Uniforms & Equipment of the Last Campaign-1916

[Camp Little]

I thought I'd do a quick review of this book as it has been most helpful and inspirational in my own collecting of Cavalry items and appreciation of the history of the US Punitive Expedition. Authored by William C. Machado and published in 1993, this 112 page paperback book is filled with fantastic pictures of both the troopers in the field and of their various equipments. In fact there are 84 "action" photos and 93 pictures of the various accoutrements.

The book is divided into 7 chapters, each focusing on 4 to 15 individual items in titled subchapters. The chapters are US Army Uniforms & Acc. of 1916, Regulation Rifle & Pistol Belts & Acc., US Cavalry Weapons 1916, US Cavalry Troopers Field Equipment in 1916, US Cavalry Horse Equipment: Saddles, Motorized Equipment on the Mexican Border 1916, and Various other Units, Equipment, and Souvenirs associated with the Punitive Expedition 1916.

Some of the subchapters I found very enlightening were US Service Sweater 1911, US Cavalry Bandoleer Model of 1914, US Cavalry Saber Model of 1906, and US Army Benet-Mercie Machine Rifle, Model of 1909. All of these items had a short service life and are generally overlooked.

I was somewhat disappointed in the limited info on the Model 1904 McClellan which was the primary saddle of the campaign and outshone the 1912 experimental version.

None the less, this is a very clearly written, organized and highly informative book and if you run into one, jump on it as I haven't seen it readily available in several years.

[elcutachero Φ]

As a friend of Randy Steffen and minor contributor, I will refer you to my reviews of the last two volumes on Amazon.com. I second the reviewer above on Machado's excellent work. It is a very useful photostudy and identification guide. But as usual in all works, including my own, there are a few minor errors.
I am certainly not perfect in my own writings, having been down this particular expeditionary path years ago but never getting it all together enough for publication. I once met the author of the fine book The Great Pursuit, Herbert Mulloy Mason, at the Library of Congress and chatted for a few moments. I have a very large collection of personal narratives and reporting on the Mexican Revolution and the border patrol days.
Photos I originally had negatives made for have since appeared in Meadow's book on US Holsters. The LC has the policy of keeping the negatives if they do not already have them but still charge you for them, while the National Archives charges but gives you the negatives, and the Armed Forces Agencies have various policies but do not charge if they have no negative unless you want it for yourself.
But I ramble here. My primary interest is everything above the saddle, in other words, what the man wore and used for his duties and personal sustainment. My specialty, compared with this work which is a horizontal study of one time and place, is vertical history, tracing a major item through time and it changed and evolved.
The most relevent article to this forum is the one my long time writing partner, William G. Phillips and I did for the Company Journal on Oblate Spheroidal Canteens.
Certainly after you read it, you will be able to recognize the 1900 pattern canteens so prominently visible in all those cavalry epics done by John Ford in the forties. Days of my childhood.
I also highly recommend the book "Border Fury" which features many of my real photo postcards, and the Robert Runyon book published by the Univ of Texas. Both were done by Paul Vanderwood of San Diego State, and Frank Samponaro. Both of whom I have lost contact with since they came here in the eighties.
www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/89winter/br-border.htm - 8k -
(excerpt)
Barker Texas History Center Series:

Since 1992, the Center, in cooperation with the Texas State Historical Association, has published a series of Texas history books written by authors who drew extensively from the research collections on Texas history, the South, the Southwest, and the Rocky Mountain West.

No. 1: Frank N. Samponaro and Paul J. Vanderwood, War Scare on the Rio Grande: Robert Runyon's Photographs of the Border Conflict, 1913-1916 (TSHA: 1992). (excerpt)



El Cutachero

[Pat Holscher]

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I also highly recommend the book "Border Fury" which features many of my real photo postcards, and the Robert Runyon book published by the Univ of Texas. Both were done by Paul Vanderwood of San Diego State, and Frank Samponaro. Both of whom I have lost contact with since they came here in the eighties.
www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/89winter/br-border.htm - 8k -

<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

Runyon's photos were quite good. Here's a link discussing the border problem photos with samples:

http://runyon.lib.utexas.edu/conflict.html

Pat

[Camp Little]

I just stumbled on a possible source for Uniforms & Equipment of the Last Campaign if anyone is interested. It is listed on Great War Militaria's website, <greatwar.com> under reproduction books. The number is BUS010 and it lists for $22.50. They state that this book has been out of print since 1999, so here is your opportunity.

[monahan]

I don't know why but I've also been collecting reproduction and original equipment of the Punitive Expedition. I found Machado's book invaluable. I talked to him on the phone and he sold me his original uniform (which he wears in the book) for $100! I too would have like more information about the saddle. I've analyzed Machado's book, Steffen's and field manuals and I'll be damned if I know the exact way the 04 saddle was rigged as there was a mixture of equipment at this time. Another good source is Military Classics Illustrated which in their first issue had an article about the Punitive Expedition.

Visited Columbus, NM last year and was very disappointed.

I just received by 1903 from CMP. Now if I knew of any group that does a Punitive Campaign impression...

Timothy P. Monahan
Major, Medical Corps USA

[Light Dragoon]

Tim, there actually are a few folks out there who are doing a 1916 impression (including some erstwile neighbors of Pat...I have photographic evidence of three of us crossing the Cheyenne river, pretending it was the Rio Grande...), but the only group I know of that actively persues it is the State of Arizona Governor's Horse Guard. the pictures I have seen, and the members I have talked with, seem to be pretty decent, and do a fairly good impression over all, especially if you look at them as a militia unit pressed into Federal Service for the Emergency of 1916.

http://azgovernorshorseguards.homestead ... ghome.html

I have always had a fondness for this period myself, ever since I found my Grandfather's pictures from his stay on the border with the 7th California National Guard Infantry. He was posted there for a while, and took a lot of pictures, most of them rather amusing. Good for research as well. One of these days I need to scan them into the computer for posterity. But anyway, I have a pretty decent kit together myself, even though I am officially supposed to be doing WWII cavalry, with the 11th:

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Barracks/2189/

Not quite as much fun to ponder as the 1916 stuff, to be sure, but serviceable. What I am rather interested in right now is actually the "Other" Mexican incursion, that of 1846-'48. In fact, both of the Border wars have a LOT more to do with me personally in my day-to-day life than any of the mix-ups in the East do, thus my more Western interests.

Sorry to ramble, but good topic. I have enjoyed the Machado book myself, and though, as stated above, it contains errors, it, like Randy Steffens' books, are pioneers, and they always are revised as new information becomes available, but without them, we would be totally in the dark.

Speaking of Steffens, I have a good friend who knew him well too, and was with him when his cabin burned, which contained all of his research and much of his collection. Sad, very sad day, and I'm sure that it shortened his life, and cst us much valuable information.

Gordon

"After God, we owe our Victory to our Horses"

Gonsalo Jimenez de Quesada, 1543

[Joseph Sullivan]

BTW, guys, just because I am moving further towards old coothood every day, and am picky -- Randy Steffen did not spell his name with an "s" on the end.

Cheers

Joe

[Light Dragoon]

Joe;

Sorry about the error... I should have been more careful in my spelling of his name. Coot-hood is earned by knowing enough to be picky, and being correct in it, so coot on. ;^)

Gordon

"After God, we owe our Victory to our Horses"

Gonsalo Jimenez de Quesada, 1543

[Camp Little]

I had an opportunity to visit "The Museum of the Horse Soldier" this week in Tucson. I had been aware of it's existence for just a couple of weeks before Light Dragoon's posting and finally found the time to head up to "the city" for an afternoon. It's everything you see on the Arizona Governor's Guards website mentioned above and more. Dan Bate's Cavalry bronzes are on tour, but the museum has just acquired a treasure trove of diggings from old fort sites throughout Arizona and New Mexico. Buttons, bullets, buckles, you name it are well catalogued and on display in a dedicated room with site locations indexed on a large map. The cavalry equipments and uniform items primarily pertain to the 1898-1918 period, but there are a lot of IW items as well. I found the Phillips Pack saddle to be very unique and interesting amongst the saddles on display. I hope to meet with the owner sometime next week and I'll try to follow up with a more detailed report on the Museum. In the meantime, if you ever find yourself in Tucson, AZ, it's definitely well worth checking out along with the Post museum in Fort Huachuca (primarily IW). One thing of note, "The Museum of the Horse Soldier" is attached to Traildust Town, a collection of restaurants and shops and is open usually after 4:00 p.m. when most of Traildust Town's shops and activities are going on. Regards, Steve