WW II U S COAST GUARD MOUNTED PATROL

U. S. COAST GUARD MOUNTED BEACH PATROL

WW II

Baltimore Evening Sun, April 6, 1943 by R. P. Harriss

The United States Coast Guard, charged with watching our coastal shores against an

invasion or the sneak attack of saboteurs now employ horses along a long stretch of beach and

soon will ride patrols continuously from the Gulf to the top of Maine.

Long before the present war the coastguardsmen of stormy Cape Hatteras had made use of

the small wild pony's of Chincoteauge Island to cover the lonely waste lands of dunes and saw

grass of the “Grave Yard of The Atlantic “ on the Carolina shores.

Credit for the organization of mounted patrol's goes to Captain E. A. Coffin, district officer

of the Coast guard and Captain W. L. McKinney, a veteran of the cavalry who was quick to see

usefulness of horses in patrolling vast stretches of our coast . Delaware mounted Coast Guardsmen

are now patrolling from sundown to sunrise and cover twice the distance of the beach foot patrols.

This Coast Guard Unit has its own Navy Blue dress uniform with brass button blouse,

riding trousers, high tan boots, cap with regulation visor, On patrol the mounties were regular

dungarees, a winter coat, sheepskin lined camvas , and as many sweaters as they can get on., all

wool caps with ear flaps. They are armed with a rifle, a pistol and a lamp for signaling. The

mounts are Army horses from the Front Royal, Virginia, remount, fitted with Army snaffle bit

bridals and ride on McClellen saddles.

The Mountie’s are a mix of sailors and horsemen, some have never been on a ship, some have

never been on a horse, all are trained with semaphore, Morses code, sea laws and weather. Next

comes horsemanship. Some are veterans of the U.S. Cavalry, the Pennsylvania Mounted Police.

The stable sergeant at Rehoboth is a second class boatswain mate and the shoreshoer is a Texas

Cowboy.

RIDING WIH A WATCH

The unit arrives at the stable, Rehoboth Unit 1, at dusk to find Chief Mattern and the stable

sergeant, Cresse in the tackroom, sitting by a pot belly stove, a Llewellyn setter laying near by on

the floor and a tortoise shell cat patrolling the 'rat way'. The place was neat, with unusual nautical

items. A small anchor hung by rope from ceiling was used as a rack for cleaning the bridles.

The coast Guard Patrol is a six hour watch, a 4 mph walk, covering 24 miles. The CPO roves

about constantly, either mounted or in a jeep. This night the chief was on a prancing black horse

that was recently brought in from Front Royal and not yet accustomed to the roar of the breakers

a bit dubious of the splash and foam. With us was seaman 1^st class Sidney Hirst, a seasoned

horseman with a lot of experienced and would be able to take his horse out thru he surf if necessary.

We rode through the woods and out to the waters edge, without the prancing black horse and the

chief but we could hear the horse snorting. Not much talk as the seamen looked and listened for

any unfamiliar objects as our mounts stepped about and avoided holes and hunks of wreckage .

We had gone but a short distance before being challenged. A 'shape' loomed up, the chief was

recognized, spoke a few words, checked the guards horse for over heating before he was moving on.

Our next encounter was the Army, soldiers with rifles equipped with bayonets and overlapping

authority. “Halt, who goes there ? “ . As we advanced, one at a time, they were somewhat

concerned with me because my snap brim cap did not match the Coast Guards uniform hats. But my

pass and a word from the chief satisfied them and we road on. This was the only incident remotely

exciting during the watch.

The long, slow ride was pleasant , mild weather, and we let our horses jog a bit after leaving

the dunes, then let them cool down. I felt satisfied no enemy is going to sneak in alone the beach.

QUARTERS AND KENNELS

Indian River and Fenwick Island stations had new stables but the one at Rehoboth was an old

tomato cannery that had been converted. It served the purpose well and has a good paddock, but it's

outside looked rough. The mounties were quartered in a fine summer residence, taken over just

for that reason. Other summer residences along the coast also became 'barracks' , the fine furniture

removed, replaced with government gear .

Fenwick Island Station was staffed by an interesting unit, it had kennels, the dogs were

German Shepard or police dogs and used for guard duty by the foot patrols. Any one of them could

throw a man down and hold him and two could, under commands, tear a man to pieces

ABOUT THE AUTHOR R. P. HARRISS

In 1943, Robert Preston Harriss, age 39,as an associated editor of the Baltimore Sun.

He lived in Baltimore with his wife, Margery Willis Harriss and a 1 year old daughter, Clorinda.

Harriss had been born n North Carolina the 19^th August 1902 , died in Baltimore 26 September

1989, buried in Cross Creek Cemetery, Fayetteville, North Carolina. His wife, Margery Willis

Harriss was born in Baltimore, 16 June 1909 and died 18 March 2003. He lived at 2610 St. Paul Street, Baltimore in 1940 and had a four year college education.