PEEBLES PROFILES
EPISODE 192
Eberhard Graf von Schmettow
EARLY YEARS
Eberhard Graf von Schmettow was born in Halberstadt (in Prussian Saxony) on September 17, 1861. He was born into an old aristocratic Silesian family which had provided Prussia with several high-ranking officers. Eberhard was one of five children to Maximilian Graf von Schmettow and Adele Emilie (neé von Usedom).
In April 1881, the nineteen-year-old Schmettow joined the Second Uhlan Guard Regiment based in the Tiergarten section of Berlin. Over the next thirty-five years, he rose to the highest ranks.
Serving as a cavalry and staff officer, Schmettow was also on the general staff with the 29th Infantry Division based in Freiburg im Breisgau. He subsequently functioned as regimental adjutant before moving on to serve as adjutant in the Fourth Guards Cavalry Brigade in Potsdam. With the rank of major in 1901, Schmettow was selected to be Chief of General Staff Alfred von Schlieffen’s first adjutant. The next year, he was brought into Kaiser Wilhelm II’s court to function as an aide-de-camp.
Schmettow earned a series of commands, including squadron leader of the Sixth Brandenburg “Tsar Nicholas I of Russia” Cuirassier Regiment. Promoted to lieutenant colonel in the spring of 1906, hr became head of the First Silesian “Great Elector” Life Cuirassier Regiment in Breslau that autumn. Schmettow also led the Fifth Cavalry Brigade at Frankfurt an der Oder in February 1911 and the Life Guards Hussar Brigade in Danzig the following year. He was again promoted to major general on the Kaiser’s 54th birthday (January 27, 1913).
THE GREAT WAR
After the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, General Eberhard von Schmettow was still headquartered in Danzig with the Life Guards Hussar Brigade. It was with this unit that Schmettow first went into battle. His men initially served with the German Eighth Army on the Eastern Front. Then he was sent briefly to the Western Front to command the Ninth Cavalry Division. Schmettow then returned to the East in support of the German Ninth Army in Poland.
In mid-1915, Schmettow replaced Robert Freiherr von Kapp-her as head of the Eighth Cavalry Division. He was immediately transferred to the Courland, where his troops saw action in the Battle of Šiauliai.
Then in August 1916, Schmettow briefly commanded the 195th Infantry Division and was promoted to lieutenant general. At the end of the month, he replaced Georg Frh Thumb von Neuburg as head of the Third Cavalry Division. His time in the post was only a day!
As September dawned, Schmettow was sent to Transylvania to lead the newly-created cavalry corps (bearing his name) as part of the German Ninth Army. It initially consisted of the remnants of the Third Cavalry Division, the First Austrian Cavalry Division and the 51st Hungarian Honved Infantry Division. For his services in Rumania, Schmettow received the coveted Pour le Merite on December 11, 1916.
Schmettow and his corps were then transferred to the Western Front in January 1917. They were made up of the Sixth and Seventh Cavalry Divisions… and the unit was renamed the 65th Corps or Gendkdo z.b.V. 65 (“General Command for Special Use 65”). They eventually made their way to the Lorraine region of France, where they finished the war defending the left flank of the German Seventh Army.
The 65th Corps of General von Schmettow fought at Second Aisne (April-May 1917) as well as Third Aisne (May-June 1918). Then in July, his corps (which now consisted of the Fifth, 50th and 216th Infantry Divisions as well as the 4th Guards Infantry Division) participated in the pivotal Second Battle of the Marne. For his services in that fight, Schmettow received the oak leaves to his Pour le Merite on August 4, 1918.
DEATH
After the November armistice, Schmettow accompanied his troops back home for the demobilization process. He resigned his commission and ended his military service on February 22, 1919.
Eberhard Graf von Schmettow passed away in Görlitz on January 31, 1935 at the age of seventy-three.
FAMILY
Eberhard von Schmettow was married to Agnes von Rundstedt (sister of the famous field marshal of the Wehrmacht, Gerd von Rundstedt). The couple had three daughters and two sons. Schmettow was also a cousin of fellow contemporary cavalry general Egon Graf von Schmettow.
One of his sons, Lieutenant Maximilian von Schmettow, fell at Cunel in 1918. His other son, Rudolf von Schmettow, served in his father’s regiment and later became a lieutenant general in the Wehrmacht.
RISE THROUGH THE RANKS
April 16, 1881: second lieutenant
February 15, 1890: first lieutenant
December 15, 1894: cavalry captain
April 18, 1901: major
April 10, 1906: lieutenant colonel
April 20, 1909: colonel
January 27, 1913: major general
August 18, 1916: lieutenant general
GERMAN ORDERS AND DECORATIONS
PRUSSIA
– Knight of the Red Eagle, Third Class with Bow and Crown
– Pour le Mérite (military, December 11, 1916) with oak leaves (August 4, 1918)
– Iron Cross of 1914, Second and First Classes
– Knight of the Prussian Crown, Second Class
– Knight’s Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern
– Knight of Justice of the Johanniter Order
Service Award Cross
BADEN
– Knight of the Order of Berthold the First
BRUNSWICK
– Commander of Henry the Lion, Second Class
HESSE AND BY RHINE
– Cross of Honor of the Merit Order of Philip the Magnanimous (May 24, 1903)
LIPPE-DETMOLD
– Cross of Honor of the House Order of Lippe, Second Class
MECKLENBURG-SCHWERIN
– Cross of Honor of the Griffon
OLDENBURG
– Officer of the Order of Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig
SAXE-WEIMAR-EISENACH
– Knight of the White Falcon, Second Class
SAXONY
– Officer of the Albert Order
WÜRTTEMBERG
– Knight of the Württemberg Crown, with Golden Lions
FOREIGN ORDERS AND DECORATIONS
Austria-Hungary
– Knight of the Iron Crown, First Class with War Decoration, 1915
Kingdom of Bulgaria
– Knight of St. Alexander
Denmark
– Commander of the Dannebrog, Second Class (April 3, 1903)
Kingdom of Italy
– Knight of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
Commander of the Crown of Italy
Russian Empire
– Knight of St. Stanislaus, Third Class
Spain
– Knight of the Military Merit Order, Second Class
United Kingdom
– Honorary Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (February 27, 1905)