29th Division

“ When the French said that such action would precipitate offensive tactics, the Americans insisted that this was their purpose. The 92nd Division accordingly found the enemy active when it entered the sector. While there was no major offensive, raiding parties from both sides were frequent and patrol duty was very necessary.
The St. Die sector will always be remembered by the men of the 92nd Division because it was there that they received their first casualties. The first man killed was Private Moses Justice, Company H, 365th Infantry. ”

“ National Guard Divisions, World War I
At that time division commanders broke up many historic state regiments to meet the required organizations in the new tables, a measure that incensed the states and the units themselves. [29] The histories of the 26th and 41st Divisions were somewhat different. Deciding to send another division to France as soon as possible, on 22 August Secretary Baker ordered Brig. Gen. Clarence E. Edwards, commander of the Northeastern Department, to organize the 26th Division in state camps and armories under the square tables. ”

“ Besides a shortage of personnel, the 2d Division, the only division housed on one post in the United States, lacked adequate troop quarters. Living conditions at its home, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, were deplorable for both officers and enlisted men by the mid-1920s. To remedy the situation the War Department decided to break up the division in 1927 and move its 4th Brigade to Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming, where suitable quarters were available. ”

“ The Regular Army and the National Guard were to furnish the regimental combat teams and the Organized Reserve Corps the combat support units. By early 1948 the combat elements had been organized, and the formation of most other units had been authorized, including the headquarters company of the division. The War Department determined, however, that the 106th Infantry Division was not needed and never added it to the reserve troop list. The division headquarters company was inactivated in 1950, but most other units remained active as nondivisional organizations. ”

“ The whole command was keyed up to great things when with a yell the men went over the top in the thick mist on the morning of the 26th. If not regular in the old sense, they took pride in being professional in skill, though most of the young officers, as in other regular divisions, were from the training camps. They did not belong to any part of the country. They were not National Guard or National Army, but just fighting soldiers who belonged to all America. Discipline was strict in this division. Its spirit of corps was in the conviction of its rigid efficiency. ”

“ Only one company or battery was filled in the tank and antiaircraft artillery battalions. Tank companies were equipped with the M24 light tank because the Far East Command had feared that heavier tanks would damage Japanese roads and bridges. The one exception was the 25th Infantry Division, which fielded a black regimental combat team built around the 24th Infantry. In that team the infantry regiment and the field artillery battalion had all their elements, but at reduced levels. The authorized strengths of the divisions ranged between 12,500 and 13,650 officers and enlisted men [2] . ”

“ The militia forces were to consist of all able-bodied white male citizens between the ages of eighteen and forty-five and were to be organized into companies, battalions, regiments, brigades, and divisions. The legislation provided that each brigade consist of four two-battalion infantry regiments. A militia division could also have an artillery company and a cavalry troop, both of which were to be formed from volunteers within the brigades at the discretion of the governors. ”

“ In the summer of 1941 the War Department thus prevailed upon Congress to extend the Guard units and men on active duty. This decision allowed Marshall to conduct the great General Headquarters Maneuvers in the summer and fall of 1941.24
Expanding Divisional Forces Using the protective mobilization plan, in 1941 the Army also proceeded to increase the number of cavalry, armored, and infantry divisions in response to the growing threat of war. The Regular Army organized a second cavalry division against a backdrop of domestic politics. ”

“ Along with the reorganization of the Organized Reserve units, the War Department expanded the number of divisions in the Army of the United States. Reversing a post-World War I policy, the staff planned to activate some all-black divisions to accommodate the large number of black draftees. On 15 May 1942 Army Ground Forces organized the 93d Infantry Division at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. ”

“ Divisions were to be numbered 1 through 25 in the Regular Army, 26 through 75 in the National Guard, and 76 and above in the National Army. Within the Regular Army numbers, mounted or dismounted cavalry divisions were to begin with the number 15. The National Defense Act of 1916 provided for sixty-five Regular Army infantry regiments, including a regiment from Puerto Rico. From those units, excluding the ones overseas, the War Department could organize thirteen infantry divisions in addition to the 1st Expeditionary Division already in France. ”

“ Pluses included its highly mobile nature, the ease with which infantry and field artillery could form combat teams, and the reduction in the number of command echelons and amount of administrative overhead. He also pointed to improvements in transportation, supply, and maintenance, since all animal transport was eliminated. Given such a division, he believed that the Regular Army could achieve a viable readiness force without an increase in authorized personnel. Drawbacks appeared minor. The states might not accept a reallotment of National Guard infantry divisions in peacetime. ”

“ The stronger the men of a division, the abler the officers they require to be worthy of their potentiality. Given the battle experience of the 77th, under a Pershing, a Wood, a Bullard, a Summerall, or a Hines, and a group of officers as such a leader would have developed, the work of the 35th would never have become a subject for discussion: but we shall come to this later on.
On the right of the 35th we had the 91st, National Army from the Pacific Coast, as the left division of the Fifth or center Corps, with its front from Vauquois to Avocourt. ”

“ The 30th Division speedily broke through the main line of defense for all its objectives, while the 27th pushed on impetuously through the main line until some of its elements reached Gouy. In the midst of the maze of trenches and shell craters and under crossfire from machine guns the other elements fought desperately against odds. In this and in later actions, from October 6 to October 19, our 2d Corps captured over 6,000 prisoners and advanced over thirteen miles. The spirit and aggressiveness of these divisions have been highly praised by the British Army commander under whom they served. ”

“ For these the historian begs indulgence. He desires to add that the task has been a pleasant one in spite of the difficulty and that his only regret is that a history-more adequate is not the result.
In any case the trail has been blazed, or, to use a more appropriate metaphor, the channel has been buoyed for him who is destined to produce a suitable volume when the Second Division shall have arrived at its twenty-fifth anniversary. ”

“ Between 6 April 1917, when the nation declared war, and 12 June, when the first troops left the United States for France, the War College Division of the Army General Staff' revised the structure of the infantry division extensively. British and French officers spurred the changes when they visited Washington, D.C., to discuss the nation's participation in the war. They believed the American division lacked firepower and presented command and control problems because of its many small units. ”

“ Service is compulsory and general, beginning at the age of 20 years. After two years in the standing army there are six years in the reserve, four years in what is known as the mobile militia and seven years in the territorial militia.
There is compulsory training in both the reserve and the territorial militia, ranging from two weeks to six weeks. In organization each division of the army consists of 2 brigades composed of 2 regiments, comprising 3 battalions, together with a regiment of field artillery, with 5 batteries. The division has a war strength of 14,156 officers and men and 30 guns. ”

“ After World War I the Army quickly demobilized its forces, but memories of the unpreparedness of 1917 caused the nation to change the way it maintained its military forces. Infantry and cavalry divisions, rather than regiments or smaller units, became the pillars that would support future mobilization. Officers examined the structure of those pillars and adopted a modified, but powerful, square infantry division designed for frontal attack and a small light cavalry division for reconnaissance. ”

“ To fit within the new concept, the General Staff, in conjunction with the Army School of the Line at Fort Leavenworth, made the infantry division a more powerful and self-sufficient organization. A field artillery brigade of two regiments with forty-eight guns replaced the provisional regiment. Infantry and cavalry regiments benefited from additional firepower. Based on experiments with machine guns in 1906, a provisional two-gun platoon had been added to each infantry and cavalry regiment, and with the new regulations the authorization was increased to six guns. ”

“ Depending on range, one machine gun equaled the firepower of between sixteen and thirty-nine riflemen. Thus, divisional firepower grew substantially. Other changes improved communications by replacing the signal company with a two-company battalion and expanded the medical service by adding four ambulance companies. For the first time, a directive fixed the strength of a division at 19,850 men—740 officers, 18,533 enlisted, and 577 civilians, the last serving mostly in the ammunition and supply units. Transport for a division included 769 wagons and carts, 48 ambulances, and 8,265 animals. ”

“ The approach of the Light Division—why should I not dwell fondly on every act of that gallant body, the first "put at" everything, the first in Buffering, in daring, in endurance throughout the campaign?—their approach, then, was in double columns of brigades; the Second Division being on their right, and the second battalion of the Rifle Brigade, divided into two wings, one under Major Norcott, the other under Colonel Lawrence, being in advance in skirmishing order. When the Light Division got within long range, they deployed; the men lay down. ”

“ The organization of the 93rd Division was begun at Camp Stuart, Newport News, Va., in December, 1917, with the few remaining National Guard units of Negro men that had survived since the Spanish-American War. These units were battalions from Ohio and Washington, and companies from Massachusetts, Maryland, Connecticut, and Tennessee which later composed the 372nd Infantry Regiment. This Division, which was never assembled or fully organized, consisted on paper of the 369th, 370th, 371st, and 372nd Infantry Regiments. ”

“ Individual states organized their volunteers into regiments, which the War Department initially planned to brigade, mixing foot and mounted infantry [23] in the same units. Two or more volunteer brigades, each consisting of three or more regiments, were to form a division. Under the wartime laws, a brigade was to be authorized at least 3,000 men and a division 6,000. Since Army Regulations called for no fixed staffs, the president was to appoint a quartermaster, commissary, and surgeon for each brigade. Each staff officer was to have an assistant. ”

“ The Divisional organization was introduced just before the campaign of Jena in 1806, when the Division had 10 to 12 Battalions, 15 Squadrons, and 24 to 30 guns. By 1813, in the War of Liberation, Army Corps of 4 Brigades had replaced the Division. The Brigade was a mixed one of all Arms, and comprised 2 Regiments, or 6 Battalions, and 1 Battalion of Grenadiers formed by massing the Grenadier Companies of the Battalions. There were allotted to the Brigades 3 Regiments of Cavalry and 2 Batteries of 8 guns each. ”

“ That, I take it, is enough to prove that no success was achieved by units advancing or to [95] advance on our left. It is necessary to prove that for the benefit of only a very few, for the overwhelming majority of Americans (owing to the effort to give all units equal credit and imply that all concerned succeeded) are ignorant, or seriously in doubt whether the 92nd Division or any of its units achieved any real success anywhere.
Now let us see about our brigade—the 183rd, which comprised the 365th and 366th infantry and the 350th Machine Gun Battalion. ”

“ There was no lack of men in the Division, many units being well over establishment; the main difficulty to be contended with was the shortage of regular officers and N.C.O.’s to carry out the training. For a few weeks one or two experienced officers and a few re-enlisted N.C.O.’s in each battalion and artillery brigade were confronted with the task of turning a thousand totally untrained men into an efficient and well-disciplined fighting force. ”

“ Before the 26th Division went overseas in September, many states had wanted the honor of having their units become the first in France and pressed Baker and the War Department for that assignment. To stop the clamor, Baker proposed to Bliss that he consider sending a division to Europe representing many states. Maj. Douglas MacArthur, a General Staff officer, had earlier suggested that when Guard divisions adopted the new tables some militia units would become surplus and might be grouped as a division. MacArthur described the division as a "rainbow," covering the entire nation. ”