The 11th Cavalry originated at Fort Meyer, Virginia, on February 2, 1901, as a Horse Cavalry Regiment and was soon sent to the Philippines. After four years of fighting it was awarded the first of it's eighteen battle streamers. In 1916 the Blackhorse Regiment was again called to action as part of General John J. Pershing's Punitive Expedition against the Mexican bandit, Poncho Villa, 1916-1917. The “Last Mounted Cavalry Charge in U.S. History” was made by the 11th against Villa's bandits.
Prior to World War II the transition from horses to armor took place and in 1944 the Regiment served in France, Belgium, and Germany, winning five battle streamers in the following campaigns; Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe. At the end of World War II, the 11th patrolled the rugged German borders on horseback and became the “Last Combat Horse Cavalry in U.S. History.” In 1957 the unit was assigned to Germany as part of the NATO Forces protecting the border from communist aggression until it returned to the United States in 1964. In March of 1966, the unit was alerted for movement to the Republic of Vietnam. It then began redesigning its equipment for a new type of warfare. Adding additional armor and two more 30 cal. Machine guns to the armored personnel carrier, which had one 50 cal. Browning machine gun. The addition of protective gun shields for the crew and track commander. The result was a very rapid all terrain fighting vehicle which could deliver devastating firepower. It was called the Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle or "ACAV". The Blackhorse troops arrived in South Vietnam on September 7, 1966, and quickly engaged the enemy with tanks, ACAV’s, artillery and helicopters. The success of the ACAV in battle prompted the army to convert personnel carriers in other units in a similar fashion.
The main operational area was the provinces around Saigon and up to the Cambodian border. The unit clearly demonstrated it's rapid mobility when Saigon came under siege during the 1968 TET Offensive. The unit raced over 100 kilometers in eight hours to the defense of the city and fought street by street to overcome the attacking Vietcong. History now points out that the Vietcong were virtually annihilated during these battles. From that time forward, the war was fought almost entirely by a well equipped North Vietnamese Army supplied by the communist superpowers.
In July of 1968, Colonel George S. Patton, the son of one of our countries greatest military heroes, assumed command and soon applied his expertise in armored combat and moved the armor off the roads and into the jungles in search of the enemy. So successful was the unit's search and destroy missions within the enemy's main supply routes between Cambodia and Saigon, that the enemy could no longer move freely and were forced to seek sanctuary inside neutral Cambodia. Patton coined the phrase,
“FIND THE BASTARDS, THEN PILE ON.”
From well established bases inside Cambodia, the communist's would strike out into South Vietnam, then return across the border to re-supply and regroup. On May 1, 1970, the 11th Cav. spearheaded the historic attack across the Cambodian border to deny the enemy of these safe havens. The unit battled for more than 60 kilometers to capture the town of Snuol and suffered the first two American casualties by anti-tank fire. The Cambodian Incursion was the last significant flexing of U.S. ground combat muscle in the war. The capture and destruction of tons of enemy weapons and supplies so devastated and demoralized the communists, that little future resistance was encountered. This resulted in a smoother transition of responsibility to the South Vietnamese military as the American combat forces continued to withdraw. Countless American and allied lives were saved by this operation which left the North Vietnamese Army unable to mount an effective offensive for some time.
After almost six years of combat, on March 7, 1972, the Blackhorse Regiment departed Vietnam after earning eleven battle streamers. One year later on March 29, 1973, the last American combat troops were withdrawn from Vietnam. Within two years, on April 30, 1975, Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese as Soviet made tanks crashed through the gates at the Presidential Palace. Tanks that was never brazen enough to stand toe to toe against the Blackhorse Regiment while it stood watch for the people of South Vietnam. South Vietnam's military, without the support of American combat troops was not able to defend it's country.
In all, 767 Blackhorse troopers lost their lives on the battlefields and many others died later of their wounds. The wounded totaled 5,761.
After its withdrawal from Vietnam, the Blackhorse Regiment was once again positioned along the communist border in Germany. The troopers watched as the wall of the "Cold War" crumbled, attesting to the years it has spent standing firm against armed aggression for our country and the world. Some of the Regiment even became part of the occupational forces in Kuwait where armor, air superiority and military leadership that were veterans of the Vietnam War, played an essential roll in restoring peace in the Middle East.
On March 15, 1994, the Blackhorse Regiment became a victim of its own success and was deactivated as part of our government’s military reduction plan. We have not yet learned from history that there will never be a world that is safe from evil. As quickly as one tyrant is defeated, another climbs up to test our resolve. Far too much damage occurs as we scramble to re-organize our warriors.
But, when that call is sounded, with a roaring thunder, the 11th U.S. Cavalry will ride again. That call came from the Pentagon on October 26, 1994 the 11th U.S. Cavalry was reactivated in the California desert. The mission, to train other U.S. Army units from around the country to be the best in the world. The 11th Cavalry, minus the 3rd squadron, became the top gun of armor tactics and the opposing force to beat in desert battle training at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California. It was not meant to be, that such a famous cavalry unit would be only a memory, or become a portion of itself. So in September of 1995 the remainder of the Blackhorse, the 3rd squadron, was reactivated as the Las Vegas National Guard.