2nd Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment Site

2nd Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment

History

On February 2, 1901, Congress authorized the War Depatment to organize a number of new units--among them the 29th Infantry. The first officers and enlisted men of the regiment were assembled on March 3, at Fort Sheridan Illinois, and constituted the 1st Battalion. Company "E" in May, and Companies "L" and "M" in June of that Year.

During the latter part of the summer the 1st Battalion was moved to Columbus Barracks, Ohio. Early in 1902, orders were received sending the regiment to the Philippine Islands for service, and in February the troops left their stations by train for San Francisco. The entire organization sailed on the transport "Sheridan" On April 1, 1902. One month later the boat docked in Manila. the regiment was immediately devided into detachments and sent to the Islands of Cebu, Panay, Bonol, and Negros for station.

At this time most of the fighting to conquer the Philippines was over, but a great deal of work remained to be done before the banditry and raids that were being conducted by the native chieftains were finally checked. Companies "E", "G" and "H", were the most active in these campaigns against the outlaws. the famous bandit leader Adriana Conception was subdued and captured by Company "E". When the regiment returned to the Untied States in 1904 it was stationed by battalions in various posts of the western states with Headquarters at Fort Douglas, Utah. Here it did only routine duty until 1907 when it was ordered back to the Philippines for its second tour of foreign service. This time it sailed on the transport "Logan" and arrived in Manila in September 1907. The regiment was held intact during this tour in the Philippines and was stationed at Fort William McKinley, a beautiful new post located about twelve miles up the Pasig River from Manila. There was no fighting. The 29th Infnatry had simply come to reclaim and make fit for civilization a place that had once been a jungle and a retreat for outlaws. Upon completion of this mission in 1909 the 29th Infantry returned to the United States occupying the posts of Fort Jay, Fort Porter, and Fort Niagara, all in the state of New York. Headquarters was at Fort Jay.

In 1910 the regiment took part in the maneuvers at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The people along the route of march across the staet evidenced great interest in the regiment and gave it many cordial receptions wherever it camped en-route.

The next break in routine duties for the 29th Infantry came in 1915. The World War had involved all of the great European powers, and the importacne of the Panama Canal and its adequate protection was a vital question. The 29th Infantry was selected for this important duty and received its orders on March 17th 1915. It sailed immediately upon arrival in New York, and seven days after embarking was guarding the Panama Canal. it continued on this duty for nearly three and a half years.

In 1918 the regiment was ordered to Camp Beauregard in Louisiana. Here it was divided to help organize the 84th Infantry, a new regiment of the 17th Division. As the division was preparing to leave for overseas an epidemic of Influenza caused so many deaths within the regiment that its departure was delayed, with the result that the Twenty Ninth never saw service in France, for by the time a sufficient recovery was made from the ravages of "Flu", the Armstice was signed and the task of demobilizing a mighty army was begun. The Twenty Ninth was destined to be a big factor in this vast undertaking, for the regiment was moved to Camp Shelby, Mississippi where during a period of more than a year it served as the necessary overhead in sending thousands of men back to their homes.

During the period of demobilization, Congress enacted a law to establish an Infantry School, which was to be located at Fort Benning, Georgia. This new station, nine miles south of Columbus, an enterprising and growing city in the foot-hills of Georgia, was to be the future home of the Twenty Ninth Infantry.

The War Department after having selected a home for the Infantry School assigned our regiment to Fort Benning, where it has since been called upon to perform numerous and intricate tasks. Our first outstanding activity was the contribution of our labor and engineering skill toward the construction of a modern Army post. Since ground was first broken in 1919 there have risen from the cotton fields and timbered spaces a beautious campus, including in a systematic order our Cuartel barracks, parade ground and drill fields; Doughboy Stadium, Gowdy Field golf links, tennis courts, swimming pool and bridal path. We point to these accomplishments with pride. We have educational and recreational facilities which mark our opportunities as many and of which many thriving municipalities would be proud to offer to its rising sons.

When the regiment arrived at Benning the only indication that it was a military post was the presence of the soldier. The construction of tents and rough war-type frame bulidings served the tempeorary needs of the troops which were to make history at the Infantry School. For eight years men were quartered in these tents and, while waiting for something better, performed their primary funciton in their tireless efforts to attain a state of training and thorough efficiency. For the Twenty Ninth Infantry has come to be the monitor of the Infantry School, teaching by example, to hundreds of Officers who make up the classes at the Infantry School each year, the principles which the instructors instill by precept. Every man whose pleasure it is to be a member of this organization takes a just and honorable pride in the fact that it puts over the to Infantry, and to the Army at large, the newest and accepted tenets of Infantry maneuver and tactics.

Aside from the strictly military attainments of the Twenty ninth Infantry, in which it has literally led the way for the development of men at arms, it has established itself as a great public institution, affording hundreds of young men opportunities for self betterment, giving them healthful, vigorous play, physical coordination and cultivating those qualities of individual responsibility, thought and action, that whether they remain with the military establishment or return to the walks of civil life, they are in either case more valuable citizens by having been a part of this moulder of men, the Twenty Ninth infantry.

The history of the Twenty Ninth Infantry is unblemished, its integrity unquestioned and its ambition has been always to serve our flag, honorably and faithfully. Under the exacting and extensive duty required of it here at the Mecca of Infantryman its morale is, and has ever been high. The 29th Infantryman asks noting more than a continued opportunity to maintain and strengthen his organization's reputation as the "Demonstration Regiment"