Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1941-01-17
MOBILIZATION
ON FEBRUARY 3
NOW ORDERED
First Regiment Will Become
The One Hundred And
Fifteenth Infantry
RECKORD'S STAFF IN
ACTIVE SERVICE ON 10Th



and other troops of the Twenty
Ninth Division for a year or
more in the Federal service.
The First Regiment, of which the
Pocomoke City Military Company is
a unit, is losing it's designations
when the Maryland National Guard is
modified and becomes part of the
national army next month.
Mai. Gen. Milton A. Reckord, COM
manding the Twenty-ninth Division
of which the First is a part, disclos-
ed that the War Department has or
dered it and the Dandy Fifth" and
one of the two Virginia regiments
IN the division redesignated to con-
form to the practice of the entire
army.
The First Infantry will become the
One Hundred and Fifteenth Infantry,
and the Fifth Infantry will become
the One Hundred and Seventy-fifth
Infantry. The two regiments now
make up the Fifty-eighth Infantry
Brigade, the designation of which
will remain unchanged.
One of the oldest military units of
the armed forces of the United States
the Dandy Fifth" has lost its iden-
tity, as such only twice since it came
into existence December 10, 1776, as
part of the Revolutionary Army. In
both cases-the Civil War and the
World War-it was a national emer-
gency.
During the Civil War most of the
members of the Fifth fought in the
Confederate Army in the First Mary
land Infantry of the Confederacy, the
survivors of the earlier campaigns
serving as the Second Maryland In
fantry until General Lees surrender.
When the United States entered
the World War and the National
Guard was modified, the First,
Fourth (no longer in existence) and
the Fifth were incorporated in the
One Hundred and Fifteenth Infantry
when the Twenty Ninth Division was
formed at Admission, Ala. After the
war, the First and Fifth were re-
organized and their pre-war desig-
nations readopted.
The Maryland troops made up the
One Hundred and Fifteenth Infantry
of the World War Fifty-eighth Bri-
gade and the Virginia troops COM
prised the One Hundred and Sixteen
tn Infantry Regiment of that bri-
gade.
Virginia was given Zone Hundred
and Sixteenth" and Maryland Zone
Hundred and Fifteenth" but Mary
land got back the old First and Fifth
designations and forget about Zone
Hundred and Fifteenth
The new designations, resulting
from mobilization for Federal service
in another emergency, really are
War Department concession to his
tory and do not conform exactly to
national army rules.
W L1lCSC 1u1OO1 Vic WV
Maryland regiments of the Fifty
eighth Brigade should be the One
Hundred and Fifteenth and the One
Hundred and Sixteenth and the two
Virginia regiments of the Eighty
eighth Brigade should be the One
Hundred and Seventy-fifth and the
One Hundred and Seventy-sixth.
Whether the changes will be per-
manent or the Maryland troops can
get back their historic designations
after the present national emergency
is over is problematical, members of
General Reckord's staff said. The
Maryland changes are official, but
formal notification of the Virginia
changes has not been received at
General Reckord's division headquar-
ters.
The commanding general of the
Twenty-ninth Division also revealed
that he and part of his staff have
been ordered to report at his new
headquarters at Fort Meade two
weeks in advance of the mobilization
of the entire division.
If the division is modified Febru-
airy 8, as expected, General Reck-
ord's staff will go into active service
January 20.
General Reckord and his assistants
will complete plans and preparation
for the mobilization of the entire di-
vision. They will be stationed in the
buildings erected especially for the
Twenty-ninth Divisions use at Fort
Meade. The headquarters buildings
are completed.