Because this could not be achieved by the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, field railway units were again raised: five Prussian units and one Bavarian unit. A monument in the Bundeswehr Headquarters on Munich's Dachauer Straße (on the corner of Hedwig-Dransfeld-Allee) commemorates the Bavarian railway troops and is open to the public.Įxperience from the Austro-Prussia War led to plans for a permanent military organisation for field railways which, even during peacetime, would maintain a cadre of personnel trained in railway engineering. Until the First World War, there was a Royal Bavarian Railway Battalion in Bavaria. The activity of the railway regiment was similar to that of the American construction units, whilst operating commissions ( Betriebskommissionen), specially raised by the Ministry of Trade, ran operations on the occupied railways. This railway, which was part of the army budget was managed by the Royal Military Railway Division ( Königliche Direction der Militäreisenbahn). Eisenbahnregiment) was linked to the Royal Prussian Military Railway at Berlin. These units comprised twelve railway engineers and a detachment of about 50 men provided by the Ministry of Trade. In 1866, Prussia formed three railway units during mobilisation for the Austro-Prussian War. Narrow gauge railway brigade engine from 1918/19 The large and often decisive influence that these railway troops had on the course of the American Civil war, resulted in the European states establishing similar formations. For large construction projects, civilian workers were also contracted, for example, up to 1,400 carpenters were employed to build the Etowah and Chattahoochee Bridge. The operating units managed the provision and proper use of operational materiel and services. The construction units had the task of building new lines, repairing destroyed railway facilities or even destroying them themselves. They were divided into railway operating units as well as construction units with sub-units for line and bridge building. During the war this branch of the army grew to about 25,000 men. To begin with, McClellan formed a construction corps from ordinary soldiers, but he soon recognised that the lack of training of these troops for technical work meant that a specially organised corps was needed within the Union Army for technically trained civil engineers and workers. In the American Civil War, unlimited authority over all railway lines in the North was given to General McClellan. In many countries, however, there were little or no military units of this type. Originally these were known (at least in the German-speaking areas of Europe) as field railways. The establishment of railway troops by the great powers followed the emergence, rapid growth and rising importance of the railway network, when the advantages of the railway for the transport of troops, heavy weapons and supplies became recognised.
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