Full Embroidered patch with non-merrowed edge, wax backing and a very large 5 3/8" diameter patch.
Two gold color crossed muskets, vintage 1795 Springfield musket (Model 1795 Musket), 3/4 inch in height. Crossed muskets were first introduced into the Army as the insignia of officers and enlisted men of the Infantry on 19 November 1875 (War Department General Order No. 96 dtd 19 Nov 1875) to take effect on or before 1 June 1876. Numerous attempts in the earlier years were made to keep the insignia current with the ever changing styles of rifles being introduced into the Army. However, in 1924 the branch insignia was standardized by the adoption of crossed muskets and the 1795 model Springfield Arsenal musket was adopted as the standard musket to be used. This was the first official United States shoulder arm, made in a government arsenal, with interchangeable parts, caliber .69, flint lock, smooth bore, muzzle loader. The standardized musket now in use was first suggested by Major General Charles S. Farnsworth, U.S. Army, while he was the first Chief of Infantry, in July 1921, and approved by General Pershing, Chief of Staff, in 1922. The device adopted in 1922 has been in continual use since 1924. There have been slight modifications in the size of the insignia over the years; however, the basic design has remained unchanged.
- Full Embroidered patch with non-merrowed edge, wax backing and a very large 5 3/8" diameter patch.
- Fort Benning, home of the U.S. Army Infantry, is adjacent to the city of Columbus in southwest Georgia. Since it was moved to this location during World War I (1917-18), its mission has been to "produce the world's finest combat infantrymen." The U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning has confirmed its place as the premier school of arms, developing such military leaders as five-star generals Omar Bradley, George Marshall, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. George Patton and Colin Powell also trained at Fort Benning. About 35,000 military and civilian personnel work on the installation, and it contributes more than $750 million to the area's economy. Fort Benning also spends more than $190 million in purchasing and contracting annually. Built on the area originally occupied by the Dawson Artillery during the Civil War (1861-65), the post encompasses 287 square miles of Chattahoochee and Muscogee counties
- Origins of the Infantry School - Efforts to establish an infantry school date to 1826, when Major General Edmund P. Gaines persuaded the War Department to establish an infantry school at Jefferson Barracks near St. Louis, Missouri, but the school closed after two years. No further attempts to establish a similar facility were undertaken until 1881, when General William T. Sherman, commanding general of the army, established the School of Application for the Infantry and Cavalry at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to educate officers. In 1907, at the urging of Lieutenant General Arthur MacArthur, the army established the School of Musketry at the Presidio of Monterey, California, to train soldiers in marksmanship. This training program is often referred to as the origin of the infantry school and led to the creation of Fort Benning.
- The Establishment of Fort Benning - The School of Musketry was transferred in 1913 to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, but its development there was interrupted by the decision to send troops to the Mexican border to fight outlaw raiders. The school's operations were curtailed, and the army overall suffered from a severe manpower shortage. At the entry of the United States into World War I, government officials recognized that Fort Sill was not large enough to accommodate the training of both infantry and the artillery units also housed there. A board was convened in May 1918 to select a new, larger site for an infantry school. Because of its climate, terrain, and transportation outlets, Columbus, Georgia, was chosen to house the new school. Congress authorized the establishment of the camp in the fall of 1918, and the army immediately began construction of the Infantry School of Arms. At the request of the Columbus Rotary Club, Camp Benning was named in honor of Confederate brigadier general Henry L. Benning, who had commanded a Georgia brigade in General John Hood's division of the Army of Northern Virginia. Benning, who fought with General Robert E. Lee, earned the nickname "Old Rock" because of his coolness in battle. As a young man Benning moved from Harris County to Columbus, and after the Civil War he practiced law there until his death in 1875 at the age of sixty-one. The camp was first located south of Columbus on a plantation site owned by Arthur Bussey. Bussey's land featured terrain deemed ideal by army infantry leaders for training infantrymen. The plantation land served as the core of the camp, and the large frame house on it, known as Riverside, served as quarters for many of the installation's commanders. The new camp originally encompassed roughly 115,000 acres, and the cost of construction was about $5,315,000. Troops began arriving at the new post in October 1918. The post was made permanent in 1922, and the name was changed to Fort Benning. Throughout the
- Two gold color crossed muskets, vintage 1795 Springfield musket (Model 1795 Musket), 3/4 inch in height. Crossed muskets were first introduced into the Army as the insignia of officers and enlisted men of the Infantry on 19 November 1875 (War Department General Order No. 96 dtd 19 Nov 1875) to take effect on or before 1 June 1876. Numerous attempts in the earlier years were made to keep the insignia current with the ever changing styles of rifles being introduced into the Army. However, in 1924 the branch insignia was standardized by the adoption of crossed muskets and the 1795 model Springfield Arsenal musket was adopted as the standard musket to be used. This was the first official United States shoulder arm, made in a government arsenal, with interchangeable parts, caliber .69, flint lock, smooth bore, muzzle loader. The standardized musket now in use was first suggested by Major General Charles S. Farnsworth, U.S. Army, while he was the first Chief of Infantry, in July 1921, and approved by General Pershing, Chief of Staff, in 1922. The device adopted in 1922 has been in continual use since 1924. There have been slight modifications in the size of the insignia over the years; however, the basic design has remained unchanged.
- Full Embroidered patch with non-merrowed edge, wax backing and a very large 5 3/8" diameter patch.
- Fort Benning, home of the U.S. Army Infantry, is adjacent to the city of Columbus in southwest Georgia. Since it was moved to this location during World War I (1917-18), its mission has been to "produce the world's finest combat infantrymen." The U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning has confirmed its place as the premier school of arms, developing such military leaders as five-star generals Omar Bradley, George Marshall, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. George Patton and Colin Powell also trained at Fort Benning. About 35,000 military and civilian personnel work on the installation, and it contributes more than $750 million to the area's economy. Fort Benning also spends more than $190 million in purchasing and contracting annually. Built on the area originally occupied by the Dawson Artillery during the Civil War (1861-65), the post encompasses 287 square miles of Chattahoochee and Muscogee counties
- Origins of the Infantry School - Efforts to establish an infantry school date to 1826, when Major General Edmund P. Gaines persuaded the War Department to establish an infantry school at Jefferson Barracks near St. Louis, Missouri, but the school closed after two years. No further attempts to establish a similar facility were undertaken until 1881, when General William T. Sherman, commanding general of the army, established the School of Application for the Infantry and Cavalry at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to educate officers. In 1907, at the urging of Lieutenant General Arthur MacArthur, the army established the School of Musketry at the Presidio of Monterey, California, to train soldiers in marksmanship. This training program is often referred to as the origin of the infantry school and led to the creation of Fort Benning.
- The Establishment of Fort Benning - The School of Musketry was transferred in 1913 to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, but its development there was interrupted by the decision to send troops to the Mexican border to fight outlaw raiders. The school's operations were curtailed, and the army overall suffered from a severe manpower shortage. At the entry of the United States into World War I, government officials recognized that Fort Sill was not large enough to accommodate the training of both infantry and the artillery units also housed there. A board was convened in May 1918 to select a new, larger site for an infantry school. Because of its climate, terrain, and transportation outlets, Columbus, Georgia, was chosen to house the new school. Congress authorized the establishment of the camp in the fall of 1918, and the army immediately began construction of the Infantry School of Arms. At the request of the Columbus Rotary Club, Camp Benning was named in honor of Confederate brigadier general Henry L. Benning, who had commanded a Georgia brigade in General John Hood's division of the Army of Northern Virginia. Benning, who fought with General Robert E. Lee, earned the nickname "Old Rock" because of his coolness in battle. As a young man Benning moved from Harris County to Columbus, and after the Civil War he practiced law there until his death in 1875 at the age of sixty-one. The camp was first located south of Columbus on a plantation site owned by Arthur Bussey. Bussey's land featured terrain deemed ideal by army infantry leaders for training infantrymen. The plantation land served as the core of the camp, and the large frame house on it, known as Riverside, served as quarters for many of the installation's commanders. The new camp originally encompassed roughly 115,000 acres, and the cost of construction was about $5,315,000. Troops began arriving at the new post in October 1918. The post was made permanent in 1922, and the name was changed to Fort Benning. Throughout the
- Two gold color crossed muskets, vintage 1795 Springfield musket (Model 1795 Musket), 3/4 inch in height. Crossed muskets were first introduced into the Army as the insignia of officers and enlisted men of the Infantry on 19 November 1875 (War Department General Order No. 96 dtd 19 Nov 1875) to take effect on or before 1 June 1876. Numerous attempts in the earlier years were made to keep the insignia current with the ever changing styles of rifles being introduced into the Army. However, in 1924 the branch insignia was standardized by the adoption of crossed muskets and the 1795 model Springfield Arsenal musket was adopted as the standard musket to be used. This was the first official United States shoulder arm, made in a government arsenal, with interchangeable parts, caliber .69, flint lock, smooth bore, muzzle loader. The standardized musket now in use was first suggested by Major General Charles S. Farnsworth, U.S. Army, while he was the first Chief of Infantry, in July 1921, and approved by General Pershing, Chief of Staff, in 1922. The device adopted in 1922 has been in continual use since 1924. There have been slight modifications in the size of the insignia over the years; however, the basic design has remained unchanged.
