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1st Battalion 51st Regiment

Lieutenant Colonel

John R. Grant

Commander

HISTORY: The 51^st Regiment descends from the 1^st New York Cavalry.  The 1^st New York Cavalry had its origins in several troops of cavalry raised in the National Guard during the early 1890s; Troop A, in Manhattan, Troop B, upstate, and Troop C, in Brooklyn, all of which had expanded into squadrons by the mid-'90s.  Troops A and C saw extensive state service during the Brooklyn Trolleymen's Strike, 12-28 Jan 1895.  In 1898 Squadrons A and C formed the basis for the formation of Troops A and C, New York Volunteer Cavalry, which saw active service in Puerto Rico.  Shortly after the passage of the Dick Act, in 1903, the three squadrons were grouped into the 1^st New York Cavalry.  The new regiment served on the Mexican Border in 1916, and was inducted into federal service again in 1917, for World War I.

During World War I the 1^st N.Y. Cavalry was reorganized as the 104^th, 105^th,and 106^th Machine Gun Battalions, which saw service with the 27^th Division in France. While the regiment was on active duty, a new 1^st Cavalry was raised in the New York Guard.  After the war the regiment was reactivated in the New York National Guard a the 101st Cavalry, absorbing its New York Guard counterpart.  When the 101^st Cavalry was inducted into federal service during World War II the 51^st Regiment, New York Guard was formed to take its place in the state's military forces; the designation "51^st" was derived from scrambling the designation of the 105^th Machine Gun Battalion.  The 51^st Regiment, N.Y.G., was inactivated at the end of World War II.  In 2000 the Staten Island unit of the New York Guard was redesignated as the 1^st Battalion, 51^st Regiment

The most notable veteran of the 101^st was Henry L. Stimson, a former enlisted man who was secretary of war 1911 to 1913, went to France in 1917, rising to colonel and commander of the 31^st Field Artillery, , and was once again secretary of war 1940-1945, during World War II.  Other notable veterans of the regiment are former Sgt. Charles I. DeBevoise, who as a brigadier general, led the 53^rd Infantry Brigade of the 27^th Division through the San Quentin Tunnel sector of the Hindenburg Line in 1918, and Lt. Col. Mortimer Bryant, a former trooper who commanded the 107^th Infantry during the San Quentin Tunnel fight.  

Text by: MAJ Albert A. Nofi, PhD