The Twilight Riders: The Last Charge of teh 26th Cavalry

[Aragorn243]

Another book on a rather obscure topic, the last mounted cavalry unit in the US Army in the Philippines. The book has first hand information from half a dozen veterans of the unit and is well written. It's a good balance between historical fact and filler which keeps it moving and entertaining.

My one complaint is the lack of maps although I could swear I found one in there somewhere never to be seen again. (it isn't listed in the contents). It would have been helpful to have some points of reference on a map to visualize the action better as they were in near constant movement during the initial actions.

The 26th was one of the few units to hold up to the Japanese and was used as the rear or flank guard for most of the retreat to Bataan.

The book gives some interesting perspective to how the men respected Wainwright and had a general disdain for MacArthur. Also the desperation in trying to hold off the Japanese advance. It does not go into great detail and simply summarizes the actions with a mix of personal accounts and descriptions of certain aspects of the battle. One thing that stands out is the love the men had for their horses.

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[VeeVee]

Here are pictures of 26th Cavalrymen at the Philippine Scouts Heritage Society reunion at Long Beach, CA in 2009. There was a panel where they talked about their experiences.

Dan Figuracion and Ed Ramsey were both in the famous cavalry charge in Morong, Bataan in January, 1942.

Felipe Fernandez, who was widely quoted in the book and contributed fresh first hand account material is the one checking out the cavalry boot and the machine gun.

(click for bigger)


With other 26th Cavalrymen vets

Checking out the reenactors' displays


It happened to be Ed Ramsey's birthday too!