Biography Of James Scott Wheelers The Big Red - 2658 Words

The history of the United States Army’s 1st Infantry Division is one of many â€Å"firsts.† The most complete history of the division, James Scott Wheeler’s The Big Red One: America’s Legendary 1st Infantry Division from World War I to Desert Storm, describes many of these firsts in detail. The 1st Division was the first U.S. division to be organized in the Army during World War I, the first division to deploy overseas, and the first unit to engage the enemy in Europe as part of the American Expeditionary Force (A.E.F.). This paper is the story of these World War I firsts. Using primary documents to include the massive volumes of the World War Records of the First Division, A.E.F., Regular available at the Fairchild Library, and the reminiscences of Major General Robert Lee Bullard, who initially served as a Brigade Commander and then commanded the Division for the first American battles in France. This paper chronicles the deployment, training in Fr ance, and major battles of the 1st Division in the Great War. The United States entered World War I on 6 April 1917. Thus began a massive mobilization and expansion of the United States Army with the intent to deploy enough Soldiers and Marines to the Western Front in France to defeat the German forces and end the war. The plan was to eventually deploy a million men organized into 42 U.S. divisions, a staggering number considering that the Army had zero divisions in April 1917 and was comprised of only 127,588 Soldiers in