Peacetime career Having completed his secondary education, Stetten joined the of the
Bavarian Army in
Dieuze as a
Four-year volunteer. On 18 March 1880, he was promoted to
Fähnrich and on 29 April 1882 he became
second lieutenant. Stetten then received training at the Riding School in
Munich between 1889 and 1891 and at the
Bavarian War Academy in the three years up to 1894. After the war had ended, Stetten returned to Bavaria on 17 September 1905 and on 17 October of the same year he was appointed
Chief of Staff of the
I Royal Bavarian Corps. Following his promotion to
Oberstleutnant on 15 August 1906, he assumed command of the
2nd Royal Bavarian Heavy Cavalry "Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria" on 12 July 1908. This was a heavy cavalry regiment with its peacetime location at
Landshut. Precisely one month later, on 12 August 1908, Stetten was promoted to
colonel. On 26 March 1909, he was appointed commander of the and a year later of the . After his promotion to
Generalmajor on 16 October 1911, Stetten became
Undersecretary in the recently founded
Bavarian Ministry of War and at the same time was appointed , thus becoming a close advisor of
Otto of Bavaria. Between 18 March 1913 and 1 August 1914 he further served as inspector of the Bavarian Cavalry. In this function, Stetten directly reported to the
German Emperor Wilhelm II. On 17 December 1913, he was promoted to
Generalleutnant.
Wartime career At the outbreak of the First World War, Stetten was appointed the new commander of the
Bavarian Cavalry Division, a key tactical formation of the
German 6th Army employed on the
Western Front. On 11 August 1914, the division was already involved in combat operations near Lagarde. Although the
Uhlans of the division lost 235 soldiers, the village of
Lagarde was successfully taken by assault. As a result, the division was able to capture a French flag, eleven units of heavy weaponry, six machine guns and 1400 prisoners. Perhaps most importantly, Stetten could seize documents from a fallen
brigadier general revealing crucial information about the French plan of action for
Lorraine. The encounter at
Lagarde was the last successful large-scale cavalry attack on the
Western Front. In October, the division was engaged in the border region of northern France and Belgium and already managed to advance on
Hazebrouck, when it had to be taken back because of the advance of British troops. On 11 October 1914, Stetten was awarded the Knight's Cross of the
Military Order of Max Joseph. On 5 November 1914, he was assigned to the temporary command of the
II Royal Bavarian Corps to deputize for General Karl Ritter von Martini. Five days later, on 10 November 1914, the Corps managed to capture
Sint-Elooi during the
First Battle of Ypres. During the
Battle of the Somme, some positions of the
3rd Royal Bavarian Division were overrun by the enemy. At the same time, the
4th Royal Bavarian Division was able to decelerate the Allied
Capture of Martinpuich with machine gun fire. For his leadership, Stetten was awarded the
Pour le Mérite on 22 September 1916. On 5 January 1917, Stetten officially took over the Corps as Commanding General (CG) and was promoted to
General of the Cavalry. At this time he commanded the
3rd Royal Bavarian Division under
Generalleutnant Karl von Wenninger and the
4th Royal Bavarian Division under
Generalmajor Prince Franz of Bavaria. During the
Battle of Passchendaele, the Corps was assigned to the southern section of the front of the
4th Army as group "Lille" and was able to hold its positions. On the morning of 21 May 1917, the
British Second Army initiated the
Battle of Messines (1917) with a massive bombardment with over 2,000 canons. Although destroying the majority of Germany's defence facilities in this sector, the bombardment also warned Stetten of a potential imminent large-scale attack. The kind of attack, however, had not been foreseen by Stetten and his staff. The British began their attack on 7 June with the detonation of 19 mines they had deployed below the German front line. At the time, the detonation was the loudest sound so far created by humans and still is one of the largest non-nuclear explosions of all times. The explosion immediately killed up to 10,000 of Stetten's soldiers belonging to the
3rd Royal Bavarian Division. Using barrage, toxic gas and 72 tanks, British units managed to make extensive advances into the German defence lines and capture thousands of German soldiers. Without doubt, the
Battle of Messines (1917) was one of the most successful Allied advances of World War I and Stetten's greatest defeat. For the
Battle of the Lys (1918), Stetten was assigned the central attacking position. Furthermore, his task force also included the 10th Ersatz-Division, the
32nd Division and the
38th Division. The right wing of Stetten's formation succeeded in capturing the forest of Grenier and the village of Fleurbaix, while also establishing access to the Lys river at Bac St. Maur. This area could then be used by other units to cross the river when parts of his units were still engaged in heavy fighting at Pont Mortier. The Corps then further advanced, culminating in the capture of the city of
Armentières. The successes of this battle outweighed the 1917 losses in
Flanders and created a basis for further advancements. The Allies had to take heavy losses in the form of 20,000 prisoners, 400 canons and thousands of machine guns.
Konrad Krafft von Dellmensingen replaced Stetten on 18 April 1918. He retired from active service on 12 May 1918. At the same time,
Ludwig III of Bavaria awarded him the Commander's Cross of the
Military Order of Max Joseph to honour his achievements. The
3rd Royal Bavarian Division and the
4th Royal Bavarian Division, both de facto under Stetten's command since the end of 1914, were recognized as outstanding units by the Allies. Regarding the
3rd Royal Bavarian Division, Allied intelligence rated the division as one of the best German divisions. In the same way, the
4th Royal Bavarian Division was seen as first class and of the highest quality. == Decorations and awards ==