9th Cavalry
Lawton-Fort Sill Chapter
10 th Cavalry


The 25th Infantry Regiment

 

The Act of July 28, 1866 added to the 19 regiments of infantry then in service, "Eight new regiments of ten companies each, four regiments of which shall be composed of colored men." Accordingly, the 38th, 39th, 40th and 41st were so composed, while the 42nd, 43rd, 44th and 45th were designated Veteran Reserves. The 18 regiments between the 19th and 38th were provided by erecting the second and third battalions of each of the three-battalion regiments (11th and 19th, inclusive) into separate regiments. The same Act contained the following provision, which has not since been modified: "The President may, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint a chaplain for each regiment of colored troops."

The Act of March 3, 1869 provided for the consolidation of the 45 regiments into 25, and also that "the enlisted men of two regiments of infantry shall be composed of colored men." General Orders issued from Army Headquarters in May, 1869 directed the "Twenty-fifth Infantry (colored), to be composed of the 39th and 40th Regiments," and ordered "The 39th, now in North Carolina, will be relieved as soon as possible and will proceed to New Orleans, there to be consolidated with the 40th, now in the Department of Louisiana. The field officers will be: Joseph A. Mower, colonel; Edward W. Hinks, lieutenant colonel; Zenas R. Bliss, major."

By the end of April 1869, the organization of the regiment had been completed and the special return shows a full complement of officers and 1045 men. Colonel (and Bvt. Major-General) Mower was commanding the Department of Louisiana with headquarters at New Orleans; Lieutenant-Colonel (and Bvt. Brigadier General) Hinks commanded the regiment with headquarters, Companies D, G and K, at Jackson Barracks, La, Major (and Bvt. Lieut.Col.) Bliss with Companies E, F and I garrisoned Ship Island, Miss.; Company A was at Fort Pike, La.; Companies B and H at Fort Jackson, La.; Company C at Fort St. Philip, La. By the end of the year, 532 men had been discharged by expiration of service alone, and as little recruiting was done, the effective had fallen to about 500 men.

General Mower died at New Orleans January 6, 1870, and was succeeded by Colonel (and Bvt. Major-General) J. J. Reynolds who was placed in command of the Department of Texas the following April, without having joined the regiment. In May 1870, the regiment was on its way to that department, going by steamer to Indianola, Texas, thence marching to San Antonio. Colonel Bliss with Companies B, C and G arrived at the latter place on June 3 and encamped at San Pedro Springs where they were joined by the rest of the regiment, under General Hinks, on the 9th. The march to stations began June 22d. The main body took the Fort Clark road, while Companies C and H diverged on the road to Fort McKavett. At Rio Frio, Companies E and I marched for Fort Duncan, under Colonel Bliss. July found Headquarters, Companies D and F established at Fort Clark; Company K at Fort Stockton; Companies A and G at Fort Davis; Company B did not reach its distant station, Fort Quitman, until August.

Native Americans called these infantrymen, "Walks-a-heaps," since they spent much of their tour of duty on foot. The men also rode horses when available, and occasionally traveled in wagons.

In December 1870, General Reynolds transferred to the 3d Cavalry and General Hinks retired from active service; they were succeeded by Colonel John D. Stevenson and Lieut.Col. George L. Andrews; the latter becoming colonel of the regiment January 1, 1871, when Stevenson resigned. Colonel Andrews joined the regiment at Fort Clark June 19, 1871. In May 1872, the regiment marched to Western Texas and established its headquarters at Fort Davis. Company I, Captain Lawson commanding, participated in the engagement with Indians at Wichita Indian Agency, Indian Territory, Aug. 22 and 23, 1873, having one man wounded. Company B, Captain Bentzoni commanding, was with General Mackenzie's expedition into Mexico in June 1878.

The history of the ten years' service in Texas is the record of a continuous series of building and repairing of military posts, roads and telegraph lines; of escort and guard duty of all descriptions; of marchings and counter-marchings from post to post, and of scouting for Indians which resulted in a few unimportant skirmishes.

West Texas owes much to the road building activities of the army in the years just after the Civil War. It was the 25th Infantry that can claim a lions share of the construction. The roads were primarily built to connect forts and camps but over time and as the country became more populated, the routes became highways, many of which are the foundation for current roads. Over 1,000 miles of roads were laid out and constructed. Over 300 miles of telegraph wire was strung and maintained.

And since they were infantrymen, they marched. Colonel Benjamin Grierson for the 10th Cavalry reported to Washington in 1881 that, "The distance marched by companies and detachments during the three years specified (1877-1880), as shown by the records, foots up the grand total of 135,710 miles."

In April 1880, the regiment was ordered to the Department of Dakota, exchanging with the 1st Infantry. Headquarters and four companies took station at Fort Randall, S. D., in June and remained there until the arrival of the 15th Infantry in November 1882, when they were transferred to Fort Snelling, Minn., relieving the 7th Infantry. During this period four companies were stationed at Fort Meade, S. D., and two at Fort Hale, S. D. The latter post was abandoned in May, 1884, and the garrison transferred to Fort Sisseton, N. D.

In May 1888, the regiment was transferred to Montana, exchanging stations with the 3rd Infantry. Headquarters and four companies were located at Fort Missoula, while four companies went to Fort Shaw and two to Fort Custer.

In September 1890, companies K and I were skeletonized pursuant to orders from the War Department. Lieutenant-Colonel Van Horn, with companies C, E, F and H, arrived at Fort Keogh the last of November, 1890, and remained there in camp until February 5, 1891, when they returned to their stations.

Elements of the 25th were also deployed to the Pine Ridge reservation in 1891. The men were sent to the Sioux reservation after the massacre at Wounded Knee Creek. Many survivors of Wounded Knee left the reservation and raided supply trains for food. With the 9th Cavalry the men of the 25th rounded up these natives and then paraded, in full force with the 9th and 7th Cavalry regiments to discourage further hostile actions.

Of the original officers of the regiment there were now but six on the rolls, viz.: Captains John W. French, Charles Bentzoni (Bvt. Lieut.-Col.), and Gaines Lawson (Bvt. Lieut.-Col.), and 2 Lieutenants (now captains) David B. Wilson, Owen J. Sweet and Henry P. Ritzius. It may also be interesting to note that Colonel Andrews, who was colonel of the regiment for over twenty years, the only colonel who ever commanded it; that during its first 22 years of existence, the whole regiment has been together but fourteen days, and that but one captain (Van Valzah) has attained his majority by regular promotion.

In 1897 one of the most unusual experiments of the army involved the 25th. It was the heyday of the bicycle and a young lieutenant, James Moss, was charged with organizing a bicycle corps. The effort was put to an extreme test. On June 14, 1897 20 men of the bicycle corps left Fort Missoula in Montana. Their goal was to ride to St. Louis some 1,900 miles away. When a civilian asked one of the men, "Where are you going today?" the riders quickly shot back their answer, "The Lord only knows. We’re following the Lieutenant." By early July the temperature was 110 degrees. Most of the men suffered from the heat, but all peddled on. It took 40 days in all and the group averaged 50 miles a day. The bicycle corps was met in St. Louis by a large enthusiastic crowd, some on bicycles, and escorted to the city center where a large celebration was held. It was a great surprise for the men. They had dealt with dozens and dozens of blown tires, dust caked gears and chains and very few roads. In the end lieutenant Moss thought the only uses for soldiers on bicycles was as messengers or scouts to compliment the cavalry and infantry, but he saw little point in continuing the exercise since horses were plentiful and roads and trails so poor in the west. The army agreed with Moss (who became a Colonel in time) and no further bicycle units were put on the trail.

The 25th served in Cuba during the Spanish American War and in the Philippines in 1899 and 1900.

The 25th was cadred into the 93rd Infantry Division at Ft. Huachuca in 1943 for service in WWII. The 93rd Infantry "Blue Helmets" saw action in the Pacific Theater of War.