FOREWORD

DEDICATED This history is designed to give

To those members of the members of the regiment a brief
regiment who have given glimpse into the background of
their lives in the battles “The Fighting Sixth.” Being brief,
of their country. this work can only sketch those
highlights of history in which this
Regiment played a part.

Three
 A HOUSE DIVIDED

The crash of cannon a t Fort Sumter in the spring

of 1861 split the Union across the middle, dividing the
North and the South into two armed camps. Rightly (P
wrongly, each felt that right was on i t s s i d e and that
it must fight for its beliefs. Mobilization began.
On 4 May 1861, president Abraham Lincoln issued
the mobilization proclamation for the North, and the 6th
US Cavalry was formed. Although the original name
was the 3d US Cavalry, all cavalry was reorganized by
Congress on 3 August 1861, and the name was changed
to the 6th US Cavalry. From that time until this, the
Sixth h a s been on continuous active duty, through
thirty-five major campaigns and a dozen foreign coun-
tries.
From August 1861 until March 1862 the Regiment
recruited and trained i t s members from Ohio, Pennsyl-
vania and New York. On 10 March 1862, it began i t s
career, which h a s won it the title of “The Fighting
Sixth,” when it took to the field i n the Centersville
and Manassas area. From that date until Appamattox-
and peace-the command engaged in frequent, bitter
and bloody battles with the Army of the Potomac.
Throughout the c i v i l War the Sixth fought under
the top leaders of the North against top commanders of
the South. Several times during the war the Regiment
crossed sabres with General J. E. B. Stuart’s cavalry,
both in the attack and in the defense. On 16 June
1862, it fought a successful delaying action against
the Confederate leader a t H a c k Creek when his caval-
ry succeeded in getting in the rear of Union forces.
At the Battle of Gettysburg i n July 1863, the Sixth was
Six I Seven
Tarchamps, and the zone assigned to the Sixth Cavalry
Group was cleared quickly. Having completed its mis-
sion, and by doing so, making possible the advance of
the units on its flanks, the Sixth Cavalry Group. in fur-
therance of the Corps plan, requested and was granted
permission to advance far beyond its original objective.
The Group drove on and assisted in the capture of
Soniez. The outstanding action of the Sixth Cavalry
Group broke the back of the German resistance in the
Harlange pocket, which had held up the Corps advance
for a period of 11 days. The determination and indomi-
table fighting spirit of these courageous officers and
men exemplify the finest traditions of the Military
Service.
By order of the Secretary of War:
Official:
Gen. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
Chief of Staff
EDWARD F. WITZEL
Major General, the Adjutant General
Twenty-efght
1. For as long as each of us shall live we shall
hear the unceasing praise of men and nations ringing
in our ears - praise for the victory the armies of The
United Nations have won, the tribute of civilization
for the freedoms ourforce of arms has preserved in an-
cient Europe. This honor is the appreciation of the
world to you, men of the 6th Cavalry Squadron.
2. You know, as I, that this acclaim was won in
the blood of those whom we left on each battlefield. I
shall ever remember with you: . . . The concussion and
crack of our guns trying to silence the German Reply
at CARLING; . . . The miserable, cold, glowing, stink-
ing silence ofChristmas Night. 1944, at TINTANGE
and BIGONVILLE; . .. The ice-lined, drift-filled fox-
holes in front of the little mill at BETLANGE; . . .
The convergence of our tracers on German targets as
we rolled across the snow into TARCHAMPS; . . . The
deep drifts, steep pine forests, north and south of
ESCHWEILER; . . . The appearance of those pill-boxes
across the OUR RIVER and the way we eased across,
covered by a mantle of fog at STOLZEMBOURG; . . .
The “impregnable” SIEGFRIED LINE and our passage
through it; . . . The barrages that fell on WAXWEILER
as we fought in and out of the valley; and, damnit, the
same thing again at LASEL; . . . The confusion of that
night march to SPESSART; . . . The debacle at ANDER-
NACH; . . . The day we rolled across the RHEIN, the
roadblocks enroute to ZOLHAUS, the dumbfounded
Twenty-nine
Germans in the valley up to PANROD, the way we got
to GIESSEN and LANG GONS; . . . How we got around
WERDAU and later took the place; . . . The end run
around ZWICKAU to cut the Autobahn; . . , Our three
columns into ADORF, and the roads that disappeared
where we stopped on the CZECHOSLOVAKIAN border
on VE-Day.
3. Those rewards which come to me as your Squad-
ron Commander are the praise of men and of the United
States for what you have accomplished. The reward
which is mine and mine alone is the honor of having
served as Commander of the Sixth Cavalry Squadron.
For each round you fired; each yard you progressed;
for each patient minute on each outpost; for each bold
second that you attacked; for each bolt, gear, and valve
you kept running; for each word or signal you sent by
electric impulse through the air; each mouthful of food
you provided; each drop of gasoline you brought for-
ward; each order and report you wrote for me; each pa-
per you processed; each letter you typed - for these
things Iowe my everlasting appreciation. This I can-
not express.
4. With reluctance and with a sentiment that I
shall never again share with you, I leave my assign-
ment as your Commander, and turn over my reins to the
qualified hands of those who helped me through our
campaign across Europe. May the blessings of God,
men, and history continue to smile upon you wherever
time and the nation guides the future of the Sixth Cav-
alry Squadron - always, DUCIT AMOR PATRIAE.
SAMUEL McC Goodwin
Lt. Col., Cavalry
Commanding
OCCUPATlON AND REORGANIZATION
Long before V-E Day arrived, the Allies had appor-
tioned Germa ny and Austria into four zones each and
assigned one of these zones to each of the four big
powers of U nited States, Great Britain, France and
Soviet Russia. . Military governments had been set up
and waited for long months for the end of the war, ready
t o s t e p into the devastated and beaten land and return
law and order. The military governmentswere to carry
t h e "big stick" of occupying troops, to make certain
that Germany would abandon the low road of fascism
and take the high road of democracy
.
On 8 May 1945, when hostilities ceased, the Sixth
--
Cavalry Group found itself on the Czechoslovakian-
German border. As a Regular Army unit i t was select-
ed to remain in Germany for occupation duty. S oon
after hostilities ceased, two squadrons marched to
Berlin for a four month period. Upon returning to
Bavaria, their m a i n d u t i e s i n c l u d e d m a i n t e n a n c e o f
road blocks, Imotor patrols and the guarding of various
U S i n s t a l l a t i on s within their area of responsibility
The second major reorganization of the Regiment
took place on 1 May 1946 ".when
.=a. it was redesignated the
Sixth Constabiulary Regiment. The squadrons became
a- the 6th and 28th Constabulary Squadrons, and were
joined by the 53d Constabulary Squadron, and in June
by the 13th Constabulary Squadron. The US Constabu-
lary was desi gned t o perform the specific duties of an
occupying force.
On 1 July 1946, the regiment assumed the respon-
sibility for security along most of the U S Zone of G e r -
Thrty-one
irty-one
many, as well as a large interior area. T h e i r main du-
ties were to quell the Black Market, patrol borders,
and police the Citizenry. Their vehicles were M-8
Armored Cars, jeeps, and motorcycles. Striped helmet
and yellow scarves marked the colorful mounted parade
through the streets of various cities and towns During
September 1948, the Regimental Headquarters moved
to Straubing, relieving the 11th Constabulary Regiment
(now the 11th Armored Cavalry) for the Second t i m e
(the first being a t Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, in 1919).
On 20 December 1948, with the first phase of the
occupation completed. the Sixth was again reorganized
re-equipped, and redesignated as the 6th Armored Cav-
alry. Armored Cars and motorcycles gave way to light
a n d m e d i u m t a n k s a n d j e e p s . S q u a d r o n s a n d Troops
became Battalions and Companies. The organization
and equipment became substantially the same as the
regiment h a s today.
In 1949, the regiment participated in five large
scale field training exercises and maneuvers. With
the o u t b r e a k o f h o s t i l i t i e s i n K o r e a , t h e t e n s i o n a n d
training increased. Grafenwohr, Camp de Munsingen and,
Hohne became a s familiar as the home stations of
Deggerndorf, Landshut, Straubing, and Regensburg.
Although faced by 172 rugged mountain miles of
border to patrol, the regiment found time to a s s i s t the
German People. During the terrible floods of the Dan-
ube River each spring, troops worked around the clock
on mercy missions; however, regimental assistance
was not limited to times of disaster. Orphanages and
schools were helped materially each Christmas a s offi
cers and men donated freely and wrote home for cloth-
ing and other necessities for the children.
German Rifle and Shooting Clubs often listed t h e
names of Sixth Cavalrymen a s members. Hunting and
fishine oarties found Germans and Americans side bv
 ported t o begin their military training. Upon comple-
War and hatred faded a s the years rolled by and tion of their “Basic Training” they s a i l for Europe
friendships grew. O n a cold rainy day i n February and the 11th Armored Cavalry.
1957, a s the Sixth staged its final review before return-
The words of General Pershing are still true-"The
ing t o the United States, i t was presented a large sil-
traditions of the old Army and the duties of the hour
ver shield by the Bavarian Government. The shield
were our creed.” From garrison to combat, as the du-
bears the inscription “To The Sixth Armored Cavalry
ties of the hour shall dictate, the “Fighting Sixth”
Regiment (The Shield of Bavaria’ For I t s Outstanding
Service in Bavaria, 20 , November 1948, 17 March 1957, will maintain the highest traditions of the Army as it
h a s during the 98 y e a r s of i t s valiant history.
Dr. Wilhelm Hoegner, Minister President of Bavaria.”
I t symbolized the warm friendship which had arisen
during the post-war years between the regiment and the THIS IS YOUR REGIMENT
people i t had helped to conquer and remained to pro-
tect. T h i s is the only known official recognition given
an American unit by a state of Germany since prior to
World War II.
Thus t h e ("Fighting Sixth” ended i t s tour on “the ’
easternmost outpost of democracy” a s it again ex-
changed duty stations for the third time with the 11th
Armored Cavalry under “Operation Gyroscope”. After
a n absence of almost 14 years, the regiment returned
to American soil aboard the USNS Geiger and the USNS
Buckner, arriving in New York late in March 1957.
Fort Knox, Kentucky was t o be our new home.
Its first major mission a t the "Home of Armor" was
t o furnish logistical support t o Reserve and Natio nal
Guard Units during their summer training periods. The
Second Battalion, reinforced by members of the other
battalions cordoned the streets of Williamsburg, Vir-
ginia, during the visit of Queen Elizabeth II of Great
Britain i n October 1957. Following the Queen’s visit.
the troops participated in the reenactment of the Battle
of Yorktown (Virginia). Some wore the white unif orms
of the French while others portrayed the Colonial
American Forces. T h e i r outstanding performance
brought personal praise from President Eisenhower and
a letter of appreciation from the Secretary of the Army.
Mr. Wilber M. Brucker.
The Regiment began writing a new chapter in its
history in early January 1958 as 1400 young men re-
Thirty-four
Thirty-five
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