The 119th Field Artillery Regiment (119th FA), nicknamed the "Red Lions", is a Parent Field Artillery Regiment of the United States Army Regimental System (USARS) in the Michigan Army National Guard. The headquarters of the 119th Field Artillery Regiment is in Lansing, Michigan, and its principal training ground is at Camp Grayling, Michigan, the largest National Guard training center in the country. The Headquarters Battery of the current 119th Field Artillery Regiment can trace its history back to the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861, during the American Civil War. The history of the 119th Field Artillery Regiment as an entire regiment began on 6 November 1911 when it was organized as the 1st Battalion, Field Artillery in the Michigan National Guard.
The 119th Field Artillery Regiment saw its first action in battle when it was deployed to the Lorraine Region of France in 1918 during the First World War. The 119th Field Artillery Regiment was in combat for five months and supported seven American infantry divisions, the 3rd, 26th, 28th, 32nd, 77th, 79th, and the 89th and also executed a fire support mission for the 1st Moroccan Infantry Division. The 119th Field Artillery Regiment was involved in several major offensives during World War I. General Charles Mangin, commander of the French Tenth Army, awarded the 119th Field Artillery Regiment with the Croix de Guerre with a silver star for their distinguished service in battle during the Aisne–Marne and Oise–Aisne campaigns. The Headquarters Battery was awarded an additional Croix de Guerre with Palm, the highest order to be awarded during World War I. The 119th Field Artillery Regiment also participated in the final Meuse–Argonne offensive that drove the German Army to defeat.
After World War I, the 119th Field Artillery Regiment was called upon to help maintain the peace during the 1936 Auto Workers strike in Flint, Michigan. When the Allies invaded Normandy during World War II, the 119th Field Artillery Regiment landed in France shortly thereafter and was involved through to the end of the war. In 1967, the 119th Field Artillery Regiment was called upon to help maintain law and order in Detroit, Michigan during the riots of 1967. After the 11 September attacks, the 119th Field Artillery Regiment was thrust into the role of security as they assisted in searching trucks crossing the Canada–United States border in Detroit and Port Huron, Michigan. When the United States Army was short military police units as a result of the war on terror, the 119th Field Artillery Regiment was deployed to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base for eleven months to provide security at Camp Delta. The 119th Field Artillery provided a 21-gun salute at the state funeral for former President Gerald Ford.
Early lineage The lineage of the current day 119th Field Artillery Regiment traces back to 6 November 1911. On that day, existing Michigan National Guard units were reorganized into the 1st Battalion, Field Artillery.
Mexican Expedition
On 9 March 1916, Mexican revolutionary General Francisco "Pancho" Villa led a force of five hundred men and attacked the town of Columbus, New Mexico, killing several American soldiers and civilians. A week later, Brigadier General John J. Pershing, on orders from President Woodrow Wilson, assembled an expeditionary force of several thousand men to pursue Pancho Villa who had since retreated back into Mexico. Less than three months later on 3 June 1916, the United States Congress passed the National Defense Act which gave the President of the United States the power to federalize and mobilize the various State National Guard units in the event of a war. Mexican bandits were still conducting cross border raids killing American soldiers and civilians. On 15 June 1916, one such cross border raid into San Ygnacio, Texas resulted in the deaths of four American soldiers. In response, President Woodrow Wilson federalized 110,000 National Guard soldiers on 19 June 1916 and ordered them to the Mexico–United States border.
Batteries A and B of the 1st Battalion, Field Artillery were mustered into federal service on 19 June 1916, for the first time. The rest of the units of the 1st Battalion, Field Artillery were disbanded. The 1st Battalion, Field Artillery was sent to Camp Grayling, Michigan and then on to El Paso, Texas to patrol the United States-Mexico border. Service on the border was uneventful, consisting mainly of guard duty, drill instructions, and marches. Neither Battery A or B of the 1st Battalion, Field Artillery set foot in Mexico during what is known today as the Mexican Expedition.
Brigadier General Pershing's troops were unsuccessful in catching Pancho Villa and the focus of the expeditionary force changed from actively seeking out Pancho Villa to a defensive position of protecting the troops from the forces supporting Mexican President Venustiano Carranza. American President Wilson and Mexican President Carranza agreed to establish a Joint High Commission to ease the tensions between the countries. The commission met at New London, Connecticut on 6 September 1916. The talks that resulted from these meetings eased the tensions sufficiently and the expeditionary force prepared for withdrawal and re-crossed the international border back into the United States on 5 February 1917. When hostilities ended, the 1st Battalion, Field Artillery returned to Michigan and were mustered out of federal service on 23 March 1917.
World War I
The United States declared war on Germany on 6 April 1917, and the United States Congress passed the Selective Service Act on 18 May of that year to allow the United States to raise an army through the draft. The 1st Battalion, Field Artillery was officially reorganized as part of the Michigan National Guard on 26 June 1917 with its headquarters federally recognized at Lansing, Michigan on 5 July 1917.
The National Guard of Michigan and Wisconsin were called into federal service on 15 July 1917. The United States War Department designated the National Guard troops of Michigan and Wisconsin to form the 32nd Infantry Division on 18 July 1917 with Camp MacArthur in Waco, Texas selected as the location for the training. Shortly thereafter, the 1st Battalion, Field Artillery was drafted into federal service on 5 August 1917. On 25 August 1917, the 57th Field Artillery Brigade was organized. On 23 September 1917, the 1st Battalion, Field Artillery was reorganized as the 1st Battalion, 119th Field Artillery as part of the newly formed 57th Field Artillery Brigade. The 119th Field Artillery absorbed the Headquarters and Supply companies of the 31st Michigan Infantry. Most of the new personnel for the 119th Field Artillery came from the 1st Battalion Field Artillery and 1st Squadron Cavalry of the 31st Michigan Infantry. Colonel Chester B. McCormick was appointed as the first commander of the 119th Field Artillery on 22 September 1917 and systematic training began a week later on 29 September.
The 1st Battalion, 119th Field Artillery relocated to Camp Merritt, New Jersey on 2 January 1918. From Camp Merritt, the troops marched for over an hour to Alpine Landing and then took a two-hour ferry boat ride to the port of Hoboken, New Jersey for embarkation to the European continent. The 119th Field Artillery set sail on 26 February 1918 and arrived at Liverpool, England on 6 March 1918. After a short stay in a rest camp, the 119th Field Artillery proceeded to Le Havre, France with the 5th Infantry Division to complete their transatlantic journey. The 119th Field Artillery detached from the 32nd Infantry Division and arrived at the French artillery school at Camp Coetquidan on 13 March 1918, to master the technique of field artillery. The 119th Field Artillery remained at Camp Coetquidan until 3 June 1918.
After leaving Camp Coetquidan, the 119th Field Artillery was sent to join the 26th Infantry Division in the Toul-Boucq Sector. The soldiers of the 119th Field Artillery fired their first salvo in World War I on 11 June 1918. Five days later, at 3:20 on 16 June 1918 near the village of Xivray-et-Marvoisin, the 119th Field Artillery opened fire on about 400 to 500 German troops who attempted to enter the village from the west and southwest. Despite suffering their first casualties of the war, the 119th Field Artillery rendered very valuable service with their fire and helped prevent the Germans from entering the village. On 25 June 1918, the 119th Field Artillery rejoined the 32nd Infantry Division in the Alsace region of France near the villages of Largitzen and Aspach-le-Haut.
On 22 July 1918, the 119th Field Artillery, as a part of the 32nd Infantry Division was absorbed into General Charles Mangin's French Tenth Army. Beginning on 22 July 1918, the soldiers of the 119th Field Artillery, with new horses and inexperienced drivers, were forced to march over 360 kilometers (224 miles)Used Google Maps to calculate walking distance between Largitzen and Chateau Thierry for five days from the Alsace region to just west of the town of Chateau Thierry. Due to the shortage of artillery harnesses, the soldiers of the 119th Field Artillery were compelled to drag 16 American caissons loaded with ammunition the entire distance. In order to save the horses, all the soldiers except the drivers walked and carried a full pack for which they had no previous training. On 27 July 1918 the 119th Field Artillery arrived near the town of Pont-Sainte-Maxence and the village of Bethisy-Saint-Martin and then proceeded to move towards Chateau-Thierry, and then into the Foret de Fere (Fere Forest) near the village of Jaulgonne.
Aisne–Marne counter-offensive
On the evening of 29 July 1918, the 119th Field Artillery arrived in the Picardy region of France, west of Chateau-Thierry, as part of the 32nd Infantry Division which relieved the American 3rd Infantry Division on the front line which stretched from Roncheres to Fere-en-Tardenois. This was the beginning of the Aisne–Marne counter-offensive also known as the Second Battle of the Marne. At 14:10 on 30 July 1918, the 119th Field Artillery commenced a full barrage of fire directed at the Bois de Grimpettes (Grimpettes Woods) just south of the village of Cierges. Twenty minutes later, at 14:30, the 119th Field Artillery switched to a creeping barrage to allow infantry units from the 32nd Infantry Division to follow close behind the line of artillery fire. Artillery fire continued throughout the day and into the night. On 31 July 1918, the 32nd Infantry Division stormed and captured Cierges and a ridge one kilometer (5/8-mile) east of the village of Sergy with the support of continuous fire from the 119th Field Artillery. After hard fighting, the 32nd Infantry Division advanced a mile, broke into two important positions in the new German line of resistance, and captured them. Reddy Farm and Hill 230 were both captured on 1 August 1918, with the support of very active fire from the 119th Field Artillery. Rapid advancements were made on 2 and 3 August. By 10:30 on 3 August 1918, the leading elements of the 32nd Infantry Division had advanced to one-half kilometer (just over 1/4-mile) southwest of the village of Saint-Gilles where they captured Resson Farm. In just a matter of two days the 32nd Infantry Division had advanced from Reddy Farm and captured the villages of Villome and Dravegny, arriving on the outskirts of Saint-Gilles with active fire from the 119th Field Artillery.