The 2nd Royal Bavarian Division was a unit of the Royal Bavarian Army which served alongside the Prussian Army as part of the Imperial German Army

German Army (German Empire)

The German Army was the name given the combined land forces of the German Empire, also known as the National Army , Imperial Army or Imperial German Army. The term "Deutsches Heer" is also used for the modern German Army, the land component of the German Bundeswehr...

. The division was formed on November 27, 1815 as the Infantry Division of the Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

 General Command (Infanterie-Division des Generalkommandos München.). It was called the 2nd Army Division between 1822 and 1848, again between 1851 and 1859, and again from 1869 to 1872. It was called the 2nd Infantry Division from 1848 to 1851 (as well as during wartime) and was named the Augsburg

Augsburg

Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...

 General Command from 1859 to 1869. From April 1, 1872 until mobilization for World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, it was the 2nd Division. In Bavarian sources, it was not generally referred to as a "Royal Bavarian" division, as this was considered self-evident, but outside Bavaria, this designation was used for it, and other Bavarian units, to distinguish them from similarly numbered Prussian units. The division was headquartered in Ingolstadt

Ingolstadt

Ingolstadt is a city in the Free State of Bavaria, in the Federal Republic of Germany. It is located along the banks of the Danube River, in the center of Bavaria. As at 31 March 2011, Ingolstadt had 125.407 residents...

 from 1815 to 1817, in Regensburg

Regensburg

Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...

 from 1817 to 1822, and in Augsburg from 1822 to 1919, except for the period 1871-1873, when it was part of the German occupation forces in France. The division was part of the I Royal Bavarian Army Corps

I Royal Bavarian Corps

As part of the 1868 army reform, the 1st Royal Bavarian Army Corps of the Bavarian Army was set up in 1869 in Munich as the Generalkommando for Swabia and Upper and Lower Bavaria. Like all Bavarian formations, it was placed under the 4th Army As part of the 1868 army reform, the 1st Royal...

.

Combat chronicle

The division fought against Prussia in the Austro-Prussian War

Austro-Prussian War

The Austro-Prussian War was a war fought in 1866 between the German Confederation under the leadership of the Austrian Empire and its German allies on one side and the Kingdom of Prussia with its German allies and Italy on the...

 of 1866, seeing action at Kissingen, Helmstadt and Roßbrunn. In the Franco-Prussian War

Franco-Prussian War

The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...

 of 1870-71, the division fought alongside the Prussians. It saw action in battles of Beaumont

Battle of Beaumont

The Battle of Beaumont on August 30, 1870 was won by Prussia during the Franco-Prussian War.It was fought between Fifth French Corps d'Armee under General Pierre Louis Charles de Failly, and the IV and XII Army Corps under Prince George of Saxony The Battle of Beaumont on August 30, 1870 was won...

 and Sedan

Battle of Sedan

The Battle of Sedan was fought during the Franco-Prussian War on 1 September 1870. It resulted in the capture of Emperor Napoleon III and large numbers of his troops and for all intents and purposes decided the war in favour of Prussia and its allies, though fighting continued under a new French...

, the 1st and 2nd battles of Orleans, the battles of Loigny-Poupry

Battle of Loigny-Poupry

The Battle of Loigny-Poupry was a battle of the Franco-Prussian War. It took place on 2 December 1870 during the Loire Campaign near the town of Loigny...

 and Beaugency-Cravant, and the siege of Paris

Siege of Paris

The Siege of Paris, lasting from September 19, 1870 – January 28, 1871, and the consequent capture of the city by Prussian forces led to French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War and the establishment of the German Empire as well as the Paris Commune....

.

During World War I, the division served on the Western Front

Western Front (World War I)

Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...

. It fought in the Battle of the Frontiers

Battle of the Frontiers

The Battle of the Frontiers was a series of battles fought along the eastern frontier of France and in southern Belgium shortly after the outbreak of World War I. The battles represented a collision between the military strategies of the French Plan XVII and the German Schlieffen Plan...

 against French forces in the early stages, and then participated in the Race to the Sea

Race to the Sea

The Race to the Sea is a name given to the period early in the First World War when the two sides were still engaged in mobile warfare on the Western Front. With the German advance stalled at the First Battle of the Marne, the opponents continually attempted to outflank each other through...

, fighting along the Somme. It remained in the trenchlines on the Somme until October 1915, and then went into the line in Flanders and the Artois until May 1916. In May 1916, the division went into the Battle of Verdun

Battle of Verdun

The Battle of Verdun was one of the major battles during the First World War on the Western Front. It was fought between the German and French armies, from 21 February – 18 December 1916, on hilly terrain north of the city of Verdun-sur-Meuse in north-eastern France...

. After Verdun, it fought in the later stages of the Battle of the Somme. In May 1917, it fought in the Second Battle of the Aisne

Second Battle of the Aisne

The Second Battle of the Aisne , was the massive main assault of the French military's Nivelle Offensive or Chemin des Dames Offensive in 1917 during World War I....

, also called the Third Battle of Champagne (and by the Germans, the Double Battle on the Aisne and in the Champagne). After a period in the reserve and in the trenchlines, it resisted the late 1917 French offensive at Verdun. In 1918, the division participated in the German Spring Offensive

Spring Offensive

The 1918 Spring Offensive or Kaiserschlacht , also known as the Ludendorff Offensive, was a series of German attacks along the Western Front during World War I, beginning on 21 March 1918, which marked the deepest advances by either side since 1914...

, fighting in the First Battle of the Somme (1918), also known as the Second Battle of the Somme (to distinguish it from the 1916 battle). It fought in the Second Battle of the Marne

Second Battle of the Marne

The Second Battle of the Marne , or Battle of Reims was the last major German Spring Offensive on the Western Front during the First World War. The German attack failed when an Allied counterattack led by France overwhelmed the Germans, inflicting severe casualties...

, both in the initial German offensive and the Allied counteroffensive. Thereafter, it resisted various Allied attacks until the end of the war. Allied intelligence rated the division as one of the very best German shock divisions.

Pre-World War I peacetime organization

In 1914, the peacetime organization of the 2nd Royal Bavarian Division was as follows:

• 3. bayerische Infanterie-Brigade
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 3. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Karl von Bayern
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 20. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Franz
• 4. bayerische Infanterie-Brigade
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 12. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Arnulf
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 15. Infanterie-Regiment König Friedrich August von Sachsen
• 2. bayerische Kavallerie-Brigade
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 4. Chevaulegers-Regiment König
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 8. Chevaulegers-Regiment
• 2. bayerische Feldartillerie-Brigade
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 4. Feldartillerie-Regiment König
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 9. Feldartillerie-Regiment

Order of battle on mobilization

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 2nd Bavarian Division was renamed the 2nd Bavarian Infantry Division. Its initial wartime organization (major units) was as follows:

• 3. bayerische Infanterie-Brigade
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 3. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Karl von Bayern
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 20. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Franz
• 4. bayerische Infanterie-Brigade
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 12. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Arnulf
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 15. Infanterie-Regiment König Friedrich August von Sachsen
• Kgl. Bayerisches 4. Chevaulegers-Regiment König
• 2. bayerische Feldartillerie-Brigade
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 4. Feldartillerie-Regiment König
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 9. Feldartillerie-Regiment
• 2.Kompanie/Kgl. Bayerisches 1. Pionier-Bataillon

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

Triangular division

A triangular division is a designation given to the way divisions are organized. In a triangular organization, the division's main body is composed of three regimental maneuver elements. These regiments may be controlled by a brigade headquarters or directly subordinated to the division commander...

 - one infantry brigade with three infantry regiments rather than two infantry brigades of two regiments (a "square division

Square division

A square division is a designation given to the way military divisions are organized. In a square organization, the division's main body is composed of four regimental elements. Since a regiment could be split into separate battalions for tactical purposes, the natural division within a division...

"). The 2nd Bavarian Infantry Division was triangularized in April 1915, sending the 3rd Bavarian Infantry Regiment to the newly-formed 11th Bavarian Infantry Division

11th Bavarian Infantry Division (German Empire)

The 11th Bavarian Infantry Division was a unit of the Royal Bavarian Army, part of the Imperial German Army, in World War I. The division was formed on March 24, 1915 and organized over the next few weeks. It was part of a wave of new infantry divisions formed in the spring of 1915...

. An artillery commander replaced the artillery brigade headquarters, the cavalry was further reduced, and the engineer contingent was increased. Divisional signals commanders were established to better control communications, a major problem in coordinating infantry and artillery operations during World War I. The division's order of battle on April 9, 1918 was as follows:

• 4. bayerische Infanterie-Brigade
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 12. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Arnulf
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 15. Infanterie-Regiment König Friedrich August von Sachsen
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 20. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Franz
  • Kgl. Bayerische Maschinengewehr-Scharfschützen-Abteilung Nr. 2
• 3.Eskadron/Kgl. Bayerisches 8. Chevaulegers-Regiment
• Kgl. Bayerischer Artillerie-Kommandeur 2
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 9. Feldartillerie-Regiment
  • I. Bataillon/Kgl. Bayerisches Reserve-Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 3
• Kgl. Bayerisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 7
  • Kgl. Bayerische Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 2
  • Kgl. Bayerische Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 4
  • Kgl. Bayerische Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 2
• Kgl. Bayerischer Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 2