The Doomed Horsemen of Bataan: The Incredible Stand of the 26th Cavalry

Description

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 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. This stirring account of a little-known aspect of the Philippine campaign is military history at its best. Contents Introduction 1 Twilight of Empire’s Paradise to the Dawn of Hell 2 Hell Comes for Breakfast 3 The 26th Goes to War 4 Interlude in Manila 5 The Road North and the Nature of the Enemy 6 North to Rosario 7 First Enemy Contact at Lingayen 8 Pause and Preparations before the Storm 9 The Blooding of American Armor at Lingayen 10 Lieutenant George’s Roadblock 11 The Longest Six Miles 12 Stand on the Ridge at Lingayen 13 Miracle on the Bued River 14 Christmas Eve Ordeal at Binalonan 15 C Troop’s Saga Begins 16 The Long Road to Bataan Begins 17 Baliuag: The 192nd’s Revenge 18 Manila Abandoned/Return to Stotsenburg/Layac Junction/Culis 19 The 26th Gets Left Behind at Culis 20 The Battle of Bataan Begins 21 C Troop’s Raid on Tuguegarao Airfield 22 Moron: The Last Charge 23 The Last Dismounting of a U.S. Horse Regiment 24 The Beginning of the End of the Defense of Bataan 25 The Final Chapter for Bataan Epilogue Sources