Curt Ernst von Morgen was born in Neiße on the first of November 1858. He was part of the German middle class of Silesia, only later receiving his noble title. Morgen’s early years were those of a Prussian explorer and officer. Later on, he became General of Infantry during the First World War.
KAMERUN
Stationed in German Kamerun, Morgen undertook research journeys to the region of present-day Cameroon, Nigeria, and Chad between 1889 and 1891. Upon completion, Morgen returned to Germany… but in 1894, he was tasked with the formation of the Kamerun Schutztruppe. He also led two military expeditions against the Abo north of Douala and the Kwe (Bakwiri) near Mount Cameroon.
THE MIDDLE EAST
As a military observer in 1896-97, Morgen accompanied a British-Egyptian detachment on the Dongala Expedition to quell the Mahdist Revolt during the Battle of Fehrket. He additionally functioned as military-attaché in Constantinople, where Morgen was an official military observer of the Greek-Turkish War of 1897 and selected to be one of Kaiser Wilhelm II’s Flügeladjutants (ADC). The next year, Morgen prepared the Kaiser’s visit to Palestine.
RETURNING HOME FOR WAR
On January 27, 1912 (the Kaiser’s 53rd birthday), Morgen was promoted to Generalmajor. He was elevated to nobility by the Kaiser and commanded both a fusilier regiment and an infantry regiment. Morgen was then assigned to command the 81st Infantry Brigade in Lübeck. On August 9, 1913, the Kaiser paid Morgen a visit.
When Imperial Germany mobilized for war in the summer of 1914, Morgen became commander of the Third Reserve Division from Danzig. It was an independent unit subordinate to the German Eighth Army. On August 19th (the eve of the Battle of Gumbinnen), Morgen was promoted to Generalleutnant.
With the fight against the advancing Cossacks lost at Gumbinnen, Morgen was ordered to retreat. He initially planned to disobey, but Morgen reconsidered and transferred his troops west to the village of Kirsteindorf. In that area, the Third Reserve Division provided cover for the German Eighth Army’s left flank during the Battle of Tannenberg. It was in this pivotal fight where Morgen disobeyed Eighth Army Chief of Staff Ludendorff by refusing to advance on the village of Hohenstein. The Third Reserve Division provided similar cover for the German flank in the subsequent First Battle of the Masurian Lakes, which forced the bulk of Russian troops out of East Prussia.
On November 24, 1914, Morgen reported directly to General Paul von Hindenburg at Ober-Ost that he had no confidence in German Eighth Army commander Hermann von Francois, and thus wanted his division transferred south to the German Ninth Army. Instead, Hindenburg sent the newly-promoted Generalleutnant to I Reserve Corps headquarters… where he replaced Otto von Below as commander. Morgen would hold this post for nearly the entire war!
The I Reserve Corps joined August von Mackensen’s German Ninth Army in a push southeast into Poland to fight what would be the Battle of Lodz in late 1914. Germany emerged victorious… and for his outstanding leadership, Morgen received the Pour le Merite on the first of December 1914.
Following positional skirmishing along the River Rawka, I Reserve Corps moved to Przasnysz in February 1915 in support of Armeegruppe Gallwitz. Through August 1916, Morgen’s men had defeated their Russian counterparts a total of seventeen times, taking approximately 14,000 prisoners.
A SECOND TANNENBERG?
In the autumn of 1916, the I Reserve Corps fought in the campaign against the Rumanian Army. Morgen now had a combat group with both German and Austro-Hungarian units. Opposing it were elements of the Rumanian First Army, namely the 12th and 22nd Divisions. The 12th Division had been part of the Rumanian First Army since the beginning of the campaign. However, the 22nd Division had only been assigned recently to the Rumanian First Army.
On October 25, 1916, General Nicolae Petala replaced General Ioan Dragalina as head of the Rumanian First Army… after the latter was wounded in action. Morgen had succeeded in clearing the Bran/Törzburg Pass two weeks earlier. But there was a second ridge to the south of Câmpulung, meaning that the road into Wallachia would be open only when the town and the heights beyond it had been captured.
On October 14th, the Austro-Hungarian Eighth Mountain Brigade of Morgen’s I Reserve Corps seized Rucăr, south of the Bran/Törzburg Pass. Marching through roadless, rugged terrain, the brigade caught the inexperienced Rumanian 12th and 22nd Divisions by surprise and turned their flank. On October 26th, Morgen’s forces attacked violently near Dragoslavele, but were soon repulsed. The next day, the Rumanians launched a counterattack at Dragoslavele and took three hundred prisoners.
Morgen’s efforts to press on faltered at Dragoslavele. Although his corps was only eight miles from Câmpulung, Morgen’s forces would make little progress throughout the following month. Having retaken the initiative in this sector of the front, the Rumanians continued their counteroffensive. On October 28th, they recaptured the village of Lerești.
Câmpulung was finally taken on November 29th, but not because the Rumanian defenses faltered. Despite repeated attacks, the Germans had failed to break through the Rumanian lines. Not allowing its western flank to be enveloped, the Rumanian First Army retreated to the east, and the unbroken defenses had to be abandoned one by one. Ultimately, it was the arrival of other German troops from the west that finally allowed Morgen’s men to occupy Câmpulung.
Morgen himself argued that much more of the Rumanian Army could have been captured if a breakthrough was initially achieved at Câmpulung. He insisted that the breach would have achieved “a real victory, a Cannae, a Tannenberg”.
However, his efforts did not go unnoticed, and Morgen was awarded oak leaves to his Pour le Mérite (signifying a second award) on December 11, 1916.
FINAL YEARS
When 1917 dawned, Morgen’s soldiers were recognized for having captured 53,000 prisoners and almost sixty enemy artillery pieces. In March 1918, I Reserve Corps was transferred to the Western Front to be initially engaged in the region of upper Alsace. They soon moved to Lille and then near Roye in the summer of 1918.
On August 24th, Morgen was transferred to Cambrai and took command of XIV Reserve Corps, replacing Richard Wellman. They maintained a successful defense of the area until the signing of the armistice two and a half months later.
With the defeat of Germany complete, Generalleutnant Curt von Morgen travelled with his corps back to Soest, where it was demobilized. He soon retired from active duty and was promoted to the brevet rank of General der Infanterie. In his heart, Morgen remained loyal to the Hohenzollern monarchy and rejected approaches by his old Tannenberg comrade Erich Ludendorff to join the National Socialists.
Instead, Curt von Morgen returned to Lübeck, where he died on February 15, 1928 at the age of sixty-nine.
FAMILY
His son Heinrich-Joachim von Morgen was an early German race car driver, who died in an accident at the famous Nürburgring in 1932.
His daughter Elizabeth married the Dutch aircraft designer Anthony Fokker (1890-1939) in 1923.
AWARDS
– Iron Cross of 1914, First and Second Class
– Pour le Mérite (December 1, 1914) and Oak Leaves (December 11, 1916)
– Order of the Crown, Second Class with Swords on Rings
– Knight’s Cross, First Class of the Order of the Zähringer Lion with Oak Leaves (Baden)
– Order of the Red Eagle, Second Class with Oak Leaves and Swords on Rings
– Knight’s Cross, Second Class Order of the White Falcon
– Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands)
– Commander of the Order of St. Michael (Bavaria)
– Knight’s Cross, First Class of the Ducal Saxe-Ernestine House Order (Saxon Duchies)
– Service Award (Prussia)
– Grand Commander of the Order of the Griffon (Mecklenburg)
– Cross of Merit, First Class of the Lippe House Order with Swords
– Commander Second Class of the Order of the Crown (Württemberg)
– Knight’s Cross, First Class of the Friedrich Order (Württemberg)
– Grand Officer of the Order of Military Merit (Bulgaria)
– Order of the Double Dragon, Third Degree, First Class
– Commander of the Order of the Crown (Rumania)
– Officer of the Order of the White Eagle (Serbia)
– Gold Imtiaz Medal (Ottoman Empire)
– Order of Osmanieh, Second Class (Ottoman Empire)
– Order of the Medjidie, Second Class (Ottoman Empire)
– Hanseatic Cross of Lübeck (November 2, 1915)
– Gold Liakat Medal (Ottoman Empire)