Saxon Army
_f%C3%BCr_Offiziere_der_K%C3%B6niglich_S%C3%A4chsischen_Infanterie.jpg)
Saxon Army refers to the standing army (since 1682) of the Electorate of Saxony within the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation and that of the Kingdom of Saxony within the Confederation of the Rhine, the German Confederation, the North German Confederation and the German Empire until 1918/19.
Contents
History
Elector Johann Georg III began organizing an army as early as 1681. 12,000 men took part in the relief of Vienna in 1683. 6,000 men fought in Hungary in 1686. 14,900 men joined the Imperial Army on the Rhine in 1688 (→ War of the Palatinate Succession). 3,000 infantry men also fought against the Turks in the pay of the Republic of Venice from 1685 to 1687. In 1693, 12,000 men were again on the Rhine. Elector Friedrich August I, known as August the Strong, who from 1697 was King of Poland-Lithuania in personal union as August II, considerably strengthened the army and reorganized it. He set up a general staff in 1697, an engineer corps in 1712, the noble cadet corps in 1725, the infantry guard in 1729, and expanded the army in all its parts.
From 1694 to 1696 a corps of 12,000 men fought again against the Turks, and from 1700 to 1706, partly under Generalfeldmarschall Adam Heinrich von Steinau and Lieutenant General Matthias Johann Freiherr von der Schulenburg (who prevented the Saxon army from being encircled by a quick-witted retreat across the Nida in the Battle of Klissow in July 1702), against the Swedes in the Great Northern War. Four cuirassier and six infantry regiments fought in the pay of the Imperial Army from 1702 to 1709 against the French, and a contingent of 9,000 men for the Imperial Army under General of the Infantry von der Schulenburg from 1708/09 to 1713 in the War of the Spanish Succession in Flanders, where he commanded 40 battalions of Saxons and other imperial troops in the Battle of Malplaquet on September 11, 1709, which bore the brunt of the fighting. He then took part in the siege of Mons and in 1710 under Prince Eugene in the siege of the cities of Douai and Béthune, which he forced to surrender on August 28.
From 1709 to 1715, a corps of 15,000 men again took part in the continued campaigns against Sweden and from 1715 to the end of 1716 against the Confederation of Tarnogród. Elector Friedrich Augustus II (reigned 1733 to 1763) continued his father's plan for improvement, but the army itself suffered considerably from the campaigns against the Confederates in Poland from 1733 to 1735, against France as an imperial contingent in 1735, against the Turks from 1737 to 1739, and in the first Silesian War from 1741 to 1742. It was particularly weakened by the second Silesian War from 1744 to 1745 and gradually reduced through continuous reductions from its highest strength of 51,778 men to 16,000.
Kingdom of Saxony
When Saxony was elevated to kingdom status by Napoleon in 1807, the army's name changed to the Royal Saxon Army. The army formed the Saxon contingent in the contingent armies of the German Confederation and, after the German War of Brothers, of the North German Confederation and remained legally independent in the German Empire in accordance with Article 63 Paragraph 1 of the Imperial Constitution of 16 April 1871. At the beginning of WWI, the Saxon Army Corps, like the Prussian and Bavarian armies, was incorporated into the Imperial German Army under Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1914. As a result of the German defeat in the First World War and the end of the monarchy in Saxony, the country lost its limited military autonomy and the Saxon Army was incorporated into the Reichswehr of the so-called Weimar Republic in 1919.
Wars of Liberation
The Battle of the Nations near Leipzig brought an end to the War of Liberation on Saxon soil. At the beginning of the battle, the Saxons were forced to side with the French Emperor. During the course of the battle, however, the Saxons changed sides and, as Germans, fought alongside Germans against the tyrant. After the Battle of the Nations, the remnants of the Saxon regiments were placed under the command of General Gustav Xaver Reinhold von Ryssel. From 2 to 14 November, the Saxons, under the Prussian command of Pour le Mérite recipient General of the Infantry Bogislav Friedrich Emanuel von Tauentzien, were used to lay siege to the fortress of Torgau (the Kingdom of Saxony's main military base, occupied by the French), which was forced to surrender at the end of 1813. Napoleon lost 25,000 men in Torgau. The corps then assembled near Merseburg for reorganization. This task was given to General von Thielmann, who had led the III Corps in the War of the Seventh Coalition (Siebter Koalitionskrieg) at Ligny and with particular success at Wavre. Army Corps of the Blücher Army against the French Corps of Grouchy, thereby contributing significantly to the success of the main battle at Belle Alliance.
Korps
XII. (I. Königlich Sächsisches) Armee-Korps
From 1867, the XII (I. Royal Saxon) Army Corps was a large Saxon unit of the Army of the North German Confederation and the Army of the German Empire, with its headquarters in Dresden. Until the formation of the XIX (II. Royal Saxon) Army Corps in 1899, it was the only Saxon corps. After that, the corps district was reduced to the eastern part of the Kingdom of Saxony. In peacetime, the corps was subordinate to the II. Army Inspection, and at the start of the First World War it was placed under the command of the 3rd Army. From its formation until 19 August 1870, the corps was commanded by Crown Prince Albert. After he took command of the Meuse Army in the Franco-German War, his brother Prince Georg commanded the corps. He held command until 29 March 1900.
XIX. (II. Königlich Sächsisches) Armee-Korps
The XIX (II Royal Saxon) Army Corps was established on 1 April 1899 and had its headquarters in Leipzig. It was subordinate to the II Army Inspectorate. In 1901, the corps' catchment area included the district administrations of Leipzig and Zwickau, and from 1903, the district administrations of Chemnitz, Leipzig and Zwickau. With the mobilization at the outbreak of the First World War, the corps was subordinated to the 3rd Army. It was deployed on the Western Front throughout the war. The deputy general command in Leipzig, formed during the mobilization in 1914, was led by General of the Infantry Georg Hermann von Schweinitz throughout the war.
Reichswehr
The 10th (Saxon) Infantry Regiment, Regimental Staff Dresden, and the 11th (Saxon) Infantry Regiment, Regimental Staff Leipzig, were the two Saxon regiments within the Reichswehr. In the cavalry, it was the 12th (Saxon) Cavalry Regiment with headquarters in Dresden. The Saxon Artillery Corps was reorganized as part of the Prussian-Saxon 4th Artillery Regiment. In accordance with the tradition decree of the Chief of the Army Command, General of the Infantry Hans von Seeckt, dated 24 August 1921, these regiments continued the tradition of the old Saxon regiments.
External links
Rank lists
- Stamm- und Rang-Liste der Chur-Sächsischen Armee, 1803 to 1806
- Stamm- und Rang-Liste der Königl.-Sächsischen Armee, 1807 to 1849
- Rangliste der Königlich-Sächsischen Armee, 1850 to 1914
- Rangliste der Königlich-Sächsischen Armee, 1861 to 1912
