WW1 4th ARMY / 3RD ARMY UNIFORM 59th INFANTRY WWI

WW1 US Army 4th Division 3rd Army uniform consisting of a beautifully labeled four patch pocket tunic and matching trousers. The tunic bears a beautiful combination 3rd Army patch inset into the larger 4th Army patch indicating occupation duty with the 3rd Army. Tunic is roughly a size 36R having brown vegetable plastic buttons giving it a very pleasing look. The sleeve also has a red discharge stripe with two gold overseas stripes. The collar has US 59 and crossed rifles K collar brass. The tunic was made by Strouse & Bros. Inc. of Baltimore and is dated Oct. 11th 1918. Excellent World War I The 4th Division was organized at Camp Greene, North Carolina on 10 December 1917 under the command of Maj. Gen. George H. Cameron. It was here they adopted their distinctive insignia, the four ivy leaves. The ivy leaf came from the Roman numerals for four (IV) and signified their motto "Steadfast and Loyal". The division was organized as part of the United States buildup following the Declaration of War on 6 April 1917 and the entry of the United States into the war on the side of the British and French. Organization Headquarters, 4th Division 7th Infantry Brigade 39th Infantry Regiment 47th Infantry Regiment 8th Infantry Brigade 58th Infantry Regiment 59th Infantry Regiment 4th Field Artillery Brigade 13th Field Artillery Regiment (155 mm) 16th Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm) 77th Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm) 4th Trench Mortar Batteryn 4th Engineer Regiment 8th Field Signal Battalion Headquarters Troop, 4th Division 4th Train Headquarters and Military Police 4th Ammunition Train 4th Supply Train 4th Engineer Train 4th Sanitary Train 19th, 21st, 28th, and 33rd Ambulance Companies and Field Hospitals St. Mihiel Offensive For the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, the division moved into an area south of Verdun as part of the First United States Army. General John Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) on the Western Front, had gotten the French and British to agree that the AEF would fight under its own organizational elements. One of the first missions assigned to the AEF was the reduction of the Saint-Mihiel salient. The 4th Division, assigned to V Corps, was on the western face of the salient. The plan was for V Corps to push generally southeast and to meet IV Corps who was pushing northwest, thereby trapping the Germans in the St. Mihiel area. The 59th Infantry Regiment moved into an area previously occupied by the French, deploying along a nine kilometer front. On 12 September, the first patrols were sent forward by the 59th. The 4th Division attack began on 14 September with the 8th Brigade capturing the town of Manheulles. All along the front, the American forces pressed forward and closed the St. Mihiel salient. Occupation duty Under the terms of the Armistice, Germany was to evacuate all territory west of the Rhine. American troops were to relocate to the center section of this previously German occupied area all the way to the Koblenz bridgehead on the Rhine. The 4th marched into Germany, covering 330 miles in 15 days where it was widely dispersed over an area with Bad Bertrich as Division headquarters. The division established training for the men as well as sports and educational activities. In April 1919 the division moved to a new occupation area further north on the Rhine. The division went north to Ahrweiler, Germany, in the Rheinland-Pfalz area. In July the division returned to France and the last detachment sailed for the United States on 31 July 1919.