| Unit Name: | III Royal Bavarian Army Corps III. Königlich Bayerische Armee-Korps |
| Country: | / |
| Type: | Corps |
| Size: | Approximately 44,000 (on mobilisation in 1914) |
| Garrison: | Nuremberg/Jakob Platz 6 |
| Patron: | King of Bavaria |
| Battles: | World War I |
| Identification Symbol: | III Bavarian AK |
| Identification Symbol Label: | Abbreviation |
The III Royal Bavarian Army Corps / III Bavarian AK (German: '''III. Königlich Bayerisches Armee-Korps''') was a corps level command of the Royal Bavarian Army, part of the Imperial German Army, before and during World War I.
As the German and Bavarian Armies expanded in the latter part of the 19th century, the III Royal Bavarian Army Corps of the Bavarian Army was set up on 1 April 1900 in Nuremberg as the Generalkommando (headquarters) for Middle Franconia, the Upper Palatinate and parts of Upper Franconia, Lower Bavaria and Upper Bavaria. Like all Bavarian formations, it was assigned to the IV Army Inspectorate which became the 6th Army at the start of the First World War. The Corps was disbanded at the end of the War.
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. 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).[1] 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
| ROWSPAN=20 | III Royal Bavarian Corps | ROWSPAN=8 | 5th Royal Bavarian Division | ROWSPAN=2 | 9th Bavarian Infantry Brigade | 14th Royal Bavarian Infantry "Hartmann" | Nuremberg |
| 21st Royal Bavarian Infantry "Grand Duke Frederick Francis IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin" | Fürth, II Bn. Sulzbach | ||||||
| ROWSPAN=2 | 10th Bavarian Infantry Brigade | 7th Royal Bavarian Infantry "Prince Leopold" | Bayreuth | ||||
| 19th Royal Bavarian Infantry "King Viktor Emanuel III of Italy" | Erlangen | ||||||
| ROWSPAN=2 | 5th Bavarian Field Artillery Brigade | 6th Royal Bavarian Field Artillery "Prince Ferdinand of Bourlon, Duke of Calabria" | Fürth | ||||
| 10th Royal Bavarian Field Artillery | Erlangen | ||||||
| ROWSPAN=2 | 5th Bavarian Cavalry Brigade | 1st Royal Bavarian Chevau-légers "Emperor Nicholas of Russia" | Nuremberg | ||||
| 6th Royal Bavarian Chevau-légers "Prince Albrecht of Prussia" | Bayreuth | ||||||
| ROWSPAN=8 | 6th Royal Bavarian Division | ROWSPAN=2 | 11th Bavarian Infantry Brigade | 10th Royal Bavarian Infantry "King" | Ingolstadt | ||
| 13th Royal Bavarian Infantry "Franz Josef I, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary" | Ingolstadt, III Bn. Eichstätt | ||||||
| ROWSPAN=2 | 12th Bavarian Infantry Brigade | 6th Royal Bavarian Infantry "Emperor William, King of Prussia" | Amberg | ||||
| 11th Royal Bavarian Infantry "von der Tann" | Regensburg | ||||||
| ROWSPAN=2 | 6th Bavarian Field Artillery Brigade | 3rd Royal Bavarian Field Artillery "Prince Leopold" | Grafenwöhr | ||||
| 8th Royal Bavarian Field Artillery "Prince Heinrich of Prussia" | Nuremberg | ||||||
| ROWSPAN=2 | 6th Bavarian Cavalry Brigade | 2nd Royal Bavarian Chevau-légers "Taxis" | Regensburg | ||||
| 7th Royal Bavarian Chevau-légers | Straubing | ||||||
| ROWSPAN=3 | Corps Troops | ROWSPAN=3 | 3rd Royal Bavarian Foot Artillery | Ingolstadt | |||
| 4th Royal Bavarian (Fortress) Pioneer Battalion | Ingolstadt | ||||||
| 3rd Royal Bavarian Train Abteilung | Fürth, Ingolstadt | ||||||
| Nuremberg Defence Command (Landwehr-Inspektion) | Nuremberg |
On mobilization on 2 August 1914 the Corps was restructured. 5th Cavalry Brigade was withdrawn to form part of the Bavarian Cavalry Division and the 6th 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, III Bavarian Corps mobilised with 25 infantry battalions, 8 machine gun companies (48 machine guns), 8 cavalry squadrons, 24 field artillery batteries (144 guns), 4 heavy artillery batteries (16 guns), 3 pioneer companies and an aviation detachment.
| ROWSPAN=29 | III Royal Bavarian Corps | ROWSPAN=13 | 5th Royal Bavarian Division | ROWSPAN=3 | 9th Bavarian Infantry Brigade | 14th Bavarian Infantry Regiment |
| 21st Bavarian Infantry Regiment | ||||||
| 2nd Bavarian Reserve Jäger Battalion[2] | ||||||
| ROWSPAN=2 | 10th Bavarian Infantry Brigade | 7th Bavarian Infantry Regiment | ||||
| 19th Bavarian Infantry Regiment | ||||||
| ROWSPAN=2 | 5th Bavarian Field Artillery Brigade | 6th Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment | ||||
| 10th Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment | ||||||
| ROWSPAN=6 | 7th Chevauleger Regiment | |||||
| 1st Company, 3rd Bavarian Pioneer Battalion | ||||||
| 3rd Company, 3rd Bavarian Pioneer Battalion | ||||||
| 5th Bavarian Divisional Pontoon Train | ||||||
| 1st Bavarian Medical Company | ||||||
| 3rd Bavarian Medical Company | ||||||
| ROWSPAN=10 | 6th Royal Bavarian Division | ROWSPAN=2 | 11th Bavarian Infantry Brigade | 10th Bavarian Infantry Regiment | ||
| 13th Bavarian Infantry Regiment | ||||||
| ROWSPAN=2 | 12th Bavarian Infantry Brigade | 6th Bavarian Infantry Regiment | ||||
| 11th Bavarian Infantry Regiment | ||||||
| ROWSPAN=2 | 6th Bavarian Field Artillery Brigade | 3rd Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment | ||||
| 8th Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment | ||||||
| ROWSPAN=4 | 2nd Chevauleger Regiment | |||||
| 2nd Company, 3rd Bavarian Pioneer Battalion | ||||||
| 6th Bavarian Divisional Pontoon Train | ||||||
| 2nd Bavarian Medical Company | ||||||
| ROWSPAN=6 | Corps Troops | ROWSPAN=6 | I Battalion, 3rd Bavarian Foot Artillery Regiment[3] | |||
| 3rd Bavarian Aviation Detachment | ||||||
| 3rd Bavarian Corps Pontoon Train | ||||||
| 3rd Bavarian Telephone Detachment | ||||||
| 3rd Bavarian Pioneer Searchlight Section | ||||||
| Munition Trains and Columns corresponding to II Corps |
On mobilisation, III Royal Bavarian Corps was assigned to the predominantly Bavarian 6th Army forming part of the left wing of the forces for the Schlieffen Plan offensive in August 1914.
The III Royal Bavarian Corps had the following commanders during its existence:[4] [5] [6]
| Dates | Rank | Name | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 March 1900 | Heinrich Ritter von Xylander | ||
| 19 March 1904 | Karl Freiherr von Horn | ||
| 10 April 1905 | Luitpold Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen | ||
| 4 May 1910 | Otto Kreß von Kressenstein | ||
| 6 February 1912 | Luitpold Freiherr von Horn | ||
| 19 March 1914 | Ludwig Freiherr von Gebsattel | ||
| 12 January 1917 | Hermann Freiherr von Stein | ||
| 28 May 1918 | General der Artillerie | ||
| 19 December 1918 | No commander | ||
| 19 June 1919 | Eugen Ritter von Zoellner |