III Corps (United States)

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Shoulder badge of the III. US Corps

The III Corps (US) ( German  III. US Corps ) is a large unit of the US Army . The association had several nicknames next to each other since the Second World War: the Phantom Corps (German "Geister Korps"), America's Hammer (German "America's Hammer") and the Counterattack Corps (German " Counterattack Corps ").

history

At the beginning of the American Civil War , the corps of the Union Army were often counted within their armies, so that several field armies were temporarily classified as “III. Corps ”(e.g.“ III. Corps, Potomac Army ”or“ III. Corps, Virginia Army ”). Over time, however, the numbering became uniform throughout the army, and only the corresponding corps of the Potomac Army remained as “III. Corps ”left. It existed from 1862 to 1864.

First World War

The III Corps was set up as part of the American Expeditionary Forces on May 16, 1918 on the Western Front in northern France. The corps command was initially subordinated to the French 8th Army , in whose front section the training of the subordinate divisions took place. In July 1918, the III Corps under General Robert Lee Bullard was assigned to the French 10th Army (General Charles Mangin ) during the Third Battle of the Aisne for the counter-offensive prepared in the Villers-Cotterêts area. In the section of the parent French XX. Corps (General Berdoulat) led the Corps with the 1st and 2nd divisions the main attack in the direction of Soissons . The attacked front of the German 241st Division was rolled up in the south. On August 2nd, Soissons was liberated by the 1st Division (Major General Charles P. Summerall ) and the Germans were pushed back to their old positions along the Aisne and Vesle . The Corps caught up with the Vesle section and took over command of the 3rd and 28th Divisions there .

During the Meuse-Argonne offensive on September 26, 1918, the III Corps formed the right wing of the 1st US Army and was deployed between Bethincourt and Forges (northwest of Verdun ) against the Meuse section. Subordinated from left to right were the 4th Division (Major General John L. Hines ), the 80th Division (Major General Adelbert Cronkhite) and 33rd Division (Major General George Bell). The 3rd Division (Major General Beaumont Buck) acted as reserve. Until mid-October the troops of the corps pushed against the heights of Barricourt and the Meuse section near Sivry. The III Corps stayed in Europe for several months after the armistice before being demobilized at Camp Sherman, Ohio when returning to the United States.

Second World War

General James A. Van Fleet

The III. Corps was reactivated on December 18, 1927 and remained primarily active as a training command. After the beginning of the Second World War, the Corps was used specifically with the training of newly formed divisions, the headquarters were in Camp Hood, Texas. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (December 1941), the III Corps stayed behind to protect the American west coast from an impending Japanese landing. The headquarters were in Monterey . In the spring of 1942, the corps command moved to Fort McPherson in Georgia for the training of new units . On August 19, 1942, the Commando returned to Monterey to train 33 major formations for the war. In October 1943 Major General John Milikin took over the leadership of the III. Corps. Finally, on August 23, 1944, the command moved to Camp Myles Standish in Massachusetts to prepare for embarkation for the European theater of war.

On September 5, 1944, the landing in Cherbourg , the III. Corps was assigned to the 9th Army of the 12 Army Group in northern France. After initial supply tasks , the III Corps was assigned to the 3rd US Army on October 10 and relocated to Étain near Verdun . During the first fighting in the Metz area , units of the Corps were able to take Fort Jeanne d'Arc on December 13th. On December 16, during the German Battle of the Bulge, the front of the VIII Corps, some 20 kilometers to the north, was torn up. In the counter-offensive initiated by the 3rd US Army on December 22nd, III. Corps (Milikin) the 26th, 35th and 80th Infantry Divisions. The thrust of the 4th Panzer Division was aimed at Bastogne , where the encircled 101st Airborne Division was detained.

Deployed in the middle of the 1st US Army in the spring of 1945 , the Corps was able to build an eastern bridgehead on the Rur on February 25th. Subsequently, the northern wing of the corps advanced in the direction of Bonn , while at the same time, on March 7, the southern wing succeeded in taking the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine near Remagen . On March 17, 1945, Major General James Van Fleet took over the command of the corps. At the beginning of April the corps took part in the victory section in the attack against the southern front of the Ruhr basin . Reorganized at the end of April and transferred to the 3rd US Army, the advance through Bavaria to Austria took place. On May 2, 1945, the III Corps reached the Inn .

Iraq war

The corps was stationed in Baghdad from December 14, 2006 to February 14, 2008 as Multi-National Corps Iraq and was therefore directly subordinate to the Multi-National Force Iraq . This task was then the XVIII. US Airborne Corps transfer.

Latest time

organization chart

The headquarters are currently located in Fort Hood , Texas .

Organization chart of the III. US corps after completing army reform

Subordinate associations and units

Units also stationed in Fort Hood:

  • 504th Military Intelligence Brigade
    • Headquarters and Headquarters Company
    • 163rd Military Intelligence Battalion
    • 303rd Military Intelligence Battalion
  • 89th Military Police Brigade
  • 13th Sustainment Command

Commanding generals

  • Lieutenant General Robert L. Bullard (July 1918 - October 1918)
  • Major General William M. Wright (October 1918)
  • Major General John L. Hines (October 1918-1919)
  • Major General John Milikin (October 1943 - March 17, 1945)
  • Major General James Van Fleet (March 17, 1945 -)
  • Major General Thomas W. Dunn (March 1962 - December 1963)
  • Lieutenant General Sean B. MacFarland (2014 -)

literature

  • Allen, Robert S. Lucky Forward: The History of Patton's Third US Army . New York: Vanguard Press, 1947.
  • American Battle Monuments Commission. American Armies and Battlefields in Europe . Washington: Government Printing Office , 1938. Reprint. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1992.
  • Cole, Hugh M. The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge. United States Army in World War II . Washington: Government Printing Office, 1965.
  • The Lorraine Campaign. United States Army in World War II . Washington: Government Printing Office, 1950.
  • First United States Army Report of Operations, 23 February-8 May 1945. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1946.
  • Forty, George. Patton's Third Army at War . New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1978.
  • Historical Section, Army War College. Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the World War; American Expeditionary Forces; General Headquarters, Armies, Army Corps, Services of Supply, and Separate Forces. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1937. Reprint. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1988.
  • Le Mon, Warren J. "Tank Maneuver Country." Army Information Digest 21 (January 1966): 45-5 1.
  • MacDonald, Charles B. The Last Offensive. United States Army in World War II . Washington: Government Printing Office, 1973.
  • McNamara, James C., et al. The Phantom Corps . Shreveport: General Printing Co., 1945.
  • Montgomery, John H., Jr. "The Remagen Bridgehead." Military Review 29 (July 1949): 3-7.
  • "A Salute to the Army Corps." Army Information Digest 17 (September 1962): 26-31.
  • Van Fleet, James A. "III Corps Operations." Army and Navy Journal 83 (December 7, 1945): 53ff.
  • Wallace, Brenton G. Patton and His Third Army . Harrisburg: Military Service Publishing Company, 1946.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ III Corps transfers authority to XVIII Airborne (MNF-Iraq.com of February 11, 2008; English)