World War I Organization The 26th Infantry Division was first constituted on 18 July 1917, three months after the
American entry into World War I, as the
26th Division. It was formally activated on 22 August of that year in
Boston, Massachusetts, and it was celebrated by Boston writers and by composers in pieces such as "
The Yankee Division March" and "
Battery A March." Shortly after that, the division commander,
Major General C. R. Edwards, called a
press conference to determine a nickname for the newly formed division. Edwards decided to settle on the suggestion of "
Yankee Division" since all of the subordinate units of the division were from the
New England states of
Maine,
Massachusetts,
New Hampshire,
Rhode Island, Connecticut, and
Vermont. Shortly thereafter, the division approved a
shoulder sleeve insignia with a "YD"
monogram to reflect this.
Order of battle • Headquarters, 26th Division •
51st Infantry Brigade •
101st Infantry Regiment (9th Massachusetts Infantry, 175 men from
6th Massachusetts Infantry, and 1,400 men from
5th Massachusetts Infantry) •
102nd Infantry Regiment (2nd Connecticut Infantry, 1,617 men from
1st Connecticut Infantry, 50 men from
1st Vermont Infantry, and 100 men from 6th Massachusetts Infantry) • 102nd Machine Gun Battalion (Squadron, Massachusetts Cavalry less Troop B, and 216 men from 1st Vermont Infantry) • 52nd Infantry Brigade •
103rd Infantry Regiment (2nd Maine Infantry 1,630 men from
1st New Hampshire Infantry, and detachments from Companies F, H, K, and M,
8th Massachusetts Infantry) •
104th Infantry Regiment (812 men from 6th Massachusetts Infantry, 812 men from 8th Massachusetts Infantry, 2nd Massachusetts Infantry, and detachments from Companies F, H, K, and M, 8th Massachusetts Infantry) • 103rd Machine Gun Battalion (Squadron, Rhode Island Cavalry less Troops B and M, Separate Machine Gun Troop, New Hampshire Cavalry, 232 men from 1st Vermont Infantry) • 51st Field Artillery Brigade •
101st Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm) (1st Massachusetts F.A. and 180 men from New England Coast Artillery) •
102nd Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm) (2nd Massachusetts F.A. and 150 men from New England Coast Artillery) •
103rd Field Artillery Regiment (155 mm) (Battery A, New Hampshire F.A., three batteries Rhode Island F.A., two batteries Connecticut F.A., Troop M, Rhode Island Squadron of Cavalry, and detachment from New England Coast Artillery) • 101st Trench Mortar Battery (detachments of 1st Maine F.A.) • 101st Machine Gun Battalion (Squadron, Connecticut Cavalry and 196 men from 1st Vermont Infantry) • 101st Engineer Regiment (1st Massachusetts Engineers, 100 men from 1st Maine F.A., 479 men from New England Coast Artillery) • 101st Field Signal Battalion (1st Massachusetts Field Signal Battalion) • Headquarters Troop, 26th Division (Troop B, Massachusetts Cavalry) • 101st Train Headquarters and Military Police (326 men from 6th Massachusetts Infantry) • 101st Ammunition Train (713 men from 1st Vermont Infantry, 240 men from Massachusetts Coast Artillery) • 101st Supply Train (Troop B, Rhode Island Cavalry, 364 men from 8th Massachusetts Infantry, and 62 men from Company M, 6th Massachusetts Infantry) • 101st Engineer Train (82 men from 6th Massachusetts Infantry) • 101st Sanitary Train • 101st, 102nd, 103rd, and 104th Ambulance Companies and Field Hospitals (1st and 2nd Massachusetts Ambulance Companies, 1st and 2nd Massachusetts Field Hospitals, 1st Connecticut Field Hospital, 1st Rhode Island Ambulance Company, 1st New Hampshire Field Hospital)
Overseas On 21 September 1917, the division arrived at
Saint-Nazaire, France. It was the second division of the
American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) to arrive on the
Western Front at the time, and the first division wholly organized in the United States, joining the
1st Division, which had arrived in June. Two additional divisions completed the first wave of American troop deployment, with the
2nd Division being formed in France and the
42nd Division arriving at St. Nazaire on 29 October. The 26th Division immediately moved to
Neufchâteau for training, as most of the division's soldiers were raw recruits, new to
military service. It trained extensively with the other three US divisions, organized as the
U.S. I Corps in January 1918, ,
Commander-in-Chief of the AEF, for holding the
Hun at
Apremont, La Foret, France, pictured here on July 12, 1918. The 26th Infantry Division remained in a relatively quiet region of the lines along the
Chemin des Dames for several months before it relieved the 1st Division near
Saint-Mihiel on 3 April. The line here taken over extended from the vicinity of Apremont, on the west, in front of Xivray-Marvoisin, Seicheprey, and Bois de Remieres, as far as the Bois de Jury, on the right, where the French line joined the American line. Division Headquarters were at Boucq. The stay of the division in this sector was marked by several serious encounters with the enemy, where considerable forces were engaged. There were furthermore almost nightly encounters between patrols or ambush parties, and the harassing fire of the artillery on both sides was very active. On 10, 12 and 13 April, the lines held by the 104th Infantry in Bois Brule (near Apremont), and by the French to the left, were heavily attacked by the Germans. At first the enemy secured a foothold in some advanced trenches which were not strongly held, but sturdy counterattacks succeeded in driving the enemy out with serious losses, and the line was entirely re-established. In late April, German infantry conducted a raid on positions of the 26th Division, one of the first attacks on Americans during the war. At 0400 on 20 April, German field artillery bombarded the 102nd Infantry's positions near
Seicheprey before German
Stormtroopers () moved against the village. The artillery
box barrage, continuing 36 hours, isolated American units. The Germans overwhelmed
a machine gun company and two infantry companies of the 102nd and temporarily breached the trenches before elements of the division rallied and recaptured the village. The Germans withdrew before the division could counterattack but inflicted 634 casualties, including 80 killed, 424 wounded, and 130 captured, while losing over 600 men, including 150 killed of their own. When the
Aisne-Marne campaign began shortly thereafter, the division, under I Corps was placed under command of the
French Sixth Army protecting its east flank. When the offensive began, the division advanced up the spine of the Marne salient for several weeks, pushing through
Belleau Wood, moving 10 miles from 18 to 25 July. On 12 August it was pulled from the lines near
Toul to prepare for the next offensive. The division was then a part of the offensive at
Saint-Mihiel, during the
Battle of Saint-Mihiel. The division then moved in position for the last major offensive of the war, at
Meuse-Argonne. This campaign was the last of the war, as an
armistice was signed shortly thereafter. During World War I the 26th Division spent 210 days in combat, and suffered 1,587
killed in action and 12,077
wounded in action.
Commanders • Major General
Edward L. Logan (22 March 1923 – 21 March 1928) • Major General
Alfred F. Foote (3 May 1928 – 14 November 1930) • Major General
Erland F. Fish (14 November 1930 – 16 November 1934) • Major General
Daniel Needham (16 November 1934 – 15 November 1939) • Major General Roger W. Eckfeldt (16 November 1939 – 22 August 1943)
Order of battle, 1939 The subordinate batteries of the 101st Ammunition Train were reorganized and redesignated as Troops A and F, 121st Quartermaster Squadron,
21st Cavalry Division, on 1 April 1939, with the train headquarters disbanded in an inactive status on 1 July 1940. In October 1940, the
110th Cavalry Regiment of the Massachusetts National Guard was converted into the 180th Field Artillery, replacing the 172nd Field Artillery in the division. • Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 26th Division (
Boston) • Headquarters, Special Troops, 26th Division (
Allston) • Headquarters Detachment, Special Troops (Boston) • Medical Department Detachment, Special Troops (Boston) • Headquarters Company, 26th Division (Boston) • 26th Military Police Company (Boston) • 26th Signal Company (Allston) • 101st Ordnance Company (
Natick) • 26th Tank Company (Light) (Boston) • Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 51st Infantry Brigade (
Quincy) • 101st Infantry Regiment (Boston) • 182nd Infantry Regiment (
Charlestown) • Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 52nd Infantry Brigade (
Worcester) • 104th Infantry Regiment (
Springfield) • 181st Infantry Regiment (Worcester) • Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 51st Field Artillery Brigade (Allston) • 101st Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm) (Allston) • 102nd Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm) (
Salem) • 172nd Field Artillery Regiment (155 mm) (
Manchester, NH) •
101st Ammunition Train (Massachusetts National Guard) (inactive) • 101st Engineer Regiment (
Cambridge) • 101st Medical Regiment (Boston) • 101st Quartermaster Regiment (
West Newton) • 26th Division Aviation (
101st Observation Squadron) (attached) (Boston)
World War II Order of battle and training The 26th Division was available to the
Eastern Defense Command (EDC) from December 1941 through early 1942 for mobile defense; the
104th Infantry remained on this duty through January 1943. In January 1942, the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 56th Infantry Brigade, 182nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 180th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 101st Quartermaster Regiment, two companies of the 101st Medical Regiment, 1st Battalion, 101st Engineer Regiment, 26th Signal Company, and a platoon of the 26th Military Police Company were sent to
New Caledonia to bolster the defenses of the island in the face of possible Japanese threats to
Australia; these units would later help form the
Americal Division. On 27 January 1942, the 181st Infantry Regiment was relieved from the 26th Division and reassigned to the Eastern Defense Command. In February 1942, as a part of an Army-wide reorganization of divisions, the 26th Infantry Division's two brigade headquarters were discarded in favor of a structure containing three separate regimental commands reporting directly to the division headquarters, as well as four field artillery battalions, with the engineer, medical, and quartermaster units also reduced to battalions. • Headquarters, 26th Infantry Division • 101st Infantry Regiment • 104th Infantry Regiment • 328th Infantry Regiment • Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 26th Infantry Division Artillery • 101st Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm) • 102nd Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm) • 180th Field Artillery Battalion (155 mm) • 263rd Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm) • 101st Engineer Combat Battalion • 114th Medical Battalion • 26th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized) • Headquarters, Special Troops, 26th Infantry Division • Headquarters Company, 26th Infantry Division • 726th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company • 26th Quartermaster Company • 39th Signal Company • Military Police Platoon • Band • 26th Counterintelligence Corps Detachment On 27 January 1943, the
328th Infantry Regiment, a unit which had been rendered surplus by the conversion of the
82nd Infantry Division into an airborne division, was assigned to the 26th Infantry Division to replace its two lost regiments. In August 1943, Major General
Willard Stewart Paul took command of the division, which he would lead through the rest of the war. Before deploying overseas to the
European Theater of Operations (ETO), the 26th Infantry Division trained at Camp Campbell, Kentucky, and prepared to depart for the
Western Front in late August 1944. By 1944, only about 800 of the personnel that had mobilized with the division in 1941 remained with it, and it is often said that more former 26th Infantry Division soldiers fought with the Americal Division in the Pacific than with the "Yankee Division" in Europe. , France
Overseas The division was assigned to
III Corps of the
U.S. Ninth Army, under
Lieutenant General William Hood Simpson, part of the
12th Army Group, commanded by Lieutenant General
Omar Bradley. It was shipped from the United States directly to France, and was not sent through Britain. The 26th ID landed in France at
Cherbourg and
Utah Beach on 7 September 1944, but did not enter combat as a division until a month later. Elements were on patrol duty along the coast from
Carteret to
Siouville from 13 to 30 September. The 328th Infantry saw action with the
80th Infantry Division from 5 to 15 October. The division was then reassigned to
XII Corps of Lieutenant General
George S. Patton's
U.S. Third Army.
Casualties •
Total battle casualties: 10,701 •
Killed in action: 1,850 The division returned to the United States and inactivated at
Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts on 21 December 1945. The
104th Infantry Regiment was reorganized on 1 May 1959 under the Combat Arms Regimental System as the 1st Battle Group, 104th Infantry. In 1963, the division was reorganized under the
Reorganization Objective Army Division plan, which used battalions organized under a brigade-based system. The 101st Infantry Regiment became the basis of the 1st Brigade, 26th Infantry Division, headquartered in
Dorchester, Massachusetts; the 104th Infantry Regiment became the basis of the 3rd Brigade, 26th Infantry Division, headquartered in
Springfield, Massachusetts. Among the division's units in 1965 were the 1-101, 1–104, 2–104, 1–181, 1–182, and 1-220 Infantry, and 1-101 FA. The division was organized as a
light infantry division, and at the same time, the 26th Aviation Battalion was established to provide air support. In 1967, the
43rd Infantry Division of the
Connecticut Army National Guard was inactivated and consolidated into the 43rd Brigade, and put under the command of the 26th Infantry Division. In 1987, the 26th Aviation Battalion was dissolved and the
126th Aviation Regiment arose in its place. The 126th Aviation Regiment's battalions formed the basis of the new divisional 26th Aviation Brigade. In 1988, the division’s 3rd Brigade comprised the 1st and 2nd Battalions,
104th Infantry Regiment and the 1st Battalions of the 181st and 182nd Infantry Regiments. On 1 April 1988, the division was relocated to
Camp Edwards, Massachusetts. In its place, the
86th Infantry Brigade was assigned to the division as a round-out unit. In 2004, the 26th Brigade transitioned into the 26th (Yankee) Brigade Combat Team. Reassigned to the
42d Infantry Division in 2005, in 2006 it was relieved from assignment to the 42d and reorganized and redesignated as the
26th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade. ==Honors==