Buffalo Soldiers in the West: A Black Soldiers Anthology

Putting the Army on Wheels: The Story of the Twenty-Fifth Infantry Bicycle Corps

charlesm.dollar PuttingtheArmyonWheels thestoryofthetwenty-fifthinfantry bicyclecorps In the late nineteenth century the widespread popularity and use of bicycles inevitably led to experiments in military use of them. The first experiment came in Europe in 1875 when the Italian Army demonstrated the value of having bicycles carry dispatches during field maneuvers. Later, the armies of Belgium, France, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Holland, Russia, and England incorporated military cyclists into various units.1 In addition to courier service reconnaissance operations, some units used a multicycle (double tandems of bicycles attached to a two wheel cart) to transport tools, construction materials, and guns.2 Medical units even had bicycle ambulances, which consisted of a stretcher connected between two bicycles. In spite of the success of military cycling in Europe, similar tests and experiments in America did not take place until the early 1890s. The major impetus for testing the military value of cycling came in 1891 from Gen. Nelson A. Miles, who at the time was commander of the Department of Missouri and stationed at Chicago, Illinois. In October 1891 Miles was in New York City and attended a six-day bicycle race at Madison Square Garden. On October 21, 1891, the New York Times carried a story in which Miles stated his interest in bicycle couriers for the U.S. Army. He noted that the bicycle was quiet, reliable, and unlike horses did not have to be fed and watered. The key question, he said, was whether riders should be light and slim like cavalry soldiers or large like the enlisted men in the infantry. Until the stamina of riders of bicycles in military exercises was demonstrated, the utility of bicycles in military activities remained uncertain.3 On November 25, 1891 General Miles instructed Col. R. E. A. Crofton, commander of the Fifteenth Infantry at Fort Sheridan, Illinois , to organize a detachment of one officer and nine noncommissioned men to conduct experiments using bicycles provided by the Pope Bicycle Company at no expense to the government. Lt. W. T. May was placed in charge of the detachment which immediately began a training program that was conducted indoors because of snow and ice on the roads. However, in early January 1892, the Adjutant General’s Office of the Department of the Army directed that the experiment cease because General Miles’ instructions involved testing military equipment that only the secretary of war could approve.4 On January 29, 1892, General Miles requested the secretary of war to permit continuation of the experiment. He noted that there were no mounted troops at Fort Sheridan if it were necessary to move a small detachment of soldiers quickly. In addition, he considered it quite important that an opportunity existed to test the use of the bicycle for military purposes without any cost to the government. “As they [bicycles] are being used for nearly all roads at favorable seasons of the year between the Atlantic and the Pacific, I consider it quite important to demonstrate their utility by practical use in the military service.”5 Finally, almost a month later, Miles’s request was approved by the acting secretary of war. In the meantime, based upon the orders Col. Crofton received from the Adjutant General’s Office, Lieutenant May had discontinued the experiment. On February 4, 1892 he submitted a report in which he noted that even though the experiment had been conducted indoors because of the weather, he considered it successful. He hoped that during the spring and summer months unlimited tests would be possible.6 Apparently, General Miles’s success in gaining approval of the acting secretary of war was short-lived since Lieutenant May did not continue the experiment.7 Nevertheless, Miles continued to take advantage of opportunities to promote the testing of bicycles for military use. In May 1892 he sent a message from his headquarters in Chicago to New York City by relays of riders provided by the League of American Wheelmen , a private organization of bicycle sportsmen. On May 31, 1892, General Miles was the speaker at a banquet in Chicago honoring Charles L. Burdett, president of the League. The subject of his speech was military cycling and Miles noted with some satisfaction that the day before men from the Fifteenth Infantry stationed at Fort Sheridan had conducted a Puttingthe Armyon Wheels 243 practice march on bicycles from Pullman to Chicago. The riders carried full military equipment...