After the suppression of the Spartacist uprising, Colonel Wilhelm Gerstenberg organized a military intervention of the Reichswehr against the Bremen Soviet Republic, "Division Gerstenberg". The unit was authorized by Gustav Noske to crush the rebellion. On their march to Bremen, Division Gerstenberg were joined by "Freikorps Caspari", an anti-communist paramilitary formed by Walter Caspari. It consisted of 600 volunteers. Together the two forces attacked Bremen on February 4 at 10:15, and within short they had eliminated the opposition, with several dozen casualties.