Logistics vs. American Cavalry
A squadron of the 4th Cavalry Regiment passes the newest tank M3 of the 68th Tank Regiment. US Army Louisiana Maneuvers, 1941
The American cavalry has a long and distinguished history history. Of course, not like many European powers, but the country is relatively young. The first cavalry units appeared during the War of Independence, and the first regular army cavalry unit was formed in the 1790s. But the real rise of the American cavalry happened, naturally, during the American Civil War. Here, the cavalry experienced qualitative and quantitative growth. In 1861, the cavalry officially became a separate branch of the US Army.
Even in the period between the great wars, the cavalry played a huge role in the formation and expansion of the United States, namely during the development of the Wild West and the Indian Wars. It was the cavalry, along with the construction of railroads, that allowed the Americans to conquer the frontier.
Colonel Roosevelt (center, under U.S. flag, bareheaded) with men of his regiment and the 3rd and 10th U.S. Cavalry Regiments at former Spanish positions atop San Juan Hill, Cuba, July 3, 1898. Roosevelt and his cavalrymen were on foot in their most famous charge of the Spanish-American War.
At the very end of the 19th century, there was a rather famous clash between the American cavalry and the army's logistical problems, which ultimately "tripped" an entire cavalry unit. We are talking about Theodore Resvelt's "Rough Riders" (English: Rough Riders), officially the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry. It was one of three cavalry units that were formed from volunteers for the war with Spain and, in fact, the only one that ended up at the front and fought.
Since the unit was initially formed as a cavalry unit, Native Americans, professional polo players, cowboys – basically, anyone who knew about horseback riding firsthand – volunteered to join it. The irony is that most of them were not destined to find themselves in the saddle at the front. The army was in dire need of transport to send troops and supplies to the theaters of military operations. And we are not even talking about the remote theater of military operations of the Spanish-American War – the Philippines, but about Cuba, which is located not far from the coast of the United States. As a result, the regiment went to Cuba without four of its companies and with horses that were used almost entirely as horse-drawn transport for the convoy, artillery and Gatling guns. From Roosevelt's Rough Riders to Wood's Weary Walkers due to a shortage of transports.
Apache scouts of one of the US Army cavalry regiments in Mexico, October 1916. The Apaches showed themselves to be excellent during the Mexican campaign. Firstly, they were excellent trackers, and secondly, they, to put it mildly, did not like the Mexicans very much, which was highly appreciated by their commanders.
In 1916, the American army sets out in pursuit of Mexican rebels led by the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. The expedition quickly becomes beset with logistical problems. The official Mexican government is not thrilled about the presence of a large foreign army unit in its country. Ultimately, this resulted in a ban on the Americans using the Mexican railway network for military purposes. A solution was found: the American troop group began to be supplied with transport convoys formed from trucks. And at that time, understandably, there was no developed road network in Mexico, and the vehicles traveled most of the way off-road. These events did not directly affect the American cavalry, but the American military clearly saw, back in 1916, that it was generally possible to do without railways, and most importantly, without horses, when it came to logistics.
A column of all-wheel drive FWD model B trucks of the US Army in Mexico, 1916. Incidentally, the truck drivers of these transport convoys were almost entirely hired civilians. The US Army at that time simply did not have that many drivers, especially those capable of driving a heavy, all-wheel drive truck off-road.
During the interbellum, the interwar period, the US Army was frankly "on starvation rations." The army was not just poorly financed, it was literally surviving. But the army command continued, even with such meager funds, to experiment with new types of weapons, conduct exercises and think about ways to develop certain branches of the armed forces. In addition, since 1939, Americans could practically "live" watch how the classic cavalry was smashed by the steel fist of the blitzkrieg. Naturally, conclusions were drawn from this. By the time the United States entered World War II, the cavalry had changed greatly. Almost all horse-drawn transport in the regiment was replaced by trucks, and trucks moved the artillery of cavalry units, and an armored car unit became an integrated part of the cavalry regiments. Back in the 30s, American cavalrymen even lost their sabers, made of cold steel. weapons only the bayonet remained. But they still had to fight on horseback.
The American cavalry began to change dramatically in the late 1930s. Armored cars became an integral part of cavalry units, and horse-drawn transport became a thing of the past. In the photo, the formation of the reorganized 26th Cavalry Regiment of the US Army "Philippine Scouts". The reconnaissance platoon of the regiment's headquarters was equipped with M1 armored cars
And in the initial stage of military operations in the Pacific theater of military operations there was an example of the successful use of classical cavalry and classical cavalry tactics. In 1942, the village of Morong was captured by a rapid cavalry attack by a platoon of Lieutenant Edwin Ramsey, who commanded the vanguard of the cavalry squadron and was supposed to occupy the village, which, according to intelligence, was not Japanese. The Japanese who had just entered the village were shocked when 27 horsemen burst into its streets, shooting in all directions from pistols and rifles. The surviving Japanese retreated into the jungle. Lieutenant Ramsey received an award, and the American military - confirmation of the idea that at least in one theater of the new war, cavalry in its classical form can still be useful.
Cavalrymen of the 26th Regiment and a tank of the 1st Provisional Tank Group, Philippines, early 1942. It was the successful actions of cavalrymen against the Japanese in the Philippines that gave American military theorists the belief that classical cavalry still had a right to exist.
In fact, one of the first cavalry regiments of the US Army, sent to the Pacific theater of military operations – the 112th Cavalry Regiment, was supposed to fight on horses. In Europe, no one was going to use classic cavalry, but the "little yellow men" were still supposed to be ridden on horseback in a mounted formation. But here again, logistics tripped up the army. There was real chaos in the ports. The amount of cargo in the ports was already quite large thanks to the Lend-Lease program, so new deliveries to new allies were added to this, plus now it was necessary to sort out the sending of troops and supplies overseas. As a cherry on the cake, American transports became a legitimate target for German and Japanese submariners (and Italian ones, actually, but who remembers that). In general, there was a shortage of everything – warehouses, loading capacities, tonnage. The head of the Lend-Lease administration, Stettinius, recalled that period:
"Here in the United States, after Pearl Harbor, many ports were overloaded. Inevitable troubles arose in the first months, since it was necessary to simultaneously send American troops and military supplies overseas, and also continue to supply the Allies."
A Solomonic solution was found for the 112th Regiment – the regiment was sent to New Caledonia with everything except horses. The Australians promised to provide the horses, as they were not as far away as the US, and it would not have such an impact on their logistics. On paper, everything looked great.
Cavalrymen of the 112th Regiment at Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, 1941. Possibly one of the last photos of the unit in all its cavalry glory.
Upon arrival, when the Americans actually began to receive the "materiel", it turned out that they were not given horses for dashing cavalry attacks, but those that the Australians used in their light cavalry units. That is, in essence, these were rifle units that moved on horses. According to the Americans, these horses were not suitable for their needs at all. But that's not all: the local forage was not to the taste of the Australian horses, and they began to rapidly lose weight. It got to the point that the Americans, fully equipped and armed, were afraid to mount their horses. The problem could have been solved by bringing in forage... by ships from Australia or the United States, and this in conditions of an acute shortage of transport. But then the American command said - enough. The age of classical cavalry in the US armed forces was finally over. All cavalry units already outside the United States were ordered to "hurry up" and become either pure infantry or "special" units - infantry units with horse-drawn transport, for action in the jungle.
Shoemakers without boots. Cavalrymen of the 112th Regiment at an improvised formation to unload personnel from an army transport, 1942. The soldiers are still wearing cavalry boots and high shoes, cavalry breeches
In general, logistics was the killer of another large cavalry unit of the US Army – the 2nd Cavalry Division.
True, the situation here developed according to a slightly different scenario and in two stages. In general, it was clear that the division was not destined to fight on horseback, especially against the Germans. Parts of the division were engaged in combat training, patrolled the border with Mexico on horseback, fought forest fires (timber was a valuable strategic resource). During this period, some units "fell away" from the division, as they were reorganized into mechanized reconnaissance units.
Another former cavalryman who went overseas to fight on horseback is the 124th Regiment. In 1942, it ceased to be a cavalry regiment, received the designation "special" and became, in fact, an infantry regiment with a horse-drawn convoy for combat operations in the jungle. Photo taken in Burma, in 1944
And so the division was sent across the ocean to Africa. By that time, however, the division's cavalry regiments had thinned out, and only segregated "black" units remained. In 1944, the remaining cavalry regiments of the division were disbanded in North Africa. They did not form mechanized units from "colored" soldiers. But the army experienced a shortage of various auxiliary units that were supposed to provide for the huge logistics infrastructure in the same Casablanca. So, most of the cavalrymen of the 2nd Division went to auxiliary units, as, for example, the soldiers of the 27th Cavalry Regiment became the cadre base for the 6404th Port Battalion... from cavalrymen to army stevedores.
All the "colored" elements of the 2nd Cavalry Division were divided into construction, engineering and logistics units. This included the aforementioned port battalion, several engineering construction battalions, a heavy pontoon battalion, and even a specialized ammunition supply battalion. In the photo, soldiers of the army's segregated engineering construction battalion are engaged in the construction of an airstrip on one of the Mariana Islands, 1944
Many units of the American army bore and still bear the name of cavalry. But from the cavalry there remained only the names of the units and some traditions. In fact, the classic cavalry "died" in 1942, and one of the factors that contributed to this was far from military.
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