15th Cavalry Division (United States)

February 2020 June 2026 15th Cavalry Division 27 November 1917 – 12 May 1918 United States of America 25px United States Army Cavalry Division Fort Bliss George Windle Read3rd Cavalry Division 21st Cavalry Division Division The 15th Cavalry Division was a cavalry division of the United States Army during World War I, the only United States cavalry division formed during the war. It was created with three cavalry brigades between November 1917 and February 1918 in Texas and Arizona, and included the Regular Army cavalry regiments that had guarded the Mexico–United States border. The division was originally trained for deployment to Europe, but only two of its regiments were sent there. The division was inactivated on 12 May 1918 and its remaining units sent back to the border as replacement National Army regiments were considered insufficiently trained. Elements of the division were reconstituted as the 1st Cavalry Division in 1921. History 15th Cavalry Division 1918 Headquarters, 15th Cavalry Division 1st Cavalry Brigade 6th Cavalry Regiment 14th Cavalry Regiment 16th Cavalry Regiment 2nd Cavalry Brigade 5th Cavalry Regiment 7th Cavalry Regiment 8th Cavalry Regiment 3rd Cavalry Brigade 1st Cavalry Regiment 15th Cavalry Regiment 17th Cavalry Regiment 82d Field Artillery Regiment (Horse) 9th Engineers (Mounted) 7th Field Signal Battalion Headquarters Troop 2d Aero Squadron Train Headquarters and Military Police, 15th Cavalry Division Ammunition Train, 15th Cavalry Division Supply Train (motor), 15th Cavalry Division 9th Engineer Train Sanitary Train, 15th Cavalry Division 10th, 24th, and 39th Ambulance Companies and Field HospitalsHistorical Section, Army War College 1949 671–673The organization of the division was ordered by the United States War Department on 27 November 1917 from the nine Regular Army cavalry regiments guarding the Mexico–United States border, in response to the desire of American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) commander on the Western Front General John J. Pershing for a mobile cavalry reserve despite French and British suggestions against establishing such a unit. Under the command of Major General George Windle Read from 10 December, the division was intended to be sent to the AEF, and began forming in early December. The divisional headquarters was organized at Fort Bliss, Texas, the headquarters of the 1st Cavalry Brigade at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, that of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade at Fort Bliss, and that of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade at Douglas, Arizona.Historical Section, Army War College 1949 673–674Wilson 1998 64 The three cavalry brigades were authorized 14,268 combatants and non-combatants, out of the total division strength (including support units) of 18,176.Historical Section, Army War College 1949 671–672 thumb|A United States Signal Corps-produced film including footage of cavalry training at Forts Sill and Sam Houston, 1917–1918 For the next several months, the division conducted methodical training by concentrating two out of three regiments in each brigade, with the third regiment periodically rotating off border duty. When it left the border, the division was intended to be replaced on border duty by new National Army cavalry regiments, then in the process of organization. The organization of the division was completed in February 1918 with the organization of the 1st Cavalry Brigade headquarters,Historical Section, Army War College 1949 671–672 and the 6th, 7th, 14th, and 15th Cavalry Regiments were alerted for deployment to the AEF in response to a request from Pershing for corps troops. However, only the 6th and 15th Cavalry were sent to the AEF via Camp Merritt, New Jersey on 4 March.Historical Section, Army War College 1949 673–674Wilson 1998 64 Brigadier General DeRosey Caroll Cabell became commanding general on 30 April, and commanded it for the rest of its brief existence.Historical Section, Army War College 1949 671–672 The Commanding General of the Southern Department, Major General Willard Ames Holbrook, proposed that the division be broken up on 6 May 1918, as he considered the National Army regiments insufficiently trained to be able to replace the Regulars within nine months, and the divisional organization unwieldy for border patrol duty. In response, the War Department disbanded the division on 12 May; its subordinate units remained on the border.Historical Section, Army War College 1949 673–674 Pershing was informed by Secretary of War Newton D. Baker that all remaining cavalrymen were required for border duty, ending the possibility of employing a cavalry division on the Western Front. The brigade headquarters remained active in the border until they were demobilized in July 1919.Wilson 1998 64 Perpetuation The 1st Cavalry Division was constituted in the Regular Army on 20 August 1921 and was activated on 13 September 1921. It was formed from two of the three reconstituted cavalry brigades that were formerly part of the 15th Cavalry Division. Only the 1st and 2nd Brigades were part of the 1st Cavalry Division because of a reduced table of organization for the cavalry division developed after the war; the 3rd Cavalry Brigade (3rd Brigade, 15th Cavalry Division) became part of the new 2nd Cavalry Division.Clay 2010 558, 568–569Wilson 1999 123, 125, 127 References Citations Bibliography http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/cgsc/carl/download/csipubs/OrderOfBattle/OrderofBattle2.pdf US Army Order of Battle 1919–1941 Clay Steven E. Combat Studies Institute Press 2010 9781780399171 2 Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 26 August 2018 1 April 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170401145614/https://usacac.army.mil/cac2/cgsc/carl/download/csipubs/OrderOfBattle/OrderofBattle2.pdf dead https://history.army.mil/html/books/023/23-4/index.html https://web.archive.org/web/20150418233933/http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/023/23-4/index.html dead 18 April 2015 Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the World War Historical Section, Army War College Government Printing Office 1949 Reprint, 1988 3, Part 2: Zone of the Interior: Territorial Departments, Tactical Divisions Organized in 1918, Posts, Camps, and Stations Washington 976846766 http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/060/60-14-1/cmhPub_60-14-1.pdf Maneuver and Firepower: The Evolution of Divisions and Separate Brigades Wilson John B. 1998 Center for Military History, U.S. Army 0-16-049571-7 Washington, D.C. 26 August 2018 1 March 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20140301211444/http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/060/60-14-1/cmhPub_60-14-1.pdf dead http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/060/60-7/cmhPub_60-7-1.pdf Armies, Corps, Divisions, and Separate Brigades Wilson John B. 1999 Center for Military History, U.S. Army 0-16-049994-1 Washington, D.C. 26 August 2018 24 September 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150924090811/http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/060/60-7/cmhPub_60-7-1.pdf dead 15 Category:Military units and formations established in 1917 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1918 Category:United States Army divisions of World War I