The First Battalion, 107th Engineers, composed mostly of Michigan troops, was organized in 1880 as an infantry company. In 1906, after serving in the “Mexican Trouble,” it was converted into an engineer company. In 1917, two new companies were added and the unit was mustered into the Michigan National Guard. The First Battalion received orders to move to Camp MacArthur, Texas. Arriving there in September of 1917, it was joined with the Second Battalion, a unit of Wisconsin National Guard troops, also organized in 1917, to form the 107th Engineer Regiment. With additional units from Michigan and Wisconsin, the regiment then became part of the Thirty-second Division of the United States Army.
The regiment underwent routine training at Camp MacArthur including instruction in the construction of bridges, dugouts, trenches, and roads. In January of 1918, the unit received its orders for transfer to France, where it arrived in February, quartering near Champlittle and Langres. The regiment continued its training until June of 1918, when it was ordered into Alsace with the rest of the 32nd. In July, the unit moved into the Marne sector near Chateau-Thierry, where some of the companies sustained casualties and suffered from almost constant shelling, gas and bombing. A move to Oise-Aisne was made in August. The next month the 107th joined other units of the 32nd in the Meuse-Argonne offensive and it was soon participating in the “March to the Rhine.” As part of the Army of Occupation in Germany, the 107th continued its role of building military facilities such as mess halls, stables, barracks and warehouses. On April 8, 1919, the regiment was relieved of duty with the Army of Occupation and, in May of 1919, left for the United States. The unit was demobilized on the 26th of May 1919.
