IX Corps (German Empire)

IX Army Corps
*IX. Armee-Korps*
IX Army Corps; IX. Armee-Korps
	Flag of the Staff of a Generalkommando (1871–1918)
Active	30 October 1866–1919
Country	Prussia / German Empire
Type	Corps
Size	Approximately 44,000 (on mobilisation in 1914)
Garrison/HQ	Altona
Engagements	Franco-Prussian War Battle of Gravelotte Second Battle of Orléans (1870) Battle of Le Mans World War I Battle of the Frontiers Battle of Mons First Battle of the Marne Battle of Pozières Battle of Amiens (1918)
Insignia
Abbreviation	IX AK

The IX Army Corps / IX AK (German: IX. Armee-Korps) 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 others being X Corps and XI Corps). 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.^[1]

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.^[2] It was still in existence at the end of the war.^[3] 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 (25th) 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.^[4]

Flag of the Line Infantry regiments of the IX and X Corps (except Jägers)

Flag of the Jägers Battalion

Peacetime organisation[]

The 25 peacetime Corps of the German Army (Guards, I - XXI, I - III Bavarian) had a reasonably standardised organisation. Each consisted of two divisions with usually two infantry brigades, one field artillery brigade and a cavalry brigade each.^[5] 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:

V, VI, VII, IX and XIV Corps each had a 5th infantry brigade (so 10 infantry regiments)

II, XIII, XVIII and XXI Corps had a 9th infantry regiment

I, VI and XVI Corps had a 3rd cavalry brigade (so 6 cavalry regiments)

the Guards Corps had 11 infantry regiments (in 5 brigades) and 8 cavalry regiments (in 4 brigades).^[6]

Each Corps also directly controlled a number of other units. This could include one or more

Foot Artillery Regiment

Jäger Battalion

Pioneer Battalion

Train Battalion

Peacetime organization of the Corps^[7] show
Corps	Division	Brigade	Units	Garrison
IX Corps	17th Division	33rd Infantry Brigade		Bremen, III Bn at Stade
		33rd Infantry Brigade		Hamburg
		34th Infantry Brigade		Schwerin, II Bn at Neustrelitz
		34th Infantry Brigade		Rostock, II Bn at Wismar
		81st Infantry Brigade		Lübeck, II Bn at Eutin
		81st Infantry Brigade		Neumünster, III Bn at Heide
		17th Field Artillery Brigade		Güstrow, Neustrelitz
		17th Field Artillery Brigade		Schwerin
		17th Cavalry Brigade		Ludwigslust
		17th Cavalry Brigade		Parchim
	18th Division	35th Infantry Brigade		Schleswig, Hadersleben
		35th Infantry Brigade		Flensburg, III Bn at Sonderburg
		36th Infantry Brigade		Altona
		36th Infantry Brigade		Rendsburg, III Bn at Kiel
		18th Field Artillery Brigade		Itzehoe
		18th Field Artillery Brigade		Altona, Rendsburg
		18th Cavalry Brigade		Wandsbek
		18th Cavalry Brigade	16th (Schleswig-Holstein) Hussars "Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria, King of Hungary"	Schleswig
	Corps Troops		9th (Lauenburg) Jäger Battalion	Ratzeburg
				Altona
			9th (Schleswig-Holstein) Pioneer Battalion	Harburg
			9th (Schleswig-Holstein) Train Battalion	Rendsburg
	Altona Defence Command (Landwehr-Inspektion)			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.^[8] The , 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 (54 machine guns), 6 cavalry squadrons, 24 field artillery batteries (144 guns), 4 heavy artillery batteries (16 guns), 3 pioneer companies and an aviation detachment.

Initial wartime organization of the Corps^[9] show
Corps	Division	Brigade	Units
IX Corps	17th Division	33rd Infantry Brigade	75th Infantry Regiment
		33rd Infantry Brigade	76th Infantry Regiment
		34th Infantry Brigade	89th Grenadier Regiment
			90th Fusilier Regiment
			9th Jäger Battalion^[10]
		17th Field Artillery Brigade	24th Field Artillery Regiment
		17th Field Artillery Brigade	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 Division	35th Infantry Brigade	84th Infantry Regiment
		35th Infantry Brigade	86th Fusilier Regiment
		36th Infantry Brigade	31st Infantry Regiment
		36th Infantry Brigade	85th Infantry Regiment
		18th Field Artillery Brigade	9th Field Artillery Regiment
		18th Field Artillery Brigade	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 Troops		I Battalion, 20th Foot Artillery Regiment^[11]
			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 (1918).

It was still in existence at the end of the war.^[12]

Commanders[]

The IX Corps had the following commanders during its existence:^[13]^[14]^[15]

From	Rank	Name
30 October 1866	General der Infanterie	Edwin Freiherr von Manteuffel
26 January 1867	General der Infanterie	Albrecht Gustav von Manstein
23 September 1873	General der Infanterie
2 August 1888	General der Infanterie
2 February 1891	General der Kavallerie	Alfred Graf von Waldersee
5 April 1898	General der Kavallerie
29 October 1903	Generalleutnant
21 May 1907	General der Kavallerie
12 April 1910	General der Infanterie	Karl Freiherr von Plettenberg
1 March 1913	General der Infanterie	Ferdinand von Quast
24 January 1917	Generalleutnant

References[]

^ German Administrative History Accessed: 22 May 2012
^ Cron 2002, pp. 303
^ Cron 2002, pp. 88–89
^ Lezius, Martin (1935). Fahnen und Standarten der alten preußischen Armee (in German). Stuttgart: Frankh'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung.
^ Haythornthwaite 1996, pp. 193–194
^ They formed the Guards Cavalry Division, the only peacetime cavalry division in the German Army.
^ War Office 1918, p. 248
^ Cron 2002, p. 300
^ Cron 2002, pp. 303–304
^ With a machine gun company.
^ 4 heavy artillery batteries (16 heavy field howitzers)
^ Cron 2002, pp. 88–89
^ German Administrative History Accessed: 22 May 2012
^ German War History Accessed: 22 May 2012
^ The Prussian Machine Accessed: 22 May 2012

Bibliography[]

Cron, Hermann (2002). Imperial German Army 1914-18: Organisation, Structure, Orders-of-Battle [first published: 1937]. Helion & Co. ISBN 1-874622-70-1.
Ellis, John; Cox, Michael (1993). The World War I Databook. Aurum Press Ltd. ISBN 1-85410-766-6.
Haythornthwaite, Philip J. (1996). The World War One Source Book. Arms and Armour. ISBN 1-85409-351-7.
Histories of Two Hundred and Fifty-One Divisions of the German Army which Participated in the War (1914-1918), compiled from records of Intelligence section of the General Staff, American Expeditionary Forces, at General Headquarters, Chaumont, France 1919. The London Stamp Exchange Ltd (1989). 1920. ISBN 0-948130-87-3.
The German Forces in the Field; 7th Revision, 11th November 1918; Compiled by the General Staff, War Office. Imperial War Museum, London and The Battery Press, Inc (1995). 1918. ISBN 1-870423-95-X.

[1] German Administrative History Accessed: 22 May 2012

[2] Cron 2002, pp. 303

[3] Cron 2002, pp. 88–89

[4] Lezius, Martin (1935). Fahnen und Standarten der alten preußischen Armee (in German). Stuttgart: Frankh'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung.

[5] Haythornthwaite 1996, pp. 193–194

[6] They formed the Guards Cavalry Division, the only peacetime cavalry division in the German Army.

[7] War Office 1918, p. 248

[8] Cron 2002, p. 300

[9] Cron 2002, pp. 303–304

[10] With a machine gun company.

[11] 4 heavy artillery batteries (16 heavy field howitzers)

[12] Cron 2002, pp. 88–89

[13] German Administrative History Accessed: 22 May 2012

[14] German War History Accessed: 22 May 2012

[15] The Prussian Machine Accessed: 22 May 2012

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