History of the Company M, 5th Infantry Regiment, National Guard of California 1907-1917 This history was completed in 1940 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in conjunction with the California National Guard and the California State Library. Digitized by the History Office, Camp San Luis Obispo, 6 January 2015
I 11, J'ifth Inrantl'7 Regiment, Second Bri~ade (for:utrly Coapacy o, Firat. Inr.Regiment, Compan.y F, first Intantey Re~i AdJu~ent Looa~lon:.!~ General's Files 2an lranclsco, San Franc1eco County Organised llay 11, 1907 Redeei&'tlated April 21, 1909** -Reor&~ized, l:ltletere<i in find stationed Ee.n Jo&e May 'u-etered into Federal Service June 28, l916hh 15, l909*m. st&red out of leder&l Service October 7~ 191~ - Recaption ot S.rTiee in the National Guard 19~.t:, _.,.. uetered into Federal Service april 7, 1917 imated Oompa!l7 G, 159th Infant.ry Re&iAent Sept.aber. ~. l917ttnu.ooo. tion cond Br 2. :y r No. 14 1 paragraph 10. Service!Qr duty G, General's Office. I f
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Continued) Activities: (continued) o 1clock lt!:3t evening, the San Jo:Je citizen- soldiers were in.th~ ~ervicc of the United Stutes Government. A bi voua.c-camp of. shcl ter.-tents was p~ -ccnoci on Golf Club grounds, supper wns B~rvcd at eleven Saturday nisht. Sund<.:.y. norning ' St. Josephs Sodali t~r and, Y:hich joined tho~ on the march, played an furnislwd music, while the tvro compa.nie::: were put through drills ruj.d tl1ree battalion parades. After a strenuous morning, the men enjoyed a splendid meal. It vms bett.er tha..l'l the usual arllly-issue fa:r:e pj:. o \ ide3. Apparently the extras were provided by 7 someone besides l1nclo Sum. The afternoon \7a.s gi vcn.over to games, many of V':hich \'ler e military, Vihile others wore the usual track nu::1bers. ~l.'he two units returned home e.bout SiX 0 f clock and '\Vel"O dismissed at the armory.*!mother camp.cf three days duration v:'-ts held October 13 to 15, 1914. Companies B m1d M, of Scm Jose, Company- L, of Palo Alto, and Company I, of Livermore, co.::npr::!.sing the Ji'irst Br:.ttalton of the Fifth Infantry, too,: pnrt in the encampillcnt. The si tc 1:us the rifle range of Company I; located near Livermore. Tvro of the three. days v.'as spent in target practice, the rest of the time baing given over to b&ttalion drills and formation. Company ll participated in mc>.ny parades. Sooe were on holidays, 'lbile othc1 s v:ere on special occasions. One cf tho special occasionu wa3 the parade of the Fifth Infantz y Hegiment in San Francisco on October 14, 1911, when the'president of the United States, \vi11iam llov;ard Taft, cond-qcted the ground- breaking exercise3 for the Panama-Pacific fu:posi tion to be, beld in 1915.** At the conclusion, the parade and exercises were held on Saturday, and the Guards~en were free to do as they pleased, eacl mn having been handed a ticket permitting them to return home.ooo. 1 *San Jose Mercury, October 9, 1911. page 12, column 2. **San Jose Mercury Herald, October 15, 1911, page 1, column 5 - ::J-
.ued) Activities: (continued), d. v~.~o San Jo.ercury lier, June 3, 1914, P 2, colurm,, 7.
Act~~1t~ e z (contlnue d) given by Company M during the three years fol.~owi.ng it.s or&an- 1zat1on in 1909. Ten members of Company M attended a banquet at the Lamolle Grill in San Jose on Sunday evening, April 25, 1912, five of whom enjoyed it immensely for they were t he victors in a membership contest and t herefore did not have to pay the bill". A team of five members headed by Lieutenant C.. I.. 1l1tchell bettered a team of like number led by Lieteanant B. w. Gray. The r.opr ietor of the Grill had a specially decorated table, with!gs and lfowers prepared for the Guardsmen, while Professor D'Albiang's ore1estra played patriotic ~unes t hroughout the evening, that were enjoyed by all the patrons.!1." April 1912, Companies M and B, of San Jose were very much excited by orde s received from the Adjutant General's Office to begin recruiting to b.,.ing the units up to the maxmwn number of men required for active.s ervice. Married men were not to be enlisted unless satisfactory evidence could be produced to show that no hardship would befall his family if.ne ere absent from home on military duty f'or a ~ong period of time. It was expected t he militia men would be sent into Mexico where war was threatening at that time. But Company M did not go to the Mexican Border that year, and the unit was destined to wait about four years. On June 28, 1916, Company M. as part of t he Fifth Infantry Regiment was mustered into Feder al Service and sent to Nogale.s, Arizona, or duty. Their duties consisted mostly of camp and guard duty as no actual combat developed on the border. Early in October, Company Jl returned home and on the seventh was mustered vut of Federal service. About six months later, llarch 26, 1917, Co. M as part of t he Fifth Infantry Regiment was called into Federal service for duty during the World War. For several months the unit saw service in the homeland guarding bridges, tunnels, munition plants and factories supplying war materiul. In September, t he Fifth Infantry Regiment was assembled at Camp Kearney, Linda Vista, California, w~'lere Company M was consolidated with Company G, Fifth Infantry Regiment September 24, 1917, and redesignated Company G, 159 th Infantry negiment 40th Division. For addit ional information concerning the activities of this unit refer to H1st,:)ry of Company M, l59th Infantry Regiment, 40t:l Division..ooo. - 7-