Milford chronicle., 1919-05-30
WAR HISTORY OF
DELAWARE'S OWN
AN INTERESTING RECORD OF THE 59TH
PIONEER INFANTRY SINCE HOSTILE
TIES BEGAN.
EMBARKED AUGUST 2S, 1918
SUMMARY PREFIXED TO THE SOUVENIR
PAMPHLET PREPARED BY 0FFlC-
ERS OF The COMMAND.

Although portions of the history OF
fhe 59th Pioneer Infantry since 1t was
formed have been published, the first
connected and at the same time
authentic story is that presented in the
summary prefxed to the command and
published at TOul
From an early copy, this is repro
duced, as follows:
On January 5, 1918, a messenger
brought word to Colonel j. W. Reed
of the 54th Depot Brigade, 29th Divis-
ion. Camp Mcclellan, Alabama, to re-
mort TO Division Headquarters, and
upon his arrival there he was inform
ed that instructions had been received
from Washington TO reassemble the
unit and men formerly of the lst Del
aware Infantry who had arrived at
Camp Mcclellan October 6, 1917. The
1st Delaware Infantry, which was the
only National Guard Organization IN
the State of Delaware that had been
called to the cOlors in the year 1917
had previously been oorganized into a
regiment and, after tour OF guard
duty, commencing in March, 1917,
covering various points susceptible
of attack by German sympathizers in
the State of Delaware, was assembled
as regiment, September 10, 1917, and
moved to the State rifle range near
New Castle, Delaware, where 1t re-
mained until entrainment for Camp
Mcclellan, October 4, 1917. Special
Orders No. z, Headquarters, 29th Div
ison. followed the informal announ-
cement and ordered the reassembling
of the various units into a regiment Of
infantry, Delaware National Guard to
form a pioneer regiment of infantry,
which moved from Camp Mcclellan,
Alabama, on the 18th and 18th of
January, 1918, arriving at Camp Dix
New Jersey, on the 18th and 18th OF
January, 1918.
No information had been given re-
garding the duties of pioneer infantry
and the regiment after its arrival at
Camp Dix, was trained as an infantry
regiment, but it was learned that the
duties of this branch of the service
were similar to those of the pioneer
infantry of the British Army, viz, en-
gineer duty with compatent service
when required.
On February 27, 1918, the formal
! designation "59th Pioneer Infantry
was conferred upon the command,
the SLIEuS III VI the iS6AAuCAl bCAh5 -
officers and 1 ,663 enlisted men,
On March 16, 1918, troops from Com
pany "B", 3O7th Machine Gun Bat
tallion, a unit of the 18th Division,
comprising men from Delaware, were
transferred to the regiment, and on
April 1, following, 293 recruits from
Delaware arrived at Camp Dix and
were assigned to the regiment, the idea
w haf in IN
ment as far as possible, Delaware
unit
1t was found, however, that recruits
from Delaware were not coming in as
rapidly as was necessary and a num-
ber of recruits from other States,
principally from New York and New
Jersey, were supplied to bring the
regiment up to war strength. Six
hundred and nine recruits were re-
ceived April 26, 1918, and on July "a,
1918, orders were received to fill the
regiment to war strength from the
July draft. Pursuant to this, on Aug
ust 6, 1918, 1909 recruits were receiv-
ed from the 15Srd Depot Brigade, and
on the 9Th of August, orders were re-
ceived to complete full strength at the
earliest possible date
During the stay of the regiment at
Camp Dix, New Jersey, Major General
Hugh L. Scott was in command of the
S7th Division and afterwards became
camp commander at Camp Dix.
The regimental training proceeded
along the lines of infantry training as
established for the 18th Division and
other units stationed at that time at
Camp Dix.
Various incidents characterized the
stay of the regiment at this station,
and on April 27, 1918, the regiment
paraded in Philadelphia, with other
troops, in the demonstration for the
Third Liberty Loan. The regiment
was never part of the 18th Division, |
but remained at Camp Dix as an in
dependent unit, designated for use as
army troops after the formation of
field armies
The commanding officer was noti- [
fed on May z, 1918, that the regiment I
would proceed overseas, the notice |
being preliminary, as immediate move /
ment was not ordered. During all this /
time it was necessary to observe great /
secrecy regarding movement of troops |
and regarding certain items of train |
ing, owing to the system of espionage /
which the enemy was known to have /
in all parts of the United States.
POINTS OF INTEREST FOR
\ l. a