ORGANIZATION

The Second Division was organized in France in September, 1917. Its units, with their origin and previous history, were as follows:

The Headquarters Troop was organized in the summer of 1917 at Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont, by details from the 2d Cavalry.

The Ninth Infantry was organized in 1855. There had been three earlier regiments bearing the same number, but these have passed out of existence and have no connection with the present Ninth. Sent to the Pacific Coast via Panama immediately upon organization, the regiment served in the west until 1892, and took an active part in numerous Indian campaigns. After the Civil War it was reinforced by consolidation with the 27th Infantry (originally formed as the 2d Battalion 18th Infantry), which had been in active service throughout that war. Needless to say, this unit had no connection with either the 18th or the 27th now existing.

In 1892 the Ninth went to Madison Barracks, New York, where for the first time in its existence it had an eastern station and knew complete peace. In 1898 it went to Cuba as a part of the Fifth Army Corps, and took part in the Santiago Campaign. Returning to the United States, it was ordered to the Philippine Islands, then in insurrection. After arduous service there it went to China in 1900 as a part of the international force formed to relieve the legations in Peking, then besieged by the "Boxers". On July 13th it took part in the attack upon Tientsin, where it lost 95 men out of 700 engaged, but won its regimental motto "Keep up the fire"—the last words of Colonel Liscum as he fell mortally wounded. It joined in the march for the relief of Peking, and was present at the storming of that city.

In 1901 it went back to the Philippines, and was active in the guerrilla warfare in the Visayan Islands south of Luzon. At Balangiga, in Samar, "C" Company was almost annihilated; all the officers were killed, but the senior sergeant brought off the remnant, thirty men. After a return to the United States and another tour in the Philippines, the regiment went to Texas, where it was in 1917.

Its battle honors, up to that time, were—

The Twenty-third Infantry was organized in 1861, as the 2d Battalion Fourteenth Infantry. The regiments of the group formed at this time never operated as tactical bodies, but each battalion served as an independent unit, like a British battalion. In 1866 this existing fact was recognized by constituting each such battalion a separate regiment; and the one now in question was designated as the 23d Infantry. This regiment had no connection with earlier regiments bearing either number, nor with the present Fourteenth Infantry.

It served in the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War. In the summer of 1865 it went by way of Panama to San Francisco, and the companies were scattered in numerous posts on the Pacific Coast. Their service was active—exploration and Indian fighting from Oregon to Arizona; and here the reorganization was made.

The duty of the regiment remained unchanged. Hardly a monthly return for the next ten years fails to show marching and scouting in the Indian country, and about half of them show hostile contact, ranging from minor incidents to serious combat.

In 1898 the regiment embarked for the Philippines, having been again reorganized in three battalions. Two battalions arrived in time to take part in the capture of Manila. During the insurrection, in 1899 and 1900, the regiment was widely scattered, parts of it having service in Luzon, in the central islands of Cebu and Leyte, and among the Moros of the extreme south, in Jolo and Mindanao.

It returned to the United States in 1900, but in 1902 began another tour in the Philippines, going by way of Suez. It was again stationed in Mindanao, where the service was very active. It took a prominent part in the expeditions into the interior, both to the great Lake Lanao upland country and up the Rio Grande valley.

From 1905 to 1908 there was another brief visit to civilization, with stations in New York State; then Mindanao and Jolo again in 1908 and 1909. The regiment then returned home, and in 1917 it was stationed in Texas. Its battle honors then were—

The Second Engineers traces its origin to 1846, when an Engineer company was organized for the Mexican War. It served also in the Mormon Expedition of 1858, and, expanded into a battalion, was with the Army of the Potomac throughout the Civil War. Parts of the battalion served at Santiago in 1898, in the Philippines and in China. Further expansion was made from time to time, and in 1916 the 2d Battalion of Engineers became an independent regiment, the 2d Engineers. It was then at Colonia Dublan, Mexico, as part of the Pershing expedition against Villa; so the regiment has the distinction of having been formed on foreign soil. When the United States entered the war with Germany, it was at El Paso, Texas. Its battle honors were—

The artillery regiments were all new. The Twelfth Field Artillery was formed at St. Asaph's, near Alexandria, Virginia, by details from the 3d; the Fifteenth at Syracuse, New York, from the 4th; the Seventeenth at Sparta, Wisconsin, from the 8th; the Second Trench Mortar Battery at Gettysburg, by transfer of individuals from various regular regiments. The Fourth and Fifth Machine Gun Battalions were similarly formed, by individual transfers.

The First Field Signal Battalion was formed in 1916, by consolidation of two independent signal companies ("E", 1899, and "I", 1904) both of which had served in the Philippines and in Cuba. In 1917 an additional company was added. Of the train units, only the First Field Hospital and the First Ambulance Company existed in 1917. All other units were formed by details from various sources, mostly at Chickamauga.

The Army units of the Division are thus seen to fall into three classes: (a) old regiments, reduced by drafts to form new ones, and again recruited up; (b) new regiments formed upon a solid nucleus transferred from some parent organization; and (c) new ones formed by transfer of small groups from several old ones. Evidently, the first class was the most fortunate; the third class the least so, for these units possessed no framework to start with, and had only the intangible spirit of the Regular to help them.

The most fortunate units of the Division were those drawn from the Marine Corps. This was a small body, organized in 1798 and trained ever since for the express purpose of making up detachments for foreign service at short notice. Its battle honors include all the wars of the United States; its detachments have fought in countless minor affairs, all over the world, and have appeared as organized bodies in most of the greater ones. They were among the few units which fought with credit at Bladensburg and Bull Run; they had their share in the taking of Mexico City, in the seacoast operations of the Civil War, in the China Relief Expedition and other unusual operations.

The expansion of this force at the beginning of the war with Germany was but slight. The corps had to concern itself with nothing but its own affairs and the ordinary routine of making up small units. From a strength of 10,000 before 1916, the increase had been only to 30,000 by July, 1918. It possessed two organized recruit depots of its own, with an established system of training and 1200 recruits under instruction at the declaration of war.

The Fifth Marines was the most fortunate unit of this favored group. All its companies but two already existed, and were recalled from Haiti, Santo Domingo, Cuba and shipboard for this service. Two of them dated from 1912 and two others from 1914; these had taken part in the occupation of Vera Cruz. The companies went to France individually, and were there assembled into a regiment. The Sixth Marines and the Sixth Machine Gun Battalion were formed at Quantico, Virginia, by the usual procedure of preparing Marine detachments; only a few of their companies had previous existence.

Hasty as this sketch has been, it will suffice to indicate the background and the military tradition of the troop units of the Division, unbroken for generations. A thoroughly sound and homogeneous amalgam of the best elements of both Army and Marine Corps, it proudly bears its number—