The Remagen Bridgehead - 7 March 1945: Here, on the Ludendorf Bridge crossing the Rhine at Remagen, Combat Command B, 9th Armored Division -- headed by the 27th Armored Infantry Battalion -- with "superb skill, daring and esprit de corps" successfully effected the first bridgehead across Germany's formidable river barrier and so contributed decisively to the defeat of the enemy. The 27th Battalion reached Remagen, found the bridge intact but mined for demolition. Although its destruction was imminent, wit
U.S. Army Order of Battle 1919–1941
Many historians consider the advent of Elihu Root as President William McKinley’s Secretary of War in 1899 the beginning of the modern United States (US) Army. A remarkable man who never served a day in uniform, Root was responsible for a series of legislative bills passed through Congress between 1900 and 1903 that led to a major reorganization of the US Army and a substantial improvement in the officer education system. Root’s most important accomplishments include the establishment of the US Army War College, US Army Command and General Staff School, and Army General Staff; and transition of the position of Commanding General of the Army to the Chief of Staff, US Army. These improvements to Army organization and education were the beginning of a series of long needed changes that would transform the US Army by the beginning of World War I into a relatively modern force that was more capable of assuming the missions, domestic and overseas, of a nation that had become a key player on the world scene.