Summary Information
Carl Penner Papers
1917-1966
Mss 190; SC 1051; Tape 345A
0.7 c.f. (2 archives boxes and 1 folder) and 3 tape recordings
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers of Colonel Carl Penner, commanding officer of the 120th Field Artillery Regiment, concerning the regiment's service in France, 1918-1919, and the post-war Regimental Association formed by its members. Field orders, memoranda, information reports, and bulletins comprise the bulk of the papers. Also included are several diaries kept by members of the regiment, minutes and a financial statement of the Association, and two tape-recorded interviews on three cassettes.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00190 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Carl Penner was born in Milwaukee on December 12, 1878, and has remained there all his life except during service in the military. Interested in the military service, especially the cavalry, Penner enlisted in the First Wisconsin Cavalry, Troop A (Light Horse Squadron) in 1901. In 1907, Penner was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant; to 1st Lieutenant in 1912 and to Captain in 1915.
As Captain, Penner participated with the First Cavalry Regiment in the Mexican Border Incident in 1916. Mobilized by Presidential Proclamation, July 15, 1917, the First Cavalry Regiment was converted to light field artillery and became the 120th Field Artillery Regiment attached to the 57th Field Artillery Brigade. Other elements of the Brigade included the 119th, 121st, and 147th Field Artillery Regiments.
With the coming of World War I, the 120th entrained on February 5, 1918, with other elements of the 57th Brigade for Camp Merritt on the east coast. As commanding officer of the 120th, Penner, now a colonel, oversaw the embarkation on the Leviathon from New York in March 1918. After arriving in England, the 120th proceeded from Southhampton to Le Havre, France, and then to Camp Coetquidon where it trained for three months. Firing batteries from the Regiments were furnished to the Artillery Training Camps at Saumur and Montigny-sur-Aube during the next year.
During June 1918, the 120th aided the 32nd Division in the offensive in the Toul Sector and Haute Alsace. The 32nd Division was assigned to the 49th Army Corps of the VIII French Army and the 120th was assigned more particularly to the 9th French Division in the French divisional artillery. The 119th and 147th Regiments also served in the Toul Sector from June 5 to June 22, 1918, in support of the 26th Division. The entire Brigade served in the Haute Alsace Sector from June 12 to July 22 supporting the 32nd Division. The Brigade also participated in the Aisne-Marne Offensive from August 1 to August 25 in support of the 28th, 32nd, and 77th Divisions. Without rest the Brigade made a forced march to the Oise-Aisne Offensive and again supported the 32nd Division and the First Moroccan Division from August 28 to September 6. During this time Juvigny and Terny Sorny were captured. After five days of rest at Wassy, the Brigade marched to the Meuse-Argonne Offensive where it supported the 3rd, 32nd, 79th, and 89th Divisions from September 26 to November 28. It was then withdrawn to a rest area where it served with the 40th Division at Revigny and later with the 88th Division in the Gondrecourt area.
In May 1919, the Brigade embarked at Brest for return to the United States. At Camp Devens, Massachusetts, Colonel Penner took the lead in forming the 120th Field Artillery Regimental Association. Penner served as president of the Association and his adjutant, Captain Frederic Sammond, served as secretary-treasurer. These two men and Regimental Association Historian H.M. Appel were responsible for the writing and publishing of a 120th Field Artillery Regimental history in 1928.
Scope and Content Note
The Carl Penner Papers concern the operations of the 120th Field Artillery Regiment in France and the 120th Field Artillery Regimental Association. The bulk of the collection consists of field orders, memoranda, information reports, and bulletins retained by Colonel Penner concerning the military operations of the 120th. An attempt to maintain military organizational and chronological order with special regard to the 120th Field Artillery Regiment has been made for this collection. All materials pertaining to all operations of the 120th in supporting other American Expeditionary Forces and the French army are arranged in this manner.
Material relating to the 120th Field Artillery Regimental Association includes minutes of organizational meetings, a copy of the constitution, scattered correspondence, and a financial statement of the Association, 1919-1924.
Also included in this collection are typewritten and mimeographed diaries kept by Corporal Hugo Landgraf, a Lieutenant Cole, and Lieutenant Wallace Schutz of the 120th, and unidentified diary notations pertaining to activities in the Alsace region. These diaries focus on the 120th's participation in the various offensives and sectors during World War I with only scattered references to the Mexican Border operation and earlier history. These diaries formed a major portion of the material presented in the Penner, Sammond, Appel history of the 120th Field Artillery Regiment.
A mimeographed history of the 57th Field Artillery Brigade is filed with miscellaneous material concerning the published history of the 120th.
In addition, the collection contains a recorded 1966 interview with Penner and Richardson Browne concerning unit activities during World War I, and a 1964 recorded and transcribed interview with Penner and Frederic Sammond concerning service with Troop A, 1st Regiment, Wisconsin Cavalry National Guard prior to and during the 1916 Mexican border dispute.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Carl Penner, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, April 26, 1966. Accession Number: M66-108
Processed by archives students, 1967, and by Karen Baumann, February 1, 1972.
Contents List
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Series: Military Documents
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Box
1
Folder
1
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First Regiment Cavalry, Wisconsin National Guard Special Orders, March 13-August 4, 1917
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120th Field Artillery Regiment
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Box
1
Folder
2
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Operations Orders, May 9-July 21, 1918
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Box
1
Folder
3
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Memoranda, June 13-October 29, 1918
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Box
1
Folder
4
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Operations Reports, June 14-November 2, 1918
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Box
1
Folder
5
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Information Reports, Aug 11-Oct 31, 1918
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Box
1
Folder
6
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Orders and Memoranda re: return to the U.S., March 4-July 29, 1919
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Box
1
Folder
7
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147th Field Artillery Regiment, 57th Field Brigade Operations Orders, July 12-17, 1918
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57th Field Artillery Brigade
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Box
1
Folder
8
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Orders and Memoranda, April 30-Nov 8, 1918
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Box
1
Folder
9
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Operation Reports, June 16-July 5, 1918
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Box
1
Folder
10
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9th Division, Orders, June 1-21, 1918
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32nd Division Field Orders and Memoranda
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Box
1
Folder
11
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July 3-Aug 31, 1918
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Box
1
Folder
12
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Sept 1-Oct 31, 1918
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Box
1
Folder
13
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53rd Division, Orders, July 1-3, 1918
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Box
1
Folder
14
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79th Division, Orders, Sept 6-26, 1918
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Box
1
Folder
15
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88th Division, Orders, Jan 8-April 7, 1918
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Box
1
Folder
16
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89th Division, Miscellaneous Memoranda and Bulletins, October 23-29, 1918
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Box
1
Folder
17
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First Army, Miscellaneous Memoranda and Bulletins, Aug 6-Oct 14, 1918
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Box
1
Folder
18
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Third Army Corps, Miscellaneous Memoranda and Bulletins, August 7, 21, 1918
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Box
1
Folder
19
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Fifth Army Corps, Miscellaneous Memoranda and Bulletins, Oct 29, Nov 2, 1918
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Box
1
Folder
20
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French Armies - Miscellaneous, 1918-1919
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Box
1
Folder
21
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General Headquarters, A.E.F., Miscellaneous Orders and Plans, 1918
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Series: 120th Field Artillery Regimental Association
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Box
2
Folder
1
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Minutes, Constitution, Correspondence and Financial Statement, 1919-1924
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Series: Published History Documents
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Box
2
Folder
2
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Transcript and Mimeographed Diaries, 1917-1919
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Box
2
Folder
3
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Miscellaneous Material (including history of the 57th Field Artillery Brigade)
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Box
2
Folder
4
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Photographs
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Box
2
Folder
5
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Series: Miscellaneous
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Tape 345A
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Series: Tape Recordings
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No.
3
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Penner and Sergeant-Major Richardson Browne Interview, April 26, 1966
: Tape-recorded interview concerning World War I military operations of the 120th Field Artillery Regiment; conducted by Dennis East of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin staff and Professor Edward Coffman of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, History Department.
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SC 1051
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Transcript
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Tape 345A
No.
1-2
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Penner and Frederic Sammond Interview, November 12, 1964
: Tape-recorded interview concerning Penner's career especially with Troop A, First Cavalry Regiment, Wisconsin National Guard, before and during the Mexican Border dispute, 1916, with reference to an article on the Wisconsin National Guard by John P. Finnegan, “Preparedness in Wisconsin: The National Guard and the Mexican Border Incident,” Wisconsin Magazine of History, 47 (Spring, 1964), 199-213; conducted by Dennis East of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin staff.
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SC 1051
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Transcript
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