26th Cavalry Regiment (Philippine Scouts)

Northern and central Luzon

Following the 1941 Japanese invasion, the 26th participated in the Allied withdrawal to the Bataan Peninsula. In doing so, the unit conducted a classic delaying action that allowed other, less mobile, units to safely withdraw to the peninsula.^[12] During the delaying action the 26th provided the "stoutest"^[11] and only "serious opposition"^[13] to the Japanese; the majority of the units sent north towards Lingayen Gulf were divisions (11th, 21st, 71st, & 91st Infantry Divisions) of the untrained and poorly equipped Philippine Army.^[13] For instance, during the initial landings the regiment alone delayed the advance of four Japanese infantry regiments for six hours at Damortis.^[11]

Delaying Action

Main article: Battle of Binalonan

On the morning of 24 December, the unit was stationed north of the town of Binalonan. Colonel Pierce and his mounted troops held the ground surrounding the highway to the town, whilst the accompanying 91st Infantry Regiment held the town and the southern flank. Beginning at 05:00, the Japanese 4th Armored Regiment began an assault on the 26th's position using Ha-Go and Chi-Ha tanks along with dismounted infantry.^[14] The defenders repelled the assault, and reportedly rode up to the tanks on horseback or on foot and used frag grenades to disable the engines. Once these ran out, improvised Molotov cocktails made from Coke bottles and dried banana leaves were used. Other defenders in hastily constructed trenches and repelled the dismounted infantry with rifle and machine gun fire.^[12] As the fighting continued throughout the morning, the defenders' supplies began to dwindle. Ammunition was running low on their rifles and machine guns, and the Japanese had deployed the 1st and 2nd Formosan Infantry Regiments to try and push the 26th Regiment out of their position. Mounted couriers were sent back into town to retrieve ammunition and supplies, but due to the distance between the front and the town, the regiment risked their positions being overrun before the couriers could make it back with their supplies. Certain troops of the 26th Cavalry decided to buy time and gamble; when the two regiments of Formosan infantry assaulted, these troops charged on horseback into enemy lines with M1911 pistols and swords. The Formosan infantry, having been composed of poorly trained conscripts with inferior equipment, retreated hastily back to Japanese lines. The gamble paid off, and the mounted couriers arrived with fresh supplies, including .30-06 ammunition, Molotov cocktails, and frag grenades.^[15] Eventually, at around 13:00, the Japanese 47th Regiment was sent into battle; together, with the other Japanese units, they fought the defenders and managed to force them back at 15:30 after two and a half hours of fierce fighting.^[16] The delaying action of the 26th Cavalry and the accompanying 91st Infantry halted the Japanese advance on the eastern portion of Luzon, allowing for the consolidation of the D-1 line and causing the Japanese Army to, for the next few days, exercise caution in their maneuvers. However, the resistance was not without cost, as by the end of 24 December the regiment had been reduced to 450 men.^[17][18] Following these events, the regiment was pulled off the line and brought back up to a strength of 657 men, who in January 1942 held open the roadways to the Bataan Peninsula allowing other units to prepare for their stand there.^[11]

Bataan

The 26th Cavalry Regiment, consisting mostly of Philippine Scouts, was the last U.S. cavalry regiment to engage in horse-mounted warfare. When Troop G encountered Japanese forces at the village of Morong on 16 January 1942, Lieutenant Edwin P. Ramsey ordered, for that time, the last cavalry charge in American history.^[19][20][21]

During the retreat to Bataan, the 26th was heavily outnumbered by an infantry force supported by tanks. They drove off the surprised Japanese. Due to a shortage of food, they found it necessary to butcher their mounts and the regiment was converted to two squadrons, one a motorized rifle squadron, the other a mechanized squadron utilizing the remaining scout cars and Bren carriers.^[11]

Order of Battle 1942

• Headquarters, 26th Cavalry Regiment (PS) - Captain Paul Montgomery Jones
  • 1st Scout Car Platoon - 1st Lieutenant Carol I. Cahoo, USA
  • Recon Patrol - Captain Charles Bowers
• 1st Squadron - Major Hubert Ketchum | Captain William E. Chandler
  • Troop A - 1st Lieutenant Hugh Stevenson
  • Troop B - Captain Theodore Hurt Jr. | Captain Joseph Rhett Barker
  • Troop C - Captain Ralph Praeger^[22]
  • Troop D
• 2nd Squadron - Major Thomas Trapnell, USA
  • Troop E
  • Troop F - 1st Lieutenant William Gordon Bartlett
  • Troop G - 1st Lieutenant Edwin Ramsay
  • Troop H

Guerrilla activities

Following the delaying action down the central Luzon plain, Troop C was cut off from the rest of the regiment, having been ordered into Northern Luzon in an attempt to defend Baguio by Major General Wainwright in late December 1941. In January 1942, the unit, with assistance from 71st Infantry and elements of the 11th Infantry,^[23] raided Tuguegarao Airfield,^[24] destroying several planes,^[25] and killing multiple Japanese soldiers.^{[23][26]: 43–62} Eventually the unit was supplemented by other soldiers and guerrillas, and remained an effective fighting force well into 1943.^{[24][26]: 284}The remnants of Troop C would later be integrated into the United States Army Forces in the Philippines – Northern Luzon,^{[25][26]: 153} which due to deaths and captures would be led by Russell W. Volckmann.^[27][28][29] Other guerrilla organizations were led by officers of the regiment, who ignored the surrender orders, or by enlisted men who escaped from Bataan.^[30] However, those organizations did not have a direct connection to the regiment, as the Cagayan-Apayao Forces did.^{[citation needed]}