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The 78th
Infantry Division of the United States Army was activated on August
23, 1917 at Camp Dix, New Jersey. It consisted of four Infantry
Regiments - the 309th, 310th, 311th and 312th and three Artillery
Regiments - the 307th, 308th and 309th.
The Division was originally
allocated to New York and northern Pennsylvania in the National Army
plan. Whilst the HQ of the 78th Division was activated in August, with
the first draftees arriving in September, it was not fully active until
early 1918. It was transported to France in May and June of 1918.
In France, during the summer
and fall of 1918, it was the "point of the wedge" of the final offensive
which knocked out Germany. The 78th was in three major campaigns during
World War I - Meuse-Argonne, St. Mihiel, and Lorraine. Demobilization at
the end of the war took place in June 1919.
HQ, 78th Division was returned
to the Organized Reserve List, and reallocated to the Second US Corps in
Spring of 1921, with its area of allocation changed to New Jersey and
Delaware.
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Activated: 27
August 1917.
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Overseas: May
1918.
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Major Operations:
Meuse-Argonne, St. Mihiel.
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Casualties:
Total-7,144 (KIA-1,169; WIA-5,975).
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Commanders: Maj.
Gen. C. W. Kennedy (23 August 1917), Brig. Gen. J. S. Mallory (28
November 1917), Brig. Gen. James T. Dean (28 December 1917), Maj.
Gen. Hugh L. Scott (2 January 1918), Brig. Gen. James T. Dean (16
March 1918), Maj. Gen. J. H. McRae (20 April 1918).
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Inactivated: June
1919.
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