MILITARY RISE
Albert Theodor Otto von Emmich was born in the Prussian town of Minden on August 4, 1848, the son of an Oberst (colonel). He later married Elise Pauline Sophie, the daughter of Karl von Graberg.
Emmich entered the Prussian Army at the age of eighteen. A veteran of the Franco-Prussian War, Emmich was promoted to major-general in 1901 and given command of the 31st Infantry Brigade. Four years later, he was promoted to lieutenant-general and given command of Tenth Division. Emmich attained the rank of general of the infantry in 1909, and he was soon put in command of the X Army Corps at Hanover. In 1913, he was ennobled and became Otto von Emmich.
THE ARMY OF THE MEUSE
During the early days of the First World War, von Emmich was given command of a provisional army, the Army of the Meuse. It was explicitly formed for the special task of taking the forts of Liège and securing the invasion roads into Belgium for the regular German armies.
The Army of the Meuse consisted of the Eleventh Brigade of III Corps (under Major-General von Wachter), the Fourteenth Brigade of IV Corps (under Major-General von Wussow), the 27th Brigade of VII Corps (under Colonel von Massow), the 34th Brigade of IX Corps (under Major-General von Kraewel), the 38th Brigade of X Corps (under Colonel von Oertzen) and the 43rd Brigade of XI Corps (under Major-General von Hülsen). The cavalry component consisted of Höherer Kavallerie-Kommandeur II (led by Lieutenant-General Georg von der Marwitz)… consisting of the 2nd (Major-General Von Krane), 4th (Lieutenant-General Otto von Garnier) and the 9th (Major-General Von Bulow) Cavalry Divisions. German cavalry corps were not army corps in the conventional sense, but they were the largest cavalry units that operated in 1914… and they were known as Höheres Kavallerie-Kommando.
The Army of the Meuse numbered around 59,800 troops with one hundred guns and howitzers. It was accompanied by Erich Ludendorff as an observer for the General Staff.
On the evening of August 4, 1914, von Emmich’s troops cracked Belgian soil and began their march to the west…
THE WESTERN FRONT OPENS
The Battle of Liège began shortly after the morning of August 5, 1914, when the German bombardment began on the eastern Belgian forts. Chronologically, it was the very first battle of the Great War, beginning shortly before the Battle of Mulhouse. The Imperial German troops were obliged to entrench and bring up heavy siege artillery.
But the Belgians were preparing for the onslaught… as 25,000 soldiers manned the works around Liège and destroyed the bridges crossing the Meuse River. Half of the Belgian Army was mobilized beyond the city: 117,000 men consisting of seven divisions, no reserves, and little materiel.
The battle opened with resistance from civilians and snipers (francs tireurs). Erich Ludendorff got separated from his unit north of Vise, but he was soon able to move south from the town and onto the rear of the Liège defenses. When General von Wussow was killed by a shell, Ludendorff took command of the Fourteenth Brigade.
Both he and von Emmich entered Liège on August 7, 1914, but the outer forts were not yet neutralized. Three days after entering the city, von Emmich captured Fort Barchon from the rear.
On August 12th, the Germans unveiled their surprise weapons: the Austrian-made 420mm howitzers. These siege guns wrecked the remaining forts one by one.
Belgian General Leman was carried away unconscious from the ruined Fort Loncin on August 15th. The defense of Liège ended the next day.
Imperial Germany won the Battle of Liège, but it did alter the schedule of the finely-timed Schlieffen Plan.
FINAL MONTHS
After the fall of Liège, von Emmich reverted to corps command. He fought at the Marne in September 1914 and in the trenches near Reims. In April 1915, von Emmich was transferred to the Eastern Front where he fought in the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive a month later.
Sadly, Otto von Emmich died later that year of arteriosclerosis in Hanover three days before Christmas. He was sixty-seven years old.
AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
– Grand Cross of the Order of the Red Eagle
– Order of the Crown, First Class (Prussia)
– Iron Cross of 1870, Second Class
– Pour le Mérite on August 7, 1914 (together with Erich Ludendorff for the taking of Liège)
– Oak Leaves added to the Pour le Mérite on May 14, 1915