Kuno Arndt von Steuben (
Eisenach, 9 April 1855 – Berlin, 14 January 1935) was a Prussian military officer, and a general in the
First World War.
Life
He was born in a noble family, of which
Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben (1730–1794) is best known. He joined the
Prussian Army
The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.
The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...
at the age of 13. By 1911 he commanded the
36th Division as lieutenant general. In 1913 he was director of the
Prussian Military Academy.
Moltke had asked Kaiser for his promotion to
General der Infanterie. Steuben was promoted on 19 August 1914, shortly after the beginning of World War I.
At the outbreak of the war, he received command of the
XVIII Reserve Corps. His corps was part of
4th Army, commanded by
Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg, on the march to the
Marne river. It saw action in the
Battle of the Ardennes, the
Second Battle of Champagne and the
Battle of Verdun. For his services in the
Second Battle of Champagne, Steuben was awarded with the prestigious
Pour le Mérite.
On 5 June 1917, he was sent to the
Salonika front to lead the
11th German Army. Together with his Bulgarian allies, he held the frontline until 15 September 1918, when the allies gained a crushing victory in the
Battle of Dobro Pole and Bulgaria was forced to conclude an armistice. Von Steuben and his 11th Army had to withdraw behind the Danube into Hungary.
After the German capitulation, they returned home on 8 December 1918. Von Steuben retired from the Army on 31 January 1919. He died in 1935 and was buried in the
Invalidenfriedhof
The Invalids' Cemetery (german: Invalidenfriedhof) is one of the oldest cemeteries in Berlin. It was the traditional resting place of the Prussian Army, and is regarded as particularly important as a memorial to the German Wars of Liberation ...
.
References
Prussian Machine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steuben, Kuno
1855 births
1935 deaths
German Army generals of World War I
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class)
Burials at the Invalids' Cemetery
People from Eisenach
Generals of Infantry (Prussia)
Military personnel from Thuringia