PEEBLES PROFILES
EPISODE XI: Richard Hentsch
Richard Hentsch was born in Cologne on December 18, 1869. At eighteen he joined the Royal Saxon Army and later graduated from the Kriegsakademie (War Academy).
In 1901, Hentsch became a captain attached to the Prussian General Staff. He then served on the Royal Saxon Army General Staff and was given several infantry commands. Hentsch later returned to the Prussian General Staff in 1906 and was promoted to major three years later. He then served as a staff officer with the XII Army Corps in 1912.
Two years later, Hentsch headed the Prussian Third Branch of the General Staff, charged with tracking military developments in France and other countries in the West. When the Great War began, he was a lieutenant colonel in charge of the Nachrichten-Abteilung (intelligence evaluation branch) of the high command (OHL). Hentsch was a member of German Army Chief of Staff Helmut von Moltke the Younger’s inner circle.
As the right wing of the German forces moved through northeastern France (in accordance with the Schlieffen Plan), a wide gap developed between General Alexander von Kluck’s First Army and General Karl von Bulow’s Second Army. The French then moved to exploit the gap, leading to the First Battle of the Marne.
As the battle raged, Moltke (from his HQ in Luxembourg) sent Hentsch to the front with sweeping powers to make whatever adjustments necessary. General Staff officers (even men of Hentsch’s rank) were not mere couriers… they were expected to know the desires of the chief of the General Staff and had the power to issue orders.
Hentsch met with von Bulow at Montmort on September 8, 1914… and found the Second Army leader in a deeply depressed mood, convinced that he was on the brink of annihilation. He suggested to Hentsch that retreat was the best option.
The next day, Hentsch met with von Kluck, informing him of the precarious position of the First Army (i.e. there was a strong possibility of being isolated by the Allies, namely the BEF). Von Kluck informed Hentsch that he was unable to support von Bulow in light of a possible thrust into the gap by enemy forces. As a result, Hentsch ordered First Army to retire behind the Marne to the Aisne along the line Soissons-Fere-en-Tardenois and solidify its position. The result was the failure of the Schlieffen Plan and four years of bloody trench warfare.
Although the move was a just one in the circumstances of the moment, both Hentsch and Moltke were partially blamed for the failure of the plan… and it had repercussions. Within one week, Moltke was replaced as the chief of the General Staff by Erich von Falkenhayn. For Hentsch, he became a “liaison officer” under Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria.
Richard Hentsch later distinguished himself as a staff officer on the Eastern Front… and he planned the invasion of Serbia in the summer of 1915. On September 12th of that year, Hentsch became deputy chief of staff of the German Eleventh Army (part of Army Group Mackensen) and received credit for successfully crossing the Danube and Save rivers.
In early 1916, Hentsch became a full colonel… and he served under August von Mackensen during the successful Romanian campaign later that year. On March 1, 1917, he was appointed chief of staff to the military administrator in occupied Romania.
During that time, Hentsch received official confirmation from the OHL that he had acted correctly in ordering the retreat from the Marne, although some high ranking officers remained convinced that he “cheated the troops of victory” that day. Nevertheless, Hentsch was awarded the Pour le Merite in September 1917… for recognition of his services since that decision three years earlier.
Sadly, Hentsch died in Bucharest on February 13, 1918 after undergoing surgery. He was forty-eight years old.
