Indoor Exhibit Summary
The Indoor Exhibits of the Museum begins with a series of antecedent period
galleries which traces the beginnings of the horse soldier regiments, through
the Civil War and to the formation of the 1st Cavalry Division in 1921.
Subsequent galleries include World War II, the Korean Conflict, Vietnam War,
Gulf War and the most recent, "Operation Joint Forge", in Bosnia. Narratives,
photographs and artifacts tell the story of the major role played by the
"First Team" in national and world events. In the Hall of Honor, tribute is
paid to members of the 1st Cavalry Division who earned the Congressional Medal
of Honor for valiant action. And finally, the "Bosnian Exhibit" gallery
provides a look at cavalry soldiers of more recent foreign service and and the
future mission roles to be assigned to modern "horse soldiers".
The Civil War was known as Terrible Golden Age of the Cavalry. The war
pitted former Regular Cavalry officers against men of their own regiments.
Thousands of troops served with Union and Confederate Cavalries. In 1861,
the US Army reorganized its mounted service into six Cavalry Regiments.
In a section of the galley, a trooper is shown in full dress uniform of the
5th Regiment of Cavalry which was worn during the Civil War. The tents in the
background are two shelter halves of a two-man tent.
Cavalry troops had to maneuver fast and travel light on horses. These animals
were especially bred to carry him and all the gear, food and feed, weapons,
and equipment necessary to support him in the field.
Shown in the exhibit is an original Spencer Carbine. It was one of the
first repeating rifles used in the Civil War.
Heroic actions by units of both sides of the Civil War brought the Cavalry
into the forefront as one of the major branches of the Army.
The end of the Civil War resulted in a great western movement of displaced
confederate and union soldiers looking for adventure along with
African-Americans looking for a new life. This movement west brought the
Native American in direct contact with them. Fighting soon began and the Army
was assigned the task to keep the peace and control the Indian population.
The Army, reduced in size, was required to patrol a large area. Troops of the
Indian War period became highly professional soldiers. Uniforms and equipment
were developed to support their operations. In this period is the first time
that soldiers have two separate uniforms; a dress uniform for guard mount and
parades and uniform to be worn in field or on campaign.
The primary weapon of the Indian War period was the Model 1873 Springfield
Carbine.
The Indian War period lasted from 1866 to 1900. Exhibit maps shows the
locations of the numerous battles fought with the Native American Nations and
the forts required to hold the land.
Between 1885 and 1918 units that would soon become a part of the 1st Cavalry
Division fought in various skirmishes such as the Spanish American War of
1898, the Philippines Insurrection 1899-1904 and the Punitive Expedition of
1916,
A display in the Spanish American war exhibit shows the Model 1899 30-40
caliber Krag Carbine. This carbine was the first US military weapon to use
the new smokeless cartridge. The Model 1903 Springfield replaced the Krag
Rifle and was used until the beginning of WWII.
The Punitive Expedition mission into Mexico was to capture Pancho Villa, a
border raider who harassed the frontiers of western Texas; it was the last
great cavalry campaign.
The National Defense Act of 1920 called for the reorganization of the Army.
One active cavalry division and one inactive division served in the regular
Army.
On 13 September 1921, the 1st Cavalry Division was officially formed with
the Headquarters stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas. The Division was formed
around the 1st, 7th, 8th and 10th Cavalry Regiments. In 1922, the 5th Cavalry
Regiment joined, replacing the 10th Cavalry, to round off the square
organizational concept.
The mission of 1st Cavalry Division was to train regularly and patrol the
desert around Fort Bliss, Camp Clark and Camp Marfa, all loacted along the
Texas-Mexico border.
The display includes a photograph of the first commander of the division, MG
Robert Lee Howze, a Medal of Honor hero during the Indian war years. This is
the only known photo of MG Howze with the 7th cavalry insignia visible on his
uniform. He died in 1926 during surgery for appendicitis.
The display also includes a photograph of Mrs. Ben Dorcy, who designed the
Division patch in the shape of a Norman shield. She selected Cavalry Gold for
the background color with the silhouette of a horse's head that represented
the thoroughbred horse of the mounted cavalry. The diagonal line represented
a scaling ladder. The insignia of the 1st Cavalry Division is the largest of
all US Army patches. "The patch had to be large enough to be seen through the
dust and sand at Fort Bliss, and we made it that way because it is worn by big
men who do big things."
In 1940-1941 the division participated in the 3rd Army Maneuvers in
Louisiana and the southwest Texas desert.
With the introduction of mechanical support, Harley Davidson WLA motorcycle
were used for reconnaissance and courier missions. By 1940 the march of
progress had left the horse far behind. The 1st Cavalry Division was
dismounted in 1943 and processed for overseas movement to the Southwest
Pacific as cavalry foot soldiers
After (6) six months of training in Australia the first taste of combat in
World War II occurred on 29 February 1944 in the Admiralty Islands. The enemy
lost 2,000 soldiers in the fist battle. The next action was on the Island of
Leyte, and Luzon the main islands of the Philippines.
On 31 January 1945 General MacArthur ordered the 1st Team to capture and
secure the legislative building and Santo Tomas Unversity in Manila. The
next day BG Chase formed the flying column slicing through 100 miles of
Japanese territory. The capture of Manila, was first of firsts "first in
Manila". BG Chase, later promoted as Commander of the 1st Cavalry Division,
lead the the allied occupation into Tokyo achieving its second notable, "1st
in Tokyo".
The occupation duties of the Division were interrupted on 25 June 1950 as
hostilities broke out in Korea. On 18 July 1950, the First Team plunged
ashore at Pohongadong, South Korea. In mid-September, the Division started
North, crossing the 38th parallel on 09 October 1950 and into the capital city
of Pyongyang becoming the "first in Pyongyang".
After 18 months of fighting the 45th Infantry Division relieved the 1st
Cavalry Division and they returned to one of the Northern Islands of Japan,
Hokkaido. Fully rested and retrained they returned to Korea in 1957 to patrol
the border dividing North and South Korea, the DMZ.
The 1st Cavalry Division came home in 1965 to prepare for a new mission.
Within 90 days of becoming the Army's first airmoble division, the "First
Team" was deployed overseas again for combat action in the Republic of
Vietnam.
First blood was drawn 29 October 1965, where skytroopers destroyed two NVA
divisions and earned the only Presidential Unit Citation awarded to a
division in Vietnam during the Pleiku Campaign. The First Team went on to
participate in 13 campaigns in the Vietnam War, over the seven years of
combat.
On 05 May 1971 the 1st Cavalry Division returned to the United States and
took up station at Ft. Hood, Texas where it was reorganized as the first
Triple Capability (TRICAP) Division. This TRICAP designation stemmed from its
organization consisting of an armored brigade, and support troops tailored to
assist the combat elements of the division.
Today the Division is equipped with modern state of the art equipment. With an
authorized strength of 12,500 soldiers it became the Army's newest armored
division in 1975. The 1st Cavalry division linked its colorful horse cavalry
heritage with today's modern army and has the ability to fight and win
anywhere in the world.
In August 1990, the Division was alerted for deployment to Southwest Asia
for supporting Saudi Arabia defenses against a potential Iraqi attack. Massive
division training on all modern weapons and preparation for overseas
movement occurred. Actual deployment began in September to mid-October. By
the end of December the 1st Cavalry Division was one of the most modern and
powerfully equipped divisions in the Army.
In January 1991 the division was attached to VII Corps for offensive action.
On 26 February 1991 the commander of the allied forces General Schwarzkopf
directed, "send the First Team, destroy the Republican Guard."
Included in the exhibit is a Diorama which depicts the capture of an Iraqi
soldier by a 1st Cavalry Division soldier in Kuwait, over looking the Persian
Gulf in the background.
Preparing to return to the states, in an address to the Division at Assembly
Area (AA) Killeen on Palm Sunday, VII Corps Commander LT Gen. Frederick Franks
emphasized the Division's major role in the allied victory. "You were leading
the Corps-you were the major combat power VII Corps had. You were the "First
Team". You led us into combat. You began the fight, you led the way....."
The 1st Cavalry Division was the first US based division to be sent to Bosnia.
The Division, part of multinational Division consisting of the Polish,
Finnish, Norwegian, Sweden, Danish, Lithuania, Latvian, Estonian, Turkish
and Russian troops, had the mission to supervise and enforce the Dayton Peace
Accords.
In carrying out their mission, the 1st Cavalry Division patrolled the region,
performed inspections of weapon storage sites, and allowed free flow of
commerce. The exhibit includes a Diorama of a Tactual Operation Center or TOC,
the nerve center of the Base Camp. From there patrols were sent out and
situations were monitored in the their Area of Control.
The exhibit also includes a mockup of Sea Huts, the housing units, where
soldiers at the Base Camps lived in comfortable quarters.
Revised 02 Sep '09