Monday March 9, 1942. The Army Reorganizes.

On this day in 1942 George C. Marshall, no longer constrained by peacetime regulations, disbanded the positions of combat arms chiefs and transferred their individual authorities to the Army Ground Forces in a major reorganization of the U.S. Army.  The Army also created the Army Service Forces as part of the reorganization. 

Army Ground Forces Insignia.

The move broke the back of the individual authority of the various combat arms branches, infantry, cavalry, and artillery, and made for a more unified Army.

Army Services Forces Insignia.

The move is sometimes misunderstood, particularly in connection with the Cavalry Branch, and indeed in histories of the Cavalry it's often described as the elimination of the Cavalry Branch.  It was not, but it did eliminate the position of Chief of Cavalry, which resulted in the immediate resignation of its head, John Knowles Herr.  While cavalry itself would continue to exist as a branch for the remainder of the war, without the office of Chief of Cavalry, the consolidation was the beginning of the end of the branch in its traditional, large scale, and equine, form.

We'll detail that a bit more later, but it is worth noting that this day not only was the creation of a much more contemporary structure for the U.S. Army, but it was also the end of branch chiefs, and the day that the last Chief of Cavalry retired.