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.[1]
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. Without assembling as a unit, the 26th departed the following month for France, where it underwent training. To accelerate the formation of the 41st Division, its training site was shifted from Camp Fremont, California, which needed a sewage system, to Camp Greene, North Carolina. Maj. Gen. Hunter Liggett took over the camp on 18 September and the next day organized the 41st under the 8 August tables. In October its first increment of troops departed for France.[2]
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. After consulting Brig. Gen. William A. Mann, Chief of the Militia Bureau, the War College Division drafted a scheme to organize such a division with surplus units from twenty-six states and the District of Columbia. On 14 August the 42d Division was placed on the rolls of the Army, and six days later its units began arriving at Camp Mills, New York, eventually a transient facility for soldiers going to France. The following month Mann, who was reassigned from the Militia Bureau and appointed the division commander, organized the "Rainbow Division," which sailed for France a few weeks later.[3]
The organization of the sixteen National Army divisions also began in August when the designated division commanders, all Regular Army officers, and officer cadres reported to their respective training camps. Immediately thereafter the commanders established the 76th through the 91st Divisions and a depot brigade for each (Table 4).[4] On 3 September the first draftees arrived. The depot brigades processed the new draftees while the divisions began a rigorous training program. Many of these men, however, quickly became fillers for National Guard and Regular Army units going overseas, one of the reasons that National Army divisions were unready for combat for many months.[5]
One Regular Army infantry division, the 2d, was organized in France. When the first troops deployed, the U.S. Marine Corps wanted a share of the action, and Secretary Baker agreed that two Marine regiments should serve with the Army. The 5th Marines sailed with the 1st Expeditionary Division, and Pershing assigned
- ↑ Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the World War, American Expeditionary Forces, Divisions (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1931), pp. 117–265 passim, hereafter cited as Divisions, and Zone of the Interior, part 2, Directory of Troops (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1949), pp. 1277–78, hereafter cited as Directory of Troops; Pennsylvania in the World War, 1:131–40, 2:141; O'Ryan, The Story of the 27th Division, 1:61–70; Frederick L. Huidekoper, The History of the 33d Division, A.E.F., 4 vols. (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1921) 1:1–7.
- ↑ Ltr, TAG to Brig Gen Clarence R. Edwards, sub: Preparation of the 26th Division for service abroad, 13 Aug 17, and Ltr, CG, 26th Division to TAG, sub: Organization of the 26th Division, 22 Sep 17, copies in DAMH-HSO World War I order of battle file; Harry A. Benwell, History of the Yankee Division (Boston, Mass.: Cornhill Co., 1919), pp. 20–21; Rpt of the Ch of the MB, ARWD, 1918, p. 1104; William F. Strobridge, Golden Gate to Golden Horn (San Mateo, Calif.: San Mateo County Historical Association, 1975), p. 3; Divisions, pp. 117, 256.
- ↑ Frederick Palmer, Newton D. Baker, American at War, 2 vols. (New York: Dodd, Mead, and Co., 1931) 1:356–57; Memo, WCD for CofS, 30 Jul 17, sub: Composition Division, National Guard for service in France, RG 165, NARA; Ltr, TAG to Dept Commanders, 1 Aug 17, same subject, TAG 322.07 ee in 42d Inf Div File, DAMH-HSO; Divisions, p. 275. Brig Gen William A. Mann was the brother of James Robert Mann, who was the second ranking Republican from Illinois. His brother's appointment was a bipartisan move for World War I.
- ↑ Secretary Baker had authorized the camp commanders, who served as division commanders, to organize depot brigades as divisional elements. The depot brigade filled two purposes: one was to train replacements for the A.E.F. since the War College Division did not agree to Pershing's seventh division for the corps; the other was to act as a receiving unit for men sent to the camps by draft boards. David F. Trask, ed., Historical Survey of US Mobilization: Eight Topical Studies of the Twentieth Century, Study 6, Terrence J. Dough, "Equipment", pp. 6–7, Ms, DAMH-HSR.
- ↑ Divisions, pp. 291–421 passim; Memo, Office Chief of Staff (OCS) for TAG, 11 Aug 17, no subject, OCS 9876–59, RG 165, NARA; WD GO 101, 1917; Jervey, "Mobilization of the Emergency Army," pp. 14–15; Memo, WCD for CofS, 19 Oct 17, sub: Plan for Organization and Dispatch of Troops to Europe, WCD file 10050–119, RG 165, NARA; also see Julius O. Adler, History of the Seventy-Seventh Division (New York: Wynokoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., 1919), pp. 11–18; John G. Little, Jr., The Official History of the Eighty-Sixth Division (Chicago: State Publication Society, 1921), pp. 1–17; and The 88th Division in the World War of 1914–1918 (New York: Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., 1919), pp. 27–36.
