The Lost Identity of the 57th Brigade in World War I

(Note: This article was originally written during the Spring 2024 for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s “World War I Wisconsin” course, taught by Dr. Leslie Bellais.)

An Overview of the 57th Brigade

After enduring shellfire for three days and being sustained with only two rationed meals, Wisconsin Doughboys attached to the 57th Field Artillery Brigade witnessed their unit’s first great victory in the Great War in Fismes, on August 6, 1918.[1] As a reward, their parent division, the 32nd Infantry Division, was relieved by the 28th Infantry Division. However, the 57th’s artillerymen received different orders. Army Command ordered the 57th Brigade to continue the fight with this green division due to a shortage of properly trained troops. Under pressure, these artillerymen accepted the task in front of them, not for valor or recognition, but because it was their duty as soldiers to give up everything for this war.

When a military unit is praised for its service, oftentimes the infantry receives most of the credit. After all, they constantly engage in close combat and are known for their high risk of casualties. Infantrymen share a sense of nobility and honor that can characterize an entire military. World War I was no exception to this. As the United States prepared to join the Great War, the National Guard called upon various units spanning Wisconsin and Michigan to form the 32nd Infantry Division. As the 32nd often aided French troops with offensive courage, they earned themselves the nickname “Les Terribles,” a moniker that brought both fear and hope depending on which side of the war one was on. Piercing the Hindenburg Line became known as the Division’s most famous accomplishment, a feat no Allied force had successfully done until the fall of 1918. On a logistical map, a “Red Arrow” drawn over the German border soon became a symbol synonymous with the 32nd Infantry (Red Arrow) Division. Given the unit’s full title and the archetype of an American soldier, it is no surprise that most of the writing regarding the 32nd credits the line infantry for its success.

However, many different disciplines for war make up a division, including logistics, cavalry, and artillery. The 57th Field Artillery Brigade, comprised of the 119th, 120th, and 121st Field Artillery Regiments, served as the artillery component of the 32nd Infantry Division during WWI. Thanks to the officers of the 120th, its contributions to the 32nd have been memorialized in various documents found in the Wisconsin Historical Society. The accomplishments of the 57th Brigade have largely been crushed under the weight and significance that the 32nd Division had in WWI, as evidenced by the unit’s initial formation, military assignments concerning these echelons, as well as the media’s coverage of the war back home.

Assembling of the 32nd

Before the 57th or the 32nd as a whole performed any great feats in Europe, both units initially formed in 1917. In July of that year, many Guardsmen from Wisconsin and Michigan received notice in the mail to report to their duty station. Once assembled, individual units mobilized to Camp Douglas, WI, and later to Camp MacArthur, TX. Once in Texas, these units were assembled into the 32nd Division.[2] Subsequently, one of these smaller units, the First Wisconsin Cavalry, reorganized into the 120th Field Artillery Regiment, belonging to the 57th Field Artillery Brigade, underneath the “soon-to-be-famous 32nd Infantry Division.”[3]

The 120th undoubtedly lacked experience in the field of artillery and required additional training to compensate for this decision. However, to a Wisconsin cavalryman, this reorganization invited more than a change in structure. According to an unnamed doughboy in his personal journal, “Regimental designations are to be changed and ‘Wisconsin’ obliterated. It all seems calculated to break down the ‘espirit de corps’ of the National Guard.”[4] In an interview, the 120th’s newly-appointed commander, Col. Carl Penner, explained that many of his men were distraught at this transition. According to Penner, his cavalrymen shared a sense of pride in knowing their profession intimately. Because of this, they ceremoniously buried their yellow corded campaign hats at Camp MacArthur, the most noticeable part of their uniform that distinguished them as cavalrymen.[5]

Even Penner, a trained cavalry officer before the war, lacked familiarity with this new structure. However, he and the other officers of the 120th took this change with grace and remained optimistic. In a separate interview, long after their time in service, Penner and his then-adjutant, Capt. Charles F. Sammond, commented on this irregularity. Both men stated that the traditional organization of a field artillery unit allowed them to condense their twelve cavalry troops into six artillery batteries. According to Sammond, this “easy” change helped to keep their troops together.[6] Moving into the war, this structure also enabled the 120th to condense their communication and their ability to mobilize, which proved useful when attached to other units in the future.

The 119th and 121st Field Artillery Regiments shared a similar experience with the 120th and soon encountered large changes in their structure. At Fort MacArthur, the American Expeditionary Forces ordered the First Wisconsin Field Artillery to reorganize into the 121st Field Artillery Regiment.[7] Although the overall soldierly duties of the 121st remained unchanged, removing “Wisconsin” from their unit’s title continued this pattern of stripping these Guardsmen of their traditional identities. In contrast, units from the Michigan National Guard, such as the First Cavalry Squadron and Headquarters and Service Companies of the 31st Infantry Regiment received orders to combine and form the 119th.[8] Unlike the regiments from Wisconsin, these units’ original names shared no semblance with their home state. However, like the 120th, top-down reorganization required soldiers of the 119th to retrain with artillery for their upcoming deployment to France. Although many units around the nation faced structural changes due to U.S. entry into the war, these initial adjustments within the 119th, 120th, and 121st foreshadowed a pattern in the loss of identity amongst troops within the 57th Brigade.

Loss of Credit to the 32nd

Despite initial doubts by veteran Guardsmen, the 57th’s new organization proved to work splendidly overseas, as their flexibility allowed them to continue fighting on numerous occasions without the 32nd Division. Due to a shortage of artillery, combative demands required the 57th to act as the artillery outfit for many units such as the 79th and 3rd Divisions, as well as the Second French Colonial Army. As these detachments were frequent during the 32nd’s time in France, artillerymen of the 57th carried the notoriety of “Les Terribles,” without fighting with its sister regiments or its parent division. Because of these assignments, these men often fought beyond the call of duty when the 32nd was relieved.[9]

Frequent detachments from the 32nd earned the 57th’s artillerymen their own prestige from combat. In numerous memorandums at the end of the war, generals such as Charles Summerall of the V Army Corps, thanked the 57th Brigade explicitly for its ability to continue fighting without the 32nd and work efficiently despite lacking artillery units during the war.[10] This admiration sheds light on the unique reputation of the 57th Brigade separate from the 32nd.

However, soldiers in the unit did not appreciate these gestures of gratitude. Instead of being rewarded for their efforts, after the Armistice the 57th soon found itself with a new mission. As the 32nd prepared for their new duty station in Germany, the 57th received orders to detach from the 32nd permanently and become the field artillery brigade for the lesser-known 88th Division. In a letter to his sister, Capt. Charles Sammond expressed his anger with this decision. In it, Sammond claimed that despite earning respect from various commanders, the brigade consisting of the 119th, 120th, and 121st was stripped of the glory awarded to the 32nd.[11] Similar to how the men of the First Wisconsin Cavalry and First Wisconsin Field Artillery experienced the erasure of their identity when the 57th initially formed, the men of this unit now encountered a greater disservice. The Allies won the war. The 57th carried the honor of the 32nd when doing so. Yet, now they felt punished for their accomplishments by a standard unit change. Despite numerous detachments from the 32nd throughout the war, the men of the 57th shared a common affinity with the Red Arrow Division that they belonged to. They did not intend to leave it behind.

Although the 88th celebrated this change, as the 57th possessed crucial combat experience, this made the artillerymen contentious. According to Sammond, the men of the 88th insisted that the 57th was there to stay, yet his men in the 120th affirmed their attachment to the 32nd.[12] Oddly enough, the 57th’s dissatisfaction with this unit was not targeted at the 32nd. According to Sammond, the frustration amongst his men stemmed from the fact that they could not continue with the 32nd and receive the same praise as their initial Division. It was as if the 57th’s achievements ended with the war and the unit commendations they received were only made to ease their frustration.

The Story Back Home

The 32nd’s reception back home continued to bury the legacy that the division’s field artillery earned toward the end of the war. In the spring of 1919, the 57th Field Artillery received orders to return to the 32nd, as the Red Arrow Division made its way back home. Although the 57th had not been serving with the 32nd for months, Wisconsinites welcomed them home as if the two had never split. The Milwaukee Sentinel interviewed the 120th’s commander, Carl Penner, in which he reported that all of his men felt repaid for the hardships they faced and embraced the Red Arrow as their own.[13]

Although these artillerymen felt a kinship with the 32nd, this does not mean that the 57th received the recognition that it deserved. Citizens were not up to date on the regular mobilizations of the 57th Brigade. There was little reporting done at this time that detailed how adaptable these men had become, given the shortages of artillery at the front. The 57th did not serve as the primary field artillery for the 32nd alone, however, its parent division assumed the credit for piercing the German line, which stayed longer in the public’s consciousness.

This way of thinking only grew stronger after the publication of Frederick Palmer’s Our Greatest Battle. Palmer’s close association with General Pershing gave him a unique insight into the operations of the Allied Expeditionary Forces. Palmer’s book glorified the 32nd’s contributions to the last great battle of the war, the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, yet accurately credited the 42nd Division’s artillery that aided the 32nd in breaking the Kreimhilde Stellung (at the eastern end of the Hindenburg Line). The 57th Brigade is alluded to, but not explicitly named, affording that recognition to the divisions involved in this operation.[14] Regardless of Palmer’s intentions, his writing discounted the efforts of the 57th, painting the 32nd as needing the combined effort of two artillery brigades, the 57th, and the artillery component of the 42nd Division. Reports on Palmer’s analysis only repeated this narrative, removing smaller units’ contributions to this battle, and belittling the actions of men who served multiple divisional rotations despite prior relief of the 32nd.

The Last 100 Years

From the beginning of the unit’s formation to the public’s reception after WWI, artillerymen of the 57th Brigade found their accomplishments overshadowed by the Red Arrow of the 32nd Division, and their initial identities erased. Ironically, the National Guard deactivated the 32nd after the war, despite its reputation, and only reactivated it for large conflicts such as WWII and Vietnam.

However, in 1967, the Guard reorganized its units in Wisconsin, permanently disbanding the 32nd Division, and replacing it with the 32d Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) which still carries a Red Arrow as its insignia and unit patch.[15] This size reduction permanently separated the 57th from its parent division and stripped it of the Red Arrow it had helped to earn. The same Red Arrow that welcomed artillerymen home, serving as the primary reminder of their duties overseas.

In the 2000s, the 57th reorganized into the 157th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade.[16] Today, the 1st Battalion, 121st Field Artillery Regiment stands as the only remaining regiment that was formed as an original part of the 57th Brigade that is still attached to the 157th.[17] The 119th returned to its roots in Michigan, completely removing it from the legacy that it earned from Wisconsin’s recognition of the Red Arrow.[18] The 120th, succeeded by the 1st Battalion, 120th Field Artillery Regiment, now serves as the sole artillery component of the 32d IBCT.[19] All of these changes share a common pattern with the unit’s organizational decisions dating back to its inception in WWI. Perhaps not intentionally, the 57th Brigade acts as a case study of how routine changes in structure may significantly bury the legacy of an organization.

—♦—

Notes:

[1] This was the conclusion of the Aisne-Marne Offensive, better known as the “Second Battle of Marne”, or simply “Château-Thierry.” This military operation spanned months throughout numerous towns near the Marne and Vesle rivers.

[2] John Barry, The Midwest Goes to War: The 32nd Division in the Great War (Plymouth: Scarecrow Press, 2007), 21-23.

[3] Carl Penner, Frederic Sammond, and H.M. Appel, The 120^th Field Artillery Diary (Milwaukee: Hammersmith-Kortmeyer Co., 1928), 27.

[4] Penner, 64.

[5] Recorded interview of Carl Penner and Richardson Brown, 26 April 1966, Carl Penner (CP)) Papers, Audio 345A, Tape 3, Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS).

[6] Transcribed interview of Col. Carl Penner and Capt. Charles Sammond, 1964, CP Papers, folder 1, WHS.

[7] “Creation of the 121^st Field Artillery Regiment,” 1-121^st Field Artillery Veterans Association, https://121fava.org/history/world-war-i. Accessed May 6, 2024.

[8] “119th Field Artillery in World War I,” Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, https://www.michigan.gov/dmva/about/history/military-events/spotlight/119th-field-artillery-in-world-war-i. Accessed May 6, 2024.

[9] Article written by Carl Penner for the Wisconsin National Guard Review, February 22, 1919, CP Papers, box 2, WHS.

[10] Memorandum written by C.P. Summerall to the Commanding General of the 57^th Field Artillery Brigade, October 30, 1918, Frederic Sammond (FS) Papers, folder 1, WHS.

[11] Letter from Capt. C.F. Sammond to his sister, Mrs. R.P. Balpl, November 23, 1918, FS Papers, box 1, WHS.

[12] Annotations written by Charles Sammond describing the 120^th’s reaction to being transferred to the 88^th Division, no date, FS Papers, box 1, WHS.

[13] Newspaper article from the Sunday Sentinel describing the 120^th’s return to the U.S., May 18, 1919, FS Papers, box 1, WHS.

[14] Newspaper article written about Frederick Palmer’s Our Greatest Battle, no date, FS Papers, Box 1, WHS.

[15] “Wisconsin Guard Announces Largest Deployment since WWII,” National Guard Bureau, U.S. Department of Defense, September 9, 2008, https://www.nationalguard.mil/News/Overseas-Operations/Article/573540/wisconsin-guard-announces-largest-deployment-since-wwii/. Accessed September 15, 2024.

[16] Andy Poquette, “Wisconsin Brigade Takes Major Step in Transformation,” National Guard Bureau, U.S. Department of Defense, February 12, 2010, https://www.nationalguard.mil/News/Article/576614/wisconsin-brigade-takes-major-step-in-transformation/. Accessed September 15, 2024.

[17] Jeffrey Belnap “Wisconsin Guard Unit Takes Command of Field Artillery Mission,” Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, U.S. Department of Defense, August 27, 2018, https://www.dvidshub.net/news/290367/wisconsin-guard-unit-takes-command-field-artillery-mission. Accessed September 15, 2024.

[18] Janice McKenney, Army Lineage Series: Field Artillery (Part 2) (Washington D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army, 2010), 1095.

[19] McKenney, Army Lineage Series, 1098.

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