8th Cavalry Regiment
The 8th Cavalry Regiment is a regiment of the United States Army formed in 1866 during the American Indian Wars. The 8th Cavalry continued to serve under a number of designations, fighting in every other major U.S. conflict since, except World War I, when it was not deployed to Europe because it was already engaged in the Punitive Expedition in Mexico from 1916 to 1920. It is currently a component of the 1st Cavalry Division.
History
The regiment originally was organized as horse cavalry in 1866 – a designation under U.S. military doctrine that emphasized both light cavalry and dragoon-type mounted and dismounted fighting roles – until 1942. It served on foot during World War II and Korea, with some elements converting to airmobile infantry for Vietnam, while others were detached and assigned to West Germany as part of an armored task force to resist any potential Soviet incursion. It became a mechanized force in the 1970s. It has been brigaded or otherwise attached to various larger temporary and permanent Army commands throughout its history. Currently, it is a component of the 1st Cavalry Division, a major subordinate command of the U.S. Third Mobile Armored Corps comprising a 19,000 soldier, heavy armored division stationed at Ft. Cavazos, Texas. As one of the two "on-call" heavy contingency force divisions of the Army, the First Team has an on-order mission to deploy by sea, air or land to any part of the world on a short notice.Indian Wars (1866–90)
The 8th Cavalry Regiment was constituted 28 July 1866 and was organized as a regiment on 21 September 1866 at Camp Reynolds, Angel Island, California. The enlisted soldiers were "composed chiefly of men enlisted on the Pacific Coast, and included many of the class styled 'Forty-niners'; men who had worked months or years in the mines and were typical specimens of the roving order of citizens. Many of them were wild characters who enlisted in the same spirit of adventure which led them to the frontier, and typically had difficulty in adapting themselves to the conformity of a military life." Many desertions followed, the number reaching 41% by the end of 1867. The officers assigned to the regiment were all veterans of the Civil War. John Irvin Gregg was its first colonel, with Thomas Devin as lieutenant colonel; both had been generals of volunteers and commanded cavalry divisions during the war. The Eighth Cavalry would serve on the frontier throughout the late 19th century.The 8th was actively engaged in trying to control various Native American tribes and bands in Nevada, Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas in the Indian Wars between 1867 and 1888. Two years after the capture of Geronimo, they were transferred to South Dakota, Montana and North Dakota where they participated in several actions.
From December 1866 companies of the 8th Cavalry were involved in the Snake War, replacing California and Oregon Volunteer companies that had been fighting the Snakes in Nevada and Oregon during the American Civil War. Many of the 8th's soldiers were experienced frontier soldiers that had been serving with California Volunteer units fighting Indians during the Civil War and had reenlisted with the U.S. Army following the disbanding of their Volunteer units. From December 1867 to January 1868, the headquarters was moved from Camp Whipple, AZ, to Churchill Barracks, NV. In May, headquarters was moved to Camp Halleck, Nevada, where it remained till 5 May 1870, when it was again moved to Fort Union, New Mexico. During this time Company L engaged in an action in Hell Canyon, Arizona, for which Corporal John James Mitchell received the Medal of Honor. The several troops took stations at Fort Union, Fort Craig, Fort Selden, Fort Wingate, Fort Bascom, and Fort Stanton, in New Mexico, and Fort Garland, in the Colorado Territory. The duties during this period were of almost continuous field service by troops or detachments, scouting for Apaches and Navajo, furnishing guards and escorts.
During active combat against the Chiricahua Apaches headed by Cochise, during a battle at Rocky Mesa in the Chiricahua Mountains on 20 October 1869, the following were awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry in an engagement against a group of Apache warriors subsequent to attacks by this group on a stagecoach and a crew of cowboys:
From October 1870 to July 1874, Troops "C", "G", "I" and "K" of the 8th Cavalry were stationed at Fort Selden, New Mexico, a territorial fort established on the Rio Grande at the present site of Radium Springs, New Mexico. Their primary mission was to protect the settlers and travelers of the Mesilla Valley and San Augustin Pass from the Mescalero Apaches and other bands. The location of the fort was an ancient Indian campground and a crossing point for Spanish caravans headed across the Jornada del Muerto. In conjunction with the encampment at Fort Selden, Regimental Headquarters and three companies of the 8th Cavalry were assigned to Fort Union, New Mexico, under the command of Major William Redwood Price. A campaign was organized to enter the Llano Estacado, the Staked Plains area of the Texas Panhandle, a favorite haunt of bands of Comanches and Kiowas. Departing into the field in August 1874, the 8th Cavalry campaigned into the early months of 1875 before the Southern Plains were finally considered free of the Indian threat and Fort Union settled into a period of reservation watching, holding its troops in readiness for future troubles. The regiment remained in New Mexico performing the same duties until July, 1875, when it marched to Texas. On 31 December 1875 soldiers of the regiment were engaged in a brawl with members of the John Kinney Gang in a Las Cruces, New Mexico saloon in which two died and three were injured The 8th periodically was engaged in the Apache Wars in southern New Mexico; in November–December 1877 Alsate's Mescaleros clashed twice with 8th Cavalry troops: on 30 November, companies A and K, respectively led by capt. A.B. Wells with lt. F.E. Phelps, and by capt. S.B. Young with lt. John L. Bullis, trespassed the Rio Grande border running after Alsate's band in the Sierra Madera del Carmen, Mexico, killing or wounding some Apaches, destroying the camp and catching some horses, donkeys and mules; on 4 December, capt. Young, with troop K, and lt. Bullis, with a detachment of Seminole scouts, after chasing the Chisos for several weeks, attacked the Apache group led by Alsate and his sub-chiefs Zorrillo and Colorado ; Alsate led his people to Chihuahua. On 19 December 1885 an officer and 4 enlisted men were killed by Apaches near Alma, New Mexico.
In May 1888, the regiment prepared for the longest march ever taken by a cavalry regiment. With the increased number of settlers moving to the Northwest United States, the regiment was ordered to march more than to its new regimental headquarters located at Fort Meade, South Dakota and station at Fort Keogh, Montana. Some of its march was along the famous Santa Fe Trail in New Mexico, near which carvings on large boulders and trees still gives mute testimony of the troops on the longest of all trails.
Spanish–American War
At the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in 1898, the 8th Regimental Headquarters and six troops went by rail to Camp A. G. Forse, Alabama and sailed on USAT Logan from Savannah, Georgia, for the island of Cuba for a four-year tour of duty to secure the peace. Their duties were varied and included protection of American citizens and their property.1905–42
In 1905, the regiment was ordered to the Philippines with the assignment of suppressing the anti-colonial Moro Rebellion. In addition, they patrolled supply and communications lines and sources of water on the islands of Luzon and Jolo. The Regiment returned to the United States briefly in 1907, but in 1910, the 8th Cavalry Regiment returned to the Philippines for their second tour of Pacific duty. This time, the regiment once again fought against Moro rebels on the Filipino island of Mindanao and in the Sulu Archipelago. In the Battle of Bud Bagsak in June 1913, a total of 51 members of the 8th Cavalry's Troop "H" joined other U.S. Army soldiers in a violent battle with hundreds of Moro warriors on Jolo.In September 1914, the regiment was stationed at Camp Stotsenburg, Philippine Islands and performed the usual garrison duties. On 21 September, it joined with the 7th Cavalry Regiment to form a provisional cavalry brigade.
Returning to the United States on 12 September 1915, the regiment was stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, as part of the 15th Cavalry Division. Troops were dispatched along the border for the purpose of subduing the activity of Mexican bandits who were giving the ranchers a great deal of trouble. Responding to a border raid at Columbus, New Mexico, by Pancho Villa, an expedition led by John J. Pershing was launched into Mexico on 15 March 1916. First Lieutenant George Smith Patton, Jr. was one of Pershing's aides-de-camp. On 31 July 1916 a U.S. Customs officer and a private were killed and a sergeant wounded in a clash between the 8th Cavalry and Mexican bandits of whom five were killed.
On January 28, 1918, Troop G of the 8th Cavalry Regiment, along with Company B of the Texas Rangers and white ranchers perpetrated the Porvenir massacre, in which 15 Mexican-American men and boys were killed.
"On April 7, 1918; there was a skirmish with Mexican bandits. In Commanding at Fort Hancock during this time from Dec 2, 1917 to May 10, 1918, was Capt. Thomas Henry Rees, Jr."
On 13 September 1921, with the initiation of the National Defense Act, the 1st Cavalry Division was formally activated at Fort Bliss, Texas. The first unit of the 1st Cavalry Division, the 1st Cavalry Regiment, had been preassigned to the 1st Division on 20 August 1921, nearly a month before the formal divisional activation date. Upon formal activation, the 7th, 8th, and 10th Cavalry Regiments were assigned to the new division. It served as a horse cavalry regiment until 1942, when it took part in amphibious training.