90th Infantry Division | |
---|---|
Active | 1917–1919 1921–1945 1995–present |
Country | United States |
Branch | United States Army |
Type | Infantry |
Size | Division |
Garrison/HQ | San Antonio, TX |
Nickname(s) | "Tough 'Ombres" (special designation) [1] Texas-Oklahoma Division |
Engagements | World War I |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | James A. Van Fleet Raymond S. McLain |
The 90th Infantry Division ("Tough 'Ombres" [1] ) was a unit of the United States Army that served in World War I and World War II. Its lineage is carried on by the 90th Sustainment Brigade.
The 90th Division was constituted in the National Army by the War Department on 5 August 1917, and was directed be organized at Camp Travis, Texas, from draftees from Texas and Oklahoma. The division was organized beginning in the first week of September from a cadre of officers and men of the Regular Army, and from Officers' Reserve Corps and National Army officer graduates of the First Officers' Training Camp at Leon Springs, Texas. 2,300 draftees arrived from 5-10 September, and another 18,400 from 19-24 September, after which systematic training began. Another 10,000 men arrived at Camp Travis early in October 1917, and the division approximated 22,500 men.
Between January and June 1918, 50,000 men arrived at Camp Travis, but departures aggregated 35,000. Early in 1918, the 90th Division received new men, many from Texas and Oklahoma, but transfers to Camp Doniphan, Oklahoma, Camp Hancock, Georgia, Camp Johnston, Florida, and Fort Sheridan, Illinois reduced its strength to about 15,000 by April. On 20-21 May 1918, new men from Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota arrived from Camp Dodge, Iowa. On 31 May, the division approximated 24,000 men. In June 1918, the division proceeded from Camp Mills, New York, to the ports of Boston, Brooklyn, New York, and Philadelphia. After sailing to England in stages, the division proceeded to France. In late August, the 90th Division entered the front lines, participating in the Battle of St. Mihiel in September and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in October-November 1918. In four months of combat, the 90th Division suffered 7,549 casualties (1,091 killed in action and 6,458 wounded in action). From December 1918 to May 1919, the division was stationed near Trier, Germany, in the Army of Occupation. [2]
The 90th Division headquarters arrived at the port of Boston, Massachusetts, aboard the SS Magnolia on 7 June 1919 after 12 months of overseas service and was demobilized on 17 June 1919 at Camp Bowie, Texas. The 90th Division was reconstituted in the Organized Reserve on 24 June 1921, allotted to the Eighth Corps Area, and assigned to the XVIII Corps. The division was further allotted to the state of Texas. The division headquarters was organized on 8 August 1921 with its offices located in the library of the Eighth Corps Area headquarters at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. The headquarters was relocated on 14 September 1921 to the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, Texas, and relocated again in June 1923 to Building 42-T at Fort Sam Houston. The headquarters was relocated once more in July 1926 to the Alamo Building in San Antonio and remained there until activated for World War II.
After activation, the division’s recruiting efforts were such that by January 1924, the division was at 99 percent of its authorized strength, which was the highest for any Organized Reserve division at the time. To maintain communications with the officers of the division, the division staff published a newsletter titled “The 90th Division Bulletin.” The newsletter informed the division’s members of such things as when and where the inactive training sessions were to be held, what the division’s summer training quotas were, where the camps were to be held, and which units would be assigned to help conduct the Citizens Military Training Camps (CMTC). The designated mobilization and training stations for the division were Fort Sam Houston and Camp Bullis, Texas, where much of the 90th Division’s training activities occurred in the interwar years. The headquarters and staff usually trained with the staff of the 2nd Division at Fort Sam Houston. The subordinate infantry regiments of the division held their summer training primarily with the 2nd Division's 9th and 23rd Infantry Regiments at Camp Bullis. Other units, such as the special troops, artillery, engineers, aviation, medical, and quartermaster, also trained at Fort Sam Houston or Camp Bullis with like units of the 2nd Division. For the summer training camps of May 1932 and May 1933, the 90th Division headquarters, special troops, 315th Medical Regiment, and 90th Division Quartermaster Train participated in maneuvers with the 2nd Division at Camp Bullis. In addition to the unit training camps, the infantry regiments of the division rotated responsibility to conduct the CMTC training held at Fort Sam Houston each year.
During the inactive training period, the 90th Division staff would hold occasional contact camps at Texas A&M College in Bryan, Texas. On a number of occasions, the division headquarters and staff, and occasionally the division's three brigade headquarters, participated in Eighth Corps Area and Third Army command post exercises in conjunction with other Regular Army, National Guard, and Organized Reserve units. Unlike the Regular and Guard units in the Eighth Corps Area, the 90th Division did not participate in the various Eighth Corps Area maneuvers and the Third Army maneuvers of 1938, 1940, and 1941 as an organized unit due to lack of enlisted personnel and equipment. Instead, the officers and a few enlisted reservists were assigned to Regular and Guard units to fill vacant slots and bring those units up to war strength for the exercises. Additionally, some officers were assigned duties as umpires or support personnel. For each maneuver, the division maximized the number of participants. For example, for the 1938 maneuver at Camp Bullis, the 90th Division provided 138 officers to the 2nd Division and 66 to the Texas National Guard's 36th Division. Similar numbers participated in the two succeeding exercises. [3]
Before Organized Reserve infantry divisions were ordered into active military service, they were reorganized on paper as "triangular" divisions under the 1940 tables of organization. The headquarters companies of the two infantry brigades were consolidated into the division's cavalry reconnaissance troop, and one infantry regiment was removed by inactivation. The field artillery brigade headquarters and headquarters battery became the headquarters and headquarters battery of the division artillery. Its three field artillery regiments were reorganized into four battalions; one battalion was taken from each of the two 75 mm gun regiments to form two 105 mm howitzer battalions, the brigade's ammunition train was reorganized as the third 105 mm howitzer battalion, and the 155 mm howitzer battalion was formed from the 155 mm howitzer regiment. The engineer, medical, and quartermaster regiments were reorganized into battalions. In 1942, divisional quartermaster battalions were split into ordnance light maintenance companies and quartermaster companies, and the division's headquarters and military police company, which had previously been a combined unit, was split. [6]
The officer cadre for the 90th Infantry Division came mostly from the 6th and 33rd Infantry Divisions, while the enlisted cadre came from the 6th Infantry Division. The enlisted fillers came from reception centers mostly located in the Northwest, Midwest, and Southwest, but a preponderance of the men were from Fort Sam Houston and Camp Wolters, Texas, and Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
The 90th Infantry Division landed in England, 5 April 1944, and trained from 10 April to 4 June.
The first elements of the division saw action on D-Day, 6 June, on Utah Beach, Normandy, the remainder entering combat 10 June, cutting across the Merderet River to take Pont l'Abbe in heavy fighting. After defensive action along the river Douve, the division attacked to clear the Foret de Mont-Castre (Hill 122), clearing it by 11 July, in spite of fierce resistance. In this action, the division suffered 5,000 men killed, wounded, or captured. An attack on the island of Saint-Germain-sur-Sèves on 23 July failed so the 90th bypassed it and took Périers on 27 July.
On 12 August, the division drove across the Sarthe River, north and east of Le Mans, and took part in the closing of the Falaise Gap, by reaching 1st Polish Armored Division in Chambois, 19 August.
It then raced across France, through Verdun, 6 September, to participate in the Battle of Metz, 14 September – 19 November, capturing Maizières-lès-Metz, 30 October, and crossing the Moselle River at Kœnigsmacker, 9 November. Elements of the 90th Infantry assaulted and captured the German-held Fort de Koenigsmacker 9–12 November.
On 6 December 1944, the division pushed across the Saar River and established a bridgehead north of Saarlautern (present-day Saarlouis), 6–18 December, but with the outbreak of Gerd von Rundstedt's (Army Group A) drive, the Battle of the Bulge, withdrew to the west bank on 19 December, and went on the defensive until 5 January 1945, when it shifted to the scene of the Ardennes struggle, having been relieved along the Saar River by the 94th Infantry Division. It drove across the Our River, near Oberhausen, 29 January, to establish and expand a bridgehead. On 19 February, the division smashed through Siegfried Line fortifications to the Prüm River.
After a short rest, the 90th continued across the Moselle River to take Mainz, 22 March, and crossed the rivers Rhine, the Main, and the Werra in rapid succession. Pursuit continued to the Czech border, 18 April 1945, and into the Sudetes mountain range. The division was en route to Prague when they came upon the remaining 1500 emaciated prisoners left behind by the SS at Flossenbürg concentration camp. Today, a memorial wall at the former camp honors the 90th as the liberators of Flossenbürg concentration camp. [7] A week later, word came that the war in Europe ended on 8 May 1945.
The 78th Training Division (Operations) ("Lightning") is a unit of the United States Army which served in World War I and World War II as the 78th Infantry Division, and currently trains and evaluates units of the United States Army Reserve for deployment.
The 89th Infantry Division, originally known as the "89th Division," was an infantry formation of the United States Army that was active during World War I, World War II, and the Cold War.
The 84th Training Command ("Railsplitters") is a formation of the United States Army. During World War I it was designated the 84th Division, American Expeditionary Forces; during World War II it was known as the 84th Infantry Division. From 1946 to 1952, the division was a part of the United States Army Reserve as the 84th Airborne Division. In 1959, the division was reorganized and redesignated once more as the 84th Division. The division was headquartered in Milwaukee in command of over 4,100 soldiers divided into eight brigades—including an ROTC brigade—spread throughout seven states.
The 8th Infantry Division, ("Pathfinder") was an infantry division of the United States Army during the 20th century. The division served in World War I, World War II, and Operation Desert Storm. Initially activated in January 1918, the unit did not see combat during World War I and returned to the United States. Some units would serve in the American Expeditionary Force to Siberia. Activated again on 1 July 1940 as part of the build-up of military forces prior to the United States' entry into World War II, the division saw extensive action in the European Theatre of Operations. Following World War II, the division was moved to West Germany, where it remained stationed at the Rose Barracks in Bad Kreuznach until it was inactivated on 17 January 1992.
The 80th Training Command is a formation of the United States Army Reserve.
The 103rd Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army that served in the U.S. Seventh Army of the 6th Army Group during World War II.
The 79th Infantry Division was an infantry formation of the United States Army Reserve in World Wars I and II.
The 88th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the United States Army that saw service in both World War I and World War II. It was one of the first of the Organized Reserve divisions to be called into federal service, created nearly "from scratch" after the implementation of the draft in 1940. Previous divisions were composed of a core of either Regular Army or National Guard personnel plus draftees. Much of the experience in reactivating it was used in the subsequent expansion of the U.S. Army.
The 77th Sustainment Brigade is a unit of the United States Army that inherited the lineage of the 77th Infantry Division, which served in World War I and World War II. Its headquarters has been at Fort Dix, New Jersey, since its predecessor command, the 77th Regional Readiness Command, was disestablished in 2008 from Fort Totten in Bayside, Queens, New York. Soldiers from the 77th have served in most major conflicts and contingency operations involving the US since World War II.
The 81st Readiness Division ("Wildcat") was a formation of the United States Army originally organized as the 81st Infantry Division during World War I. After World War I, the 81st Division was allotted to the Organized Reserve as a "skeletonized" cadre division. In 1942, the division was reactivated and reorganized as the 81st Infantry Division and served in the Pacific during World War II. After World War II, the 81st Infantry Division was allotted to the Organized Reserve as a Class C cadre division, and stationed at Atlanta, Georgia. The 81st Infantry Division saw no active service during the Cold War and was inactivated in 1965.
The 83rd Infantry Division ("Thunderbolt") was a formation of the United States Army in World War I and World War II.
The 86th Infantry Division, also known as the Blackhawk Division, was a unit of the United States Army in World War I and World War II. Currently called the 86th Training Division, based at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, members of the division now work with Active Army, Reserve, and National Guard units to provide them with a Decisive Action Training Environment on a yearly basis.
The 96th Infantry Division was an infantry division (military) of the United States Army. It was formed in 1918 and served in World War I and in the Pacific War during World War II. It was reformed after the war and was part of the United States Army Reserve until 1965.
The 98th Infantry Division ("Iroquois") was a unit of the United States Army in the closing months of World War I and during World War II. The unit is now one of the U.S. Army Reserve's training divisions, officially known as the 98th Training Division. Its primary mission is to conduct Initial Entry Training (IET) for new soldiers. It is one of three training divisions subordinate to the 108th Training Command (IET) and handles command and control of units throughout the eastern United States and in Puerto Rico.
The 76th Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army in World War I, World War II and the Cold War. The division was inactivated in 1996 and has been reconstituted as the 76th US Army Reserve Operational Response Command in 2013.
The 71st Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army in World War II.
The 44th Infantry Division was a division of the United States Army National Guard from October 1920 to November 1945, when it was inactivated after Federal Service during World War II. A second 44th Infantry Division existed in the Illinois Army National Guard from 1946 until October 1954, when that division was disbanded after federal service during the Korean War.
The 9th Infantry Division is an inactive infantry division of the United States Army. It was formed as the 9th Division during World War I, but never deployed overseas. In later years it was an important unit of the U.S. Army during World War II and the Vietnam War. It was also activated as a peacetime readiness unit from 1947 to 1962 at Fort Dix, New Jersey as a Training Division, West Germany, and Fort Carson, Colorado as a Full Combat Status Division, and from 1972 to 1991 as an active-duty infantry division at Fort Lewis, Washington. The division was inactivated in December 1991.
The 33rd Infantry Division was a formation of the U.S. Army National Guard between 1917 and 1968. Originally formed for service during World War I, the division fought along the Western Front during the Battle of Amiens, the Battle of Hamel, the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, at the Second Battle of the Somme, and at the Battle of Saint-Mihiel. It was re-formed during the inter-war period, and then later activated for service during World War II, seeing action against the Imperial Japanese Army in the Pacific. In the post war era, the division was reconstituted as an all-Illinois National Guard division. In the late 1960s, the division was reduced to a brigade-sized formation, and its lineage is currently perpetuated by the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team.
The 27th Infantry Division was a unit of the Army National Guard in World War I and World War II. The division traces its history from the New York Division, formed originally in 1908. The 6th Division designation was changed to the 27th Division in July 1917.