The United States 32nd Infantry Division was formed from Army National Guard units from Wisconsin and Michigan and fought primarily during World War I and World War II. With roots as the Iron Brigade in the American Civil War, the division's ancestral units came to be referred to as the Iron Jaw Division. During tough combat in France in World War I, it soon acquired from the French the nickname Les Terribles, referring to its fortitude in advancing over terrain others could not. Due to their actions in piercing the Hindenburg Line of defence in October 1918, the 32nd then adopted its shoulder patch; a line shot through with a red arrow, to signify its tenacity in piercing the enemy line. It then became known as the Red Arrow Division.
During World War II, the division was credited with many "firsts". It was the first United States division to deploy as an entire unit overseas and among the first of seven U.S. Army and U.S. Marine units to engage in offensive ground combat operations during 1942. The division was among the first divisions to engage the enemy and were still fighting holdouts after the official Japanese surrender. The 32nd logged a total of 654 days of combat during World War II, more than any other United States Army division. The unit was inactivated in 1946 after occupation duty in Japan.
During 1961, the division was called up for a one-year tour of service in the state of Washington during the Berlin Crisis. In 1967, the 32nd Infantry Division (now made up completely of units from Wisconsin) was inactivated and partially reorganized as the 32nd Infantry Brigade, the largest unit of the Wisconsin Army National Guard.
History World War I Activation, organization and training
When the United States declared war on Germany on 11 April 1917, the Wisconsin Adjutant General ordered the Milwaukee troops to add a squadron, and Troop C and Troop D were added. The Guard units' Troop A and Troop B had been mustered out of federal service less than a year earlier on 20 October 1916 and 6 March 1917, respectively. The Adjutant General then directed the unit to add a new regiment, and the Second and Third Squadrons were formed as the First Wisconsin Cavalry, with units organized in various cities. Troop E commanded by Captain John S. Coney was formed in Kenosha on 10 May 1917, and the Wisconsin Cavalry was officially formed on 29 May 1917.
Only two months later, the 32nd Division was activated in July 1917 at Camp MacArthur, Waco, Texas of National Guard units from Wisconsin and Michigan. Wisconsin furnished approximately 15,000 men, and another 8,000 troops came from Michigan. The division was made up of the 125th and 126th Infantry Regiments (63rd Infantry Brigade) and the 127th and 128th Infantry Regiments (64th Infantry Brigade), as well as three artillery regiments within the 57th Field Artillery Brigade. On 4 August 1917, Battery F, 121st Field Artillery regiment was the first unit to arrive at Camp MacArthur. The remainder arrived as soon as trains could be mustered for transportation.
On 26 August 1917, Major General James Parker assumed command. General Parker had previously been awarded the Medal of Honor during the Philippine–American War. On 18 September 1917, General Parker left for France on special duty with his chief of staff, Lieut. Col. E. H. DeArmond. Brigadier General William G. Haan assumed command in his absence. When General Parker returned in December, he was almost immediately transferred to the 85th Division at Camp Custer, Michigan. General Haan assumed command once again. In keeping with the new 1917 infantry division tables of organization that called for a square division, he reorganized the division during September and October. The 120th Field Artillery Regiment was organized on 22 September 1917 at Camp MacArthur, as a part of the 57th Field Artillery Brigade, better known as the Iron Brigade. The nickname originated with the 1st Wisconsin Cavalry and was traditionally given to crack artillery units in the Civil War. From 26 October to 3 November 1917, 3,000 National Army draftees were assigned to the division from Camp Custer, and during December, another 1,000 came from Camp Custer and Camp Grant, Illinois; the division would still be about 3,500 men understrength at the time of its departure for France.
History during World War I Activated: 29 May 1917 (National Guard Division from Wisconsin and Michigan). Campaigns: Battle of Marne Battle of Oise Meuse-Argonne Offensive Casualties: 13,261 casualties: KIA-2,250; WIA-11,011 Awards: Croix de guerre Commanders: Maj. Gen. James Parker (26 August 1917 – 19 September 1917) Brig. Gen. William G. Haan (19 September 1917 – 7 December 1917) Maj. Gen. James Parker (7 December 1917 – 8 December 1917) Brig. Gen., then Maj. Gen. W. G. Haan (7 December 1917 – 20 November 1918) Maj. Gen. William Lassiter (20 November 1918 – 5 April 1919) Inactivated: 5 April 1919 in Wisconsin.
Captain Alien L. Briggs returned to Camp MacArthur to assist with training. He had been an Aide-de-camp to General Parker and had been in Europe when the war broke out in 1914. He had observed the training methods used in military schools in France. As training intensified in preparation for leaving for France, five French and four British officers, along with several non-commissioned officers, joined the division as instructors. A trench system was built outside the camp in which the division practiced the techniques of trench warfare. There was a continual shortage of equipment that hampered training in the artillery and machine gun battalions. Additional training for junior and non-commissioned officers was implemented, and General Haan offered additional daily instruction to the brigade, regimental and battalion commanders.
By early December, it had received the equipment assigned to it and was judged to be ready for deployment. War Department inspectors found the division more advanced in its training than any other division in the United States. Orders were received in late December, and the first troops left Waco on 2 January 1918 for the New York Port of Embarkation at Hoboken, New Jersey. The infantry was moved first, arriving at Camp Merritt before the division headquarters sailed. The unit received its first casualties when the SS Tuscania (1914) was sunk by a German U-boat. Brigadier General William G. Haan led the unit when it arrived in France.
Combat in France
The 32nd Division arrived on the Western Front in February 1918. The 32nd was the sixth U.S. division to join the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), under General John J. Pershing. The unit's morale was temporarily lessened when they learned they were assigned to create a depot for I Corps that would train replacement soldiers. Major General Haan reminded his commanders that it was every soldier's duty to contribute their best to the war effort, including training replacements. However, Haan lobbied Pershing and after several stormy sessions, finally convinced him that the 32nd could hold its own as a division. Up to this point much of the war had been a stalemate, fought from static trench lines over the same few kilometers of terrain. Over the next six months, the division was under constant fire, with only 10 days' rest. The division took a leading role in three important offensives, fighting on five fronts, suffered more than 14,000 casualties, captured more than 2,000 prisoners, and never yielded ground to the enemy.
Major General James Parker had re-assumed command on 7 December 1917, and led the unit into Alsace in May 1918, attacking in seven days. During the Battle of Marne, they captured Fismes. The only American unit in French General Charles Mangin's famous 10th French Army, it fought between the Moroccans and the Foreign Legion, two of the best divisions in the French army in the Battle of Oise-Battle of Aisne offensive. The 10th Army took Juvigny. In the five-day battle against five German divisions, the 32nd suffered 2,848 casualties.
On 18 May 1918, four battalions of the 32nd division replaced decimated French troops on the front line at Haute Alsace, along a front from the Aspach-le-Bas to the Swiss border. The division's units conducted combat patrols into Germany itself, gaining the distinction of being the first US troops to set foot on enemy soil in World War I.
Moving out of their trenches, the division fought continuously for 20 days during the Meuse–Argonne offensive. The division was the front line element of the Third U.S. Army. The Germans were well dug in after four years of trench warfare and had orders to hold the line at all costs. On 14 October at 5:30 am, the division broke through the maze of barbed wire and took the line of trenches forming the Hindenburg Line and moved on to the last German stronghold at Kriemhilde Stellung, where they reached the Meuse River. They then captured Côte Dame de Marie, the key to all the defenses in the area. Over the next five days the division continued to advance while under nearly constant machine gun and artillery fire. The 32nd Division defeated 11 German divisions in the Argonne fighting, including the fearsome Prussian Guards and the German Army's 28th Division, known as Kaiser's Own. The offensive cost the division 5,950 casualties.
Their next objective was to flank the Germans at Metz and they marched to the Rhine River. There they occupied the center sector in the Koblenz bridgehead for four months, during which they held and 63 towns.File:The 32nd Division in the World War, 1917-1919 (IA 32nddivisioninwo00wisc).pdf
Origin of nickname Les Terribles
The division fought in three major offensives, engaging and defeating 23 German divisions. They took 2,153 prisoners and gained , pushing back every German counterattack. During the drive to capture Fismes, they successfully attacked over open ground at great cost.
The authorized strength of the 3rd battalion was 20 officers and 1,000 men, but by 4 August it had only 12 officers and 350 men on the line. As they advanced over of mostly open ground, the Germans targeted them with intense artillery and machine gun fire. They were reinforced by the 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry, which was also understrength. The 127th Infantry finally captured Fismes, but they lost many men. By the end of the day, the 3rd Battalion had only two officers and 94 men; the 2nd Battalion had five officers and 104 men.
General de Mondesir, the 38th French Corps Commander, which the 32nd served under, went to the front to observe the fighting. When he saw how the 32nd cleared the Germans out of their reinforced positions with unrelenting and successful attacks, he exclaimed, Oui, Oui, Les soldats terribles, tres bien, tres bien! General Charles Mangin heard of it and referred to the 32nd Division as Les Terribles when he asked for the division to join his 10th French Army north of Soissons. He later made the nickname official when he incorporated it in his citation for their attack at Juvigny. The division's shoulder patch, a line shot through with a red arrow, symbolizes the fact that the 32nd Division penetrated every German line of defense that it faced during World War I.32nd-Division.org History of the Red Arrow Insignia
Casualties and decorations The division was still engaging German troops east of the Meuse River when the Armistice was finally signed. The division suffered a total of 13,261 casualties, including 2,250 men killed in action and 11,011 wounded, placing it third in the number of battle deaths among U.S. Army divisions. The American, French, and Belgian governments decorated more than 800 officers and enlisted men for their gallantry in combat.