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    Wisconsin Army National Guard
    Wisconsin Army National Guard
    Wisconsin Army National Guard
    Ebook207 pages1 hour

    Wisconsin Army National Guard

    By Eric J. Killen

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    About this ebook

    Images of America: Wisconsin Army National Guard is a photographic history containing more than 200 images paired with a descriptive narrative that follows the illustrious story of more than 150 years of wartime service. The book highlights little-known facts about the leaders, soldiers, and units that shaped Wisconsin s military history. It begins with the Civil War legends of Old Abe and the Iron Brigade and continues through the transformational years of the National Guard during the Spanish-American War and Mexican border crisis of the 1910s. It chronicles the unbelievable sacrifices of the 32nd Red Arrow Division during both world wars and recounts the role played by Wisconsin units in the more recent War on Terror. Both historians and general readers of history will value this guide as an enjoyable and enlightening resource.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateDec 1, 2014
    ISBN9781439648773
    Wisconsin Army National Guard
    Author

    Eric J. Killen

    Author Eric Killen is a career Army National Guard officer with three decades of service and two wartime deployments. Through vintage photographs provided by individual soldiers and the archives of various museums and units, Killen has assembled a study that pays fitting tribute to the service and sacrifice of Wisconsin�s Army National Guardsmen.

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      Wisconsin Army National Guard - Eric J. Killen

      editing.

      INTRODUCTION

      The Army National Guard’s proud military history predates our nation’s history by 150 years. The first European colonists who settled in the New World brought with them the concept of a citizen militia. It was out of a need for self-protection that the settlements in early-17th-century America organized militia units comprised of all able-bodied men. Historians ascribe the date December 13, 1636, as the acknowledged birthdate of the modern National Guard, when the Massachusetts government ordered the formation of three militia regiments for the protection of its interests and citizens. Unquestionably, the militia played a prominent role in the success of early settlements by providing the security needed for the continued social, economic, and geographical growth of the developing and expanding colonies.

      In the 18th century, the militia and its role in winning the Revolutionary War became legendary. From the first shots fired at Lexington and Concord in 1775 until the defeat of the British in 1783, the militia fought with distinction and a capability that perplexed the professional soldiers of the British army. Even though the United States established a full-time military with the creation of the US Army in 1775, it was determined to keep the militia forces as a parallel and viable part of the national defense. With the passing of the Militia Act in 1792, the militia was organized into a permanent structure within the states and also provided the president the authority to call the militia into federal service.

      In Wisconsin, as early as 1832, there is evidence of militia companies being organized for the Black Hawk War against the Sauk and Fox Indians. Muster rolls from this time indicate the service of 24 companies of light infantry numbering some 600 total militiamen. The majority came from southwest Wisconsin and also included a company from Green Bay and companies formed from the Potawatomie and Menomonie tribes. During this mid-19th-century period, the enrolled militia system of the past two centuries, requiring men of military age to be available for militia musters, began to disappear, replaced by a new volunteer militia of an entirely different nature.

      The volunteer militia unit was self-sustaining, with limited support from the state. The members supplied their own uniforms and equipment and conducted training as often as once a week. These companies often had a distinctive ethnic or regional character, with camaraderie and social aspects of the volunteer units often taking priority over military training. Eventually, with the passing of the enrolled militia system, these units became the sole military organizations in the states. In 1858, according to the Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Report, the state volunteer forces numbered less than 2,000 members. This was a small but not insignificant contingent that could be utilized by the state in an emergency. That call for service came in April 1861 with the outbreak of the Civil War and a request from President Lincoln for militia volunteers to quickly expand the small Regular Army. The Wisconsin volunteer militia units formed the core of the initial regiments mobilized.

      The period after the Civil War until the turn of the 20th century was a time of continued evolution for the militia. In 1879, the state of Wisconsin officially changed the name to the National Guard. This was in conjunction with other states also changing to the same designation, which signified, in part, a desire for recognition as the national reserve of the US Army. The National Guard leaders of this era lobbied the state assembly for funding to sustain their units and, for the first time, received support for a paid annual training period. Despite the increased patronage from the state government, many problems, such as the shortage of arms and equipment, still plagued the organization. Still, the Wisconsin civil authorities recognized an ever-increasing capability at their disposal and repeatedly used the National Guard to maintain order during the numerous and often violent disputes between labor forces and companies that plagued the late 19th century.

      Early in 1898, the Spanish-American War began, and President McKinley issued a call for 125,000 National Guard soldiers, of which Wisconsin supplied four regiments numbering nearly 3,000 volunteers. Both the 2nd and 3rd Regiments from Wisconsin were deployed overseas to Puerto Rico and played an important role in the decisive victory over the Spanish forces. The United States, with a very small Regular Army, could not have conducted the Spanish-American War without the National Guard, and this reinforced the continued need for a capable reserve component.

      Immediately after the war, the United States took steps to ensure the viability of the National Guard as a military force. Ohio congressman Charles Dick led an effort to drastically improve the readiness of the National Guard. In 1903, with the passing of the Militia Act (also known as the Dick Act), federal funding and oversight was allocated to bring National Guard units more in line with their Regular Army brethren. In addition to being organized along the same lines as the Regular Army, the new law stipulated the same education, training, and readiness requirements as their active counterparts. This critical law was a milestone event and provided the president the authority, during a contingency, to mobilize the National Guard for up to nine months without the consent of the respective governors. Most importantly, the Dick Act solidified the Army National Guard as the primary reserve force in the United States.

      In 1916, Congress passed the landmark National Defense Act, which further affirmed the National Guard as the primary reserve of the United States and mandated usage of the term National Guard when referring to the organization. The funding was also increased to a level that provided each soldier 48 paid drill periods and an annual training period of 15 days. As always, with more money came more expectations, and this law allowed the president to mobilize the National Guard for the duration of an emergency or conflict.

      Only weeks after the National Defense Act was finalized, more than 150,000 Guard soldiers, including regiments from Wisconsin, were mobilized and sent to the border with Mexico. This action to secure US citizens from marauding Mexican bandits was the first of many crises in the 20th century that saw the National Guard emerge as a global instrument of American

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