| X Corps | |
|---|---|
 Shoulder sleeve insignia of X Corps | |
| Active | 1942–68 |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| Colors | Blue and white |
| Engagements | World War II Korean War |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Edward M. "Ned" Almond Reuben Ellis Jenkins |
| U.S. Corps (1939–present) | ||||
|
X Corps was a corps of the United States Army in World War II and the Korean War.
The X Corps was activated in May 1942 at Sherman, Texas. Elements of the corps embarked aboard Klipfontein, a Dutch ship operating under charter through the War Shipping Administration for the Army. [1] The ship departed the San Francisco Port of Embarkation for the Pacific Theater 14 July 1944 after two changes of station and participation in maneuvers in Louisiana and at the California-Arizona maneuver area. [2]
X Corps took part in the following campaigns: New Guinea, Leyte, and Southern Philippines.
As part of the Sixth Army, X Corps took part in the Philippines campaign of 1944–45, beginning with the invasion of Leyte. For its involvement, the X Corps received the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation with a streamer embroidered 17 October 1944 – 4 July 1945.
X Corps became inactive in 1946.
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During the Korean War, it took part in Operation Chromite, the landings at Inchon, where it had the 1st Marine Division, the 7th Infantry Division and other US Army units under its command. The embryonic planning group for Chromite originally was known to insiders as "Force X" and the entire scheme was cloaked in absolute secrecy; to outsiders, the small planning staff was known only as the Special Planning Staff of general headquarters, Far East Command. As the organization grew, due to bureaucratic entanglements, supply orders were rejected because "Force X" was not referenced as a proper organization anywhere in Army manuals. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur (Supreme Commander Allied Powers) asked his chief of staff, Major General Edward Almond, to suggest a new name.[ citation needed ] Force X's Roman numeral ten reminded Almond of a corps which had fought under MacArthur in the last war—"why not call it the X Corps?" he asked. MacArthur was delighted and approved of the name. General Almond was subsequently chosen by MacArthur as X Corps' new commander.
The Marines first captured an island offshore of Inchon as a prelude to the assault and at the next tide, the main attack went in. Despite the noise of the attack on the offshore island, it completely surprised the North Korean Korean People's Army (KPA) forces. The Marines then moved on to the capital city of Seoul; in heavy fighting they eventually drove out the KPA defenders. The US Army's 7th Infantry Division, which had landed later at Inchon, engaged the enemy on the outskirts of Seoul, destroying an armored regiment.
After the landing at Inchon, X Corps attacked up the Korean peninsula on the left flank of Eighth Army. However, in early October it was withdrawn to prepare for another amphibious assault, this time at Wonsan on the eastern coast. This action proved to be a mistake as Republic of Korea Army (ROK) forces moving by land captured Wonsan on 11 October before the X Corps assault went in. The Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) entered the war on the side of North Korea, making their first attacks in late October.
After an administrative landing at Wonsan on 26 October, X Corps, now including the US 3rd Infantry Division, advanced inland northwest towards the Yalu River with the ROK I Corps made up of two ROK Divisions in the far north or right flank. The US 7th Infantry Division was in the center and the US 1st Marine Division on the southern or left flank of the X Corps attack. The 3rd Infantry Division was initially in reserve. As elements of ROK I Corps and 7th Infantry Division closed on the Manchurian border, the 1st Marine Division moved into the Chosin Reservoir (Changjin Ho). The Marines were on both left and right sides of the Changjin reservoir. Regimental Combat Team 31 (RCT 31 also known as Task Force Maclean/Task Force Faith) of the 7th Infantry Division replaced the 5th Marine Regiment on the east side of the reservoir in a piecemeal fashion with only two of its three maneuver battalions in place before heavy engagement with the enemy commenced. X Corps was strung out along many miles in sub-freezing temperatures with the ROK troops and the 7th Infantry Division to the north in contact with PVA forces. RCT 31 was too far from its parent Division for support and without organic tank support and its third maneuver element; it was decimated by the onslaught of the PVA. The 1st Marine Division fared better and with remnants of RCT 31, Army Engineers and X Corps support personnel, began its move to the sea moving through elements of the 3rd Infantry Division (Task Force Dog from the 7th Infantry Regiment, and a reinforced battalion of the 65th Infantry Regiment) who provided flank and rear guard cover for the withdrawing units. The 7th Infantry Division in the center and ROK I Corps on the right flank also began withdrawing to the Hungnam beachhead. The Marines withdrew through the 3d Infantry Division with intermittent contact with PVA forces up to Sudong. The extreme temperatures during this period caused the majority of the casualties for X Corps. The Marines managed to reach the safety of Hungnam first, where the 3rd and 7th Infantry Divisions and I ROK Corps provided perimeter defense. The Marines were evacuated by the middle of December, followed by the 7th Infantry Division, I ROK Corps and the last of the X Corps' elements. The 3d Infantry Division was last to leave the beach and evacuated on 24 December 1950.
It is widely contended that X Corps remained outside of the direct command of Eighth Army too long. X Corps reported directly to the MacArthur had been necessary for the Inchon landings and still defensible for the Wonsan attack. However, after it entered the main line, conventional military doctrine indicated that it should have been placed immediately under the command of Eighth Army. General MacArthur was accused of favoritism towards Almond, the controversial commander of X Corps, who was dual-hatted as the commander of X Corps and MacArthur's chief of staff and his personal friend.
After the withdrawal from the northeast coast, and once its units had been reconstituted, X Corps went into the line in eastern Korea, and remained there for the rest of the war.
In the years following the Korean War, X Corps served as a regional headquarters, having administrative, logistical, and training responsibility for both active and Army Reserve units in the northwestern portion of the Continental United States.
X Corps was inactivated on 31 March 1968, as part of the compromise between U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara who wanted to merge the Army Reserve into the Army National Guard, and the United States Congress who wanted to maintain the Army Reserve as it then existed. Under the compromise plan, all of the combat divisions and most separate combat brigades of the Army Reserve were inactivated with a corresponding increase in the National Guard; at the same time, non-divisional combat support and combat service support units were reallocated in the Army Reserve. The fourteen area corps were inactivated; in their place, eighteen army reserve commands ("ARCOMs") were established. Each ARCOM was, in turn, assigned to one of five continental U.S. armies ("CONUSAs") under Continental Army Command ("CONARC"). [3] The bulk of X Corps' Army Reserve units were assigned to the 124th Army Reserve Command at Fort Lawton, WA. [4]
The US Army Tenth Corps is the name of the main field force featured in Harold Coyle's 1993 techno-thriller "The Ten Thousand". In the novel its ground combat elements are the 55th Mechanized Infantry Division, the 4th Armored Division and the 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment. [a] [5]
The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, also known as the Chosin Reservoir Campaign or the Battle of Lake Changjin, was an important battle in the Korean War. The name "Chosin" is derived from the Japanese pronunciation "Chōshin", instead of the Korean pronunciation.
The Battle of Inchon, also spelled Battle of Incheon, was an amphibious invasion and a battle of the Korean War that resulted in a decisive victory and strategic reversal in favor of the United Nations Command (UN). The operation involved some 75,000 troops and 261 naval vessels and led to the recapture of the South Korean capital of Seoul two weeks later. The code name for the Inchon operation was Operation Chromite.
IX Corps was a corps of the United States Army. For most of its operational history, IX Corps was headquartered in or around Japan and subordinate to US Army commands in the Far East.
Operation Ripper, also known as the Fourth Battle of Seoul, was a United Nations (UN) military operation conceived by the US Eighth Army, General Matthew Ridgway, during the Korean War. The operation was intended to destroy as much as possible of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) and Korean People's Army (KPA) forces around Seoul and the towns of Hongch'on, 50 miles (80 km) east of Seoul, and Chuncheon, 15 miles (24 km) further north. The operation also aimed to bring UN troops to the 38th Parallel. It followed upon the heels of Operation Killer, an eight-day UN offensive that concluded February 28, to push PVA/KPA forces north of the Han River. The operation was launched on 6 March 1951 with US I Corps and IX Corps on the west near Seoul and Hoengsong and US X Corps and Republic of Korea Army (ROK) III Corps in the east, to reach the Idaho Line, an arc with its apex just south of the 38th Parallel in South Korea.
The Hungnam evacuation or Heungnam redeployment, also known as the Miracle of Christmas, was the evacuation of United Nations (UN) forces and North Korean civilians from the port of Hungnam, Hamhung, North Korea, between 15 and 24 December 1950 during the Korean War. As part of the fighting withdrawal of UN forces against the People's Volunteer Army (PVA) during the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir, they abandoned some 59,000 square kilometers of North Korean territory to enemy forces and retreated to Hungnam from where they were evacuated to South Korea.
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Operation Roundup was an advance by United Nations Command (UN) forces during the Korean War that took place from 5 to 11 February 1951. While achieving initial success against limited opposition, it was brought to a halt by Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) and North Korean Korean People's Army (KPA) forces at the Battle of Hoengsong.
The Battle of Onjong, also known as the Battle of Wenjing, was one of the first engagements between Chinese and South Korean forces during the Korean War. It took place around Onjong in present-day North Korea from 25 to 29 October 1950. As the main focus of the Chinese First Phase Offensive, the People's Volunteer Army (PVA) 40th Corps conducted a series of ambushes against the Republic of Korea Army (ROK) II Corps, effectively destroying the right flank of the United States Eighth Army while stopping the UN advance north toward the Yalu River.
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The Third Battle of Seoul was a battle of the Korean War, which took place from December 31, 1950, to January 7, 1951, around the South Korean capital of Seoul. It is also known as the Chinese New Year's Offensive, the January–Fourth Retreat or the Third Phase Campaign Western Sector.
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Operation Thunderbolt, also known in China as the Defensive Battle of the Han River Southern Bank, was a US offensive during the Korean War.
The Chinese spring offensive, also known as the Chinese Fifth Phase Offensive, was a military operation conducted by the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) during the Korean War. Mobilizing three field armies totaling 700,000 men for the operation, the Chinese command conducted their largest offensive operation since their Second Phase Offensive in November and December 1950. The operation took place in the summer of 1951 and aimed at permanently driving the United Nations Command (UN) forces off the Korean peninsula.
The Second Phase Offensive or Second Phase Campaign of the Korean War was an offensive by the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) against United Nations Command (U.S./UN) forces, most of which were soldiers of South Korea and the United States. The two major engagements of the campaign were the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River in the western part of North Korea and the Battle of Chosin Reservoir in the eastern part of North Korea.
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The UN May–June 1951 counteroffensive was a military operation performed by the United Nations Command (UN) during the Korean War launched in response to the Chinese spring offensive of April-May 1951. It was the final large-scale offensive of the war that saw significant territorial changes.
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