US Army Infantry School - Doughboy Yearbook (Fort Benning, GA)

Page 225 text:

Je xi -N ! . is ., - -x . A -., . 3 gencies of the service demanded that Company L be left to minutely inspect the aurora borealis as seen at Skaguay and Fort Wrangle, Alaska. However, the regiment was reunited at three old army posts in Montana during the summer of 1902. The year 1906 brought the second tour of Philippine service which was for a duration of two years. After taking station in the Visayan islands of Leyte and Cebu it was found that the rifle and bayonet in the hands of infan- trymen were still needed as a civilizing influence in those regions. The brethren of: the Pulajan fraternity were on the warpath in Samar and Leyte, and during 1906 and 1907 the 24th Infantry was often called upon to furnish expeditionary forces against them, which participated in some small but fierce encounters. Three uneventful years of garrison duty at Madison Barracks, N. Y., and Fort Ontario, N. Y., followed the return of the regiment to the States in the spring of 1908. But in 1912 many of the old soldiers who had remained in the Philippines could again greet their old regiment as it arrived on the transport Logan for its third tour of duty in the Islands. The Philippines were now well on their way to civilization, if not independence, and many of the old posts were being dismantled. Changing conditions brought about frequent changes of station, and from January, 1912, to October, 1915, or- ganizations of the regiment saw service in the majority of garrisoned posts, except on Mindanao. The fighting was over: this was a tour of sight-seeing. One more chapter of strenuous field service was written into the history of the 24th Infantry upon its return to the homeland. This was its partici- pation in General Pershing's punitive expedition into Mexico in 1916, which left the regiment still on Mexican soil in the early part of 1917. World events were now moving rapidly, but the stirring times of our entry into the Great War came and passed without bringing an active role for the 24th. Infantry. The regiment was ready but not called upon, and so it faithfully performed the assigned duty of border patrol in New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona, and finally took permanent station at Camp Furlong, Columbus, New Mexico. Though its part in the World War was inconspicuous it was nevertheless meritorious, for in its non-commissioned officers the 24th Infan- try furnished to the newly organized colored regiments a seasoned body of veterans who performed their war tasks with distinction, many of them in commissioned grades. The last journey, to date, in its travels, came to the regiment in September, 1922, when the transfer to Fort Benning took place. Here the men of the 10 ' 'T . 5 . . s 9 :fx igul ill

Page 224 text:

Je lg -N 'pf W 3' M. 'V .a - - if ja -7 -66 1 :m ov Territory and to keep out the marauding white settlers. Then followed a transfer to Indian Reservations in New Mexico and Arizona, where the old historic posts of Fort Apache, Fort Bayard, Fort Grant and others were occupied until the first move into civilization in 1897, when for the first time the regiment was united at Fort Douglas, Utah. During the long period of frontier service some of the most gallant officers of Civil War fame served as regimental commanders. From General Ronald S. McKenzie, the first Colonel of the regiment, the list contains such names as General H. Potter, General A. S. Doubleday, General Z. R. Bliss, General J. F. Kent, and Colonel E. H. Liscum. The second period in the history of the 24th Infantry came with the Spanish-American War and constitutes a record of gallant field service in Cuba and in the Philippines. Could the facts be condensed to fit the scope of this brief narrative it would be of considerable interest to trace in detail the fortunes of the regiment during this period. But the outstanding achieve- ments only can be recorded. These were, in Cuba, the participation in the campaign before Santiago and in the capture of Fort San juan, the stone block house, which is depicted on the regimental coat of arms. But a more heroic service than on the battlefield, and one which evoked the special com- mendation of the Commander-in-Chief in General Field Orders, was perform- ed by the colored soldiers from july 16 to August 25, 1898. This was the tour' of duty at the yellow fever camp of Siboney, Cuba, where for forty-one days they nursed fever patients, endeavored to clean up the congested and filthy pest camp, buried the dead, were themselves stricken and buried. After less than a year of garrison life at Fort Douglas, Utah, the regiment was again ordered to take the field, this time against the insurrectos of Emilio Aguinaldo in the Philippines. The story of campaigning under the tropical skies of Luzon, of innumerable hardships endured, of three years of bush- whacking, marching and skirmishing, includes many acts of individual bravery and devotion on the part of officers and men. Aguinaldo was captured in 1901, after important information as to his whereabouts had been obtained and transmitted to General Funston by an officer of the 24th Infantry. Thereafter, until embarked for the States in July, 1902, the regiment rendered valuable service in aiding to restore civil government and to suppress the plundering bands of Ladrones which infested the country. It is interesting to note that while all of the regiment except one com- pany was serving three years, under the blazing sun of the tropics the exi- S - 'E vig? qi-- I Inf!

Page 226 text:

.lg-., ii '-if :St . i , f, AQ l924 nouausov 24th Infantry have since carried on the best traditions handed down by those who have gone before. They have served the needs of the Infantry School, proud of being members of the 24th Infantry, yet humble, faithful, and ever ready to assume and accomplish the duties required. Brief reference should be made to the many trophies which the regiment has gathered during its lifetime through the prowess of its members in athletic contests and military competitions. They crowd four long shelves in regimental headquarters, and silently speak for themselves. Perhaps in conclusion the following most recent bits of history may be of interest: lst:-During the last six months of 1923 the regiment acquired the record of losing by discharge and retirement 454 men and enlisting during the same period 483, a turnover of about 60 percent of the total strength. The significant feature of these figures is that 58 percent of the discharged men reenlisted in the regiment. 2nd:-On a Wednesday afternoon, not long ago, the recreation hall of the 24th Infantry resounded for the first time to the strains of the regimental song, whistled and then sung by the entire regiment standing under arms facing the stage. When the last echo had died away the Commandant of the Infantry School, from the center of the stage, expressed to the regimental commander, Colonel B. P. Nicklin, and to the assembled regiment, his pleasure in the fact that the 24th Infantry had composed and adopted for its own, a strong, simple, and dignified song, and that it could sing this song with a spirit which rneant-regimental esprit de corps. - ...fr--A. ..... ,- ..,-74, Q, A f , f' -- - - at 2 - t l V - X 12 zfiiw ff ,ITS-vt.: -fr-fff N M' if - 24.3 -1 2 I I ' L . f i f 5-v --w ' U - ,.., Q-. yu-L I t .:.-, , fu L.. ' -'n g A ,..,.... W TR-. 5 A ?.!A -I kv -if--K Q i g .1 if .,,.. . W .. - - ' 1 ..., . a!!-M4v.,.ag-.M,.Qlfaa4..-4 flag.. .gf-We if W 2' ' Q i W 1, 2 W ? Wg '59 . A N 1 . ,N 'iq-Q 1