'Iron Riders'...

[St. George]

We've talked about a number of interesting things on this Forum - from 'Creating the Impression' to what he'd carry in his pockets, and we've even talked about the 'Camel Corps', but I'm betting that there's a little-known Army experiment that you're not aware of - the Army's Twenty-Fifth Infantry Bicycle Corps...

In the 1890's - at the height of the bicycle craze that swept America, a young Officer named Lieutenant James A. Moss, assigned to the all-Black, Twenty-Fifth Infantry at Fort Missoula, Montana saw an opportunity, and the Army gave it a try.

Though Moss graduated at the bottom of the West Point class of 1894, he'd go on to write a number of books and manuals about life in the Service and Handbooks as a prolific and successful author.

He would retire in 1919 after 30 years of service, to be recalled in 1920 to serve in the Quartermaster Corps, and finally retired in 1922.

He died in 1941, at the age of 68 - the result of a traffic accident.

The bicycle was seen as a device that would revolutionize personal mobility - and it was the thought that the Army might use it to replace the horse, so Moss lobbied for the opportunity to test the theory with his troops, and with bicycles supplied by various manufacturers.

Though it wasn't adopted, Moss' experiment ushered in the dawn of mechanization for the Army

Chronicling this experiment is a well-written, well-researched book by George Niels Sorensen - 'Iron Riders' (ISBN 1-57510-074-6).

I recommend this to any serious student of the Frontier Army and of the Buffalo Soldier.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

 

[River City John]

Another nod to that bicycle fad can be found in Twain's A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court, where the protagonist eventually puts into action the idea to mount an army of younger knights on bicycles. Written in 1889.

I wonder if Lt. Moss was a fan of Mr. Twain?

Or perhaps Twain in his typical way was poking a bit of fun at the very craze that was sweeping the world's armies. (There's a neat picture I've seen of the bicycle corps of the elite Italian Bersagliere with their plumed hats from around this time.)

[RattlesnakeJack]

[This post is adapted from one I put on a British Military forum some time ago ....]

I understand  that the first recorded use of military cyclists was in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, although the cycles used were apparently of the early "velocipede' kind. As already noted, bicycle Troops really became the "in" thing, in the late 19th century, after the development of the chain-drive "safety bicycle" (the configuration with which we are familiar today) and practical pneumatic tires, by the mid-1880's.

Here are a few items I have collected .... (Click each thumbnail to enlarge.)

First, a photograph of the Cycle Corps of the U.S. 25th Infantry (a Black unit) at Fort Missoula (Montana) in 1897. That summer this unit completed a rather historic trip via bicycle from Fort Missoula to St. Louis ... a distance of some 1900 miles!


An unidentified British cyclist Rifleman, likely a volunteer since he appears to have a Martini rifle, and this photograph undoubtedly dates to the 1890's when Regular Army units were already armed with bolt-action Lee-Metford or Lee- Enfield (i.e. "Long Lee") rifles.  (Can't identify the unit, since the original photograph was marked as having been taken in "Clifton", but there are several towns with that name in the UK ...)


A cyclist of the Cheshire Regiment - a Regular ..... note his lovely Lee-Enfield.   His bandolier is the Pattern 1888 bandolier, adopted the year the .303 Lee-Metford rifle went into service, and basically just a downsized version of an earlier bandolier for the sizable .577/.450 Martini-Henry cartridges.   Note that the cartridges were still held in individual tubes, however.  The first British Lee bolt action rifles, although having 8-round and later 10-round magazines, were still loaded one round at a time.  The "charger loading" system (i.e. stripper clips of a sort) was not introduced until adoption of the "Rifle, Short, Magazine, Lee-Enfield" - i.e. "S.M.L.E) in 1903 ...


Members of the Yorkshire Regiment and the Gordon Highlanders ...


Detail scanned from a print entitled "The Canadian Militia, 1898" - this being a cyclist of the 3rd Battalion, Victoria Rifles ...


Here is an interesting set of drawings published in The Graphic of May 9, 1896 over the general caption "The 'Wolseley' Cyclist-Infantry Challenge Cup Competition, from photographs by Major J. Fortun Nott" ....
         

Notwithstanding that the U.S. Army was soon to give it a try, here is a rather tongue-in-cheek commentary on British military cyclists which appeared in the New York Times in September of 1894 ...

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[Charlie Bowdre]

RJ
Thanks for the great pics. Your collection is amazing
Dutch Al

[River City John]

I've posted this before, but it's another nice close-up of a bicycle from the 1890's.


And here's a link to a contemporary manufacturer who reproduces vintage cycles.
http://www.hiwheel.com/

Look under 'Antique Replicas' and scroll down to the '1891'.

[Dr. Bob]

After looking at the price, I sure am glad that I don't hanker for one!

[Deadeye Dick]

Dr. Bob,

After looking at the price, I sure am glad that I don't hanker for one!

Just about as good as getting into Cowboy Action Shooting!!!

Deadeye Dick 

[Steel Horse Bailey]

The newspaper reprint is priceless!