Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-19
CAVALRY
History of the New Regiment
at Fort Myer.
IT'S EXCELLENT RECORD
FIRST ORGANIZATION TO COME
HERE FROM PHILIPPINES.
Troopers From Jolo Now Home Again
Col Wallace and His
Officers.

Like knight of old returning from his
! first crusade in the full flush of victory for
a peaceful sojourn in the home of his IA
| theirs the 18th United States Cavalry comes
! to Washington to take station at Fort
| Myer, with two short years of it's history
| filled with action. Less than three years
| have passed since Congress, by its act of
| February ., 1901, authorized the enlistment
of five more regiments of cavalry Wash
| ingtonians remember the organization of
| one of these regiments at Fort Myer and
| its departure, when hardly organized, for
! active service. The 18th was organized at
San Francisco and placed under the COM
mand of one of the most experienced cav
airy officers of the. army, Col. William NJ.
| Wallace. Five troops We're hurried off to
the Philippines before the men had been
| drilled, and We're put into active service in
| the Islands of the Jolo group. The seven
remaining troops We're held at San Fran
! cisco until they became better equipped
| for the field, but in less than a year after
| their organization they too were hurried
| to the Philippines and placed in active
| service. This regiment was an entirely
| new organization with It's number on the
| army register for the first time as a part
| of the regular establishment, and 1t was
! determined to make history for itself in
| the short time allotted to it in the one
| part of the world where history could be
| made.
| The feeling of reverence for the regi-
| mental standards has not died entirely out
of the army, although the present system
| of shifting officers from one regiment to
| another, it is thought, may have TINS Ell
feet. Each of the old regimental organf-
| cations has it's cherished traditions, how
| ever and in nothing is a soldier so secure
| as in the pride he takes in the corps to
| which he belongs.
Off to the Philippines.
From the first the 10Th Cavalry had hard
| service The work of organizing regi-
| ment of soldiers is not an easy task at
| best and when officers are thrown togeth-
| err almost without acquaintance with each
| other and commissioned to form a force
! that will be potent in the solving OF the
| problems of it's country the work takes on
| herculean proportions Win nVe tfoops
| already in the field Col Wallace so per-
| fected the organization of the other seven
| under his command that when he hnally
sailed for the Philippines, December 10,
| 1901, his troops were in such condltlon lilaI
! on arriving at their destination they We're
| instantly dispatched to Jolo, one of the
most important if not the most important
most in the islands, then and now.
| The business of the 10Th cavalry was
| then and all through its service continued
| to be, that of keeping the Moros III eooo
| order and preventing any trouple OF con-
| nict of authority. This was one OF the most
delicate missions an army officer could De
| assigned to assume, and required NOT alone
| physical courage, but diplomacy ana tact
| These are not branches of the course OF
| etudv at the military academies through
| out the country, nor are they likely TO be
| picked up on the battlefield, but they are
| qualities which seem to lie dormant IN
| every American soldier ana Whlch VII
! crop out whenever the opportunity there
! for is offered. The natives at Jolo and the
| other islands in the group made no open
! resistance to the American invasion, but
| they did not relish the idea of American
| sovereignty, and did not hesitate to show
| their feelings when the occ asion oHered
| The officers were kept on the qu we at
| all times and were compelled to use the ut
! most tact in dealing with so sensitive
| people.
! To 1lsa force to show the Moros the Ameri-
| cans meant business. The two troops of
| the 18th which served with Capt. j. j.
| Pershing on the Island of Mindanao, saw
| hard service for several months, and were
| compelled to vanquiSh part or the people
| they were sent to protect by force of arms.
At all times the conditions were menaclng
to the American soldiers, the Moros having
at their call thousands of armed men who
| could be put in the field at almost a mo-
ment's notice. The main body of the 18th
did not have to resort to the use of arms
to maintain the authority Of the United
States, but it's position was critical and
uncomfortable.
| The regiment was ordered home in Sep
TENDER last and arrived in San Francisco
November Is. where 1t remained until 1t
could be fitted out for it's tour of duty in
this country. Sunday the troops were en-
trained for the east. The regtmental head
quarters, band and the second squadron,
Troops q, G, f and II, started for Fort
Myer, and the other two squadrons. with
the lieutenant colonel in command left for
Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont.
The Regimenta1 Commander.
Col. William NJ. Wallace, the commander
of the 18th, is well known throughout the
army He is a veteran of the civil war and
| has a brilliant record. He is a native OF
Wisconsin and was appointed a first lieu
tenant in the 18th New York Artillery in
| March, 1864. On being mustered out of the
| volunteer army he was given a comm ssion
| as second lieutenant in the Sth Infantry,
| and was promoted to first lieutenant in
| 1867 In 1870 he was transferred to the
| 9th Cavalry, with which regiment he
| served until 1894. being promoted to captain
! in 1876 and to major in 1894, when he was
| transferred to the I'd Cavalry, with which
| regiment he was serving as a major at the
| outbreak of the war with Spain. He was
| left behind with his squadron of the I'd
! when the troops went to Cuba in the spring
| of 1898, but served with the regiment in
| Cuba after the surrender. He was made
| lieutenant colonel in 1899. and served in
| this capacity with the ID Cavalry until
| March /, 1901. when he was appointed
| colonel and assigned to the command of the
! 18th. With his regiment Colonel Wallace
went to the Philippines, where he acted as
| governor of Jolo His service there was
most valuable to the country and his regi-
ment was selected as the one which should
come to Fort Myer because OF it's good
service.
| Maj John c. Gresham, who will COM
mand the squadron of the 18th, stationed
! at Fort Myer, has recently joined the 18th.
| but has a long and honorable record. He
| was appointed a cadet at the Military
| Academy at West Point in 1872 from Vir-
| glnia, his native state, and was graduated
| in 1876 He was commissioned a second
! lieutenant In the Sd Cavalry June 49, 1876,
and served with that regiment but a few
| days, being transferred to the 7th Cav
airy June 26. Maj. Gresham served con-
| tnuously with the 7th Cavalry for twenty
| five years, and was regarded as one of
/ the most efficient officers in the regiment.
| He was promoted to first lieutenant in
| 1873. to captain in 1882, and In 1901 was
| made major. and was transferred to the
| 18th Cavalry. With this regiment Mai.
| Gresham saw service, in the Philippines.
| He was transferred to the 10Th Cavalry
| within the past two months
| Capt. Pershing's Record.
| Capt. John ]. Pershing the senior cap
| tain of the 18th. Is now stationed in this
| city on duty with the general staff of the
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