Gottlieb Graf von Haeseler and the village of Cornay –
XVI. Armeekorps (XVI Corps) and Argonne battles 1914 – 1918

The actual castle, the “Vielle Château,” as the ancient precursor of the manor was called, was located in the area of today’s cemetery. It is said to have possessed four imposing round towers and to have been surrounded by deep ditches and walls with a length of 1/4 Lieu. This corresponds to about one kilometer by today’s measurements. Settlement remains were found as far as the area of the l’Ermitage district northwest of the locality. In the village itself, cellars and earthworks repeatedly revealed underground caverns and accesses to larger gallery systems, and near the today’s church also the remains of a medieval well.

From the 12th century onwards, Cornay stood in a feudal relationship to the bailiwick of Saint-Menehould and thus was subject, like almost all bailiwicks in the region of Champagne, to the (customary) law of the oldest Champagne bailiwick, namely that of Vitry-en-Perthois. In the year 1145, Cornay received an independent priorate through a corresponding bull of Pope Eugene III. In 1508, the French King Louis XII. granted the municipality the status of a barony and to Sire Henry de Pouilly, ancestor of the present-day inhabitants of the castle, the title of a baron.

Today’s castle dates back to a new building from the beginning of the 17th century, which no longer served military purposes. Individual components of the predecessor structure are said to have been used, such as various animal heads and gargoyles that can be found on the facade. Images of the original complex have not survived. Above a door lintel there is a stone showing a rectangular building, a rider’s gate with a portcullis, and two strong onion domes. It can be assumed that this is the original complex designed in the early Baroque style, especially since the stone bears the year 1608.

World War I reached Cornay on the evening of an eventful day, namely September 2, 1914. Troops of the 11. preußischen Infanterie-Division (11th Infantry Division) occupied the village without a fight during the pursuit of the rapidly retreating French units of the French 3rd Army (3e armée) of General Sarrail. In a strip only 15 kilometers wide between the Argonne and the area of the Fortress of Verdun, the bulk of the 5. preußischen Armee (Fifth Army) had to march south. Like the other surrounding villages, Cornay became the rear area.

Shaping the development of the fighting in the Argonne Forest until the end of 1916 and also the events in the village of Cornay was to be the XVI. Armeekorps (XVI Corps), referred to as the “Argonne Corps”. Until December 1916, its divisions stood continuously on the Argonne Front. The corps had been formed in April 1890 and had its general command in the area of the Fortress of Metz. The first commanding general was an officer unusual not only in his outward appearance, who had already served in the wars of 1864 (Danish-Prussian War), 1866 (Austro-Prussian War), and 1870/71 (Franco-Prussian War) on the staff of Prince Friedrich Karl Nikolaus of Prussia and with the III. Armee-Korps (III Corps): Gottlieb Ferdinand Albert Alexis Graf von Haeseler.

Von Haeseler was born in Potsdam on January 19, 1836. He joined the Prussian Zieten-Husaren-Regiment as a Sekondeleutnant in 1853 and became adjutant to Prince Friedrich Karl Nikolaus of Prussia in 1860. In 1868 he was promoted to Major and 1. General Staff Officer in the III. Preußischen Armeekorps (III Corps). In this capacity, von Haeseler took part in the Franco-Prussian War and was largely responsible for the encirclement of the then still French fortress of Metz in the second half of 1870.

Tall in stature, otherwise rather slender, he possessed unusual tenacity and a perseverance that was usually burdensome to his subordinates. Von Haeseler rejected all military formalism, above all the drill in large formations that was popular at the time. He attached no importance to wearing the uniform correctly or to a soldierly appropriate haircut. He remained a bachelor all his life and avoided representative or social events. Von Haeseler was convinced that even in peacetime, wartime requirements had to be demanded of officers, enlisted men, and equipment. He did not shy away from serious injuries or high property damage during frequent maneuvers. With this attitude, he did not only have supporters within the Prussian officer corps. He promoted the heavily militarized Deutschen Pfadfinderbund founded in 1911, because he believed that there was too much useless time for male youth between school entry and military service.

In contrast to the ascetic demands he placed on his troops, von Haeseler had one human weakness: a certain degree of vanity and, consequently, a love of photography, which was just emerging. He liked to be photographed frequently in a wide variety of poses and situations, so that a large number of pictures of him exist today.

After taking over command of the XVI. Armeekorps (XVI Corps), von Haeseler left his estate in Harnekop and moved to the small village of Plappeville (then Papolsheim) west of Metz. There he acquired a town villa on what is now Rue du Général Charles de Gaulle. Since he wanted to see the silhouette of the city of Metz from his house, he summarily had a tower added, on which he liked to sit in the evenings.

When the German general mobilization was ordered on August 1, 1914, Gottlieb Count von Haeseler was 78 years old. Despite enjoying good mental and physical health, he was not to receive another command in the German army. Since he did not accept this decision, he turned personally to Kaiser Wilhelm II and requested employment. The request was denied without the requested personal audience, probably also because the relationship between von Haeseler and the Kaiser had never been a good one due to longstanding, fundamental disagreements. After the then commanding general of the XVI. Armeekorps, Bruno von Mudra, learned of his predecessor’s wish and its being passed over, he offered him the opportunity to follow the operations of his former corps at gear and at the front as a guest. Von Haeseler accepted this proposal.

In the course of the pursuit fighting in the first half of September 1914, which ended with the Battle of the Marne, the corps headquarters was moved forward to the village of Varennes-en-Argonne. Von Haeseler frequently rode alone or accompanied by his aides-de-camp to the front and inspected the troops. He continued this even after the German retreat as a result of the Battle of the Marne. In doing so, he had made a habit of riding on horseback—making him clearly visible to friend and foe alike—all the way to the foremost positions. This regularly led to heavy infantry and artillery fire as soon as the French caught sight of “le diable de Metz”. It did not take long for discontent to arise among the front-line troops. General von Mudra had to intervene and prohibited further rides all the way to the front. Offended, von Haeseler withdrew for a time into the sector of the neighboring army corps until the front-line officers there also complained about the unnecessary danger.

Following the retreat and the consolidation of the new positions in the northern Argonne sector, the XVI. Armeekorps withdrew its headquarters toward the end of September 1914 to the northern village of Apremont. Generalfeldmarschall Gottlieb Count von Haeseler moved into a small house on the main street that no longer exists today.

Since Apremont came within range of the steadily strengthening French artillery and was increasingly shelled, the headquarters was relocated again as early as early October 1914, this time significantly further north to the de Pouilly family’s château in Cornay. Here, too, von Haeseler was appropriately accommodated, living directly below the château in the “Ancien Presbytère”, as the locals still call the former rectory on Rue du Prieuré today.

The early onset of winter and the associated period of bad weather with muddy roads ended the Generalfeldmarschall’s trips to the front. He now concentrated on visits to the surrounding military cemeteries and the wounded in field hospital No. I in the village of Marcq located north of Cornay.

Von Haeseler spent the Christmas season and also the turn of the year 1914/1915 mostly alone in his house. The cold, damp winter took a toll on his health. On his 79th birthday on January 19, 1915, his fellow officers surprised him by organizing a celebration in his honor. His rectory was elaborately decorated with pine greenery. Above the door gleamed a large “79” for the birthday honoree.

Many well-known officers took part in the celebration, as a photograph taken in the castle courtyard shows: to the left of von Haeseler, wearing a fur collar, stands Generalleutnant Robert Loeb (major general), commander of the 13th Landwehr Brigade, behind him to the right is Generalleutnant Walter von Heinemann (major general), commander of the 34. Division (34th Division), in the center stands General Bruno von Mudra, and obliquely to the right behind him is Oberst Rudolf von Borries (colonel), at that time chief of the general staff of the XVI. Armeekorps (XVI Corps).

During 1915, von Haeseler followed the further military events in the Argonne Forest, above all the heavy fighting from June 1915 onward, during which German troops were able to capture the strategically important sectors “Hill 285” and “la Fille Morte”.

Regularly, German Crown Prince Wilhelm went from his headquarters in Stenay on troop visits to Cornay. Various photographs exist that depict both the Crown Prince and von Haeseler with French prisoners or otherwise in the locality.

In early 1916, shortly before his 80th birthday, von Haeseler experienced cardiovascular problems. After a fall, he went to his estate in Harnekop to recover. A few weeks later, he did return to Cornay once more, but fell again in the early summer of 1916 and broke both wrists. With that, the time as a front observer was over for the elderly officer. He survived the end of the war on his estate in Harnekop and died there on October 25, 1919.

The war in the Argonne Forest continued. The XVI. Armeekorps (XVI Corps) was to continue bearing the brunt of these battles as the “Argonne Corps” until December 1916. It was then withdrawn from the Argonne and thrown into the Battle of Verdun, where it suffered very heavy casualties. In the meantime, due to increasing threats from French artillery, its headquarters had to relocate to the chateau of the Chanzy family located near the village of Buzancy. Alfred Chanzy (March 18, 1823, † January 5, 1883) was a French general. With the French XVI Corps, he fought in the Franco-Prussian War of 1871, among other things against the troops of Prussian Prince Friedrich Karl, on whose staff von Haeseler was serving as an officer at the time.

The Argonne front had become a quiet front and served both the French and the Germans for the refreshment of battle-weary units from the major battles in the Champagne, at the Chemin des Dames, and elsewhere. A wide variety of formations defended the Argonne after the XVI Corps, for example the 9. Landwehr-Division (9th Landwehr Division), the 50. Infanterie-Division (50th Infantry Division), the 2. Garde-Division (2nd Guard Division), and the 2. Königlich-Bayerische Infanterie-Division (2nd Royal Bavarian Infantry Division). All these units maintained their headquarters and staff quarters, officer and troop quarters in the rear area, regularly including in Cornay and the chateau there. In most of the villages located behind the front, logistical facilities were created to supply the troops deployed in trench warfare. In and around Cornay, these were primarily factories for the production of wood wool (Ho.W.), ice, and seltzer water (E.u.S.), as well as workshops for the repair of weapons and equipment (R.). There was also an electricity plant in Cornay as well as a heavily frequented delousing and bath establishment (yellow symbols). ​

On September 3, 1917, responsibility for the central Argonne sector was transferred to a new unit, which it would then not relinquish until the end of the fighting there. It was the 2. (württ.) Landwehr-Division (2nd (Württ.) Landwehr Division). Under the command of its leader, the Prussian general of artillery (lieutenant general) Adolf Franke, the hitherto neglected construction of positions was resumed by the Württembergers and the position system adapted to modern standards. Until early 1918, alongside individual operations, mine warfare was intensified once again, but then completely discontinued starting in February 1918. Through the expansion of rear positions, the creation of a lightly held outpost zone, and a strong main line of defense about three kilometers behind the forward trenches, the defense became more elastic and was structured in greater depth.

Cornay became the quarters of the 122. Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiments (122nd Landwehr Infantry Regiment). Of the approximately 300 inhabitants at the beginning of the war, a large part had left the village. The Landwehr men settled into the predominantly still intact houses. The relationship with the few remaining inhabitants was good. For payment, girls and women washed the soldiers’ laundry and also helped with other household tasks. At the end of January 1918, however, French artillery fire increased significantly. In anticipation of heavier fighting, all remaining inhabitants were evacuated to rear localities.

The period of deployment of the 2. (württ.) Landwehr-Division in Cornay was to affect the place less with regard to its function as a rear-area location, but rather in a tragic way through heavy fighting during the American Meuse-Argonne Offensive in the final phase of the First World War. Previously, Cornay had remained largely spared from the effects of war. At the beginning of October 1918, however, the village and its surroundings became the last and fiercely contested focal point of the German defense in the Argonne against the American troops, who were vastly superior in men and material. In the fighting, which is the subject of a separate article, Cornay was almost completely destroyed.