By Major William Carraway
Historian, Georgia Army National Guard
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| Left: The distinctive unit insignia of the 878th Engineer Battalion. Right: Georgia Army National Guard Soldiers of the 878th Engineer Battalion return from Afghanistan to their home Armory in Augusta Nov. 23, 2013. Photo by Maj. Will Cox. |
The
878th Engineer Battalion was organized and federally recognized May
28, 1968; however, the Richmond Hussars, whose lineage is perpetuated by
Headquarters Company of the 878th, has a much longer history.
Early History[1]
On December 16, 1786, a troop of horse, designated the Augusta Dragoons, was organized at Augusta and attached to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Regiment, Georgia Militia. This troop was reorganized in June 1819 as the Richmond Hussars and attached to the 10th Regiment, Georgia Militia. In February, 1836, the Richmond Hussars entered federal service as infantry for service in the Second Creek War where they participated in the Florida Campaign.
On March 3, 1856, the Independent Volunteer Battalion of Augusta was formed to consist of six volunteer companies, including the Clinch Rifles, Oglethorpe Rifles, and Richmond Hussars. During the American Civil War, the Hussars served as Company A and Company I of Cobb’s Legion. The Hussars served in many of the major engagements of the eastern theater and earned campaign credit for Virginia 1861, the Peninsula, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Wilderness, and North Carolina 1865 before surrendering at Greensboro, N.C. April 26, 1865.[2]
In
1873, the Richmond Hussars were reborn as a unit of the Georgia State Troops
and served until 1891 when they were redesignated as Troop A, 1st
Battalion Cavalry. This unit was subsequently redesignated Troop K of the 1st
Cavalry and served on the Mexican Border from 1916 to 1917 as Troop K, 2nd
Squadron of Cavalry.[3]
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| The Georgia cavalry at Camp Cotton, El Paso, Texas in 1916. Photo by 2nd Lt. Vivian Roberts |
The World Wars
Returning from the border, the Troop was redesignated as Company C, 106th Field Signal Battalion, a unit of the 31st Division, and sent to Camp Wheeler for mobilization training. The 31st Division mobilized to France in October 1918, but was skeletonized upon arriving, and its units did not see active combat service. The Georgia Guard units of the 31st Division returned to the United States and were inactivated in 1919.
On October 2, 1939, the 214th Coast Artillery was constituted in the Georgia National Guard. Company A, 214th CA was organized in Augusta and carried forward the lineage of the Richmond Hussars. The 214th CA mobilized to Guadalcanal in 1943 and on October 11, 1943, the Richmond Hussars were redesignated as Company A, 528th Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion. The company served in the Pacific Theater throughout the war earning campaign streamers for Guadalcanal, New Guinea, Northern Solomons and the Ryukyus. The unit returned to the United States and was released from active service in 1945.[4]
Post War Reorganization
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| Soldiers of the 250th AAA BN in 1953 Georgia National Guard Archives. |
In 1959, the 250th was inactivated and the Richmond Hussars became Headquarters Battery, 1st Gun Battalion, 214th Field Artillery.[7] In 1962, the unit was again reorganized as Headquarters Company, 5th Medium Tank Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment[8] and bore this distinction until 1968 when it received its present designation as Headquarters Company, 878th Engineer Battalion.[9] The 878th was assigned to the Atlanta Based 265th Engineer Group.[10]
Mobilizations and Deployments
In February 1973, more than 19 inches of snow fell over central Georgia. The 878th Engineer Battalion was called to state active duty to assist stranded motorists and clear roads.[11] In 1980, the 878th, then affiliated with the 92nd Engineer Battalion at Fort Stewart, constructed the Boy Scout summer camp in Augusta.[12]
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| Guardsmen of the 878th Engineer Battalion help clear the streets of Swainsboro February 10, 1973 following a record-breaking snowfall. Georgia National Guard Archives. |
In
1985, the 878th conducted annual training in Grenada where the engineers
renovated and repaired schools on the island and trained citizens in
construction techniques.[13] Personnel
of the 878th deployed to Somalia in 1986 to survey a bridge project.
Additional personnel travelled to Panama and participated in exercises Gallant
Knight, Caber Dragon and Red Castle II.[14]
The following year, personnel travelled to Jordan and Egypt for Exercise Bright
Star.[15]
In 1988, 878th personnel returned to Jordan and served as command
and control for road construction projects in Amman.[16]
In 1989, a reorganization of the 878th increased the headquarters company from 140 to 230 personnel. That same year, the 878th fielded the Small Unit Excavating Equipment (SEE) vehicle and mobilized to Somalia and Jordan.[17]
The 878th was mobilized in July 1994 following torrential rains of Tropical Storm Alberto that caused wide-spread flooding throughout South Georgia. The Engineers repaired washed out roads, cleared culverts, and removed debris.[18]
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| MONTEZUMA, Ga. July, 1994 - Soldiers of the Augusta-based 878th Engineer Battalion bulldoze fresh dirt over a washed-out road in response to Tropical Storm Alberto. Photo by Spc. Chris Pearson. |
In
1999, the 878th participated in Operation Caribbean Castle in the
Dominican Republic. This operation involved more than 500 engineers who
conducted three separate 15- day annual training periods from May to June. In
the course of the mobilizations, the engineers constructed three schools which
were desperately needed following the devastation on Hurricane Georges which
struck the island in 1998.[19]
In
the summer of 2002, the 878th Engineer Battalion was called upon to
use its engineering expertise to demolish abandoned buildings that posed a
health and safety risk in neighborhoods across the state as part of the governor’s counter drug efforts.[20] The
878th’s efforts took place in Atlanta, Swainsboro and Tallapoosa.
The 878th would again partner with the Counter Drug Task Force and city of Atlanta for
blighted building eradication in 2015.[21]
The 878th was ordered into active federal service April 1, 2003 at home stations for service during Operation Iraqi Freedom. As part of Task Force Baghdad, the 878th served for more than a year in and around the Iraqi capital before returning the state control August 3, 2004.[22] Subordinate units of the 878th Engineer Battalion were subsequently called to mobilize in support of overseas contingency operations.
In the summer of 2009, Soldiers of the 878th Engineer Battalion joined more than 650 service members from the Army, Navy and Marine Corps in humanitarian efforts in Guyana. The 878th constructed a new clinic to serve the people of Penitence, a suburb of Georgetown. Joining the Headquarters Company in the effort were Soldiers from the 876th Engineer Company and 175th Engineer Platoon. Soldiers of the battalion rotated into Guyana for 75 days for annual training.[23]
In 2009, the 878th was assigned to the 648th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade. The 878th responded to south Georgia wildfires in the summer of 2011[25] and mobilized Soldiers to Hohenfels, Germany for annual training from May 19 to June 25, 2011.[26]
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| Georgia National Guard Soldiers from the 878th Task Force Dynamite stand in Afghanistan August 11, 2013. Georgia National Guard Archives. |
The 878th mobilized to Afghanistan in March 2013[27] under the leadership of Lt. Col. Ed Granados and Command Sgt. Maj. Jeff Logan. The 878th, as Task Force Dynamite, trained Afghan National Army Soldiers in explosives identification and eradication.[28] The battalion returned in November 2013.
Just months after returning from Afghanistan, Soldiers of the 878th were activated in the wake of winter storms that swept the state in January and February 2014. Later that year, Soldiers of the 878th traveled to the country of Georgia to the small mountain town of Sachkhere where they renovated a local school.[29]
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| AUGUSTA, Ga., Feb.14, 2014 – Staff Sgt. Eric Horne, a fueler with the 878th Engineer Battalion refuels a truck at the 878th Augusta armory during response operations to Winter Storm Pax. Photo by Sgt. Michael Uribe. |
The Augusta engineers have been
repeatedly called to assist civil authorities following hurricanes such as
Joaquin, Irma, Michael and Dorian. The 878th participated in the
state’s coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic and in 2021, mobilized
personnel and equipment to Louisiana following Hurricane Ida.
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| Specialist Simeon George of the Augusta-based Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 878th Engineer Battalion directs traffic through a vaccination site April 13, 2021, in Savannah, Georgia. Photo by Capt. Bryant Wine. |
In addition to Headquarters Company and Company A, the 878th Engineer Battalion consists of the 177th Engineer Support Company, 848th Engineer Company, 863rd and 874th Engineer Utility Detachments, 877th Engineer Company and the newly constituted 876th Engineer Company. These engineer units themselves have a long history of overseas mobilizations and domestic operations which continues through 2024.
[1] Gordon B.
Smith. “Richmond Hussars.” January 28, 1978.
[2] Center for
Military History, Lineage and Honors Certificate for the 878th
Engineer Battalion
[3] Report of
the Adjutant General, State of Georgia for the Year 1916. Atlanta, Ga.: Byrd Printing
Company, 1917, 43.
[4] The Center
for Military History. “Lineage and Honors of the 878th Engineer
Battalion.”
[5] Military
Department of the State of Georgia, GO 17. 31 December, 1946.
[6] Renee Hylton. Where Are We Going: The National Guard
and the Korean War 1950-1953, (Washington, D.C.: Historical Services
Division, Office of Public Affairs, National Guard Bureau 2000) 51.
[7] RA 73-59,
June 10, 1959.
[8] RA 47-62
April 16, 1962.
[9] RA 71-67
December 14, 1967.
[10] Annual
Report, State of Georgia Department of Defense, 1968, Section IX.
[11] Carraway
William, “45 Years Ago: Georgia National Guard Responds to 1973 Winter Storms.”
Usarmy.mil, January 8, 2018. https://www.army.mil/article/198866/45_years_ago_georgia_national_guard_responds_to_1973_winter_storms#:~:text=In%2036%20hours%20of%20winter,one%20of%20those%20citizens%20rescued.
[12] Annual
Report, State of Georgia Department of Defense, 1980, 15.
[13] Annual
Report, State of Georgia Department of Defense, 1985, 4.
[14] Annual
Report, State of Georgia Department of Defense, 1986, 5.
[15]Annual
Report, State of Georgia Department of Defense, 1987, 3.
[16] Annual
Report, State of Georgia Department of Defense, 1988, 2.
[17] Annual Report,
State of Georgia Department of Defense, 1989, 4.
[18] Georgia
Guardsman Magazine. September, 1994.
[19] Annual
Report, State of Georgia Department of Defense, 1999, 10.
[20] Roy Henry/ “Another
Crack house.” The Georgia Guardsman. Fall 2002, 14-15.
[21] “William Carraway.
“CDTF Assists City of Atlanta.” The Georgia Guardsman. September 2015,
19.
[22] The Center
for Military History. “Lineage and Honors of the 878th Engineer
Battalion.”
[23] Roy Henry. “Georgia
Engineers in Guyana for Humanitarian Operation.” The Georgia Guardsman.
Vol . No. 6, 10.
[25] Roy Henry. “National Guard Called to Assist with South Georgia Wildfires.” The Georgia Guardsman. July 2011, 17
[26] Alexander
Grant. “Guard Engineers Conduct Annual Training in Southeast Germany.” The
Georgia Guardsman. August 2011, 3-4.
[27] Roy Henry. “Augusta
to Guardsmen. ‘Til We Meet Again.’” The Georgia Guardsman. March 2013,
7.
[28] Michael
Bignardi. 78th Demolition Operations Training. The Georgia
Guardsman. May 2013, 4.
[29] Sean McCulley. “SPP Building for Brighter Futures.” The Georgia Guardsman. November 2014, 5-6.
