By Maj. William Carraway
Historian, Georgia Army National Guard
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| The 121st Infantry at Camp Wheeler, near Macon Ga. February 1, 1918. LOC |
Early History
The companies that would eventually form the 121st Infantry
have a long and varied history. The first company to form was the Baldwin
Blues, originally organized May 11, 1810 in Milledgeville, Ga.[i] The
Blues, along with other predecessor units of the 121st – the Albany
Guards and Barnesville Blues, were mustered into Confederate service as
elements of the 4th Georgia Volunteer Infantry which would see
extensive service in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.[ii]
On December 20, 1860, other early elements of the 121st
Infantry Regiment were organized as the Independent Volunteer Battalion of
Macon to include the Macon Volunteers, which had fought in the Seminole Wars,
and the Floyd Rifles.[iii] Mustered
into Confederate service in April 1861 as part of the 2nd Battalion, Georgia
Infantry,[iv] the
2nd Battalion served in the brigade of Brig. Gen. Ambrose Wright and
was the skirmish element on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg in which
the brigade crested Cemetery Hill.[v]
The battalion surrendered at Appomattox Court House with the Army of Northern
Virginia April 9, 1865.
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| The Codori Farm and Emmitsburg Road at Gettysburg viewed from Federal lines. The 2nd Battalion, Georgia Infantry assaulted across this field July 2, 1863. Photo by Maj. William Carraway |
1874 to 1917
The 2nd Battalion was reorganized June 15, 1874 in the
Georgia Volunteers, precursor to the Georgia National Guard. The battalion was
expanded and reorganized January 23, 1891 as the 2nd Regiment of Infantry. Elements
of the 2nd Infantry were mustered into federal service in May 1898 for the
Spanish American War and returned to state control in November 1898.[vi]
On July 2, 1916, the 2nd Regiment of Infantry was mustered
into federal service and dispatched to the Mexican Border. For the next eight
months, the Infantrymen patrolled the border from El Paso, Texas to Noria, N.M.
in support of Brig. Gen. John J. Pershing’s punitive expedition.[vii] The
regiment returned to Macon in March 1917 but remained in federal service. In
August 1917, Companies B, C and F of the 2nd Georgia were reorganized as the
151st Machine Gun Battalion. The 151st would serve with the 42nd
Infantry Division during World War I. The remaining companies of the 2nd
Georgia Infantry were redesignated the 121st Infantry Regiment on October 1,
1917.
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| CAMP WHEELER, Macon, Ga., February 5, 1918 – 121st and 122nd Infantry Regiments, on a road march at Camp Wheeler, Macon, Ga. Feb 5, 1918. Photo 4670, NARA. |
Colonel Thomas and the Gray Bonnet Regiment
The commander of the 121st Infantry Regiment in the years
leading up to World War I was Col. James Adrian Thomas Jr. of Macon, Ga. On
November 18, 1912, Col. Thomas assumed command of the 2nd Infantry. Shortly
after assuming command, Thomas designated the 121st Infantry Regiment the Old
Gray Bonnet after the popular song "Put on your Old Gray Bonnet" by
Stanley Murphy and Percy Wenrich which was first released in 1909.[viii]
The 121st departed for France October 5, 1918 aboard the
transport USS Orizaba. Arriving in the port of Brest, France the 121st was
compelled to remain onboard until the ship could be unloaded. It was in the
harbor that Col. Thomas, beloved regimental commander, died of pneumonia October
16 having never set foot in France. He was 48.[ix]
Reeling from the loss of their commander, the Soldiers of the
121st were dealt a second blow. Having reached Le Mans October 22,
the Soldiers were informed they would be parceled into
replacement units rather than enter combat as a regiment. Having trained so
long for combat, many of the Soldiers of the 121st would reach the
front lines just as the war was coming to a close.[x]
Following World War I, the Georgia National Guard was
reorganized. The 121st Infantry Regiment was federally recognized May 31, 1921
as the 1st Georgia Infantry Regiment. It would not regain its 121st
designation until 1924 by which time the regiment was part of the 30th
Division. [xi]
By 1939, on the eve of war, the 121st Infantry was comprised of three
battalions based in Macon, Brunswick and Dublin, Ga.
Colonel Lewis Pope, The Gray Bonnet Insignia and
Federalization
In September 1940, the 121st was accepted into federal
service under the command of Col. Lewis C. Pope. Pope was born June 23, 1884 in
Laurence County, Ga. and enlisted in Company A, 2nd Infantry, Georgia Sate
Troops November 24, 1899. He served through the ranks from private to sergeant
before commissioning as a second lieutenant in Company K November 7, 1906. Pope
was appointed captain of the Dublin Guards August 28, 1919, was promoted to
major January 25, 1921 and lieutenant colonel July 22, 1922. Upon the
unexpected death of Georgia’s Adjutant General, Brig. Gen. J. Van Holt Nash,
Pope was promoted to brigadier general and appointed as Nash’s successor by Governor
Thomas Hardwick. Pope served as the adjutant general until January 13, 1923
when he was appointed colonel, commanding the 121st Infantry Regiment.
During a ceremony in Macon, Ga. October 14, 1928, ten years
after the regiment sailed for France, the 121st regimental colors were
presented amidst much fanfare. The ceremony also marked the first appearance of
the unit’s distinctive insignia as described by Capt. Charles F. Stuart,
regimental adjutant:
“All of the men were equipped and wearing the Old Gray Bonnet
insignia, and it looked mighty good in its first appearance.”[xii]
Twelve years after the first appearance of the Gray Bonnet,
Pope was still in command of the 121st Infantry Regiment when it was dispatched
to Fort Jackson, S.C. for sixteen weeks of initial training.[xiii]
In June, the 121st participated in the Tennessee Maneuvers followed by the
Carolina Maneuvers. In September, Col. Pope was succeeded by Col. Aaron J.
Becker.[xiv] Shortly
after Becker assumed command the reorganization of Army divisions resulted in
assignment of the 121st to the 8th Infantry Division.[xv]
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| Reinforcements for the 121st Infantry move up a snow covered road in Hurtgen, Germany Jan 6, 1945. Photo 270807, NARA. |
World War II
On June 30, 1944, the 121st began loading transports in Belfast Harbor. Four days later the 121st Infantry Regiment splashed ashore on Utah Beach and entered the Normandy Campaign. Within a week of landing, the regiment would suffer its first casualties and in less than 10 months, the casualty list of the 121st would grow to 70 pages as the regiment fought its way from La Haye du Puits France to Schwerin Germany and the liberation of concentration camps near Wobbelin.[xvi]
Reactivation and the 48th Division
The 121st Infantry Regiment was inactivated for
less than a year following World War II when it was assigned to the Georgia National
Guard as part of the initial allotment of National Guard ground force units for
the state of Georgia on July 11, 1946. The 121st Infantry Regiment
formed one of three infantry regiments assigned to the 48th Infantry
Division in addition to the 122nd Infantry Regiment of Georgia and
the 124th Infantry Regiment of Florida.
Reorganization of the 48th ID as an armor division
in 1955 scattered the 121st Regiment into battalion and company-size
elements. Company D, 121st became headquarters company of the 48th
AD. Four companies of the 121st constituted the 121st
Armored Infantry Battalion while two more formed the core of the 171st
Armored Infantry Battalion. Company K and M formed the nucleus of the 190th
Tank Battalion while the 162nd Tank Battalion was comprised entirely
of former 121st Infantry units.[xvii]
In 1959, the 121st and 171st AIB were
combined to reform the 121st Infantry Regiment, consisting of 1st
and 2nd Armored Rifle Battalions.[xviii]
The 121st was expanded to four battalions under the ROAD
reorganization of 1963.[xix] With the reorganization of the 48th
AD as 3rd Brigade, 30th Division in 1968, the 121st
Infantry Regiment was again reduced to two battalions.[xx]
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| Infantrymen of the 121st Infantry Regiment, 48th Armored Division pass in review before Governor Carl Sanders during Governor's Day activities at Fort Stewart Ga. The 48th Armored Division was at Fort Stewart for Annual Training August 7 to 21, 1966. Georgia National Guard Archives. |
The 48th Brigade and Overseas Mobilizations
In 1973, at the request of the governor of Georgia, the
National Guard Bureau assigned an infantry brigade to the state. Designated the
48th Infantry Brigade in honor of the 48th Division, the
48th Brigade welcomed the 121st Infantry Regiment into
its force structure where it remains to this day.
The 48th Brigade and 121st Infantry
Regiment were activated for service during Desert Storm but fighting ended
before the units mobilized overseas. Elements of the 121st Infantry
mobilized to Bosnia in March 2001.[xxi] These
units were in Bosnia when terrorists struck on September 11, 2001.
Elements of the 48th Infantry Brigade, later the
48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, have mobilized four times since
September 11, 2001, and infantrymen of the 121st have been part of
all overseas combat deployments. From the 2005 deployment to Iraq to the 2018
mobilization to Afghanistan, the 121st Infantry Regiment has provided
security, mentoring and combat power to kinetic operations. During its last
deployment, the 121st Infantry mobilized overseas with three
battalions for the first time since 1944. The 3rd Battalion, 121st
Infantry Regiment, which had been inactivated in 1968 with the loss of the 48th
AD was activated in 2016 with its headquarters in Cumming, Ga.[xxii]
 |
| Company D, 2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment, 4in Kunduz, Afghanistan in January 2010, Georgia National Guard Archives. |
Soldiers of the 121st Infantry Regiment have
supported response operations for COVID-19 and civil disturbances throughout
2020 lending medical support to hospitals in Hall County, staffing COVID-19
testing sites and foodbanks and assisting law enforcement during civil disturbances
in Atlanta and Athens. Simultaneously, the 121st has continued to
support overseas training deployments by contributing personnel to Operation
Saber Junction in Germany in 2020 and African Lion in Morocco the following year.
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| Georgia Army National Guard Soldiers of the 3rd Battalion 121st Infantry Regiment assist law enforcement officials during civil unrest in Atlanta May 30, 2020. Photo by Maj. William Carraway. |
[i] The
121st Infantry Regiment. The Gray Bonnet: Combat History of the
121st Infantry Regiment, 1810-1945. Army Navy Publishing
Company, 1946, 18.
[ii] Lyle, Thomas E., Larry O. Blair, Debra
S. Lyle, and J. Harmon. Smith. Organizational
Summary of Military Organizations from Georgia in the Confederate States of
America. Marietta, Ga.
1999, 61.
[iii]
Lyle et al,40-41.
[iv] Center
for Military History. “Lineage and Honors Certificate, 121st Infantry
Regiment”
[v] Official
Records of the War of the Rebellion, Series I, Vol XXVII/2. -- SERIES I--VOLUME
XXVII/2: JUNE 3-AUGUST 1, 1863--The Gettysburg Campaign. Washington DC: War
Department, 1897.
[vi]
CMH
[vii] Carraway,
William. “We Are Having a Big Time Now: January-March 1917.” April 17, 2017.
http://www.georgiaguardhistory.com/2017/04/we-are-having-big-time-now-january.html
[viii]
The first official authority for this designation appears March 24, 1924 in GO
No. 1 in which the 121st Infantry was officially designated the Old Gray Bonnet
Regiment. This much was affirmed in an October 28, 1926 outline of the history
of the 121st Infantry certified by Charles H. Cox, Georgia's Adjutant General.
[ix] The
Georgia State Memorial Book Adopted as the Official Record by the Military
Department of the State of Georgia. Atlanta: 1921, 31.
[x] Gray
Bonnet, 18.
[xi] Pictorial
Review of the National Guard of the State of Georgia, 1939, 44.
[xii] Gray
Bonnet, 17.
[xiii]
Pictorial Review, 45.
[xiv] Gray
Bonnet, 20.
[xv]
Ibid.
[xvi] The
Gray Bonnet, 85.
[xvii]
NGAROTO 325.4 Oct 17, 1955
[xviii]
RA 73-59, June 10, 1959.
[xix]
RA 57-63 March 21, 1963.
[xx]
RA Dec 14, 1967.
[xxi] “Bosnia
Bound: The Countdown Begins.” Georgia Guardsman, Spring 2000, Vol. 1,
No. 3, 10.
[xxii]
OA 545-15 January 8, 2016.
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