The 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized) is a combat division of the United States Army based at Fort Hood, Texas. It is the most technologically advanced combat division in the U.S. Army.
The division has two nicknames, the first, "Ivy," is a play on words of the Roman numeralIV or 4. Ivy leaves also symbolize tenacity and fidelity which is the basis of the division's motto: "Steadfast and Loyal". The second nickname, "Iron Horse", has been recently adopted to indicate the speed and power of the division.
The 4th Infantry Division was organized at Camp Greene, North Carolina on December 10, 1917 under the command of MG George H. Cameron. It was here they adopted their distinctive insignia, the four Ivy Leaves. The Ivy leaf came from the Roman numerals for Four (IV) and signified their motto “Steadfast and Loyal”. The Division was organized as part of the United States buildup following the Declaration of War on April 61917 and the entry of the U.S. into World War I, “The Great War”, on the side of the British and French.
Total authorized strength for the Division approached 32,000.
St. Mihiel Offensive
For the St. Mihiel Campaign the division moved into an area south of Verdun as part of the 1st American Army. Gen. Pershing, Commander of the American Expeditionary forces, had gotten the French and British to agree that the U.S. Army would fight under its own organizational elements. One of the first missions assigned to the American Army was the reduction of the St. Mihiel salient. The 4th Division, assigned to V Corps, was on the western face of the salient. The plan was for V Corps to push generally southeast and to meet IV Corps who was pushing northwest, thereby trapping the Germans in the St. Mihiel area.
The 59th Infantry Regiment moved into an area previously occupied by the French, deploying along a 9 kilometer front. On 12 September, the first patrols were sent forward by the 59th. The 4th Division attack began on 14 September with the 8th Brigade capturing the town of Manheulles. All along the front, the American forces pressed forward and closed the St. Mihiel salient. During the first American- commanded offensive, the U.S. soldiers
had been incredibly successful.
The Meuse-Argonne Campaign
On 26 September, the last great battle of WWI (the Meuse-Argonne Campaign) began. Moving under the cover of darkness for total secrecy, the Americans had moved into their sector of the front following the completion of their mission in the St. Mihiel area. Three U.S. Army corps were assigned sectors along the U.S. part of the front. III Corps held the extreme right (eastern) part of the front with V Corps to their left. The 4th Division was assigned to III Corps. The III Corps sector had the 33rd Division on the right, the 80th Division had the center, and the 4th was assigned the left, with the 79th Division, V Corps on their left. The 7th Brigade was moved to the line in the trenches around Hill 304. The Division plan called for one brigade to fight until exhausted and then send the other brigade forward to press the attack. The 26 September attack was made through a narrow valley. The 7th Brigade moved through the valley, taking large numbers of German prisoners, reached a second line of defenses by 9:00 a.m. and, after again overcoming the German defenders, approached the town of Cuisy. The Germans provided a formidable opposition, but the 39th Infantry overcame them and moved through Septsarges. During this first day, the 7th Brigade had captured 1700 prisoners, and more than 40 guns. Division Headquarters was moved forward to Cuisy.
On 27 September the attack resumed with a field artillery barrage. The 39th Infantry followed the barrage until they encountered withering machine gun fire from the Bois des Ogons where they were held up. The 8th Brigade was brought forward on the 29 September to take the place of the 39th on the line. The 8th Brigade moved through the Bois de Brieulles but met increasing machine gun fire from the Bois des Ogons. Very little progress was made over the next four days as the terrible condition of the roads at the rear hampered re-supply and reinforcement efforts. By 3 October, Phase I of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive was over.
The Meuse-Argonne Offensive--Phase II
Through the strenuous efforts of the supply and ammunition trains, enough materiel had been acquired to resume the attack by 3 October. The Division plan was to fight its way through the many forests surrounding the city of Brieulles and capture the city. On the morning of 4 October, the 8th Brigade moved out of the foxholes and moved across open ground under the cover of heavy fog. As the fog lifted the Germans opened fired from the front, the left and the right. The 58th fought forward wearing gas masks since many of the projectiles contained gas, finally managing to gain a foothold in the Bois de Fays. The line was able to advance no further for the next 4 days enduring constant shelling and German night patrols attempting to infiltrate their lines. Forward movement was again ordered on 9 October with the 7th Brigade attacking. The 8th Brigade was withdrawn for rest. The 39th Infantry was designated as the assaulting unit. The order to attack came just at sundown. With difficulty, the men stumbled forward in darkness wearing gas masks and under fire. Little progress could be made. The 39th withdrew to resume the attack at 0700 on the 10 October. 2/39th led the way and incurred heavy losses. Many of the officers in the 39th were killed or wounded, including all of the majors.
Another attack was ordered and by 1730 2/39th had fought through the Bois de Peut de Faux. The men dug in for the night. Early on the morning of the 11th, the entire regimental staff of the 39th was gassed and LTC Troy Middleton, 47th Infantry was ordered to take command of the 39th. Attacking on the morning of the 11 October, the 7th Brigade pushed through the Bois de Foret. The orders for 12 October were to clean out the last pockets of German resistance
in the Bois de Foret. Patrols were sent out to the north side of Hill 299. On 13 October, 4th Division units were relieved by the 4th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Division.
On 10 October MG John L. Hines was selected to command III Corps. MG George H. Cameron was returned to the 4th Division as its commander. The 4th was withdrawn from the front on 19 October. During their 24 days of combat they had paid a heavy price with 244 officers and 7,168 men killed or wounded. They had fought their way over 13 kilometers and captured 2,731 enemy prisoners. The Division relocated to Lucey as part of Second Army. MG Cameron received a new assignment to return to the U.S. to train new divisions on 22 October. Command passed temporarily to BG Benjamin, Commander, 7th Brigade before MG Mark L. Hersey arrived to assume command on 31 October.
The Armistice ending the war was signed on November 11, 1918. The last casualties in the Division were suffered by 13th Field Artillery at 1400 11 November1918.
World War I Casuaties
2,611 Killed in Action
9,895 Wounded in Action
Occupation duty
Under the terms of the Armistice, Germany was to evacuate all territory west of the Rhine. American troops were to relocate to the center section of this previously German occupied area all the way to the Coblenz bridgehead on the Rhine. The 4th marched into Germany, covering 330 miles in 15 days where it was widely dispersed over an area with Bad Bertrich as Division headquarters. The Division established training for the men as well as sports and educational activities. In April 1919 the Division moved to a new occupation area further north on the Rhine.
In July the Division returned to France and the last detachment sailed for the United States on July 31, 1919. On September 21, 1921, the 4th Division was inactivated at Camp Lewis, Washington as part of the Army Reorganization Act of 1920.
4th Infantry Division was reactivated on June 11940 at Fort Benning, Georgia, under the command of MG Walter E. Prosser. 4th ID was reorganized to the Motorized Infantry Division TO&E on August 11940. 4 ID was assigned - along with 2d Armored Division, to the I Armored Corps.
4 ID moved to Dry Prong, Louisiana
The Fourth Division arrived in the UK in early 1944. It took part in the Normandy Invasion, with the 8th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Division being one of the first Allied units to hit the beaches at Normandy on D-day, June 6 1944. Relieving the isolated 82d Airborne Division at Sainte-Mère-Église, the 4th cleared the Cotentin peninsula and took part in the capture of Cherbourg on June 25. After taking part in the fighting near Periers, July 6-12, the Division broke through the left flank of the German Seventh Army, helped stem the German drive toward Avranches, and by the end of August had moved to Paris, assisting the French in the liberation of their capital. The 4th then moved into Belgium through Houffalize to attack the Siegfried Line at Schnee Eifel on September 14, and made several penetrations. Slow progress into Germany continued in October, and by November 6 the Division entered the Battle of Huertgen Forest, where the Division was engaged in heavy fighting until early December. It then shifted to Luxembourg, only to meet the German winter Ardennes Offensive head-on on (in the Battle of the Bulge) starting on December 16 1944. Although its lines were dented, it managed to hold the Germans at Dickweiler and Osweiler, and, counterattacking in January across the Sauer, overran German positions in Fouhren and Vianden. Halted at the Prum in February by heavy enemy resistance, the Division finally crossed on February 28 near Olzheim, and raced on across the Kyll on March 7. After a short rest, the 4th moved across the Rhine on March 29 at Worms, attacked and secured Würzburg and by April 3 had established a bridgehead across the Main at Ochsenfurt. Speeding southeast across Bavaria, the Division had reached Miesbach on the Isar on May 21945, when it was relieved and placed on occupation duty.
The Division returned to the United States in July 1945 and was stationed at Camp Butner North Carolina, preparing for deployment to the Pacific. After the war ended it was inactivated on March 51946. It was reactivated as a training division at Fort Ord, California on July 151947.
The 4th Infantry Division deployed from Ft. Lewis to Camp Holloway, Pleiku, Vietnam on September 25, 1966 and served more than four years, returning to Ft. Carson, Colorado on December 8, 1970. Two brigades operated in the Central Highlands/II Corps Zone, but its 3rd Brigade, including the division's armor battalion, was sent to Tay Ninh Province northwest of Saigon to take part in Operation Attleboro (September to November, 1966), and later Operation Junction City (February to May, 1967), both in War Zone C. After nearly a year of combat, the 3rd Brigade's battalions officially became part of the 25th Infantry Division in exchange for the battalions of the 25th's 3rd Brigade, then in Quang Ngai Province as part of the division-sized Task Force Oregon.
Throughout its service in Vietnam the division conducted combat operations in the western Central Highlands along the border between Cambodia and Vietnam. The division experienced intense combat against NVA regular forces in the mountains surrounding Kontum in the autumn of 1967. The division's 3rd Brigade was withdrawn from Vietnam in April, 1970 and deactivated at Ft. Lewis. In May the remainder of the division conducted cross-border operations during the Cambodian Incursion. The "Ivy Division" returned from Vietnam in December and was rejoined in Ft. Carson by its former 3rd Brigade from Hawaii, where it had re-deployed as part of the withdrawal of the 25th Infantry Division. One battalion remained in Vietnam as a separate organization until January, 1972.
Vietnam Divisional Order of Battle
1st Battalion, 8th Infantry
2d Battalion, 8th Infantry (Mechanized)
3d Battalion, 8th Infantry
1st Battalion, 12th Infantry
2d Battalion, 12th Infantry (to 25th ID, Aug 67-Dec 70)
3d Battalion, 12th Infantry
1st Battalion, 14th Infantry (from 25th ID, Aug 67-Dec 70)
1st Battalion, 22d Infantry (Separate, Nov 1970 to Jan 1972)
2d Battalion, 22nd Infantry (to 25th ID, Aug 67-Dec 70)
3d Battalion, 22nd Infantry (to 25th ID, Aug 67-Dec 70)
1st Battalion, 35th Infantry (from 25th ID, Aug 67-Apr 70)
2d Battalion, 35th Infantry (from 25th ID, Aug 67 to Dec 70)
2d Battalion, 34th Armor (to 25th ID, Aug 67-Dec 70)
1st Battalion, 69th Armor (from 25th ID, Aug 67 to Apr 70)
2nd Battalion, 9th Artillery (105 mm) (from 25th ID, Aug 67 to Apr 70)
5th Battalion, 16th Artillery (155 mm)
6th Battalion, 29th Artillery (105 mm)
4th Battalion, 42d Artillery (105 mm)
2d Battalion, 77th Artillery (105 mm) (to 25th ID, Aug 67 to Dec 70)
The 4th Infantry Division was scheduled to take part in the Iraq War in the spring of 2003 by spearheading an advance from Turkey into northern Iraq. The Turkish Parliament refused to grant permission for the operation and the division's equipment remained offshore on ships during the buildup for the war. The 4th was unable to deploy in time to start the invasion but joined it as follow-on forces in April 2003 attacking toward Tikrit and Mosul. They were a major part of occupation forces during the post-war period. It was deployed in Tikrit area, in the northern area of the Sunni Triangle. On December 13, 2003, the 1st Brigade of the 4th captured Saddam Hussein, former President of Iraq. The division rotated out of Iraq in the Spring of 2004, and was relieved by the 1st Infantry Division.
The division's second deployment to Iraq began in the fall of 2005. The division headquarters replaced the 3rd Infantry Division, which had been directing security operations as the headquarters for Multi-National Division - Baghdad. The 4th assumed responsibility on January 7, 2006 for four provinces in central and southern Iraq: Baghdad, Karbala, An-Najaf and Babil. On January 7, 2006, MND-Baghdad also assumed responsibility for training Iraqi security forces and conducting security operations in the four provinces.
During the second deployment, 3rd Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division was assigned to conduct security operations under the command of Task Force Band of Brothers, led initially by the 101st Airbone Division, Air Assault.
Return From deployment
Upon return from deployment to OIF 1, The 4th Infantry Division immediately began reorganization into the "modular brigade" structure of the new U.S. Army. 4th Infantry Division is slated for re-deployment to OIF near the end of '05.
