11th Cavalry

· The mission was to help neutralize the insurrectionist forces that were trying to seize power after the Spanish-American War.

· The Regiment served under the First Civil Governor of the Philippines, William Howard Taft, who later became President of the United States.

The troopers were issued "bolo" knives (machetes) to slash through the thick jungle vegetation of the Philippine Islands. A pair of crossed bolo knives later became a part of the Blackhorse crest symbolizing the "first blood" or "battle action" of the Regiment.

· First Squadron earned the Regiments' first battle streamer entitled "Samar 1902", While posted on the island of Samar.

· The Regiment’s first casualty occurred in an ambush when Private Clarence L. Gibbs was killed by insurrectionist forces.

· The Regiment was stationed at Fort Des Moines, Iowa after returning from the Philippines.

From their base at Camp Columbia, Cuba, the Regiment, less first Squadron, conducted small mounted patrols as a display of the power of the United States.

· When order had been restored, the Regiment deployed back to the United States.

· Upon arriving, the 11^th Cavalry was asked to participate in the inaugural parade for President William Howard Taft in Washington, DC.

· The Regiment was stationed at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia with a mission of preparedness for military contingencies.

Early that year, the Blackhorse was ordered to Fort Sam Houston, Texas to begin desert training, as concerns about Mexican stability increased.

· The 11th Cavalry was deployed to the towns of Trinidad and Ludlow, Colorado, to stop the bloodshed by a show of force that would allow both sides time to negotiate

· The Mexican revolutionary "Pancho" Villa raided the town of Columbus, New Mexico.

· After killing fifteen Americans and several visiting Mexicans, Villa left the town in ruins.

· President Woodrow Wilson ordered BG. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing to lead a Punitive Expedition into Mexico to destroy Villa's rebel army.

· The 11th Cavalry joined the expedition into Mexico to capture Villa and neutralize his army.

· While in Mexico, the Second Squadron (Provisional), commanded by Major Robert L. Howze, led the last mounted cavalry charge in U.S. military history.

· After the action, Howze’s men reported forty-two enemy dead while suffering no friendly casualties or loss of mounts.

· The 5^th of May was later established as the Regiment’s official organization day, in honor of Howze’s charge.

· The Regiment moved to its new posting at the Presidio of Monterey, California.

· The "Allons" crest officially established the Regiment as distinctive from other mounted units.

· "The Great Monterey Oil fire" erupted when lightning struck an oil storage tank.

· The 11th Cavalry participated in the fire fighting effort and twenty-six Blackhorse troopers were killed.

· John Philip Sousa had written the tune "The Black Horse Troop" and the 9^th Colonel of the Regiment, Herbert J. Brees, received permission to adopt it as the Regiment’s tune.

· The 11^th Cavalry appeared in the film "Sergeant Murphy" starring Ronald Reagan.

· On 1 June of that year, it also participated in the opening ceremony of the Golden Gate Bridge.

· The 11th Cavalry was ordered to start experimenting with scout cars, the first mechanized cavalry vehicles.

· The tide of mechanization finally swept away the last of the horse-mounted cavalry.

· In a very emotional farewell, the mounts that had symbolized the true cavalry trooper were turned in for vehicles.

· The Headquarters and Headquarters Troop was redesignated on, as the HHT, 11th Cavalry Group Mechanized.

· The former squadrons of the 11th Cavalry were sent to fight with the 10th Armored Division and the 90th Infantry Division overseas.

· HHT, 11th Cavalry Group Mechanized drew new squadrons, the 36^th and 44^th Reconnaissance Squadrons, and received an Assault Gun Troop (a Howitzer Battery).

· The Group moved to Camp Gordon, Georgia, to begin training for overseas deployment.

· Declared ready for combat, the Regiment departed from New York bound for the United Kingdom and

· The first unit of the Blackhorse to cross the English Channel was B Troop, commanded by 1LT Leonard B. Holder, who would later become the Regiment’s 37th Colonel in Vietnam.

After the war, the 11th Cavalry Group Mechanized was redesignated as the 11th Constabulary Regiment to maintain order in war torn Germany.

It was a grand time for the Regiment as they received horses again to patrol the devastated villages and towns of post-war Germany.

· The Blackhorse was redesignated as the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment and inactivated.

· At the height of the Korean War, the Blackhorse was brought back on active status as the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment at Camp Carson, Colorado.

· The Regiment transferred to Fort Knox, Kentucky to receive its training in armored tactics.

· The Regiment deployed to the Desert Warfare Training Center at Camp Irwin, CA, (little did the Regiment know it would not be the last time).

· The entire Regiment rotated to southern Germany to relieve the 6th ACR patrolling the Germany-Czechoslovakia border.

· The Blackhorse returned to the United States and was stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland for two years,

After attaining victory in the Spanish-American War of 1898, the United States found itself with the new task of Territorial Administration. In large part the job fell to the regular Army. Found to be undermanned for the mission, Congress increased the standing army by five infantry and five cavalry Regiments. Thus, on 2 February 1901, the 11th Cavalry Regiment was the first of five newly formed cavalry regiments. The 12th, 13th, 14th and the 15th Cavalry Regiments followed.

On 11 March 1901, the first recruits of the new Regiment reported for training at Fort Myer, Virginia. A combat tested veteran of the Civil War, who also gave distinguished service in the Spanish-American War, was tasked with raising the Regiment and serving as its first commanding officer. The 11th Cavalry was exceptionally fortunate in having the standard set by such an experienced and resourceful officer as Colonel Francis Moore; FIRST COLONEL OF THE REGIMENT.

The headgear was called a "campaign hat." It resembled a fedora with a crease down the middle of the crown. The shirt was made of dark blue chambray and the trousers were a buff-colored khaki with canvas leggings over low cut boots. A dark blue coat was used for dress occasions while a khaki coat was issued for field use. When mounted, the trooper wore brass rowel spurs and gauntlets (riding gloves). His holstered .38 caliber double action Colt revolver hung opposite a Model 1860 Light Cavalry Saber on a canvas "Mills" belt that held double rows of cartridges for his rifle. Slung from his saddle was a tin cup, a flat circular canteen, a blue blanket, and the famous smokeless powder King-Jorgensen magazine fed carbine.

The typical soldier began his day with "Stable Call" at 0500 hrs. Tasked with caring for his mount before addressing his own needs, the Trooper rubbed down, fed and exercised his horse. Next came routine with which soldiers of today can readily identify. This involved close order drill, athletics, guard duty, and honing the skills of scouting and patrolling. Afternoons were devoted to mounted drill, one of which was known as the "Monkey Drill." This maneuver required the Trooper to ride bareback hands free while putting his horse through various maneuvers. The pay of the 11th Cavalry soldier in the early 1900's was $13.00 a month for a six-day workweek. Sunday was a day off when Troopers received mounted passes that permitted riding through the countryside.

By June 1901, the Regiment was fully activated, although its three Squadrons were separated to posts in Missouri, Vermont and Virginia. Six months of intensive training culminated with orders to depart for the Philippines to assist in putting down the insurrection there.

First Squadron traveled overland and embarked out of San Francisco to Hawaii, Wake Island and then on to the Philippines. Second and Third Squadrons left by way of New York on the U.S.A.T. Buford* (Army Transport Service), arriving in Manila after a sixty-one day voyage which included passage through the Suez Canal.

[*General John Buford, 1848 - 1863, West Point Class of 1848, Civil War US Cavalry commander. He led the Union forces in the epic 14 hour Battle of Brandy Station 9 June 1863. In this, the largest cavalry action in the Western Hemisphere, the classic saber and pistol clash involved a total of over 17,000 horse-mounted troopers. He fought the Confederate Cavalry to a draw for the first time in the Civil War in an action that began the rise to dominance of the Union horsemen. At Gettysburg, the battle that saw more Americans die than any other in history, he dismounted his 2500 troopers and held off a Confederate Division for over two hours until reinforcements arrived. This action stopped the Confederate advance and forced the battle onto ground of his own choosing.]

Future President William Howard Taft was the first civil governor of the Philippines and his governorship of the islands was a high mark in colonial administration for any nation. He had First Squadron dispatched to Samar, Second Squadron to Batangas Province, and Third Squadron to northern Luzon. Experiencing jungle warfare for the first time, the Regiment fought dismounted. The name of Private Clarence L. Gibbs, KIA 4 March 1902, was the first to be placed on the 11th Cavalry Roll of Honor.

By May 1902, working from satellite camps attached to larger base camps, daily patrols of Troopers had swept the countryside of guerrillas and the Regiment began the transition to garrison operations. The tropical climate, illness and guerrilla warfare had depleted the Regiment to one-third strength.

Orders home were issued in March 1904 and within a month the Regiment was scattered around the United States once more. HQ and Second Squadron were at Ft. Des Moines, Iowa; First Squadron was assigned to the historic cavalry post at Ft. Riley, Kansas; Third Squadron was split between Ft. Sheridan, Illinois and Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. It wasn't until summer 1905 that the Regiment served together for the first time when it was consolidated at Ft. Des Moines.

The Cuban republic was established after the 1898 Spanish-American War. In 1901 the Platt Amendment, a rider attached to the Army Appropriations Bill of 1901, stipulated the conditions for U.S. intervention in Cuba that virtually made the island an U.S. protectorate. Under the terms of this bill the United States established – and retains to this day – a naval base at Guantanamo Bay.

In mid-1906 Cuban internal strife caused the United States to invoke the Platt Amendment and send troops to the island nation in an attempt to restore order. William Howard Taft, now Secretary-of-War, sent his Philippine Insurrection veterans, the experienced 11 Cavalry Regiment under the command of Colonel Earl D. Thomas, 2nd COLONEL OF THE REGIMENT.

Pulled from its annual maneuvers at Fort Riley, Kansas, First Squadron returned to Fort Des Moines while the balance of the regiment left for Cuba by way of Newport News. The regiment arrived in Havana ahead of its horses on 16 October 1906 and set up base camp outside the city. A storm with hurricane force winds struck the next day, destroying the camp and battering the ships still at sea so badly that over 200 mounts were killed. The troopers of the day quickly recovered and assumed control of western Cuba. Regimental Headquarters was established in Pinar del Rio after a 29 hour/110 mile force march by Troop F. The mission of the 11th Cavalry was to 'show the flag' by conducting mounted patrols throughout the countryside between the villages. While in Cuba the regiment was joined by its new commander, Colonel James Parker, 3rd COLONEL OF THE REGIMENT.

"Galloping Jim" (the longest serving Colonel) continued peacekeeping operations during the Regiment's two-year stay, demonstrating to the natives that the US Army's Cavalry was ready for any and all eventualities. Although conflict is at times inevitable, the 11th Cavalry Regiment best serves the country when it commands respect and thereby averts war through a show of strength. This will be repeated time and again throughout the history of the regiment.

By 1909 the political situation in Cuba was stable and the regiment was recalled. In late February, they began hurried preparations to embark out of Havana and return to the United States. The reason for the hasty departure became apparent when, upon arriving once again in Newport News, Virginia on 1 March 1909, they were immediately ordered to Washington D.C. by train. Arriving in a severe blizzard, the troopers of the 11th Cavalry Regiment nonetheless readied themselves for the task at hand. The next day, 4 March 1909, the Blackhorse assumed a place of honor in the inaugural parade of their old friend and now President, William Howard Taft.

After the inauguration of President Taft, the regiment settled into garrison life at its new home at Fort Oglethrope, Georgia. The reprieve was short lived however, as in early 1911 the regiment was deployed to the Texas/Mexico border in response to Mexico's internal political turmoil which threatened to spill into the United States. This would prove to be the first of many border postings for the 11th Cavalry. The crisis soon eased and the regiment returned to Fort Oglethorpe in November. In May 1914, the regiment deployed to Colorado to restore order in the wake of a violent coal strike, returning to Georgia in January 1915 for a stay of a little over a year before deploying to Mexico.

The troops' menu should not be forgotten. In every game of chance there is always a possible element of disappointment, but there is neither chance nor disappointment in the matter of meals for troops. They were dealt the inevitable "government straight" consisting of canned baked beans, canned tomatoes, canned corn bread, or "Corned Willie", coffee and prunes. This may not sound so bad, but it did get monotonous.

World War I began on 28 July 1914, one month after the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne by a Serbian terrorist in Sarajevo, Bosnia. The United States was not immediately drawn into "The Great War", as it was then known. American lives were lost however, during the sinking of the British liners Lusitania and Arabic in May and August of 1915. After hostile reactions from American citizens and vehement protests from the U.S. Government, Germany announced the cessation of unlimited submarine war. Meanwhile, events much closer to home were commanding the attention of the 11th Cavalry.

On 9 March 1916, the Mexican revolutionary "Pancho" Villa raided the town of Columbus, New Mexico. President Woodrow Wilson ordered Brigadier-General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing to lead a Punitive Expedition into Mexico to destroy Villa's rebel army. On 12 March the 11th Cavalry under the command of James Lockett (4th COLONEL OF THE REGIMENT) was ordered to report to Pershing. The lead elements of the Regiment moved out that very night.

A feature of railroad troop trains is their ability for "rapid" transit. At every station stop a delegation of the Red Cross met the trains with hot coffee and sweet smiles. At El Paso, Texas the 11th Cavalry was ordered to go directly to Columbus, New Mexico to join the expedition going into Mexico. Lieutenant-Colonel Henry T. Allen led First Squadron as the forward element into that country.

The Provisional Squadron of the 11th Cavalry was formed under the command of Major Robert L. Howze. On 10 April 1916, a Villista patrol engaged Major Howze’s advance guard. In the ensuing battle the Regiment suffered its first casualties of the campaign with three wounded and Private Kirby of Troop M killed. Trooper Kirby was buried where he fell. The Regiment had forced marched for 21 days over 571 miles. Two troops (companies) of the 10th Cavalry, the "Buffalo Soldiers" reinforced the Regiment at Parral. Cut off from their base at Colonia Dublan, the squadron was sorely in need of resupply. "Our animals were low in flesh. Officers had to watch their men to keep them from eating part of the corn allowance of the horses."

On 5 May 1916, the 11th Cavalry had the honor of making what proved to be the last mounted charge in regular US Cavalry history. This would be the first of a number of 'lasts' the 11th would undertake in its career as a regular Army unit, including the last forced march and the last mounted combat patrol. The account of the 'Last Charge' was noted as follows: "The column advanced onto the village to be found out by guards. The bugler sounded and with guidon flying on high the charge began. The troopers entered Ojo Azules with pistols firing, bugle sounding out orders, commands being screamed, and the thunder of hoofs all putting fear into the hearts of the enemy." To the average trooper it was just another day of service to his country.

5 May 1916 report to General Pershing: "We made an over-night march to Ojo Azules, distance thirty-six miles. Reached here at 5:45 a.m. unfortunately one-half hour after daylight. We surprised Julia Acosta, Cruz Domingues and Antonio Angel; jumped them. Had a running fight for two hours. Drove their bands into the hills between here and Carichic. Killed forty-two verified by officers; captured several and some fifty to seventy-one ponies and mules. It is believed that we killed Angel, although identification not completed. We rescued a Carranza lieutenant and four soldiers just before they were to be shot. We followed the enemy, consisting of about 140, until our horses were wholly exhausted, but the chase did not stop until the enemy’s left flank had been broken up entirely. In fact, those who escaped us did so as individuals. Our discovery was by Villista herd guards, which fired at our Indians, and also alarmed the enemy, which ran pell mell, firing at us in their flight. The remarkable part is although the clothing of several of our men was hit; not a single man was wounded, thanks to the utter surprise and confusion of the enemy. We lost three or four horses. It is needless to say that officers and men behaved as would be expected."

The 11th Cavalry withdrew from Mexico on 5 February 1917, five days after Germany resumed a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare against American shipping on 31 January.

1 March 1917 saw the publication of a German memorandum proposing a defensive alliance with Mexico in case of war between Germany and the United States with the proviso "...that Mexico is to recover the lost territory in New Mexico, Texas and Arizona..." which caused a wave of American outrage. Alfred Zimmerman, German Foreign Secretary, had sent the coded message on 19 January, which also contained the suggestion that Mexico urge Japan to join the Central Powers, to von Eckhardt, the German Minister to Mexico. British Naval Intelligence intercepted and decoded it, giving a copy to the U.S. Ambassador to Britain on 24 February. After verification, it was released to the press 1 March. At the time, the British Navy had the German merchant fleet bottled up in the Gulf of California port of Santa Rosalia.

The United States’ declaration of war on Germany, enacted by Congress on 6 April 1917, found the Regiment pausing at Ft. Bliss, Texas as part of a provisional First Cavalry Division. Due to the threat outlined in the Zimmerman telegram and the proximity of the German merchant fleet, a detachment of the 11th was stationed on the border at Camp John Beacom in Calexico, California (nearest border crossing to the German fleet) while another was stationed in the Campo area. These detachments continued border duty until 1920. Within a month new orders came and Colonel James B. Irwin (6th COLONEL OF THE REGIMENT) led the remainder of the Regiment back to Chickamauga Park, Georgia, near Ft. Oglethorpe. The next two years saw various elements of the 11th Cavalry scattered throughout the South.

Coming Home

On 9 July 1919, the main body of the Regiment departed Ft. Meyer, Virginia on a transcontinental trek to a new duty station at the Presidio of Monterey, California. Second and Third Squadrons, whose troops had been scattered throughout Georgia, Wyoming, and California, soon rejoined the HQ. Here the Regiment remained for over two decades, during the "Quiet Years."

Presidio duties included exercising horses on the beaches of Monterey, extended war maneuvers in the forests and deserts of California and summer training of ROTC personnel at Fort Lewis, Washington. In the 1930's, running the Citizen's Military Training Corps (CMTC) Program in Monterey was an additional requirement. In the comparatively genteel Army of the 1920's and 1930's, the Regiment's spare time was filled with unit competitions in polo and horsemanship.

During the inter-war period Hollywood secured the 11th Cavalry to make war movies. The Regiment was involved in the making of two motion pictures, "Troopers Three" (1929) and ""Sergeant Murphy" (1937). The latter starred a promising young actor in his second film by the name of Ronald Reagan, himself an Army Reserve Cavalryman in Troop B, 322nd Cavalry. On May 25, 1937 he was appointed a second lieutenant in the Officers' Reserve Corps of the Cavalry. Ronald Reagan was the last US President who served as a horse mounted cavalryman and the only one to "serve" with the 11th Cavalry Regiment.

The Regiment participated in many ceremonies, such as marking the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge at San Francisco on 1 June 1937. The guidon for 'D' Troop was carried by Pvt. Hubert Brown on that day and has been donated by him to the Regiment. The guidon was entrusted to into his care as the 'D' Troop guidon bearer commencing in 1935 until he left the Regiment in 1940.

The 1920's and 1930's saw the gradual introduction of armored cars, trucks and motorcycles to the Regiment, supplementing the traditional horse, wagon and pack mules. Scout cars were accepted in 1935 with the later M3A1 becoming the pre-war mainstay. Special built tractor-trailers were capable of rapidly transporting eight fully equipped Troopers with their horses to any staging point. (It was also in the late 1930's that the Regiment was issued the Garand M1 to replace the venerable Springfield M1903 rifle.)

In the mid-1930's the US Army purchased European military equipment for testing purposes. One such item was a horse drawn munitions wagon recently recovered near Camp Lockett, where the Regiment was stationed. It was restored to the original German Army forest green color just as it was used by the 11th Cavalry. The Regiment added the distinctive crossed sabers of the Cavalry.

Field maneuvers, large-scale exercises and an occasional search and rescue mission in the mountains of Southern California gave the 11th Cavalry a unique training opportunity among the Army’s Cavalry Regiments. They were able to evaluate, under as-near-to battlefield conditions as possible, the efficiency of the horse in the modern army. One such rescue mission incorporated nearly every vehicle in the regimental inventory. Using motorcycle squads, Bantam scout cars (Jeeps), the M3A1 scout car, 1½ ton trucks and the age-old horse now deployed by tractor-trailer, the Troopers combed rugged mountains for two lost infantrymen. The lessons learned in the coordination of movement and the maneuverability of the various components in the successful mission were forwarded for study to Washington D.C. The information was taken to heart. Virtually every single country entering WWII had horse mounted supply, artillery and cavalry units in combat. Over a dozen of those countries still fielded them at war’s end. In April 1945, the 4th German Cavalry Division alone surrendered 16,000 horse mounted soldiers.

In 1939 General George C. Marshall became Army Chief of Staff. With war clouds looming over Europe, Marshall knew it was only a matter of time before the United States was drawn into another conflict overseas. In order to prepare the 60,000-man army, he began a program to get the men out of the barracks and into the field for a year of "toughening up." Tent camps were to be constructed and in turn various regiments of cavalry and infantry would take to the field. By September 1940 General Marshall had convinced Congress to begin the first-ever peacetime draft beginning in September 1940. In November 1940 the field rotation for the 11th Cavalry began.

The new camps for the Regiment were constructed in San Diego and Imperial counties, near the Southern California/Mexican border. Camp Seeley, near El Centro, California and Camp Morena; near Campo were built simultaneously. Camp Seeley was used for desert training, training the horses to swim with rider up (mounted) and was the location of Regiment's rifle and machine gun ranges. Camp Morena was for mountain and cold weather training. The Regiment would rotate Squadrons between the two throughout the year. It was later decided to establish a single camp suitable to house the entire Regiment at one site. Construction of Camp Lockett (named for James Lockett, 4th COLONEL OF THE REGIMENT) in Campo, where "E" Troop had been posted in 1918, began in 1941. Built by the Quartermaster Corps, it is generally acknowledged that Camp Lockett was the last designated mounted cavalry camp constructed in the U.S. Army's history. It remained a cavalry post for the 10th and 28th Regiments after the 11th gave up its horses. Today the El Centro/Camp Seeley area remains the home of the 11th Cavalry Horse Honor Guard (Historical) - "The Colonel's Own."

Led by Harold M. Rayner, (16th COLONEL OF THE REGIMENT) the main body moved from the Presidio of Monterey to the Camp Seeley/Camp Morena duty stations. By this time the Regiment had reverted to three troops (companies) per squadron. The Regiment's HQ, First Squadron and Provisional Squadron were based at Camp Seeley, while Second Squadron was posted at Camp Moreno. In March 1941, some 700 draftees from Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan joined the Regiment. They were the first conscripts to have ridden with the Regiment.

The Regiment underwent extensive training until 7 December 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. On 10 December, the entire Regiment was ordered to occupy the unfinished Camp Lockett. Those units based at Camp Morena made the five-mile trek in short order. The Squadrons based at Camp Seeley commenced what became the last "Forced March" in U.S. Horse Cavalry history, completing the ninety mile march over extremely rocky, mountainous terrain in one and a half days. Once at Camp Lockett, horse-drawn artillery units occupied Camp Seeley while its rifle range continued to be used by cavalry units from Camp Lockett. Camp Morena was closed.

Immediately following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, there were wild reports of Japanese attacks on the California coast. Once at Camp Lockett, the regiment was posted along the United States/Mexico border for the fourth time in its history; this time to counter the rumored threat of enemy troops landing in Baja California and marching north. Once the threat was proven to be false, the 11th Cavalry Regiment was relieved by the 10th and the 28th (horse) Cavalry and stood down to await further orders. They were supposed to ship out for Australia, but many of the troopers came down with jaundice from the yellow fever vaccinations, so they remained in California for the time being.

The summer of 1942 found the regiment reassigned to Fort Benning, Georgia where they were inactivated as a horse mounted unit and reactivated as the 11th Armored Regiment. Even then, massive reorganization efforts within the Army shuffled various elements of the regiment around - eliminated some - but eventually three distinct groups emerged from the chaos:

-Headquarters & Headquarters Troop became 11th Cavalry Group Mechanized/XIII Corps

The Battle of the Bulge was the largest battle ever fought by the United States and was the largest land battle of World War II. Fought from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, it involved more than a million men including some 600,000 Germans, 500,000 Americans, and 55,000 British. The Germans had two Armies with ten corps (equal to 29 divisions), while the Americans fielded three armies with six corps (equal to 31 divisions). The end of the battle saw US casualties as 81,000 with 19,000 killed, 1400 British casualties with 200 killed, and 100,000 Germans killed, wounded or captured.

This epic battle has the distinction of being the only one that involved all three elements of the old 11th Cavalry Regiment. The 11th Tank Battalion was defending inside the bulge while the 712th Tank Battalion was in the relief column punching its way in. The 11th Cavalry Group anchored a sector on the northern shoulder of the bulge.

The 712th landed in France on D-Day + 23, and went into combat on 3 July 1944 on Hill 122, known as "the most expensive piece of real estate in World War II," in terms of casualties. In the 11-day battle that lasted from 3 July to 13 July, the 90th Infantry Division suffered 7,000 casualties. The 712th fought its way through France crossing the Moselle River and then the Saar River. They came back across the Saar and plunged into the Battle of the Bulge, after which they crossed the Saar again, then the Rhine River. They had broken through the Siegfried Line and were penetrating into the heart of Germany to Amberg by the time the war ended. The 712th Tank Battalion returned to the States after the war and was inactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey on 27 October 1945. The unit followed a separate lineage until it was inactivated as the 95th Tank Battalion of the 7th Armored Division on 15 November 1953. The unit rejoined the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in October 1958.

The 11th Tank Battalion entered combat on 2 October 1944 and fought continuously until the end of the war. One of the most dramatic contests occurred in the little village of Berdorf, Luxembourg during the German Ardennes Offensive or 'Battle of the Bulge.' The 11th Tank fought off relentless attacks by two entire Panzer Battalions over the course of three days. The defenders suffered only 4 dead and 20 wounded while losing only one tank and four half-tracks. They inflicted casualties of 350 known enemy dead while destroying seven tanks and three half-tracks. The gallant stand helped buy time for relief forces to move up and block any further German advance. An enemy breakthrough at Berdorf would have given the Germans a clear road to Luxembourg. One of the 'Forward Observers' positions was in the Berdorf Hof (Hotel), providing a clear view down the main road into the village. After the war the 11th Tank Battalion was inactivated at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia on 13 October 1945.

The 11th Cavalry Group would be destined to carry on the Blackhorse name. Then Lt. Leonard D. Holder (37th COLONEL OF THE REGIMENT) of Troop B, 44th Squadron, was the first to land on the shores of France. This Troop was given the honor of being attached to General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s headquarters to provide check point security and escort duty for the remainder of the war. On 23 November 1944 the balance of the Group loaded onto a small fleet of Landing Ship Transports (LST's) and crossed the channel. The first assignment was to begin aggressive patrols across the Roer River to check enemy movements. During the Battle of the Bulge the 11th Cavalry Group held the entire sector normally occupied by a division.

When the Allied offensive resumed after the Battle of the Bulge, the 11th Cavalry Group was tasked with covering the flank of XIII Corps during the push from the Roer to the Rhine. Faced with maintaining a 32-mile long screen, the Group developed the tactic of leap-frogging squadrons through the villages along the way. Constantly in contact with the enemy, the 11th Cavalry hit the Rhine River on 5 March 1945, having inflicted 487 casualties while taking only 56 themselves. Now, with the German Army prepared to contest every single inch of territory, the Blackhorse began probing the enemy defenses with across river patrols. Crossing into the German heartland on 1 April, the 11th Cavalry resumed a flanking screen for XIII Corps. Pushing ahead, virtually cut off from other friendly units and supplies, the 11th scored bold victories as they liberated more than one thousand American POW’s along with several thousand slave-labors from a prison camps. The 11th Cavalry pushed on to the Elbe River, reaching it on 14 April. Orders prevented them from any further eastward movement. Rather, the unit was directed to swing north in a mopping up operation.

This thrust deep into the enemy's homeland culminated with the 11th Cavalry Group killing and wounding 632 German soldiers and capturing 6,128 prisoners. In 21 days the Blackhorse had moved 378 miles and suffered only 14 killed and 102 wounded.

The 11th Cavalry Group had advanced at such a fast pace that they meet the III Russian Corps coming into Germany near Kunrau. Since Germany was to be divided into sectors, the 11th found them selves deep inside the Russian Occupation Zone. After a brief celebration between the two over the Allied victory, the 11th Cavalry Group withdrew to Hannover and began the task of army of occupation.

Early May 1946 found the 11th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) reverting from horsepower back to horseflesh. The Group was re-designated the 11th Constabulary Regiment and reissued horses drawn from world-renowned Polish breeding stock. Likewise, the 11th Tank Battalion stateside was re-activated as the Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Constabulary Regiment. The horses were utilized, along with other various modes of transportation, to accomplish the mission of reconnaissance and surveillance of movements of the populace. The concern was the possible resuming of hostilities by fraction groups. This elite force roamed through its various sectors presenting a bearing of security, order and stability to the country. The distinctive "C" inside a circle on the helmets and shoulder patches earned the mounted Constabulary Regiments the nickname "Circle C Cowboys" and brought the distinction of being the last horse mounted combat patrols in US history. 20 September 1947 saw the 1st Constabulary Regiment inactivated with the 11th scheduled to follow 30 November 1948. Both were converted and re-designated on 30 November 1948 as the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment and inactivated.