PATTERN 1931 US ARMY GUIDON IDENTIFIED TO THE 127TH
FIELD ARTILLERY REGIMENT, BATTERY C – FORMALLY THE 114TH
CAVALRY REGIMENT, OF THE KANSAS NATIONAL GUARD –
COMPLETE WITH A US ARMY GUIDON SLEEVE - A RARE SET IN
EXCELLENT CONDITION:
This is a rare offering of
an original Pattern 1931 U.S. Army Guidon identified to
Battery C, 127TH Field Artillery Regiment,
formally the 114TH Cavalry Regiment, of the
Kansas National Guard. This guidon dates from ca. 1940
when the regiment was transitioned from a mounted
cavalry unit to field artillery as the U.S. Army
prepared for our entry into World War Two. The guidon
is accompanied by an original OD green guidon sleeve.
Dating back to the Militia Act of 1903, and the National
Defense Acts of 1916 and 1920, the militia and National
Guard units which had been maintained at the state level
were reorganized under a federally administered and
funded system which standardized the organization,
staffing and training requirements of the state units.
As part of this reorganization process, the National
Guard units were assigned unique regiment and division
numbers which appear to have been allocated in blocks –
so many to each branch of arms and then so many of each
of those allocated to each state - which facilitated
their eventual incorporation into the orders of battle
when called into federal service. For example, unlike
the Civil War period where each state independently
numbered their regiments – 1ST New Jersey
Cavalry, 1ST New York Cavalry, etc. – under
the new 20TH Century organization of the
National Guard, each regiment and division was assigned
a number unique in the whole of the United States Armed
Forces.
This system of unit numbering allows for this guidon to
be specifically identified to the 127TH Field
Artillery Regiment of the Kansas National Guard, whose
origins as the 114TH Cavalry Regiment adds
significantly to understanding the design of this
guidon.
Under the powers of the National Defense Act of 1920,
the first troops of the 114th Cavalry Regiment were
recruited during 1921 and 1922. Their activities were
eventually headquartered in Paola, Kansas and they
continued in service as mounted cavalry through the
1930’s.
In August of 1940, the US Army’s General Staff initiated
a study to determine the army’s requirement for horse
cavalry and the extent to which mechanization should be
carried into the National Guard. The study concluded
that although the need for horse cavalry remained, the
quantity required was less than that of previous years,
and that there was a deficiency in the number of
mechanized reconnaissance units. On August 7, 1940, the
Chief of the National Guard Bureau was directed to
convert 7 cavalry regiments to horse-mechanized units as
corps cavalry, and to develop plans for converting other
cavalry units into organizations for which there was a
need. This directive resulted in the conversion of all
units of the four National Guard cavalry divisions into
units deemed more essential for national defense. These
plans were implemented in late September and early
October of that year, and the allotment of those cavalry
units was withdrawn effective November 1, 1940. The
four cavalry divisions were dissolved and were converted
as follows: the 17 cavalry regiments were converted
into 7 horse-mechanized cavalry regiments, 7 field
artillery regiments, 7 coast artillery regiments and
separate battalions, and 1 antitank battalion.
Pursuant to General Order No. 16, issued by the Adjutant
General, State of Kansas, on
September 30, 1940, on October 1ST the 114TH
Cavalry Regiment became the 127TH Field
Artillery Regiment, exchanging their horses for the
155mm Howitzer. In December the regiment was mobilized
for federal service with the 35TH Infantry
Division. At some point after its induction, the 127TH
became a two-battalion regiment with Batteries A, B, and
C in the 1ST Battalion and Batteries D, E,
and F in the 2ND Battalion. The 127TH
Field Artillery Regiment was destined for the war in
Europe, arriving in Normandy on July 7, 1944 where they
were assigned to the area of St. Clair, France in
support of the 30TH Infantry Division’s
attack on St. Lo. They served throughout the duration
of the war in support of both the 30TH and 35TH
Infantry Divisions.
The strong attachment that cavalry troopers had to their
horses is well known, and the degree of resistance
exhibited by the cavalry regiments to being dismounted
in the face of the transition to a mechanized army is a
matter of historical record. It is easy to visualize
that in some cases, the reaction of the troops who had
to surrender their horses approached the fringes of open
mutiny. Nonetheless, with few exceptions the fully
mechanized US Army thundered into the war, transported
by the internal combustion engine, and the stables at
the posts across the country became hauntingly empty and
quiet.
The extent and impact of this unsettling transition on
the cavalrymen may very well explain why this Pattern
1931 Cavalry Guidon presents today with the numerals of
an artillery regiment formed from a cavalry regiment in
1940, long after the unique design of artillery guidons
had been established - yellow numerals, letters and
crossed cannons on a red field.
The practice of displaying totems, banners and flags to
identify the leader of a unit on the battlefield and
mark his position certainly predates written history.
It was from those displays of military heraldry that
the guidon emerged in the U.S. Army and went on to
become such an integral part of the individual unit’s
identity and tradition.
In its familiar form the guidon first appeared in 1834,
when the newly formed 1ST Regiment of
Dragoons was authorized a silk red-over-white guidon,
with the letters "U.S." in white on the upper half and
the company letter in red on the lower half. It is
believed the swallow tail design was incorporated so
that the guidon would better catch the breeze, extending
it to its full length on the fly, making the numerals
and letters easier to read.
In the years following the adoption of the
red-over-white swallow tail design, there were some
minor changes, but by 1841 the army had settled on the
original design adopted in 1834.
Early in the Civil War, on January 18, 1862, the U.S.
Army issued General Order No. 4 directing "Guidons and
camp colors will be made like the United States flag
with stars and stripes." The dimensions were the same as
prescribed in 1834, but the new design consisted of gold
stars in two concentric circles with one star in each
corner of the canton.
This pattern of “National Ensign” guidon remained in use
through the early Indian Wars era until the regulations
published in 1885 ordered that the design of the guidon
would revert back to the Pattern 1834, with the
regimental number on the upper half and the letter of
the company, troop, or battery on the lower half.
As detailed in the description of the Pattern 1885
Guidon published by S.B. Holabird, Quartermaster General
of the U.S. Army:
“Specifications for Cavalry
Guidons”
“Silk – To be of the best quality of banner
silk.
“Size – To be three (3) feet five )5 inches fly
from the lance and two (2) feet three (3) inches on the
lance; to be cut swallow-tailed fifteen (15) inches on
the fork.
“Design – Two (2) horizontal stripes, each
one-half (½) the width of the flag, the upper to be red
and the lower white. The upper stripe to have on both
sides, in the center, the number of the regiment in
white silk, and the lower the letter of the troop in red
silk. The letter and number to be block-shaped, four
and three fourths (4 ¾) inches high, and held in place
by a border of needle-work embroidery three-sixteenths
of an inch wide, of same color.
“Lance – To be one and one-fourth (1¼) inches in
diameter and nine (9) feet long, including spear and
ferrule.
“Case or cover – To be of water-proof material,
to protect the guidon when furled.
“Workmanship – To conform to standard sample on
file in the Quartermaster General’s Office.”
In 1895, additional regulations were published –
"Each troop of Cavalry will have a silken guidon...to be
used only in battle, campaign, or on occasions of
ceremony” The same regulation provided that
“Each troop will also have a service guidon made of
bunting or other suitable material” for daily use.
Artillery guidons in the modern form were ordered in
1904, calling for a flag in the same swallow tail form
and size as the cavalry guidon, featuring a solid red
field with yellow crossed cannons centered on the field
and yellow regiment numerals and battery letters
arranged as on the cavalry guidon.
In 1922, Army Regulation 129 abolished the requirement
for silk guidons, and they were withdrawn from service
while those made of bunting (finely woven wool)
continued to be issued. In 1931, Army Regulation 260-10
reduced the size of the guidons to 20 inches on the
“hoist” (vertical measurement) and 27 ¾” on the “fly”
(horizontal measurement). In 1944, this same regulation
added the battalion or squadron number between the crest
of arms and the hoist edge.
This chronology of the army’s guidon specifications
serves to date this guidon to those in service between
1931 and 1944. Conforming to the Pattern 1931, made of
bunting - a wool material with a fine weave - and
measuring 19 ½” on the hoist and 28 ½” on the fly, the
dimensions of this guidon are well within the variances
which would have been allowed in the manufacture of
cloth items. The numerals and letters are 3 ¼” high,
reduced in size when the overall dimensions of the
guidon were reduced in 1931 from those of the Pattern
1885.
The issue of this cavalry pattern guidon to Battery C of
the 127TH Field Artillery Regiment may well
have been an act of appeasement. Within the army, old
traditions die hard. As the horse cavalry saw itself
fading into the historical record, perhaps a mutually
satisfying acknowledgement of a history dating back to
the first mounted dragoon regiments was agreed upon.
The use of a cavalry pattern guidon bearing the new
field artillery regiment’s identifiers was an act of
reconciliation that both the army and the regiment could
embrace. This guidon was produced by the Philadelphia
Quartermaster Depot. It is regulation in every way, and
the workmanship is indicative of having been made in
their shops with the regimental numeral and battery
letter as it presents here – certainly not something
made at the unit level or by an individual. There is no
sign that the numerals or letter were ever altered or
replaced, rather from all appearances, this is exactly
how the guidon was originally made and issued. This
unique guidon may have been provided by the army in this
form to allow the 127TH to acknowledge its
origins as the 114TH Cavalry Regiment and
maintain some sense of the heritage of that former
unit.
This guidon has survived in excellent condition, showing
only very minor wear to the edge and tip of the lower
corner of the swallow tail. The bunting is otherwise
very solid with some minor pin holes or snags, but no
tattering or fraying and it is overall very clean, with
only some very minor isolated spots of soiling. The red
field retains a bright vivid color with no fading and
the white field shows only minor aging to a mellow ivory
hue.
The letters and numerals are
likewise in excellent condition, all retaining their hem
lines fully intact. The white numerals are bright and
clean. The red “C” has faded and apparently was made of
a different red material than that used on the flag
proper. The fading is interesting evidence that this
guidon had significant exposure sunlight, indicating it
was carried for some time in service and was not just a
souvenir or wall decoration.
The two “button-hole”
leather tabs for mounting the guidon on the lance are
present and intact, and they show minimal evidence of
wear around the button holes indicating this guidon
spent some time mounted on a lance and being carried.
A real added value to this guidon is the presence of the
full form, fully legible Philadelphia Depot, U.S. Army
Quartermaster Corps Inspector’s tag which is sewn inside
the lance pocket along the hoist. The presence of this
tag is significant confirmation of the originality of
this guidon.
This guidon is accompanied by an OD green cover sleeve,
used when the guidon was furled. The sleeve is in like
new, unissued condition and is legibly ink stamped “US
QUARTER MASTER PHIL DEPOT” and dated “1944”.
Any surviving original U.S. Army Guidon is a rare
artifact, particularly those which have some historic or
unique context such as this example. This Pattern 1931
Guidon and sleeve are a very nice set and they would
display well together as a notable highlight in a number
of different collection settings. (0418) $1150
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