The 32^D 'Red Arrow' Veteran Association
	Organization of the 32^D ‘Red Arrow’ Division when it was created in 1917 during World War I

The 32^D ‘Red Arrow’ Division was created in the fall of 1917 by combining the Michigan and Wisconsin National Guard. Wisconsin provided about 15,000 Soldiers and Michigan provided 8,000. Later 4,000 National Army troops (selectees or draftees) from Camp Custer, Michigan, and Camp Grant, Illinois, were assigned to the Division before it left for France. Those draftees were primarily from the upper Midwest. Later, in France, the 32^D Division received replacements from nearly every state in the union.

Before being activated for World War I, the Michigan and Wisconsin National Guard were organized in accordance with pre-war US Regular Army units. At that time, the General Staff of the War Department envisioned “triangular” infantry brigades of three infantry regiments each, with three such brigades in a division (plus artillery, engineer, signal, supply and medical units). Each rifle company would have 3 officers and 150 men.

In the spring of 1917, however, General John ‘Blackjack’ Pershing (the commander of the A.E.F.) and his staff made a trip to France to observe the tactics and formations in use by the Allies. Based on his observations, Gen. Pershing decided that reorganizing US units into massive “square” divisions, also known as “Pershing Divisions”, might be able to provide enough muscle to break the stalemate of trench warfare. Each “square” division was built around four powerful infantry regiments of 3,720 enlisted men each. There would be two such regiments, plus a machine gun battalion, in an infantry brigade (2 infantry brigades per division). Each infantry brigade would be supported by a regiment of light (75mm) artillery; a 3rd regiment of heavy artillery (155mm howitzers) and a trench mortar battery would complete the division's brigade of artillery. All of this, plus an additional machine gun battalion, a combat engineer regiment, a signal battalion and a division train (consisting of military police, ammunition train, supply train, engineer train, sanitary train) gave each division an authorized strength of 991 officers and 27,114 men (each rifle company consisted of 7 officers and 250 men, as opposed to the pre-war rifle companies of 3 officers and 150 men).

The table below lists the new units that were needed to complete the organization of the 32^D Division. It also attempts to list which old Michigan or Wisconsin National Guard units were reorganized to create the new units and which armory those old units came from. It also attempts to list the first commander of those new units.

New Unit	Old Unit(s)	Armory(s)	Commander
32^D Division			MG James 'Galloping Jim' Parker
Headquarters Troop
63^D Infantry Brigade			BG Louis C. Covell (formerly Cdr. of 1^ST Mich. Bde.)
125^TH Infantry Regiment	included all of the 33^D Mich. Inf. (minus 1 company) and 5 companies of the 31^ST Mich. Inf.		COL John B. Boucher
Headquarters Company
Band
Supply Company	Sup. Co., 33^D Mich. Inf.	Grayling, MI	CPT Walter R. Stevens (formerly Cdr. of Sup. Co., 33^D Mich. Inf.)
Machine Gun Company
Headquarters, 1^ST Battalion
Company A
Company B
Company C
Company D	Cos. D & K, 31^ST Mich. Inf.		CPT Milburn H. Hawkes
Headquarters, 2^D Battalion
Company E
Company F
Company G
Company H
Headquarters, 3^D Battalion
Company I
Company K
Company L	Co. L, 33^D Mich. Inf.	Menominee, MI	CPT Oscar Falk (formerly Cdr. of Co. L, 33^D Mich. Inf.)
Company M	Co. G, 33^D Mich. Inf.
126^TH Infantry Regiment	included entire 32^D Mich. Inf. and 5 companies of the 31^ST Mich. Inf.		COL Joseph P. Westnedge (formerly Cdr. of 32^D Mich. Inf.)
Headquarters Company		Grand Rapids, MI	CPT Jess W. Clark (formerly Cdr. of Co. L, 32^D Mich. Inf.)
Band		Grand Rapids, MI
Supply Company		Grand Rapids, MI	CPT Walter N. Burgess (formerly Cdr. of Sup. Co., 32^D Mich. Inf.)
Machine Gun Company		Grand Rapids, MI	CPT William Haze (formerly Cdr. of MG Co., 32^D Mich. Inf.)
Headquarters, 1^ST Battalion			MAJ Jay C. McCullough (formerly Cdr. of 1^ST Bn., 32^D Mich. Inf.)
Company A	Co. A, 32^D Mich. Inf.	Coldwater, MI	CPT Roscoe L. Graves (formerly Cdr. of Co. A, 32^D Mich. Inf.)
Company B	Co. B, 32^D Mich. Inf.	Adrian, MI	CPT John Benner (formerly Cdr. of Co. B, 32^D Mich. Inf.)
Company C	Co. C & part of Co. D, 32^D Mich. Inf.	Kalamazoo, MI	CPT Robert L. Wright (formerly Cdr. of Co. C, 32^D Mich. Inf.)
Company D	Co. E, 32^D Mich. Inf.	Ionia, MI	CPT George R. Hogarth (formerly Cdr. of Co. E, 32^D Mich. Inf.)
Headquarters, 2^D Battalion			MAJ Albert C. Wilson
Company E	Co. I & part of Co. M, 31^ST Mich. Inf.	Ann Arbor, MI	CPT Arthur G. Volland (formerly Cdr. of Co. I, 31^ST Mich. Inf.)
Company F	Co. L & part of Co. M, 31^ST Mich. Inf.	Jackson, MI	CPT Richard F. Smith
Company G	Co. G, 31^ST Mich. Inf.	Detroit, MI	CPT James O. Catheart
Company H	Co. H, 31^ST Mich. Inf.	Detroit, MI	CPT Fred W. Beaudry
Headquarters, 3^D Battalion	Co. L, 32^D Mich. Inf.?	Grand Haven or Grand Rapids, MI?	MAJ Earl R. Stewart (formerly Cdr. of 3^D Bn., 32^D Mich. Inf.)
Company I	Co. H & part of Co. G, 32^D Mich. Inf.	Big Rapids & Muskegon, MI	CPT Charles L. McCormick (formerly Cdr. of Co. H, 32^D Mich. Inf.)
Company K	Co. K & part of Co. I, 32^D Mich. Inf.	Grand Rapids, MI	CPT James Sinke (formerly Cdr. of Co. K, 32^D Mich. Inf.)
Company L	Co. F & part of Co. G, 32^D Mich. Inf.	Grand Haven & Muskegon, MI	CPT George L. Olson (formerly Cdr. of Co. L, 32^D Mich. Inf.)
Company M	Co. M & part of Co. I, 32^D Mich. Inf.	Grand Rapids, MI	CPT Emil B. Gansser (formerly Cdr. of Co. M, 32^D Mich. Inf.)
120^TH Machine Gun Battalion	surplus companies of the Mich. Inf. Bde.		MAJ David E. Cleary (formerly Cdr. of 3^D Bn., 31^ST Mich. Inf.)
Headquarters Company
Company A
Company B
Company C	Co. F, 31^ST Mich. Inf.
Company D
64^TH Infantry Brigade	formed from the 1^ST, 2^D and 3^D Wis. Inf. Regts. (1^ST Wis. Bde.) plus some soldiers from the 57^TH Depot Brigade.		BG Charles R. Boardman (formerly Cdr. of 1^ST Wis. Bde.)
127^TH Infantry Regiment			COL Wilbur Moses Lee (formerly Cdr. of 2^D Wis. Inf.)
Headquarters Company	HQ Co., 1^ST Wis. Inf. & HQ Co., 2^D Wis. Inf.	Madison & Appleton, WI	CPT Myron C. West (formerly Cdr. of HQ Co., 1^ST Wis. Inf.)
Band	Band, 2^D Wis. Inf.	Marshfield, WI
Supply Co.	Sup. Co., 1^ST Wis. Inf.; Sup. Co., 2^D Wis. Inf.; Sup. Co. or MG Co., 5^TH Wis. Inf.	Madison, Oshkosh & Port Washington, WI	CPT Frank H. Crane (formerly Cdr. of Sup. Co., 2^D Wis. Inf.)
Machine Gun Company	MG Co., 2^D Wis. Inf.	Ashland, WI	CPT Matthew C. Tompkins (formerly Cdr. of MG Co., 2^D Wis. Inf.)
Headquarters, 1^ST Battalion
Company A	Co. A, 2^D Wis. Inf.	Marshfield, WI.	CPT Frank Bernard Reigel (formerly Cdr. of Co. A, 2^D Wis. Inf.)
Company B	Co. B, 1^ST Wis. Inf. & Co. B, 2^D Wis. Inf.	Fort Atkinson & Oshkosh, WI.	CPT George Francis O’Connell (formerly Cdr. of Sup. Co., 1^ST Wis. Inf.)
Company C	Co. C, 2^DWis. Inf.	Sheboygan, WI	CPT Paul W. Schmidt (formerly Cdr. of Co. C, 2^D Wis. Inf.)
Company D	Co. D, 1^ST Wis. Inf. & ½ of Co. K, 2^D Wis. Inf.	Milwaukee & Beaver Dam, WI	CPT Frank (Paul) Meske (formerly Cdr. of Co. D, 1^ST Wis. Inf.)
Headquarters, 2^D Battalion
Company E	Co. E, 3^D Wis. Inf.	Eau Claire, WI	CPT Richard F. Sortomme (formerly Cdr. of Co. E, 3^D Wis. Inf.)
Company F	Co. F, 1^ST Wis. Inf. & Co. F, 4^TH Wis. Inf.	Milwaukee & Shawano, WI	CPT Henry W. Biemdiecke (formerly Cdr. of Co. F, 1^ST Wis. Inf.)
Company G	Co. G, 1^ST Wis. Inf. & part of Co. L, 1^ST Wis. Inf.	Madison & Beloit, WI	CPT William Smith (formerly Cdr. of Co. G, 1^ST Wis. Inf.)
Company H	Co. H, 2^D Wis. Inf. & Co. H, 1^ST Wis. Inf.	Manitowoc & Monroe, WI.	CPT Allen Ernest Mitchell (formerly Cdr. of Co. H, 1^ST Wis. Inf.
Headquarters, 3^D Battalion
Company I	Co. I, 2^D Wis. Inf. & Co. I, 3^D Wis. Inf.	Marinette & Superior, WI.	CPT Edward J. Schmidt (formerly Cdr. of Co. H, 2^D Wis. Inf.)
Company K	Co. K, 1^ST Wis. Inf.	Milwaukee, WI	CPT Leo S. Kosak (formerly Cdr. of Co. K, 1^ST Wis. Inf.)
Company L	Co. L, 2^D Wis. Inf. & part of Co. L, 1^ST Wis. Inf.	Rhinelander & Beloit, WI	CPT Forest H. Himes (formerly Cdr. of Co. L, 2^D Wis. Inf.)
Company M	Co. M, 2^D Wis. Inf. & ½ of Co. K, 2^D Wis. Inf.	Oconto & Beaver Dam, WI.	1LT Harvey C. Vermilyea
128^TH Infantry Regiment			COL John Turner (formerly Cdr. of 3^D Wis. Inf.)
Headquarters Company
Band	Band, 3^D Wis. Inf.	Wausau, Marinette & La Crosse
Supply Company
Machine Gun Company	MG Co., 1^ST Wis. Inf. & part of Co. K, 4^TH Wis. Inf.	Oconomowoc & Stoughton, WI
Headquarters, 1^ST Battalion
Company A	Co. A, 1^ST Wis. Inf. & Co. A, 3^D Wis. Inf.	Reedsburg & Neillsville, WI
Company B	Co. D, 2^D Wis. Inf. & Co. B, 3^D Wis. Inf.	Ripon & La Crosse, WI
Company C	Co. C, 3^D Wis. Inf.	Hudson, WI
Company D	Co. D, 3^D Wis. Inf.	Mauston, WI
Headquarters, 2^D Battalion
Company E
Company F	Co. F, 3^D Wis. Inf.	Portage, WI
Company G
Company H	Co. H, 3^D Wis. Inf.	Menomonie, WI
Headquarters, 3^D Battalion
Company I	Co. I, 1^ST Wis. Inf.	Neenah, WI
Company K	Co. C, 1^ST Wis. Inf.	Whitewater, WI
Company L
Company M	Co. M, 1^ST Wis. Inf.	Janesville, WI
121^ST Machine Gun Battalion			MAJ Frank H. Fowler (formerly Cdr. of 1^ST Bn., 3^D Wis. Inf.)
Headquarters Company
Company A	MG Co., 3^D Wis. Inf., (Co. # 1, 121^ST MG Bn.)	Rice Lake, WI
Company B	Co. K, 3^D Wis. Inf. (Co. # 2, 121^ST MG Bn.)	Tomah, WI
Company C
Company D
119^TH Machine Gun Battalion			MAJ Percy C. Atkinson (formerly Cdr. of a bn. of the 6^TH Wis. Inf.)
Headquarters Company
Company A	MG Co. & Co. B, 4^TH Wis. Inf. (part or all of both cos.	Tomahawk & Stanley, WI	CPT John B. Fosnot (formerly Cdr. of MG Co., 4^TH Wis. Inf.)
Company B	Co. A, 6^TH Wis. Inf.	Phillips, WI	CPT Edward O. Witt (formerly Cdr. of Co. A, 6^TH Wis. Inf.)
Company C	mostly from 5^TH Wis. Inf.		CPT Alfred E. Gaartz (formerly Cdr. of MG Co., 5^TH Wis. Inf.)
Company D	mostly from 5^TH Wis. Inf.		CPT Thomas A. Watson (formerly Cdr. of Co. M, 5^TH Wis. Inf.)
107^TH Engineer Regiment	from the 1^ST Wis. and 1^ST Mich. Eng. Bns. plus some soldiers from the 57^TH Depot Brigade		COL P. S. Bond (USA)
Headquarters Company
Headquarters, 1^ST Battalion
Company A	1^ST Mich. Eng. Bn. (probably Co. A)
Company B	1^ST Mich. Eng. Bn. (probably Co. B)
Company C	1^ST Mich. Eng. Bn. (probably Co. C)
Headquarters, 2^D Battalion
Company D	1^ST Wis. Eng. Bn. (probably Co. A)
Company E	1^ST Wis. Eng. Bn. (probably Co. B)
Company F	1^ST Wis. Eng. Bn. (probably Co. C)
107^TH Field Signal Battalion	formed from the 1^ST Wis. and 1^ST Mich. Field Signal Battalions		MAJ William Mitchell Lewis (formerly Cdr. of 1^ST Wis. Sig. Bn.)
57^TH Field Artillery Brigade			BG William G. 'Bunker' Haan (USA)
119^TH Field Artillery Regiment	from 1^ST Mich. FA, 1^ST Mich. Cav., HQ and Service Cos. of 31^ST Inf. Regt.		MAJ Chester B. McCormick
Headquarters Battery
Supply Battery
Battery A
Battery B
Battery C
Battery D
Battery E
Battery F
120^TH Field Artillery Regiment			COL Carl Penner (formerly Cdr. of 1^ST Wis. Cav.)
Headquarters Battery	HQ Trp. & Trp. M, 1^ST Wis. Cav.	Milwaukee & Sheboygan, WI
Supply Battery	Sup. Trp., 1^ST Wis. Cav.	Milwaukee, WI
Battery A	Trp. A & MG Trp., 1^ST Wis. Cav.	Milwaukee, WI
Battery B	Trp. B & K, 1^ST Wis. Cav.	Milwaukee & Ladysmith, WI
Battery C	Trp. C & L, 1^ST Wis. Cav.	Milwaukee & Eau Claire, WI
Battery D	Trp. D & G, 1^ST Wis. Cav.	Milwaukee & Wisconsin Rapids, WI
Battery E	Trp. E & I, 1^ST Wis. Cav.	Kenosha & Stevens Point, WI
Battery F	Trp. F & H, 1^ST Wis. Cav.	Lake Geneva & Merrill, WI
121^ST Field Artillery Regiment	from the 1^ST Wis. FA		COL Philip C. Westfahl (formerly Cdr. of 1^ST Wis. FA)
Headquarters Battery	HQ Co., 1^ST Wis. FA	Milwaukee, WI	CPT John Geo. Reed (formerly Cdr. of HQ Co., 1^ST Wis. FA)
Supply Battery	Sup. Co., 1^ST Wis. FA	Milwaukee, WI	CPT Arthur W. Walters (formerly Cdr. of Sup. Co., 1^ST Wis. FA)
Battery A	Btry. A, 1^ST Wis. FA	Whitefish Bay, WI	CPT Wm. F. Fraedrich (formerly Cdr. of Btry. A, 1^ST Wis. FA)
Battery B	Btry. B, 1^ST Wis. FA	Green Bay, WI	CPT Harvey F. Smith (formerly Cdr. of Btry. B, 1^ST Wis. FA)
Battery C	Btry. C, 1^ST Wis. FA	Racine, WI	CPT Richard G. Bryant (formerly Cdr. of Btry. C, 1^ST Wis. FA)
Battery D	Btry. D, 1^ST Wis. FA	Whitefish Bay, WI	CPT Ralph R. Hibbard (formerly Cdr. of Btry. D, 1^ST Wis. FA)
Battery E	Btry. E, 1^ST Wis. FA	Green Bay, WI	CPT John M. West (formerly Cdr. of Btry. E, 1^ST Wis. FA)
Battery F	Btry. F, 1^ST Wis. FA	Racine, WI	CPT James Wilder Gilson (formerly Cdr. of Btry. F, 1^ST Wis. FA)
107^TH Trench Mortar Battery	Co. G, 4^TH Wis. Inf.	Antigo, WI	CPT Otto A. Miller (formerly Cdr. of Co. G, 4^TH Wis. Inf.)
107^TH Mobile Ordinance Repair Shop
147^TH Field Artillery Regiment	organic to the 41^ST Division - attached to the 57^TH FA Bde. from 24 June 1918 to 8 April 1919
158^TH Field Artillery Brigade	organic to the 83^D Division - attached to the 32^D Division from 26 September 1918 to April 1919
322^D Field Artillery Regiment
323^D Field Artillery Regiment
324^TH Field Artillery Regiment
308^TH Trench Mortar Battery
308^TH Ammunition Train
107^TH Train Headquarters			COL Robert B. McCoy (formerly Cdr. of 4^TH Wis. Inf.)
107^TH Military Police	Co. D, 6^TH Wis. Inf. & part of Co. K, 4^TH Wis. Inf.	Washburn & Stoughton, WI
107^TH Supply Train
Company E	possibly Co. I, 6^TH Wis. Inf.	Baraboo, WI
107^TH Sanitary Train	formed from Wis. Ambulance Companies Nos. 1 and 2, Mich. Ambulance Company No. 2, Wis. Field Hospitals Nos. 1 and 2 and Mich. Field Hospital No. 1.
125^TH Ambulance Company	Wis. Ambulance Co. #1?	Milwaukee, WI
126^TH Ambulance Company
127^TH Ambulance Company	Wis. Ambulance Co. #2	Racine, WI
128^TH Ambulance Company
125^TH Field Hospital
126^TH Field Hospital
127^TH Field Hospital
128^TH Field Hospital
107^TH Ammunition Train			LTC James McCully (formerly of 5^TH Wis. Inf.)
Headquarters Detachment	Co. B, 4^TH Wis. Inf.	Stanley, WI
Motor Battalion			MAJ Martin D. Imhoff (formerly Cdr. of 2^D Bn., 5^TH Wis. Inf.)
Company A (originally named First Truck Co.)	Co. E, 4^TH Wis. Inf.	Menasha, WI	CPT Richard T. Hill (formerly Cdr. of Co. E, 4^TH Wis. Inf.)
Company B (originally named Second Truck Co.)	Co. D, 5^TH Wis. Inf.	Hartford, WI	CPT Harold G. Rogers (formerly Cdr. of Co. D, 5^TH Wis. Inf.)
Company C (originally named Third Truck Co.)	Co. D, 4^TH Wis. Inf.	Black River Falls, WI	CPT George B. Jensen (formerly Cdr. of Co. D, 4^TH Wis. Inf.)
Company D (originally named Fourth Truck Co.)	Co. H, 6^TH Wis. Inf.	Hayward, WI	CPT William W. Wismer (formerly Cdr. of Co. H, 6^TH Wis. Inf.)
Horsed Battalion			MAJ Anton C. Martin (formerly Cdr. of 2^D Bn., 4^TH Wis. Inf.)
Company E (originally named First Caisson Co.)	Co. I, 4^TH Wis. Inf.	Platteville, WI	CPT Harvey D. Weidman (formerly Cdr. of Co. I, 4^TH Wis. Inf.)
Company F (originally named Second Caisson Co.)	Co. C, 5^TH Wis. Inf. & part of Co. I, 5^TH Wis. Inf.	Milwaukee, WI	CPT Joseph B. Zawodny (formerly Cdr. of Co. C, 5^TH Wis. Inf.)
Company G (originally named Wagon Co.)	Co. B, 5^TH Wis. Inf. & part of Co. A, 5^TH Wis. Inf.	Milwaukee, WI	CPT John A. Bonin (formerly Cdr. of Co. B, 5^TH Wis. Inf.)
107^TH Engineer Train
107^TH Motor Supply Truck Unit

The 125^TH and 126^TH Infantry Regiments and the 120^TH Machine Gun Battalion of the 63^D Infantry Brigade were formed from the 31^ST, 32^D and 33^D Michigan Infantry Regiments (Michigan Infantry Brigade). The 125^TH included all of the 33^D Michigan Infantry (with the exception of one company) and five companies of the 31^ST Michigan Infantry. The 126^TH included the entire 32^D Michigan Infantry plus 5 companies of the 31^ST Michigan Infantry. The 120^TH MG BN was formed from surplus companies of the Michigan Infantry Brigade.

The 127^TH and 128^TH Infantry Regiments and 121^ST Machine Gun Battalion of the 64^TH Infantry Brigade were formed from the 1^ST, 2^D and 3^D Wisconsin Infantry Regiments (1^ST Wisconsin Brigade) plus some soldiers from the 57^TH Depot Brigade.

The 4^TH, 5^TH and 6^TH Wisconsin Infantry Regiments (2^D Wisconsin Brigade) functioned as the 57^TH Depot Brigade. From this brigade the various new units of the new Division were organized in accordance with the “Tables of Organization, 1917”. The 57^TH Depot Brigade only existed for several weeks, it ceased to exist as soon as the organization of the Division was completed.

The 57^TH Field Artillery Brigade was formed from the 1^ST Wisconsin and 1^ST Michigan Field Artillery Regiments and 1^ST Wisconsin and 1^ST Michigan Cavalry Regiments plus some soldiers from the 57^TH Depot Brigade.
    119^TH FA, composed largely of Michigan artillery and cavalry troops
    120^TH FA, made up almost entirely from troops of the 1^ST Wisconsin Cavalry
    121^ST FA, the heavy artillery regiment of the 57^TH FA Brigade, formed from the 1^ST Wisconsin Field Artillery

The 107^TH Engineer Regiment was formed from the 1^ST Wisconsin and 1^ST Michigan Engineer Battalions plus some soldiers from the 57^TH Depot Brigade.

Whole companies were transferred from the 57^TH Depot Brigade to make up the 107^TH Trains, 32^D Military Police Company and 119^TH Machine Gun Battalion.

The 107^TH Sanitary Train was formed from Wisconsin Ambulance Companies Nos. 1 and 2, Michigan Ambulance Company No. 2, Wisconsin Field Hospitals Nos. 1 and 2 and Michigan Field Hospital No. 1.

The 107^TH Field Signal Battalion was formed from the 1^ST Wisconsin and 1^ST Michigan Field Signal Battalions.

In reorganization of the Division it was the policy to preserve original company organizations, but some consolidation was necessary to bring the companies up from the formerly prescribed strength of 150 men to the new “Tables of Organization, 1917” strength of 250 men.

Bibliography:

Acker, John C., Sergeant Major. Thru the War with Our Outfit: Being A Historical Narrative of the 107^TH Ammunition Train. Sturgeon Bay, WI, 1920.

Hanton, Carl, Captain. The 32nd Division in the World War. Madison, WI: Wisconsin War History Commission, 1920.
Hill, Jim Dan, Major General, Retired. The Minute Man in Peace and War. Harrisburg: The Stackpole Company, 1964.

Numerous newspaper articles.

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revised 30 October 2012
since 23 October 2000