1st Cavalry Division

1st Cavalry Division. . Units of the 1st Calvary Division have served our nation since 1855. Prior to the division's activation at Fort Bliss in 1921, its various components participated in the Indian Wars, the Civil War (1861-65), the Spanish-American War (1889-99) and, most notably, the Punitive Expedition (1916-17), when cavalry stationed at Fort Bliss under the command of Brigadier General John J. Pershing pursued the forces of Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa in northern Mexico., Mounted cavalry first permanently garrisoned Fort Bliss in 1895. During its early years it was assigned the mission of patrolling the border with Mexico. Although the Army experimented with motor vehicles as early as 1899, soldiers on horseback were considered the only effective means of patrolling the harsh desert terrain., During the Depression of the 1930s the Division assumed operation of the Arizona-New Mexico District of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), providing headquarters for CCC companies and employment for 62,500 young men in forest and reclamation work. Beginning in 1941 the 1st Division constructed cantonments for 20,000 antiaircraft troops at Fort Bliss, greatly expanding Biggs Army Air Field., In 1941 the entire 1st Division assembled at Fort Bliss for the first time. Two years later the Division was processed for assignment as mechanized infantry in the South Pacific. The dismounting of the Division at Fort Bliss signaled that modern, mechanized warfare had rendered the horse cavalry obsolete, and marked its passing from the U.S. military.