THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE

The Regiment participated in many ceremonies, such as marking the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge at San Francisco on 1 June 1937. The guidon for 'D' Troop was carried by Pvt. Hubert Brown on that day and has been donated by him to the Regiment. The guidon was entrusted to into his care as the 'D' Troop guidon bearer commencing in 1935 until he left the Regiment in 1940.

"HORSE TO HORSEPOWER"

The 1920's and 1930's saw the gradual introduction of armored cars, trucks and motorcycles to the Regiment, supplementing the traditional horse, wagon and pack mules. Scout cars were accepted in 1935 with the later M3A1 becoming the pre-war mainstay. Special built tractor-trailers were capable of rapidly transporting eight fully equipped Troopers with their horses to any staging point. (It was also in the late 1930's that the Regiment was issued the Garand M1 to replace the venerable Springfield M1903 rifle.)

In the mid-1930's the US Army purchased European military equipment for testing purposes. One such item was this horse drawn munitions wagon recently recovered near Camp Lockett, where the Regiment was stationed. It has been restored to the original German Army forest green color just as it was used by the 11th Cavalry. The Regiment added the distinctive crossed sabers of the Cavalry.

Field maneuvers, large-scale exercises and an occasional search and rescue mission in the mountains of Southern California gave the 11th Cavalry a unique training opportunity among the Army’s Cavalry Regiments. They were able to evaluate, under as-near-to battlefield conditions as possible, the efficiency of the horse in the modern army. One such rescue mission incorporated nearly every vehicle in the regimental inventory. Using motorcycle squads, Bantam scout cars (Jeeps), the M3A1 scout car, 1½ ton trucks and the age-old horse now deployed by tractor-trailer, the Troopers combed rugged mountains for two lost infantrymen. The lessons learned in the coordination of movement and the maneuverability of the various components in the successful mission were forwarded for study to Washington D.C. The information was taken to heart. Virtually every single country entering WWII had horse mounted supply, artillery and cavalry units in combat. Over a dozen of those countries still fielded them at war’s end. In April 1945, the 4th German Cavalry Division alone surrendered 16,000 horse mounted soldiers.

WAR CLOUDS

In 1939 General George C. Marshall became Army Chief of Staff. With war clouds looming over Europe, Marshall knew it was only a matter of time before the United States was drawn into another conflict overseas. In order to prepare the 60,000-man army, he began a program to get the men out of the barracks and into the field for a year of "toughening up." Tent camps were to be constructed and in turn various regiments of cavalry and infantry would take to the field. By September 1940 General Marshall had convinced Congress to begin the first-ever peacetime draft beginning in September 1940. In November 1940 the field rotation for the 11th Cavalry began.

The new camps for the Regiment were constructed in San Diego and Imperial counties, near the Southern California/Mexican border. Camp Seeley, near El Centro, California and Camp Morena; near Campo were built simultaneously. Camp Seeley was used for desert training, training the horses to swim with rider up (mounted) and was the location of Regiment's rifle and machine gun ranges. Camp Morena was for mountain and cold weather training. The Regiment would rotate Squadrons between the two throughout the year. It was later decided to establish a single camp suitable to house the entire Regiment at one site. Construction of Camp Lockett (named for James Lockett, 4th COLONEL OF THE REGIMENT) in Campo, where "E" Troop had been posted in 1918, began in 1941. Built by the Quartermaster Corps, it is generally acknowledged that Camp Lockett was the last designated mounted cavalry camp constructed in the U.S. Army's history. It remained a cavalry post for the 10th and 28th Regiments after the 11th gave up its horses. Today the El Centro/Camp Seeley area remains the home of the 11th Cavalry Horse Honor Guard (Historical) - "The Colonel's Own."

Led by Harold M. Rayner, (16th COLONEL OF THE REGIMENT) the main body moved from the Presidio of Monterey to the Camp Seeley/Camp Morena duty stations. By this time the Regiment had reverted to three troops (companies) per squadron. The Regiment's HQ, First Squadron and Provisional Squadron were based at Camp Seeley, while Second Squadron was posted at Camp Moreno. In March 1941, some 700 draftees from Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan joined the Regiment. They were the first conscripts to have ridden with the Regiment.

The Regiment underwent extensive training until 7 December 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. On 10 December, the entire Regiment was ordered to occupy the unfinished Camp Lockett. Those units based at Camp Morena made the five-mile trek in short order. The Squadrons based at Camp Seeley commenced what became the last "Forced March" in U.S. Horse Cavalry history, completing the ninety mile march over extremely rocky, mountainous terrain in one and a half days. Once at Camp Lockett, horse-drawn artillery units occupied Camp Seeley while its rifle range continued to be used by cavalry units from Camp Lockett. Camp Morena was closed.

Immediately following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, there were wild reports of Japanese attacks on the California coast. Once at Camp Lockett, the regiment was posted along the United States/Mexico border for the fourth time in its history; this time to counter the rumored threat of enemy troops landing in Baja California and marching north. Once the threat was proven to be false, the 11th Cavalry Regiment was relieved by the 10th and the 28th (horse) Cavalry and stood down to await further orders. They were supposed to ship out for Australia, but many of the troopers came down with jaundice from the yellow fever vaccinations, so they remained in California for the time being.

WORLD WAR II

The summer of 1942 found the regiment reassigned to Fort Benning, Georgia where they were inactivated as a horse mounted unit and reactivated as the 11th Armored Regiment. Even then, massive reorganization efforts within the Army shuffled various elements of the regiment around - eliminated some - but eventually three distinct groups emerged from the chaos:

-Headquarters & Headquarters Troop became 11th Cavalry Group Mechanized/XIII Corps

-First & Second Squadron became 11th Tank Battalion/10th Armored Division

-Third Squadron became 712th Tank Battalion/90th Infantry Division

"BATTLE OF THE BULGE"

The Ardennes Offensive

The Battle of the Bulge was the largest battle ever fought by the United States and was the largest land battle of World War II. Fought from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, it involved more than a million men including some 600,000 Germans, 500,000 Americans, and 55,000 British. The Germans had two Armies with ten corps (equal to 29 divisions), while the Americans fielded three armies with six corps (equal to 31 divisions). The end of the battle saw US casualties as 81,000 with 19,000 killed, 1400 British casualties with 200 killed, and 100,000 Germans killed, wounded or captured.

This epic battle has the distinction of being the only one that involved all three elements of the old 11th Cavalry Regiment. The 11th Tank Battalion was defending inside the bulge while the 712th Tank Battalion was in the relief column punching its way in. The 11th Cavalry Group anchored a sector on the northern shoulder of the bulge.

712TH TANK BATTALION

The 712th landed in France on D-Day + 23, and went into combat on 3 July 1944 on Hill 122, known as "the most expensive piece of real estate in World War II," in terms of casualties. In the 11-day battle that lasted from 3 July to 13 July, the 90th Infantry Division suffered 7,000 casualties. The 712th fought its way through France crossing the Moselle River and then the Saar River. They came back across the Saar and plunged into the Battle of the Bulge, after which they crossed the Saar again, then the Rhine River. They had broken through the Siegfried Line and were penetrating into the heart of Germany to Amberg by the time the war ended. The 712th Tank Battalion returned to the States after the war and was inactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey on 27 October 1945. The unit followed a separate lineage until it was inactivated as the 95th Tank Battalion of the 7th Armored Division on 15 November 1953. The unit rejoined the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in October 1958.

11TH TANK BATTALION

The 11th Tank Battalion entered combat on 2 October 1944 and fought continuously until the end of the war. One of the most dramatic contests occurred in the little village of Berdorf, Luxembourg during the German Ardennes Offensive or 'Battle of the Bulge.' The 11th Tank fought off relentless attacks by two entire Panzer Battalions over the course of three days. The defenders suffered only 4 dead and 20 wounded while losing only one tank and four half-tracks. They inflicted casualties of 350 known enemy dead while destroying seven tanks and three half-tracks. The gallant stand helped buy time for relief forces to move up and block any further German advance. An enemy breakthrough at Berdorf would have given the Germans a clear road to Luxembourg. One of the 'Forward Observers' positions was in the Berdorf Hof (Hotel), providing a clear view down the main road into the village. After the war the 11th Tank Battalion was inactivated at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia on 13 October 1945.

11TH CAVALRY GROUP

(MECHANIZED)

The 11th Cavalry Group would be destined to carry on the Blackhorse name. Then Lt. Leonard D. Holder (37th COLONEL OF THE REGIMENT) of Troop B, 44th Squadron, was the first to land on the shores of France. This Troop was given the honor of being attached to General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s headquarters to provide check point security and escort duty for the remainder of the war. On 23 November 1944 the balance of the Group loaded onto a small fleet of Landing Ship Transports (LST's) and crossed the channel. The first assignment was to begin aggressive patrols across the Roer River to check enemy movements. During the Battle of the Bulge the 11th Cavalry Group held the entire sector normally occupied by a division.

ROER TO THE RHINE

When the Allied offensive resumed after the Battle of the Bulge, the 11th Cavalry Group was tasked with covering the flank of XIII Corps during the push from the Roer to the Rhine. Faced with maintaining a 32-mile long screen, the Group developed the tactic of leap-frogging squadrons through the villages along the way. Constantly in contact with the enemy, the 11th Cavalry hit the Rhine River on 5 March 1945, having inflicted 487 casualties while taking only 56 themselves. Now, with the German Army prepared to contest every single inch of territory, the Blackhorse began probing the enemy defenses with across river patrols. Crossing into the German heartland on 1 April, the 11th Cavalry resumed a flanking screen for XIII Corps. Pushing ahead, virtually cut off from other friendly units and supplies, the 11th scored bold victories as they liberated more than one thousand American POW’s along with several thousand slave-labors from a prison camps. The 11th Cavalry pushed on to the Elbe River, reaching it on 14 April. Orders prevented them from any further eastward movement. Rather, the unit was directed to swing north in a mopping up operation.

This thrust deep into the enemy's homeland culminated with the 11th Cavalry Group killing and wounding 632 German soldiers and capturing 6,128 prisoners. In 21 days the Blackhorse had moved 378 miles and suffered only 14 killed and 102 wounded.

THE BLACKHORSE MEETS

THE RUSSIAN BEAR

4 May 1945

The 11th Cavalry Group had advanced at such a fast pace that they meet the III Russian Corps coming into Germany near Kunrau. Since Germany was to be divided into sectors, the 11th found them selves deep inside the Russian Occupation Zone. After a brief celebration between the two over the Allied victory, the 11th Cavalry Group withdrew to Hannover and began the task of army of occupation.

"THE CIRCLE "C" COWBOYS"

May 1946 - November 1948

Early May 1946 found the 11th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) reverting from horsepower back to horseflesh. The Group was re-designated the 11th Constabulary Regiment and reissued horses drawn from world-renowned Polish breeding stock. Likewise, the 11th Tank Battalion stateside was re-activated as the Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Constabulary Regiment. The horses were utilized, along with other various modes of transportation, to accomplish the mission of reconnaissance and surveillance of movements of the populace. The concern was the possible resuming of hostilities by fraction groups. This elite force roamed through its various sectors presenting a bearing of security, order and stability to the country. The distinctive "C" inside a circle on the helmets and shoulder patches earned the mounted Constabulary Regiments the nickname "Circle C Cowboys" and brought the distinction of being the last horse mounted combat patrols in US history. 20 September 1947 saw the 1st Constabulary Regiment inactivated with the 11th scheduled to follow 30 November 1948. Both were converted and re-designated on 30 November 1948 as the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment and inactivated.

THE BORDER LEGION

The Cold War Heats Up

The 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment was reactivated 1 April 1951 and assigned to Camp Carson, Colorado. Col. Brainard S. Cook, (23rd COLONEL OF THE REGIMENT) was tasked to rebuild the Regiment from the ground up. In early 1954 the Regiment moved again, this time to Fort Knox, Kentucky where they trained reservists. The Army of the 1950's was a conscript force whose turnover rate affected the every part of the Army. To counter this effect the Army created GYROSCOPE, a program that rotated entire units overseas instead of individuals. In mid-March 1957 the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment "Gyroscope'd" to Germany, replacing the 6th Armored Cavalry Regiment on the West German-Czechoslovakian Border. The Regimental HQ and First Battalion were sent to Straubing on the Danube River; Second Battalion moved to Landshut, 35 miles northwest of Munich; and Third Battalion settled in the historic city of Regensburg. The Regiment was now part of the Seventh Army and took up the peacetime mission of border surveillance. This is when 2Lt. Frederick M. Franks, Jr. (50th COLONEL OF THE REGIMENT) joined the 11th Cavalry for the first of several tours.

In May 1960 the Regiment added a separate Aviation Company, the precursor of larger aviation components to follow. In an effort to regain a sense of historical esprit de corps within the armored cavalry regiments, the Army reestablished the nomenclature from battalions and companies to the traditional terms of squadron and troops.

In 1964 the Regiment departed Germany for Fort Meade, Maryland