VIII Corps (German Empire)


The VIII Army Corps / VIII AK was a corps level command of the Prussian and then the Imperial German Armies from the 19th Century to World War I.
Originating on 21 June 1815 as the General Command for the Grand Duchy of the Lower Rhine and established on 3 April 1820 as VIII Corps. The headquarters was in Koblenz and its catchment area was the Rhine Province and the Principality of Birkenfeld of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg.
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 V Army Inspectorate but joined the 4th 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.

Austro-Prussian War

VIII 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. Initially involved in the battles around Metz and subsequent siege of the fortress. After the capitulation of Metz in October 1870 it took part in the fighting north of Paris in the Battle of Hallue and the siege of the fortress of Péronne. Subsequent battles followed at Amiens and finally at St. Quentin.

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
VIII Corps15th Division29th Infantry Brigade25th Infantry "von Lützow"Aachen
161st InfantryDüren, II Bn at Eschweiler, III Bn at Jülich---
80th Infantry Brigade65th InfantryCologne--
160th InfantryBonn, I Bn at Diez, III Bn at Euskirchen---
15th Field Artillery Brigade59th Field ArtilleryCologne--
83rd Field ArtilleryBonn, Düren---
15th Cavalry Brigade8th Cuirassiers "Count Geßler"Deutz--
7th Hussars "King William I"Bonn---
16th Division30th Infantry Brigade28th Infantry "von Goeben"Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, II Bn at Koblenz-
68th InfantryKoblenz---
31st Infantry Brigade29th Infantry "von Horn"Trier--
69th InfantryTrier---
16th Field Artillery Brigade23rd Field ArtilleryKoblenz--
44th Field ArtilleryTrier---
16th Cavalry Brigade7th Jäger zu PferdeTrier--
8th Jäger zu PferdeTrier---
Corps Troops2nd Machine Gun AbteilungTrier-
7th Fortress Machine Gun AbteilungCologne---
9th Foot ArtilleryEhrenbreitstein Fortress---
8th Pioneer BattalionKoblenz---
30th Pioneer BattalionEhrenbreitstein Fortress---
3rd Telegraph BattalionKoblenz, Darmstadt---
6th Fortress Telephone CompanyCologne---
3rd Airship BattalionCologne, Düsseldorf, Darmstadt---
3rd Flying BattalionCologne, Hannover, Darmstadt---
8th Train BattalionKoblenz---
Cöln Defence Command
Cologne-

World War I

Organisation on mobilisation

On mobilization on 2 August 1914 the Corps was restructured. 16th Cavalry Brigade was withdrawn to form part of the 3rd Cavalry Division and the 15th 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, VIII Corps mobilised with 24 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
VIII Corps15th Division29th Infantry Brigade25th Infantry Regiment
161st Infantry Regiment---
80th Infantry Brigade65th Infantry Regiment--
161st Infantry Regiment---
15th Field Artillery Brigade59th Field Artillery Regiment--
83rd Field Artillery Regiment---
8th Cuirassier Regiment--
1st Company, 8th Pioneer Battalion---
15th Divisional Pontoon Train---
1st Medical Company---
3rd Medical Company---
16th Division30th Infantry Brigade28th Infantry Regiment-
68th Fusilier Regiment---
31st Infantry Brigade29th Infantry Regiment--
69th Infantry Regiment---
16th Field Artillery Brigade23rd Field Artillery Regiment--
44th Field Artillery Regiment---
7th Hussar Regiment--
2nd Company, 8th Pioneer Battalion---
3rd Company, 8th Pioneer Battalion---
16th Divisional Pontoon Train---
2nd Medical Company---
Corps TroopsIII Battalion, 9th Foot Artillery Regiment-
10th Aviation Detachment---
8th Corps Pontoon Train---
8th Telephone Detachment---
8th Pioneer Searchlight Section---
Munition Trains and Columns corresponding to II Corps---

Combat chronicle

On mobilisation, VIII Corps was assigned to the 4th Army forming part of the centre of the forces for the Schlieffen Plan offensive in August 1914. It was still in existence at the end of the war.

Commanders

The VIII Corps had the following commanders during its existence:
FromRankName
21 June 1815General der InfanterieAugust Neidhardt von Gneisenau
20 May 1816GeneralleutnantErnst von Hake
3 April 1820General der KavallerieJohann Adolf Freiherr von Thielmann
18 June 1825General der KavallerieLudwig von Borstell
9 May 1840GeneralleutnantAdolf Eduard von Thile
5 May 1848General der KavallerieFriedrich Wilhelm Graf von Brandenburg
15 May 1849General der InfanterieKarl Friedrich von Hirschfeld
27 November 1859General der InfanterieEduard von Bonin
29 June 1865General der InfanterieEberhard Herwarth von Bittenfeld
18 July 1870General der InfanterieAugust Karl von Goeben
11 December 1880GeneralleutnantLudwig von Thile
12 January 1884General der KavallerieWalter Freiherr von Loë
27 January 1895General der KavallerieAdolf von Bülow
2 January 1896General der InfanterieMaximilian Vogel von Falckenstein
27 January 1897General der InfanterieFrederick II, Grand Duke of Baden
18 October 1902General der KavallerieAdolf von Deines
2 October 1906General der InfanteriePaul von Ploetz
27 January 1912GeneralleutnantErich Tülff von Tschepe und Weidenbach
5 October 1914General der InfanterieJulius Riemann
18 December 1916GeneralleutnantKarl Dieffenbach
12 March 1917General der InfanterieOtto von Plüskow
11 May 1917GeneralleutnantRoderich von Schoeler