2nd Cavalry Division at Fort Clark

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the 2nd Cavalry Division at Fort Clark, out in Kinney County. Now, some stories take decades just to get started. The U.S.

Army organized the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Divisions back in 1921, lesson learned from the First World War. But the 2nd Cavalry Division? It just sat there on paper, unactivated, for twenty years.

Twenty years. Finally, in 1941, it came to life at Fort Riley, Kansas. And here's where the story gets interesting.

Among the units assigned to that division were the 9th and 10th Cavalry regiments, the famed Buffalo Soldier units of the Indian Wars era, alongside two White cavalry regiments, the 2nd and the 14th. That combination made the 2nd Cavalry Division something the U.S. Army had never assembled before: its first integrated division.

But the War Department didn't let it breathe long. In 1942, the division was inactivated so its personnel could be transferred to armored regiments. Then, in November of that same year, the War Department turned around and directed its reactivation, this time assigning two new Black regiments, the 27th and the 28th Cavalry.

The division would be split between Fort Clark, Texas, and Camp Lockett, California. On February 25, 1943, the division activated with headquarters right here at Fort Clark. Command went to a native Texan.

Major General Harry H. Johnson. And what those troopers built here on this ground was something to behold.

Over five thousand horses training alongside M3 Stuart Light Tanks. Horses and tanks, side by side. It was striking enough that in June of 1943, 20th Century Fox sent a Movietone newsreel crew out to capture it.

But behind all that spectacle, the men endured hard training and the racial injustices of the times. That's not a footnote, that's part of the story of everything they did here. The War Department, unmoved, determined there was simply no need for a second cavalry division.

In January 1944, the division was dismounted and shipped back east for deployment abroad. They arrived at Oran, North Africa, on March 9, 1944. The very next day, the 2nd Cavalry Division was inactivated.

Fort Clark was closed after the last soldiers stationed there were deployed. The approximately fifteen hundred buildings that had housed the division were later razed. Gone.

Short-lived. That's the word the marker uses, short-lived. And yet, what they accomplished in that brief window stands unchallenged in the record books.

The 2nd Cavalry Division remains the only all-Black cavalry division in U.S. Army history. And right here in Texas, it was the largest mounted formation ever to serve in this state.

Some stories take decades to get started. Some end before they've had their time. But the record doesn't forget.

What the marker says

In response to the U.S. experience during World War I, the army organized the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Divisions in 1921. However, the 2nd Cavalry Division was not activated until 1941 at Fort Riley, Kansas. Among the units assigned were the 9th and 10th Cavalry regiments, the famed Buffalo Soldier units of the Indian Wars era, and two White cavalry regiments, the 2nd and 14th, thus constituting the army’s first integrated division. The War Department inactivated the division in 1942 to transfer personnel to armored regiments. In November 1942, the War Department directed reactivation of the 2nd Cavalry Division, assigning two new Black regiments, the 27th and the 28th Cavalry. It was also announced the division would be divided between Fort Clark, Texas and Camp Lockett, California. The division activated on February 25, 1943 with headquarters at Fort Clark; command of the division was given to a native Texan, Major General Harry H. Johnson. Here on Fort Clark, over 5,000 horses trained alongside M3 Stuart Light Tanks and both were featured in a June 1943 20th Century Fox Movietone newsreel. Troopers endured hard training and the racial injustices of the times. The War Department determined that there was no need for a second cavalry division and planned to again inactivate it. During January 1944, the 2nd Cavalry Division was dismounted and shipped back east for deployment abroad, arriving at Oran, North Africa, on March 9, 1944; the division was inactivated the next day. Fort Clark was closed after the last soldiers stationed here were deployed, and the approximately 1,500 buildings which housed the 2nd Cavalry Division were later razed. Although the 2nd Cavalry Division’s service was short lived, it remains the only all-Black cavalry division in U.S. Army history and the largest mounted formation ever to serve in Texas. (2009)