The doomed horse soldiers of Bataan : the incredible stand of the 26th Cavalry / Raymond G. Woolfe Jr
Imprint
Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield, [2016]
Descript
viii, 397 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm
SUMMARY
This is the story of the last mounted American troops to see action in battle, when, in late 1941, six hundred men and their horses held off the Japanese invasion of Luzon in the Philippines just long enough to allow General Douglas MacArthur's forces to withdraw to Bataan. The 26th Cavalry continued to fight on horseback until late February 1942 when, tragically, they were ordered dismounted and their horses and mules transferred to the Quartermaster's center and slaughtered for food for the defenders. It is on record that the 26th troopers refused to accept meat rations from their animals, regardless of their own starvation
CONTENT
Twilight of empire's paradise to the dawn of hell -- Hell comes for breakfast -- The 26th goes to war -- Interlude in Manila -- The road north and the nature of the enemy -- North to Rosario -- First enemy contact at Lingayen -- Pause and preparations before the storm: The 26th and 192nd join to face the impossible -- The blooding of American armor at Lingayen -- Lieutenant George's roadblock -- The longest six miles -- Stand on the ridge at Lingayen -- Miracle on the Bued River -- Christmas Eve ordeal at Binalonan -- C Troop's saga begins -- The long road to Bataan begins -- Baliuag: The 192nd's revenge -- Manila abandoned / Return to Stotsenburg / Layac Junction / Culis -- The 26th gets left behind at Culis -- The Battle of Bataan begins: The Abucay-Mauban line and the Bridge of Dead -- C Troop's raid on Tuguegarao Air Field -- Moron: The last charge -- The last dismounting of a U.S. horse regiment -- The beginning of the end of the defense of Bataan: The battle of the points begins -- The final chapter for Bataan