The 19th Division (19. Division) was a unit of the Prussian/GermanArmy.[1] It was formed on October 11, 1866, and was headquartered in Hannover.[2] The division was subordinated in peacetime to the X Army Corps (X. Armeekorps).[3] The division was disbanded in 1919, during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.
Recruitment
During the Franco-Prussian War, the division was a mixed unit, with Hannoverian, Oldenburg and Westphalian elements. It was subsequently reorganized so that it was recruited primarily from the former Kingdom of Hannover, which had become the Prussian Province of Hanover after 1866, along with Oldenburg, a grand duchy mostly surrounded by the Prussian province. Among the division's units were several that perpetuated the traditions of the King's German Legion, a British Army unit of the Napoleonic Wars.
During wartime, the 19th Division, like other regular German divisions, was redesignated an infantry division. The organization of the 19th Infantry Division in 1870 at the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War was as follows:[7]
37. Infanterie-Brigade
Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 78
Oldenburgisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 91
38.Infanterie-Brigade
Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 16
Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 57
Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 9
Pre-World War I organization
German divisions underwent various organizational changes after the Franco-Prussian War. As noted above, the 19th Division was reorganized to become primarily a Hannover/Oldenburg unit. The organization of the 19th Division in 1914, shortly before the outbreak of World War I, was as follows:[8]
37. Infanterie-Brigade
Infanterie-Regiment Herzog Friedrich Wilhelm von Braunschweig (Ostfriesisches) Nr. 78
Oldenburgisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 91
38.Infanterie-Brigade
Füsilier-Regiment Generalfeldmarschall Prinz Albrecht von Preußen (Hannoversches) Nr. 73
On mobilization in August 1914, at the beginning of World War I, most divisional cavalry, including brigade headquarters, was withdrawn to form cavalry divisions or split up among divisions as reconnaissance units. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from their higher headquarters. The 19th Division was again renamed the 19th Infantry Division and its initial wartime organization was as follows:[9]
37. Infanterie-Brigade
Infanterie-Regiment Herzog Friedrich Wilhelm von Braunschweig (Ostfriesisches) Nr. 78
Oldenburgisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 91
38.Infanterie-Brigade
Füsilier Regiment Generalfeldmarschall Prinz Albrecht von Preußen (Hannoversches) Nr. 73
1. Hannoversches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 74
3. Eskadron/Braunschweigisches Husaren-Regiment Nr. 17
19. Feldartillerie-Brigade
2. Hannoversches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 26
Ostfriesisches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 62
1.Kompanie/Hannoversches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 10
Late World War I organization
Divisions underwent many changes during the war, with regiments moving from division to division, and some being destroyed and rebuilt. During the war, most divisions became triangular - one infantry brigade with three infantry regiments rather than two infantry brigades of two regiments (a "square division"). An artillery commander replaced the artillery brigade headquarters, the cavalry was further reduced, the engineer contingent was increased, and a divisional signals command was created. The 19th Infantry Division's order of battle on March 8, 1918, was as follows:[9]
37. Infanterie-Brigade
1. Hannoversches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 74
Infanterie-Regiment Herzog Friedrich Wilhelm von Braunschweig (Ostfriesisches) Nr. 78
Oldenburgisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 91
Maschinengewehr-Scharfschützen-Abteilung Nr. 30
3.Eskadron/Braunschweigisches Husaren-Regiment Nr. 17
Claus von Bredow, bearb., Historische Rang- und Stammliste des deutschen Heeres (1905)
Hermann Cron et al., Ruhmeshalle unserer alten Armee (Berlin, 1935)
Hermann Cron, Geschichte des deutschen Heeres im Weltkriege 1914-1918 (Berlin, 1937)
Günter Wegner, Stellenbesetzung der deutschen Heere 1815-1939. (Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück, 1993), Bd. 1
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 (1920)
Notes
^From the late 1800s, the Prussian Army was effectively the German Army as, during the period of German unification (1866-1871), the states of the German Empire entered into conventions with Prussia regarding their armies and only the Bavarian Army remained fully autonomous.
^Günter Wegner, Stellenbesetzung der deutschen Heere 1815-1939. (Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück, 1993), Bd. 1, p.116; Claus von Bredow, bearb., Historische Rang- und Stammliste des deuschen Heeres (1905), p.556.
^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 (1920), pp. 295-298.
^A. Niemann, Der französische Feldzug 1870-1871 (Verlag des Bibliographischen Instituts, Hildburghausen, 1871), p. 44.
^Rangliste der Königlich Preußischen Armee (1914), pp. 85-86.