigade73rd Fusiliers "Field Marshal Prince Albrecht of Prussia"Hannover--
74th InfantryHannover---
19th Field Artillery Brigade26th Field ArtilleryVerden an der Aller--
62nd Field ArtilleryOldenburg, Osnabrück---
19th Cavalry Brigade19th DragoonsOldenburg--
13th King’s UhlansHannover---
20th Division39th Infantry Brigade79th Infantry "von Voigts-Rhetz"Hildesheim-
164th InfantryHamelin, III Bn at Holzminden---
40th Infantry Brigade77th InfantryCelle--
92nd InfantryBraunschweig---
20th Field Artillery Brigade10th Field Artillery "von Scharnhorst"Hannover--
46th Field ArtilleryWolfenbüttel, Celle---
20th Cavalry Brigade16th DragoonsLüneburg--
17th HussarsBraunschweig---
Corps Troops10th Jäger BattalionGoslar-
10th Pioneer BattalionMinden---
10th Train BattalionHannover---
6th Telegraph BattalionHannover---
Hannover Defence Command
Hannover-

World War I

Organisation on mobilisation

On mobilization on 2 August 1914 the Corps was restructured. 19th Cavalry Brigade was withdrawn to form part of the 9th Cavalry Division and the 20th Cavalry Brigade was broken up. The 17th Hussars 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 19th and 20th Divisions. Likewise, the 16th Dragoons formed two half-regiments which were assigned as divisional cavalry to 17th and 18th Divisions of IX Corps. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from the Corps headquarters. In summary, X 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
X Corps19th Division37th Infantry Brigade78th Infantry Regiment
91st Infantry Regiment---
38th Infantry Brigade73rd Fusilier Regiment--
74th Infantry Regiment---
19th Field Artillery Brigade26th Field Artillery Regiment--
62nd Field Artillery Regiment---
half of 17th Hussar Regiment--
1st Company, 10th Pioneer Battalion---
19th Divisional Pontoon Train---
1st Medical Company---
3rd Medical Company---
20th Division39th Infantry Brigade79th Infantry Regiment-
164th Infantry Regiment---
10th Jäger Battalion---
40th Infantry Brigade77th Infantry Regiment--
92nd Infantry Regiment---
20th Field Artillery Brigade10th Field Artillery Regiment--
46th Field Artillery Regiment---
staff and half of 17th Hussar Regiment--
2nd Company, 10th Pioneer Battalion---
3rd Company, 10th Pioneer Battalion---
20th Divisional Pontoon Train---
2nd Medical Company---
Corps TroopsII Battalion, 20th Foot Artillery Regiment-
21st Aviation Detachment---
10th Corps Pontoon Train---
10th Telephone Detachment---
10th Pioneer Searchlight Section---
Munition Trains and Columns corresponding to II Corps---

Combat chronicle

On mobilisation, X 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 was still in existence at the end of the war in Armee-Abteilung B, Heeresgruppe Herzog Albrecht von Württemberg at the extreme southern end of the Western Front.

Commanders

The X Corps had the following commanders during its existence:
FromRankName
30 October 1866General der InfanterieKonstantin Bernhard von Voigts-Rhetz
12 December 1873General der KavalleriePrince Albert of Prussia
10 July 1888General der InfanterieLeo von Caprivi
24 March 1890GeneralleutnantWalther Bronsart von Schellendorff
27 January 1893General der InfanterieAugust Wilhelm von Seebeck
4 April 1899General der InfanterieAugust von Bomsdorff
9 February 1908General der InfanterieDr. Alfred von Loewenfeld
29 May 1909General der InfanterieOtto von Emmich
22 December 1915GeneralleutnantWalther von Lüttwitz
21 August 1916GeneralleutnantKonstantin Schmidt von Knobelsdorf