History of Reedsburg and the Upper Baraboo Valley, by Merton Edwin Krug, Publ. February 1929 by the author. Printed by Democrat Printing Company, Madison, Wis., Page 132-136
It was under the leadership of Captain DARRENOUGUE that the command became Company A of the First Regiment of the Wisconsin National Guard. The transfer was effected on the 23d day of April 1915. The activities of the company for the ensuing year were the regular routine of drill and parade, with a short term at camp.
But in June of 1916 came the first great event in the history of the company, the movement to the Mexican border. It was its first resort to arms, a protective measure by our government, and it kept the company on the Rio Grande nearly seven months.
On Monday, June 19, 1916, Captain DARRENOUGUE received an order from the adjutant general to mobilize his company, equip it for immediate service, and proceed to Camp Douglas Thursday morning, where all Wisconsin troops would await the call for Texas. The captain immediately began to summon members, and before night the company was assembled, the boys in field uniform ready to move. Seconded Lieutenant Thomas Harry TUDOR of Baraboo arrived the same night with twenty-six of his comrades, members of the company, and were quartered in the armory. The Reedsburg boys were allowed to sleep at home, but were kept in readiness for an urgent call. But no such call came, and the boys were not taken to camp until Thursday. During the two days intervening the company was subjected to rigid drill and military discipline. Early Thursday morning they went aboard a train which took them to Camp Douglas.
It as a day without parallel, so far as the emotions were concerned, since the stirring period of the Civil War. Everybody knew that the World War, then raging on the battlefields of Europe, was largely responsible for the political agitation in Mexico. People were aware of the inhumanities practiced by the military powers of the old world, and even in America, which professed absolute neutrality, it was believed that the trouble with our southern neighbor was not of its own instigation. There were tears in the eyes of mothers and wives as the train pulled out of the city that morning, taking our boys away. Many were fearful that their loved one never would return again.
Owing to the fact that the records of the company were destroyed (by several local citizens whose names have not been revealed), there is no authentic list of names of members of the company who went away; and it is not within the natural order of things for any individual officer to remember every name or face in the company fourteen years ago. The following roll of officers is complete, and many of the privates' names are recorded, in a news item of the day in the Reedsburg Times.
Captain - Leo Darrenougue
First Lieutenant - Herbert H. Prange
Second Lieutenant - Thomas Harry Tudor
Quartermaster Sergeant - Rinchart Miller
First Sergeants - Clyde Stewart, Clifton E. Bates, Arthur H. Schroeder
Corporals - William D. Morse, Earnest Walter Selle, William D. Rosenthal
Artificer - Ora Smith
Musicians - Arthur Bates, William B. Babcock
Privates
Alfred Argyle
William Kerin Baker
Henry Charles Buelow
Loyal T. Claridge
Rollin B. Curtis
Frank Dwyer
Veo Gibbons
George Wm. Hattle
William J. Hollingsworth
Arthur F. Johnson
Rudolph Lindenberg
George H. Meyer
Leo Palmer
Herbert Richards
Sylvan Rooney
Oscar B. Sandberg
Thomas Harry Babb
Otto Arndt
Harry Beushausen
Lee E. Buelow
Thomas Collins
Doran A. Dieter
Charles S. Felska
Ewald E. Hammermeister
Raymond W. Hiller
Robert E. Braun
Roy Edward Case
John E. Dueppen
Lyle A. Harvey
John C. Hoefs
Fred J. Larsen
Edward W. Meyer
Merrel C. Noyes
George C. Pierce
Carl G. Robinson
Arthur G. Rosenthal
John A. Sansum
Herbert Walter Schultz
John C. Sprecker
Roy Wettstein
Rex T. Cummings
Elmore Schram
Arthur Schwenkhoff
James R. Sweeney
Royal E. Thurber
Irwin Kerrigan
Leander T. Schulze
Anton H. Hillman
Myron C. Howland
Clarence Rebety
Hugo T. Oehlers
Leonard R. Hainstock
Leslie C. Havenscrof
Reinhold Rosenthal
Victor Sherhart
Harold Palmer
Heinhold Schulze
Arnold Schulze
Aden H. Krug
Harold R. Meyer
R. Willis McCray
Boyde C. Ladd
Hugo S. Springbrunn
Fred B. Wells
W. B. Powell
Upon reaching Camp Douglas several members were rejected, and, where known, these names have been omitted from the foregoing roster. The company remained in Camp Douglas until July 8, and left that day for San Antonio, Texas, aboard a special train. Company A, which was in the third section of the train, passed through Reedsburg just at nightfall on the eve of that day, July 8th. Reads an item of the Times:
"The train stopped here long enough for many packages of dainties, boxes of mother's good cooking, pillows, letters, etc., to be handed to the boys, and then goodbyes were hastily said and the train, bearing our boys was off to the land of the boiling sun!"
Arriving at San Antonio, the troops were installed in Camp McArthur, where they were retained until the close of the year. There was little disturbance at the border, however, and Company A, and a large portion of other companies, did not cross the border. On January 1, 1917, they reached Fort Sheridan, Ill., on their way home, and were then allowed to return to Reedsburg. On the night of their return all Reedsburg was out to honor them, and there was a great banquet and ball in the armory. This was given by the wives, mothers, sisters and sweethearts of the members of the company. Veterans of the Civil and Spanish-American Wars were invited and accorded places of honor.
We will conclude this narrative with a brief history of the local company as it exists today. The story of Company A, during the World War is not the story of Reedsburg in that war, as the membership of the company was but a small percentage of the local men who served their country during that great conflict. Suffice it to say that Company A, left the following May, 1917, for Camp Douglas, and from that point went again to San Antonio, Texas, thence to New York, and abroad, to serve honorably on the battlefields of Europe. Returning in 1919 the company was disbanded, and for some time Reedsburg was without a military company.
THE LOCAL COMPANY
On June 24, 1921, a local company was organized and mustered in, as Headquarters Company, 2d Battalion, First Infantry, Wisconsin National Guard, with the following roster:
First Lieutenant - Herman C. Miller
Staff Sergeant - Henry C. Buelow
Sergeants - Clyde Stewart, Rhinehart H. Miller, Harold H. Meyer, Walter W. Schulze
Corporals - Cyril R. Cooper, Charles S. Felske, Rudolph F. Lindenberg, Arthur W. Schultz, Hugo Springbrunn
Privates, 1st Class: John C. Davis, Forrest A. Fish, Otto J. Hemer, Hugo Hinrichs, Edgar J. Hoien, August P. Kunkel, Fred G. Larsen, Harold W. Rindfleisch, Alvin C. Schuett, Ora W. Smith, Lorenzo E. Spraetz.
Privates: Clinton L. Babb, John V. Babb, Caryl Conklin, Joe Connors, Harry G. Huntley, Rowen T. Johnstone, Herbert R. Krueger, Walter R. Martin, Harley H. Meyer, Ivan E. Meyer, William J. Miles, Max F. Ninman, Charles S. Noyes, Percy A. Nulph, Paul W. Prange, Walter E. Seamans, Jim E. Seymour, Harold Schroeder, Lewis Seymour, John Schwenkhoff, Will A. Stole, Richard M. Thompson.
On July 1, 1923, the company was changed to HQ Co., 2d Battalion, 128th Inft., W. N. G., and is thus designated at the present time, 1928.
Submitted by Carol