| Repository: | Western Reserve Historical Society |
| Creator: | Cleveland Military Units |
| Title: | Cleveland Military Units Records, Series II |
| Dates: | 1877-1973 |
| Extent: | 3.50 linear feet (7 containers) |
| Abstract: | Troop A was founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1877 as an independent military unit to defend against strikers and unruly mobs. It affiliated with the Ohio National Guard in 1887, formed part of the 1st Ohio Volunteer Cavalry in 1898, was absorbed into the 135th Field Artillery in 1918 and reorganized in 1920 as Troop A of the 107th Cavalry Regiment of the Ohio National Guard. It became part of the 107th Armored Cavalry Regiment in 1947. The Cleveland Gatling Gun Battery was founded in 1877 to quell labor violence also. It disbanded by 1905. The Riding Club Company was founded in 1891 as an equestrian and social club. It dissolved in 1893. The collection consists of constitutions, minutes, correspondence, orders, financial records, publications and scrapbooks of Troop A, the Cleveland Gatling Gun Battery, and the Riding Club Company. |
| MS Number | MS 3985 |
| Location: | closed stacks |
| Language: | The records are in English |
Troop A, an independent military unit, was founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in October 1877 to act as a defense against strikers and unruly mobs. The membership of Troop A consisted mostly of individuals from prominent Cleveland families. Among the regular members were Charles Bolton, John Hay and Myron T. Herrick. Honorary members included John Huntington, Samuel Mather and John D. Rockefeller.
In 1887, Troop A became part of the Ohio National Guard. During the Spanish-American War of 1898, Troop A was combined with several other regiments to form the 1st Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. This unit was sent to Chickamauga Park in Georgia where, after a period of training, it was to sail to Puerto Rico. However, certain vital equipment failed to arrive and the unit never saw action. In 1916, the 1st Ohio Volunteer Cavalry was sent to the Mexican border to join in the pursuit of Pancho Villa. After American entry into the First World War, the 1st Ohio Volunteer Cavalry became part of the 135th Field Artillery Regiment and participated in several battles in France. In 1920, the unit was reorganized as Troop A, 107th Cavalry Regiment of the Ohio National Guard. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Troop A was used to quell labor disturbances and maintain order in disaster-stricken areas. During the Second World War, Troop A served in Europe. In 1947, Troop A was reorganized as part of the 107th Armored Cavalry Regiment and is currently still in existence. There were two other independent military units formed in Cleveland, Ohio, during the nineteenth century. One of these was the Cleveland Gatling Gun Battery. Like Troop A, the Cleveland Gatling Gun Battery was formed in 1877 to defend the city from labor violence. It too had members from prominent Cleveland families. Unlike Troop A, which centered on cavalry, the Gatling Gun Battery organized its men around Gatling guns. By 1905, the Cleveland Gatling Gun Battery had ceased to function. In 1925, the veterans association of the Gatling Gun Battery merged with the Troop A veterans organization. The other military organization founded in Cleveland during the late nineteenth century was the Riding Club Company. The Riding Club Company was founded in 1891 for the purposes of operating a riding school, leasing horses and having a social club. Its founding members were all Troop A members, thus the skills which the club sought to foster had obvious advantages for Troop A. The Riding Club Company flourished for about two years, but its directors resolved in 1893 to dispose of all the company property.
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Troop A
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for the Cleveland Gatling Gun Battery
The Cleveland Military Units Records, Series II, 1877-1973 and undated, consist of constitutions, minutes, correspondence, orders, financial records, publications and scrapbooks of Troop A, the Cleveland Gatling Gun Battery and the Riding Club Company.
This collection will be useful to researchers studying the military activities of men from Cleveland, Ohio, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The collection relates largely to Troop A's participation in the Spanish-American War and war maneuvers in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and provides voluminous information about the routine matters which military units deal with in peacetime. Minutes and correspondence give a detailed view of the units' military and social activities. Among the most notable correspondents are James Barnett, Thomas Grasselli, William Howard Taft, Kenyon C. Bolton, Harrison Frost and Robert Jamison.
None.
Related MaterialResearchers should also consult MS 3000 Cleveland Military Units Records; PG 309 Cleveland Military Units Photographs; PG 420 Robert Huddle Jamison Photographs; PG 152 Troop A, First Cleveland Cavalry Photographs; MS 3371 Laurence Harper Norton Papers; and MS 4313 Robert H. and Marjorie Jamison Papers.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 3985 Cleveland Military Units Records, Series II, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gifts of Fayette Brown, James Fawcett, Mrs. Paul Roesch, and several unrecorded donors.
Processed by Thomas Pappas in 1986.
Series I: Troop A 1877-1973 undated |
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| Box | Volume | ||||||||||
| 3 | 1 | Constitution and by-laws, membership lists, and minutes of regular meetings 1877-1902 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Removals from the constitution and bylaws, membership lists, and minutes of regular meetings book located in Container 3 1897-1901 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 2-3 | Minutes of quarterly, regular, and special meetings 1902-1915 | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Minutes of an annual meeting and special meeting 1930-1931 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Minutes of the board of directors 1960 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Minutes of the board of governors 1958 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Regulations of Troop A Armory Company and an amendment to a trust agreement 1960 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Correspondence, including a letter dated 1897 warning of anarchists who might try to assassinate President McKinley during his inaugural parade 1890-1898 | |||||||||
| 1 | 8-16 | Correspondence 1898-1973 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 17 | Correspondence, letter copy book 1893-1899 | |||||||||
| Box | Volume | ||||||||||
| 4 | 2 | Letter copy book 1897-1904 | |||||||||
| 4 | 3 | Letter copy book 1898 | |||||||||
| 4 | 4 | Letter copy book 1904-1910 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 18 | Letter and telegram copy book, including transcripts from a court of discipline 1898 | |||||||||
| 1 | 19 | Telegram notes 1898 | |||||||||
| 1 | 20 | Financial statements 1962-1971 | |||||||||
| 1 | 21 | Lists and accounts of pay and clothing; pay account; and reports of persons and articles employed 1898 | |||||||||
| 1 | 22 | Miscellaneous financial notes 1898 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 23 | Orders 1898-1935 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 24 | Orders, bound, including an 1897 Troop A roster 1897-1898 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 25-26 | Orders, bound 1899-1916 | |||||||||
| 2 | 27 | Tri-monthly field reports 1898 | |||||||||
| Box | Volume | ||||||||||
| 5 | 5 | Morning reports 1898 | |||||||||
| 5 | 6 | Morning reports 1904-1909 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 28 | Rosters of officers and enlisted men 1898 undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 29 | Rosters of recruits 1898 undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 30-32 | Roster of all ranks 1887 1898-1935 undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 33 | Muster out rolls 1898 | |||||||||
| 2 | 34 | Miscellaneous committees 1928-1930 | |||||||||
| 2 | 34 | Troop assignments undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 34 | Rosters of sick and furloughed soldiers 1898-1907 undated | |||||||||
| Box | Volume | ||||||||||
| 5 | 7 | Duty roster 1898 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 35 | Application forms 1904 undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 35 | Enlistment forms 1898 | |||||||||
| 2 | 35 | Certificate of rank 1905 | |||||||||
| 2 | 36 | Biographies of distinguished military officers, including Webb C. Hayes, Hamilton Howze, George S. Patton, and Jay Whitehair dates vary | |||||||||
| 2 | 37 | Proceedings of Boards of Survey 1898 | |||||||||
| 2 | 38 | Court martial records 1898 undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 39 | Address of Joseph R. Fawcett at the 95th Anniversary Dinner of Troop A 1972 | |||||||||
| 2 | 40 | "A Ballad of War and Peace," poem written by Reverend William Jones, Troop A. Chaplain 1902 | |||||||||
| 2 | 41 | Newspaper clippings 1919-1972 | |||||||||
| 2 | 42 | Map of field maneuvers held in Wisconsin 1940 | |||||||||
| 2 | 43 | Publications, celebrations and anniversaries 1905-1972 undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 44 | Publications, bylaws and constitution 1877 1894 | |||||||||
| 2 | 45 | Publications, meeting announcements 1958-1963 | |||||||||
| 2 | 46 | Publications, newsletters, "The Gold Brik" of Troop A; "Troop B Weekly Bugle;" and Boots and Saddles" of the First Cleveland Cavalry 1933-1940 undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 47 | Published orders 1897-1935 | |||||||||
| 2 | 48 | Published rosters 1901-1918 undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 49 | Publications, songs undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 50-51 | Publications, training drills and exercises 1902-1940 undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 52 | Publications, histories of Troop A dates vary | |||||||||
| 2 | 53 | Miscellaneous publications ca. 1898-1951 undated | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 5 | 57 | Clothing and material schedules, Troops A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, non-commissioned staff, and hospital corps 1898-1899 undated | |||||||||
| 5 | 58 | Certificate from the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts to Troop A 1902 | |||||||||
| Box | Volume | ||||||||||
| 6 | 8 | Scrapbook containing newspaper clippings of Troop A's participation in the Mexican-American Border Campaign and World War I 1916-1918 | |||||||||
| 6 | 9 | Visitors' register of the First Cleveland Troop 1881 1885 | |||||||||
Series II: Cleveland Gatling Gun Battery 1878-1903 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 54-55 | Constitution, bylaws, and minutes of regular meetings 1878-1891 | |||||||||
| 2 | 56 | Scrapbook 1880-1883 | |||||||||
| Box | Volume | ||||||||||
| 7 | 11 | Scrapbook of newspaper clippings 1883-1903 | |||||||||
Series III: Riding Club Company . |
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| Box | Volume | ||||||||||
| 7 | 12 | Articles of incorporation, rules and regulations, and minutes of the board of directors 1891-1893 1897 | |||||||||