16th Division (United States)

The 16th Division was an infantry division of the United States Army raised during World War I. It was the second formation of that name raised in the United States, the first being renamed to 37th Division in 1917.

History
The division was organized in 1918 as a regular army and national army division for World War I, and was commanded by Major General David C. Shanks, with his son-in-law Stephen J. Chamberlin, later a lieutenant general, as chief of staff. Its two Infantry brigades, the 31st and 32nd, were commanded by Peter Weimer Davison and Walter Cowen Short. The division's 16th Field Artillery Brigade was commanded by Daniel W. Hand.

The Armistice occurred before the 16th Division departed for France; under the command of Guy Carleton, it was briefly considered for inclusion in American Expeditionary Force Siberia, but that conflict also ended before the division could embark. It did not go overseas and demobilized in March 1919 at Camp Kearny, California.

Because the 16th Division was in existence for such a brief period, it never designed or adopted a shoulder sleeve insignia or distinctive unit insignia. Some members of the organization devised a felt shoulder patch that featured the Liberty Bell, one with the number "16" superimposed on it, but neither insignia was never officially adopted.