91st Division (United States)

The 91st Infantry Division (famously nicknamed as the "Wild West Division"^[2] with a "Fir Tree" as its Division insignia to symbolize its traditional home of the Far West^[3]) is an infantry division of the United States Army that fought in World War I and World War II. From 1946 until 2008, it was part of the United States Army Reserve. It was briefly inactivated from 2008 until 2010 when it was elevated back to a division size element as the 91st Training Division (Operations).^[1]

91st Infantry Division 91st Training Division (Operations)
91st Infantry Division insignia
Active	1917–1919 1921–1945 1946–2009 2009–2010 2010–present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army
Type	Infantry Training
Size	Division
Garrison/HQ	Fort Hunter Liggett^[1]
Engagements	World War I Ypres-Lys Meuse-Argonne World War II Rome-Arno North Apennines Po Valley
Website	91st Training Division
Insignia
Distinctive unit insignia

History

World War I

 

Square Division example: 1940 US Infantry Division. On the far left can be seen two Brigades of two Regiments each

 

M1917 helmet worn by a Doughboy of the 91st Division in France in 1918

Constituted on 5 August 1917 at Camp Lewis, Washington, near Tacoma, the division, commanded by Major General Henry Alexander Greene, soon thereafter departed for England in the summer of 1918. In September 1918, the division's first operation was in the St. Mihiel Offensive in France. Serving under the U.S. Army's V Corps, the division, now commanded by Major General William Johnston Jr., fought in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive and successfully helped to destroy the German First Guard Division and continued to smash through three successive enemy lines.^[1][4]

Twelve days before the end of World War I, the division, as part of the VII Corps of the French Sixth Army, helped drive the Germans east across the Escaut River in the Battle of the Lys and the Escaut. The division was awarded separate campaign streamers for its active role in the Lorraine, Meuse-Argonne and Ypres-Lys campaigns.^[1][4]

In 1919, the 91st was inactivated at the Presidio of San Francisco.

The Division was composed of the following units:^{[5][6][7][8][9]}

• Headquarters, 91st Division
• 181st Infantry Brigade
  • 361st Infantry Regiment
  • 362nd Infantry Regiment
  • 347th Machine Gun Battalion ^[10]
• 182nd Infantry Brigade
  • 363rd Infantry Regiment
  • 364th Infantry Regiment
  • 348th Machine Gun Battalion
• 166th Field Artillery Brigade
  • 346th Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm)
  • 347th Field Artillery Regiment (4.7")
  • 348th Field Artillery Regiment (155 mm)
  • 316th Trench Mortar Battery
• 346th Machine Gun Battalion
• 316th Engineer Regiment
• 316th Medical Regiment
• 316th Field Signal Battalion
• Headquarters Troop, 91st Division
• 316th Train Headquarters and Military Police
  • 316th Ammunition Train
  • 316th Supply Train
  • 316th Engineer Train
  • 316th Sanitary Train
    • 361st, 36nd, 363rd, and 364th Ambulance Companies and Field Hospitals

Interwar period

The 91st Division headquarters arrived at the port of Brooklyn, New York, aboard the USS Calamares on 16 April 1919 after 11 months of overseas service and was demobilized on 13 May 1919 at the Presidio of San Francisco, California. The 91st Division was reconstituted in the Organized Reserve on 24 June 1921, allotted to the Ninth Corps Area, and assigned to the XIX Corps. The division was further allotted to the state of California as its home area. The division headquarters was organized in November 1921 in Building 88 at the Presidio of San Francisco. The headquarters was later moved to Building 172 at the Presidio and remained there until activated for World War II. To maintain communications with the officers of the division, the division staff published a newsletter titled “The 91st Division Bulletin.” The newsletter informed the division’s members of such things as when and where the inactive training sessions were to be held, what the division’s summer training quotas were, where the camps were to be held, and which units would be assigned to help conduct the Citizens Military Training Camps (CMTC).

The designated mobilization and training station for the division was Del Monte, California, the location where much of the 91st Division’s training activities occurred in the interwar years. The subordinate infantry regiments of the division held their summer training with the 3rd Division's 30th Infantry Regiment at Del Monte. Other units, such as the special troops, artillery, engineers, aviation, medical, and quartermaster, trained at various posts in the Ninth Corps Area, often with the active units of the 3rd Division. For example, the division’s artillery trained at the Presidio of Monterey with the 2nd Battalion, 76th Field Artillery; the 316th Engineer Regiment trained at Fort Lewis, Washington, with the 6th Engineers; the 316th Medical Regiment trained at the Medical Corps training camp at the Presidio of San Francisco; and the 316th Observation Squadron trained with the 91st Observation Squadron at Crissy Field, California. In addition to the unit training camps, the infantry regiments of the division rotated responsibility to conduct the CMTC training held at Del Monte and the Presidio each year as well.

On a number of occasions, the division participated in Ninth Corps Area and Fourth Army command post exercises (CPXs) in conjunction with other Regular Army, National Guard, and Organized Reserve units. These training events gave division staff officers’ opportunities to practice the roles they would be expected to perform in the event the division was mobilized. Unlike the Regular and Guard units in the Ninth Corps Area, the 91st Division did not participate in the various Ninth Corps Area maneuvers and the Fourth Army maneuvers of 1937, 1940, and 1941 as an organized unit due to lack of enlisted personnel and equipment. Instead, the officers and a few enlisted reservists were assigned to Regular and Guard units to fill vacant slots and bring the units up to war strength for the exercises. Additionally, some officers were assigned duties as umpires or as support personnel.^[11]

World War II

As the early battles of World War II involving the United States were being fought, the division was reactivated at Camp White, Oregon on 15 August 1942, under the command of Major General Charles H. Gerhardt. After initial training at Camp White, the division participation in the Oregon Maneuver combat exercise in the fall of 1943.^[12][13]

 

Triangular Division example: 1942 U.S. infantry division. The brigades of the Square division have been removed, and there are three regiments directly under divisional control.

Order of battle

• Headquarters, 91st Infantry Division
• 361st Infantry Regiment
• 362nd Infantry Regiment
• 363rd Infantry Regiment
• Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 91st Infantry Division Artillery
  • 346th Field Artillery Battalion
  • 347th Field Artillery Battalion
  • 348th Field Artillery Battalion
  • 916th Field Artillery Battalion
• 316th Engineer Combat Battalion
• 316th Medical Battalion
• 91st Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized)
• Headquarters, Special Troops, 91st Infantry Division
  • Headquarters Company, 91st Infantry Division
  • 791st Ordnance Light Maintenance Company
  • 91st Quartermaster Company
  • 91st Signal Company
  • Military Police Platoon
  • Band
• 91st Counterintelligence Corps Detachment

 

Men of Company C, 363rd Infantry Regiment, 91st Infantry Division, on the road just south of Pianoro, Italy, April 1945.

Then, the division, now under Major General William G. Livesay, departed for the European Continent on 3 April 1944. There, on the Italian Front, the 361st Regimental Combat Team was detached to participate in the battles for Rome and the Arno River. It became the first formation of the U.S. Fifth Army to reach the river. In September 1944, the division crossed the Sieve River, outflanked the famous Gothic Line, and captured the Futa Pass. For its part in combat, the division was awarded the North Apennines, Po Valley and Rome-Arno campaign streamers.

The division returned to the United States where it was inactivated at Camp Rucker, Alabama, in December 1945.^[1][4] Two members were awarded the Medal of Honor during the war, Roy W. Harmon and Oscar G. Johnson.^[14]

World War II statistics

Command structure

• Commanding generals: Major general Charles H. Gerhardt (May 1942 – 22 July 1943); Major general William G. Livesay (July 1943 – 5 November 1945); BG Neal C. Johnson (6 November 1945 - December 1945)
• Assistant Commanding generals: BG Percy W. Clarkson (- September 1942); BG Charles L. Bolte (September 1942 – February 1943); BG William E. Crist (April 1943 – December 1943); BG Raymond E. S. Williamson (14 January 1944 – 18 October 1945)
• Commanding Officers Artillery: BG Edward S. Ott (1942–1943); BG Ralph Hospital (1943–1945)

Other statistics

Awards: MH-2 ; DSC-2 ; DSM-1 ; SS-528; LM-33; SM-43 ; BSM-4,152.

Theater: Mediterranean

Days of combat: 271

Campaigns:

• Rome-Arno (22 Jan 44 – 9 Sep 44)
• North Apennines (10 Sep 44 – 4 April 45)
• Po Valley (5 Apr 45 – 8 May 45)

Casualties^[15]

• Total battle casualties: 8,744
• Killed in action: 1,400
• Wounded in action: 6,748
• Missing in action: 262
• Prisoner of war: 334

Army Reserve

 

Standard organization chart for a training division

In December 1946, the 91st was reactivated at the Presidio of San Francisco as part of the U.S. Army Reserve. In 1959, the division was reorganized and redesignated as the 91st Division (Training). In 1993, the division was again reorganized and redesignated as the 91st Division (Exercise) and again in 1999 as the 91st Division (Training Support).^[1][4]

Its headquarters was at Parks Reserve Forces Training Area (PRFTA), Dublin, California,^[16] when the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended the Department of Defense relocate the 91st Division to Fort Hunter Liggett.^[4]

The four brigades of the 91st Division were redesignated as separate brigades:^{[citation needed]}

• 1st Brigade (PRFTA) is now 5th Brigade, 75th Division.
• 2nd Brigade (Fort Carson) is now 5th Armored Brigade.
• 3rd Brigade (Travis AFB) is now the 402nd Field Artillery Brigade.
• 4th Brigade (Fort Lewis) is now 191st Infantry Brigade.

The 91st Division moved its headquarters to Fort Hunter Liggett on 1 May 2009, was reorganized and re-designated as the 91st Training Brigade (Operations) on 1 October 2009 and was then re-designated as the 91st Training Division (Operations) on 1 October 2010.^[1]

Subordinate units

As of 2017 the following units are subordinated to the 91st Training Division (Operations):

• 1st Brigade^[17]
  • 11th Battalion, 104th Regiment
  • 3rd Battalion, 290th Regiment
  • 2nd Battalion, 378th Regiment
  • 3rd Battalion, 381st Regiment
  • 1st Battalion, 417th Regiment

Notable members

• William Borders, Army Catholic Chaplain, was awarded the Bronze Star for Valor, while serving with the 362 Infantry Regiment in bitter fighting in Italy. He later became the Archbishop of Baltimore.
• Frederick Lippitt, politician and philanthropist.
• Oscar Franklin Miller, Medal of Honor recipient.
• Deming Bronson, Medal of Honor recipient.
• Harold Hitz Burton, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
• Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the United States^[18]

In the Media

The soldiers in the TV show Combat! portray members of the 363rd (is 361st in S2Ep25&26 & others) Infantry Regiment.^[19]

Shoulder Sleeve Insignia

•  
  SSI for the 91st Infantry Division in World War 1
•  
  Variation SSI for the 91st Infantry Division in World War 1
•  
  SSI for the 91st Infantry Division in World War 2

References

1. . United States Army. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
2. . United States Army Center of Military History. 21 April 2010. Archived from the original on 9 July 2010. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
3. "Fort Baker". National Park Service. United States Department of the Interior. 20 July 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
4. "91st Division (Training Support)". GlobalSecurity.org. 21 August 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
5. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Nafziger collection
6. The US Army Order of Battle from 1919-1941 p267
7. The US Army Order of Battle from 1919-1941 1 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine p866
8. The US Army Order of Battle from 1919-1941 p1734
9. The US Army Order of Battle from 1919-1941 p1959, p2243
10. History of the 347th Machine Gun Battalion. Oakland, California: Horwinski Company. 1923. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
11. Clay, Steven E. (2010). U.S. Army Order of Battle, 1919-1941, Volume 1. The Arms: Major Commands and Infantry Organizations, 1919-41. Fort Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute Press. p. 266-267.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
12. Kramer, George, “Camp White”, The Oregon Encyclopedia, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, 23 October 2010.
13. Brogan, Phil F., East of the Cascades (Third Edition), Binford & Mort, Portland, Oregon, 1965, pp. 272–275.
14. Military History Network. Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients, Mediterranean Theater of Operations, World War II.
15. Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths, Final Report (Statistical and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953)
16. "Camp Parks Reserve Forces Training Area (PRFTA)". GlobalSecurity.org. 21 August 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
17. "U.S. Army Reserve > Commands > Functional > 84th TNG CMD". www.usar.army.mil. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
18. White, G. Edward (15 July 1982). Earl Warren, a public life. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-503121-0.
19. Combat! S1E07 Escape to Nowhere – via YouTube.^{[dead YouTube link]}

External links

•   Media related to 91st Infantry Division (United States) at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• The Story of the 91st Division 1919
• 91st Infantry Division, World War I-World War II Unit History
• 91st Division official lineage & honors 30 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
• The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950 reproduced at CMH. 21 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine
• Answering the Call (Third Edition), Stephen L. Wilson, 2016.