1st Battalion 22nd Infantry Service At Home 1902-1903

1st Battalion 22nd Infantry

Service At Home 1902-1903

SERVICE IN THE UNITED STATES 1902-3

The third battalion embarked on the Rosecrans and sailed January 24, 1902; headquarters, the first, and the second battalions
sailed on the Hancock February 1. The voyage homeward was very rough, the Hancock traveling through storm after storm
from Nagasaki to San Francisco. During one of these storms, two men of the casual detachment were washed overboard.
The Rosecrans entered "Frisco" harbor on the evening of February 25; a few hours later the Hancock dropped anchor within hailing distance.

The regiment at once moved into camp at the Presidio, remaining there until March 4, 5, and 6, when the various companies moved by rail
to their assigned posts.

Company C took station at Fort Logan H. Roots, Arkansas, March 9;
companies A and D, at Fort Robinson, Nebraska, March 8;
company B, at Fort Niobrara, Nebraska, March 9;
headquarters, the second, and the third battalions, at Fort Crook, Nebraska, March 11.

May 7-9, companies A and D changed station to Fort Reno, I. T.; August 18-21, company B changed station from Fort Niobrara
to Fort Logan H. Roots. No additional changes of stations were made until the regiment was ordered to its second tour of duty in the Philippines.

Garrison duty, during the regiment's brief stay in the United States, was almost as exacting as field service. Drills and parades, target practice,
military athletics, summer exercises, fall maneuvers, schools for officers and men, and the necessary studies, combined to make strenuous service.
Each year the companies at Fort Crook, by battalion, marched one hundred and eighty miles to and from their target range
on the Omaha Indian reservation; in addition, in 1902, these companies marched four hundred miles to and from Fort Riley, Kansas.
August 1, the third battalion, Major Crittenden commanding, attended the reunion of the National society, army of the Philippines, at Council Bluffs, Iowa.

For the season of 1902, the regiment won first place in the department rifle competition at Fort Leavenworth, and second place
in the army competition at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. 1st Sergeant Archi Deuberry, company B, won both places.

The regiment was concentrated at Fort Riley in September for fall maneuvers. As this was the first assembly of troops
for experimental field purposes, great interest was taken in the event. Invitations were extended by the war department to the states;
many of the states accepted and sent representatives from the officers of their national guards. The Riley reservation became a huge camp,
from which, each morning, marched a khaki army to oppose an army in blue. These forces were employed in action according to pre-arranged plans;
the results of combat at various points were judged by disinterested umpires. And in order to obtain all possible benefits, lyceums were held nightly;
at these, the senior umpire read reports and decisions of the day's maneuvers. The regimental commander, Colonel James Miller,
commanding a brigade of the 18th and the 22nd infantries, two batteries, and River's squadron of the 4th cavalry,
won what was judged the only decisive victory of the maneuvers.

Companies A and D returned to Fort Reno, October 8; companies B and C, to Fort Logan H. Roots, October 10;
the second and the third battalions, to Fort Crook, October 22.

April 28, 1903, the second and the third battalions were sent to St. Louis, Missouri, to take part in the parade incidental
to the dedication of the Louisiana Purchase exposition; the battalions returned to Fort Crook, May 4, 1903.

Ed., Bancroft, Nebraska was approximately sixty miles from Fort Crook.
The above photo appears to show the Soldiers of the 22nd Infantry in the process of
unloading their supplies from the train and transferring them into wagons.

Photo from:

Historic Railroads of Nebraska
By Michael M. Bartels, James J. Reisdorff
Published by Arcadia Publishing, 2002

Ed., On the 11th of August, 1903, Colonel Henry Wygant became Commander of the 22nd Infantry Regiment.

The regiment again won first place in the annual department rifle competition at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, (Corporal William A. Vickery, company C)
and eighth place in the army competition at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. (1st Sergeant Archi Deuberry, company B).

October 20 and 21, 1903, the regiment left its peaceful stations for San Francisco, en route to the Philippines.
October 31, it embarked and sailed on the U. S. A. T. Sheridan. After stopping at Honolulu, November 8-10, and at Guam, November 22-23,
the Sheridan arrived at Manila November 28. Here, definite orders were received, assigning the regiment to service in Mindanao;
the Sheridan sailed from Manila bay December 1, and arrived at Camp Overton December 3. The regiment disembarked the following day.
December 6, the second battalion took station at Pantar; headquarters, the first and the third battalions, at Camp Marahui.

A bill sent to the St. Joseph & Grand Island Railroad, for the amount of fifty-nine cents,
and dated July 9, 1903 at Fort Crook, Nebraska.
Signed by P.W. Davidson, who, in his position as Quartermaster of the 22nd Infantry,
was, at the time, also acting Chief Quartermaster for the US Army's Department of the Missouri.

Narrative from the 1904 Regimental History

BACK