Tannenberg: August 30, 1914 — I Like to Hear Myself Talk History

Death of the 2nd Army

***German troops on the march in East Prussia***
*German Federal Archives*

Following the disaster on 29 August, the broken remnants of the Russian 2nd Army were left to make desperate attempts to break out of the German encirclement and escape to the safety of Russian Poland. The situation was essentially hopeless, and this was demonstrated at the makeshift Army headquarters, when at 0100 General Samsonov slipped away into the forest, where he shot himself with his service revolver. His body would later be found and buried by the Germans, and was later repatriated to Russia in 1916 with the aid of the Red Cross.

“The Tsar trusted me. How can I face him after such disaster?”

— General Samsonov's last words to his staff (Hastings, p.282)

As the sun rose, the Russian breakout attempts were scattered and met with varied results. Cossack charges against the German I Corps near Neidenburg met only with heavy casualties before the Russians eventually surrendered, but at Kaltenborn the Germans were forced out of the village, allowing the bedraggled invaders to limp homeward. At Kannwiesen, the a German force overwhelmed a Russian one twice their number, leaving the road clogged with abandoned weapons and wagons. Overnight the men of the Russian XIII Corps had trudged 43 miles through the forest, with many of them abandoning their packs and even weapons along the way.

At the 8th Army headquarters the mood was jubilant. Reports that the 1st Army had turned away again toward Konigsberg only heightened the mood, as it seemed they were abandoning the 2nd Army to its fate, but soon news came to dampen their spirits.

Aerial reconnaissance had spotted a significant Russian force moving north from Mlawa. This formation, possible up to a corps in strength, was obviously moving to attempt to aid the breakout of the remnants of Samsonov’s army, and thus orders were issued to Francois to redeploy the German I Corps to meet this threat. At 0915 Francois received a message dropped from a circling plane as he inspected the captured Russian arms in the Neidenburg town square, informing him that the Russian spearheads were only four miles out. The General thus quickly packed up his headquarters and moved to Gregorsdorf as Neidenburg came under artillery fire.

By 1545 the entire I Corps line was engaged with the Russians, and by 1800 Francois was informed that they were in danger of being overrun. At 2100 the Russian 3rd Guards Division recaptured Neidenburg, while in another action near Malagofen the commander of the German 1st Infantry Brigade, General Friedrich von Trotha, was killed near the colors as the Germans pulled back into the town. Despite this, Malagofen was held, and the Russians withdrew as the Germans received reinforcements from XX Corps, with Francois ordered to command a counterattack the next day.

***Russian officers at an observation post***

Farther east, at 1120 XVII Corps was attacked at Ortelsburg by the Russian VI Corps. The fighting for the town was brutal, and the Germans were in the process of fixing their bayonets due to lack of ammuniton when the 10th Jager zu Pferde (mounted light infantry) rode into the town, bringing along a battery of field guns.

This prevented the collapse of the XVII Corps lines at Ortelsburg, and by noon the Russians were forced to break off their attack as more German reinforcements arrived. The remnants of the VI Corps then moved toward Willenburg under orders from Front Commander General Zhilinsky, who had taken command at a distance with the suicide of Samsonov.

In another area, the XV Corps, already badly battered, collapsed in its entirety in the afternoon. The corps commander, General Nikolai Martos, was captured when his driver was killed, and most of his men simply dropped their weapons and waited for the Germans to pick them up. Martos was taken to 8th Army Headquarters, where Hindenburg received him personally, congratulating the beaten general on the conduct of his troops during the campaign.

Also at the headquarters, Ludendorff had called OHL earlier in the day boasting of the massive victory won at Tannenberg, but by the afternoon was calling again with the report of the situation. Despite the loss of both XV and I Corps, as well as the Army Commander, the Russian VI Corps remained in the area and still combat ready, and the counterattacks from Mlawa threatened to break the Germans’ envelopment. As Ludendorff called OHL, he thus was forced to concede the battle was not yet entirely won.

Sunday, August 30

Death of the 2nd Army

Monday, August 31

Saturday, August 29

I Like to Hear Myself Talk History