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The History of the American Ranger The history of the American Ranger is a long and colorful saga of courage daring, and outstanding leadership. It is a story of men whose outdoor skills have seldom been surpassed. The first Rangers did not begin with Robert Rogers in the 1750’s as is widely believed. Units specifically designated as Rangers and were employed on the American frontier as early as 1670. It was the Rangers of Captain Benjamin Church who brought the Indian conflict known as King Philip’s War to a successful conclusion in 1675. In 1756 during the French and Indian War, Rangers were organized under the famous Major Robert Rogers. A native of New Hampshire and a soldier from boyhood, Rogers had a magnetic personality. Operating in the days when commanders personally recruited their men, Rogers was articulate, persuasive, and knew his trade. His most famous expedition was a daring raid against the fierce Abenaki Indians. With a force of 200 Rangers, traveling by boat and over land, Rogers covered 400 miles in about 60 days. Penetrating deep into enemy territory and despite losses en route, the Rangers attacked and destroyed the Indian settlement. The Abenakis were never a threat again. Rangers continued to patrol the border and defend the colonists against sporadic Indian attacks for the next decade. When the time came for the colonies to fight for their independence, the American Rangers were ready. On June 14, 1775, with war on the horizon, the Continental Congress resolved that “six companies of expert riflemen be immediately raised in Pennsylvania, two in Maryland, and two in Virginia.” In 1777, this force of hardy frontiersmen provided the leadership and experiences necessary to form, under Daniel Morgan; the organization George Washington called “The Corps of Rangers”. According to British General John Burgoyne, Morgan’s men were “the most famous corps of the Continental Army, all of them crack shots.” During the War of 1812, Congress called for the Rangers to serve on the frontier. The December 28, 1813 Army Register lists officers for 12 companies of Rangers. Confederate Colonel John S. Mosby commanded the best-known Rangers during the Civil War. From a three-man scout unit in 1862, Mosby’s Rangers grew to eight companies of Rangers by 1865. Mosby believed that by the use of aggressive action and surprise assaults he could compel the Union forces to guard a hundred points at one time. On one of his raids, Mosby employed a force of nine men that attacked and routed an entire Union regiment in its bivouac. With America’s entry into the Second World War, Rangers came forth to add to the pages of history. Major General Lucian Truscott submitted a proposal to General George Marshall that “we undertake immediately an American unit along the lines of the British Commandos”. The name Ranger was selected for these new units as a “compliment to those in American history who exemplified the high standards of courage, initiative, determination and ruggedness, fighting ability and achievement.” Captain William Darby, a West Point graduate, was selected to organize the new American Rangers. After rugged and realistic training with live ammunition at the famed British Commando Training Center in Scotland, Darby’s Rangers spearheaded the North African invasion at the port of Arzew, Algeria by a silent night landing. On March 31, 1943, Darby’s Rangers led General George Patton’s drive to capture the heights of El Guettar with a twelve mile night march across mountainous terrain surprising the enemy positions from the rear. Other Ranger units proudly carried the proud standards in the European and Pacific theaters of operation. Lieutenant Colonel James Rudder’s Rangers carried out the most desperate and dangerous missions of the Omaha Beach D-Day landings when they assaulted the perpendicular cliffs of Point Du Hoc under intense machine gun, mortar and artillery fire and destroyed the large gun batteries that would have destroyed the Allied fleet off shore. On the beaches below, another battalion of Rangers was pinned down by murderous crossfire from the heights above. It was there that General Norman Cota, Assistant Division Commander of the 29th Division gave the now famous order “Rangers Lead The Way!” that has become the motto of all Rangers. In the Chinese Burma Theater, Merrill’s Marauders supported the Chinese Army with a long-range penetration behind Japanese lines. With no tanks or heavy artillery to support them, the Marauders walked over 1000 miles through extremely dense and almost impenetrable jungles. In five major and thirty minor engagements, the Marauders defeated the veteran soldiers of the Japanese 18th Division, resulting in the capture of the Mytkina Airfield, the only all-weather airfield in Burma. In 1950, hostilities broke out in Korea with a surprise invasion of thousands of North Korean troops. America’s peacetime Army reacted swiftly to this new threat and over 5000 soldiers volunteered to be trained as Rangers. Within 6 months from the start of the conflict, the first American Rangers landed on the Korean peninsula. They were nomadic warriors performing the “out front” work of scouting, patrolling, raids, ambushes, spearheading assaults, and counterattack forces to regain lost post positions. During the Vietnam War, Ranger companies were assigned to major combat commands as an elite reconnaissance element to provide the intelligence needed to find a very elusive enemy that fought a sustained battle when and where he chose. Typical Ranger missions included locating enemy bases and lines of communication. Special missions included wiretap, prisoner snatch, bomb damage assessment, and ambushes. The helicopter served as the Ranger’s primary means of insertion into enemy territory. Other methods included foot, wheeled, tracked vehicles, airboats, Navy Swift boats, and stay behind missions where Rangers stayed in place as a larger tactical unit withdrew. As a result of heroic actions in Vietnam, three Army Rangers were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Since Vietnam, Rangers have led the way at various hot spots throughout the world. Rangers were part of the Iranian hostage rescue force in 1980 that aborted its mission at Desert 1. Rangers parachuted in and secured airfields in both Grenada as part of Operation Urgent Fury in 1983 and in Panama as part of Operation Just Cause in 1984. During Desert Storm, Rangers moved into Iraq weeks before the initial assault of the ground combat forces and gathered intelligence that significantly contributed to the success of the Allied effort. In 1993, Rangers were deployed to Somalia to assist United Nations Forces to bring order to a desperately chaotic and starving nation. On October 3, as part of a raid into an enemy stronghold, an extraction helicopter was shot down, killing and wounding several American soldiers and trapping one of the pilots in the damaged aircraft. A ground and air reaction force was formed to rescue the wounded and recover the dead at the downed aircraft site. The ground force met heavy enemy fire and was unable to reach the downed aircraft. With their vehicles destroyed, the Rangers dismounted and took up positions in buildings in the objective area. A second helicopter supporting the ground force was shot down. By now, almost 90 Rangers were encircled and receiving intense direct and indirect enemy fire. The situation appeared grave. A second ground force, now augmented with armored vehicles moved in to rescue the surrounded Rangers. For the next four hours, this ground force fought their way to the trapped men. Despite overwhelming odds, the ground force recovered all the dead and wounded, living up to the Ranger motto of never leaving a fallen comrade to the hands of the enemy. When the Boy Scouts of America introduced the Venturing program in August of 1998, it was fitting that the Ranger Award was selected to recognize those young men and women who had acquired the necessary skills to become elite outdoorsman. The Ranger Award, however, is not new to Boy Scouts of America. In the 1940s, the Explorer Scout program established a four-tier advancement program of Apprentice, Woodsman, Frontiersman, and Ranger, with Ranger as the highest award. During the period of 1944 until 1949 when this advancement program was replaced, only 2,782 Ranger medals were awarded. It is therefore an honor that today, we distinguish the very best skilled outdoor Venturers with an award that is over 50 years old and recognizes the bravery, leadership, and sacrifices of the men who have borne the title of Ranger and have been a part of our American history for over 300 years. |
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Last updated: Sunday, 26 February 2006 04:19 PM |
Mecklenburg
County Council
