XII (1st Royal Saxon) Corps

The XII (1st Royal Saxon) Army Corps (XII. (1. Königlich Sächsisches) Armeekorps) was a Saxon corps of the Imperial German Army. It was formed on April 1, 1867 and was headquartered in Dresden, Saxony.

During the Franco-Prussian War, the corps fought in the Battle of Gravelotte, the Battle of Sedan,and the Siege of Paris.^[1]

During World War I, the corps served on the Western Front. It was initially part of the 3rd Army, but was transferred to the 2nd Army on September 14, 1914 and to the 7th Army one day later. It would later serve under the 5th Army and the 3rd Army.^[2]

Order of Battle during the Franco-Prussian War

The organization of the XII (Royal Saxon) Corps on August 18, 1870 at the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War was as follows:^[3]

Commander: General Crown Prince Albert of Saxony
Chief of the General Staff: Lt. Col. Friedrich von Zezschwitz

• 23rd Infantry Division (1st Royal Saxon) - Lt. General Prince George of Saxony
• 24th Infantry Division (2nd Royal Saxon) - Maj. General Erwin Nehrhoff von Holderberg
• Saxon Cavalry Division - Major General Franz Graf und Edler Herr zur Lippe-Weißenfeld
• 12th Field Artillery Regiment (Royal Saxon) - Col. Bernhard Oskar von Funcke
• 12th Pioneer Battalion (Royal Saxon) - Lt. Col. Karl Hugo Klemm
• 12th Train Battalion (Royal Saxon) - Lt. Col. Edmund Schmalz

Peacetime structure (1914)

The organization of the XII (1st Royal Saxon) Corps in 1914, shortly before the outbreak of World War I, was as follows:^[4]

• 23rd Division (1st Royal Saxon)
• 32nd Division (3rd Royal Saxon)
• 2nd Royal Saxon Foot Artillery Regiment No. 19
• 1st Royal Saxon Pioneer Battalion No. 12
• 1st Royal Saxon Train Battalion No. 12
• Telegraph Battalion No. 7

References

• Günter Wegner, Stellenbesetzung der deutschen Heere 1815-1939. (Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück, 1993), Bd. 1