This article needs additional citations for verification .(September 2009) |
112th Infantry Regiment | |
---|---|
Active | 1878 [1] |
Allegiance | United States of America |
Branch | United States Army |
Type | Infantry |
Role | Stryker |
Garrison/HQ | 1st Battalion: Cambridge Springs, PA 2nd Battalion: Lewistown, PA |
Nickname(s) | Sixteenth Pennsylvania (special designation) [2] |
Motto(s) | Strive, Obey, Endure |
Engagements | American Civil War War with Spain World War I World War II Operation Iraqi Freedom |
Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation with oak leaf Meritorious Unit Commendation Governor's Unit Citation |
Commanders | |
Current commander | 1st Battalion: LTC Gerald Mothes 2nd Battalion: LTC Max Furman Jr. |
Notable commanders | John A. Wiley George C. Rickards Henry I. Hodes |
Insignia | |
Distinctive unit insignia |
U.S. Infantry Regiments | ||||
|
The 112th Infantry Regiment, also known as the Sixteenth Pennsylvania, [2] is a unit in the Pennsylvania National Guard which can trace its lineage back to before the American Civil War.
The symbolism of the distinctive unit insignia is the same as that of the coat of arms. The dates of its approval and amendment are also the same.
The 1st Battalion, 112th Infantry Regiment draws its origins from Civil War era units, including the 13th, 15th, and 17th Pennsylvania Regiments and still maintains the right to possess the silver bands and battle streamers awarded for battle service in the Peninsula and Virginia 1861–1863 campaigns and for participation in the battles of Manassas, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and Spottsylvania. On 22 November 1878, the battalion was organized as the 16th Regiment, Pennsylvania National Guard. The regiment consisted of companies from Erie, McKean, Venango, Elk, Warren, and Crawford counties. The units were located in Erie (Co A), Bradford (Co C), Oil City (Co D), Cooperstown (Co E), Franklin (Co F), Ridgeway, Pennsylvania (Co H), Warren (Co I), and Titusville (Co K).
The 2d Battalion, 112th Infantry Regiment's heritage can be traced back to the Logan Guards (Lewistown) and the Bellefonte Fencibles, both organized in 1858. These units were mustered into federal service during the American Civil War. The Logan Guards were mustered as Company E, 25th Pennsylvania Volunteers and then as Company A, 46th Pennsylvania Volunteers. The Bellefonte Fencibles were mustered as Company H, 2d Pennsylvania Volunteers. These units combined have 17 campaign streamers from the American Civil War: Po Valley, Manassas, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Atlanta, Fredericksburg, Vicksburg, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Battle of Appomattox, Virginia 1861, South Carolina 1862, Mississippi 1863, Tennessee 1863.
In July 1865, these units were mustered out of federal service.
Designated as the 16th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, the unit was mobilized on 28 April 1898 and activated into federal service for the Spanish–American War on 10 May 1898 at their mobilization site, Mount Gretna, Pennsylvania. They sailed to Puerto Rico on 5 July 1898 and served with the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 1st Army Corps throughout the campaign. The unit was noted for actions in the Battle of Coamo, where the regiment sustained six wounded and one killed in action during a blocking action. The unit was awarded the battle streamer marked Puerto Rico for their service. They were mustered out of federal service in December 1898.
George C. Rickards, a career Pennsylvania National Guard officer, was promoted to colonel as commander of the 16th Pennsylvania in 1907. On 3 July 1916, the regiment was called to service for Mexican border duty, with Rickards still in command. The unit was transported to and garrisoned at El Paso, Texas for training, but was never utilized because hostilities ended.
The unit was mustered into federal service on 16 July 1917 for service in World War I, and Rickards remained its commander. On 11 October 1917 the 16th Pennsylvania Regiment was redesignated as the 112th Infantry Regiment and became part of the 28th Infantry Division. The 112th was the first war-strength National Guard regiment in the United States. The regiment reached France in May 1918 as part of the American Expeditionary Force. It went onto the line on 4 July 1918, in the Second Battle of the Marne. From that day on, the names Fismes, Fismette, Fond de Mezieres, and Argonne would never be forgotten. The second battalion's Companies G and H lost a combined total of 200 men out of 230 when they were cut off at Fismette and fended off a frontal attack on their position by a thousand German soldiers. The 112th Infantry Regiment returned home in April 1919 and was mustered out of federal service on 6 May 1919 at Camp Dix, New Jersey. The regiment was awarded battle streamers marked Champagne 1918, Champagne-Marne, Aisne-Marne, Oise-Marne, Lorraine 1918, and Meuse-Argonne for its service in France.
Rickards was promoted to brigadier general in 1919, and in 1921 he was promoted to major general and appointed Chief of the Militia Bureau, the first National Guard officer to hold the position.
The 112th Infantry arrived at the port of Newport News on 4 May 1919 on the troopship USS Mercury and was demobilized 6 May 1919 at Camp Dix, New Jersey. Per the terms of the National Defense Act of 1920, the regiment was reconstituted in the National Guard in 1921, assigned to the 28th Division, and allotted to the state of Pennsylvania. It was reorganized on 1 April 1921 by redesignation of the 16th Infantry, Pennsylvania National Guard (organized on 16 October 1919; headquarters organized on 30 July 1920 and federally recognized at Grove City, Pennsylvania) as the 112th Infantry. It participated in the 150th anniversary of Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, in October 1931. The 2nd Battalion was called up for strike duty in the coal fields around Brownsville, Pennsylvania, in June 1933. The entire regiment called up to perform relief duties in connection with the flooding of the Schuylkill and Susquehanna Rivers in April 1936. The regimental headquarters was relocated 1 August 1937 to Kane, Pennsylvania. The regiment conducted annual summer training most years at Mount Gretna, Pennsylvania, 1921–34 and Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, 1935–38. The regiment was inducted into federal service on 17 February 1941 and moved to Indiantown Gap, where it arrived on 27 February 1941. [3]
The regiment was again called to active federal service on 17 February 1941, 10 months prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. After years of training, the unit first entered the continent of Europe on the Normandy beaches following the D-Day landing. It became the 112th Infantry Regimental Combat Team which consisted of the 112th Infantry Regiment, the 229th Field Artillery Battalion, the 103rd Engineer Battalion, Company C, 447th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion, and Company C, 630th Tank Destroyer Battalion. 28th Division commander James E. Wharton was in his first day of command when a German sniper shot him while he was at the 112th Infantry's command post. [4] The regiment plowed through France and Germany, participating in the capture of Paris and the bitter fighting in the Huertgen Forest. At one point, after the fight for Kommerscheidt, the regiment was reduced to 300 men. [5] During December 1944, the 112th Infantry Regimental Combat Team was holding a 6-1/2-mile long sector which the Germans attacked with nine divisions. The unit inflicted 1600 casualties and destroyed eighteen tanks during nine days of continuous action, that was later known as the Battle of the Bulge. The regiment was awarded battle streamers marked Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes-Alsace, Rhineland, and Central Europe for its service in World War II. The unit was also awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation for its actions during the Battle of the Bulge, from 16 to 24 December 1944. The unit was mustered out of federal service on 6 December 1945 at Camp Gordon, Georgia.
The 112th remained an organic unit of the 28th Infantry Division throughout World War II. [6]
In 2004–2005, A Company, 1st Battalion, was deployed with Task Force Dragoon to Tikrit Iraq.
Both the 1st and 2d Battalions deployed with the rest of the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team on 19 September 2008. They conducted full spectrum operations in and around Baghdad, Iraq. The main body of the 1st Battalion was stationed at Camp Taji while the main body of the 2d was stationed at Camp Liberty on the Victory Base Complex. The 2d Battalion's Civilian Military Operations unit (S-9) oversaw the distribution of roughly $20 million to the Iraqi people in efforts to stabilize the Iraqi economy and build public works projects including police stations, schools, hospitals, fire departments, youth centers, and water pumping stations. The 56th redeployed to America toward the end of 2009.
The Bellefonte unit was redesignated Troop L, 103d Cavalry. The Bellefonte unit was mustered into federal service in January 1941 as Battery B, 190th Field Artillery.
The Lewistown unit was redesignated as Machine Gun Troop, 104th Cavalry, 22nd Cavalry Division. This unit was redesignated as Service Battery, 166th Field Artillery, then Headquarters Battery, 3rd Battalion 166th Field Artillery, then Headquarters Battery, 2nd Battalion 166th Field Artillery and was mustered into federal service for World War II in February 1941.
The Tyrone unit was mustered into federal service for World War II as Troop B, 104th Mechanized Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron.
The Huntingdon unit went through several redesignations including a quartermaster company and finally Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment of the 154th Transportation Truck Battalion.
Company A, 110th Infantry (Everett) and Company G, 110th Infantry (Altoona) unit were both mustered into federal service for World War II in February 1941. The other Altoona unit was mustered into federal service for home station duty during World War II as Battery B, 200th Field Artillery.
2nd Battalion
|
|
1st Battalion
|
|
|
Civil War silver bands:
Battle streamers:
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Unit decoration: Presidential Unit Citation, 16–23 Dec 1944 112th Infantry
Civil War silver bands: Po Valley-Manassas-Antietam-Chancellorsville-Gettysburg-Atlanta-Fredericksburg-Vicksburg-Wilderness-Spotsylvania-Cold Harbor-Petersburg-Appomattox-Virginia 1861-South Carolina 1862-Mississippi 1863-Tennessee 1863
Battle streamers:
The 28th Infantry Division ("Keystone") is a unit of the United States Army National Guard, and is the oldest division-sized unit in the Army. Some of the units of the division can trace their lineage to Benjamin Franklin's battalion, The Pennsylvania Associators (1747–1777). The division was officially established in 1879 and was later redesignated as the 28th Division in 1917, after the entry of America into the First World War. It is today part of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, Maryland Army National Guard, Ohio Army National Guard, and New Jersey Army National Guard.
The 198th Signal Battalion is an Expeditionary Signal Battalion in the Delaware Army National Guard. Delaware is known as the "First State," as referenced in their motto "First Regiment of First State." The unit specializes in command post node communications, providing broadband satellite voice and data connections for brigade sized battlefield elements. The unit includes Headquarters, Headquarters Company located in Wilmington, DE; A Company in Georgetown, DE; B Company in Hodges, SC; and C Company in Wilmington, DE. It is one of several National Guard units with colonial roots and campaign credit for the War of 1812.
The New York Army National Guard is a component of the New York National Guard and the Army National Guard. Nationwide, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the United States Army's available combat forces and approximately one third of its support organization. National coordination of various state National Guard units are maintained through the National Guard Bureau.
The Pennsylvania Army National Guard, abbreviated PAARNG, is part of the United States Army National Guard and is based in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Together with the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, it is directed by the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. The PAARNG maintains 124 armories and is present in 87 communities across the Commonwealth.
The 53rd Troop Command is an administrative headquarters of the New York Army National Guard that provides direction for units not under another brigade or other formation headquarters (HQ). It also provides administrative support to units from other formations in the New York area that are stationed a long way from their higher HQ.
The 108th Cavalry Regiment is a cavalry regiment of the Georgia and Louisiana Army National Guards of the United States Army.
The 42nd Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade is a United States Army sustainment brigade of the 42nd Infantry Division of the New York Army National Guard headquartered out of the 369th Regiment Armory in Harlem, New York. This unit is descended from the 369th Infantry Regiment.
The 111th Infantry Regiment, originally the Pennsylvania Militia or "Associators", were a Pennsylvania militia unit that fought in the American Revolution, composed of civilian males from the citizenry of Pennsylvania. It is one of several National Guard units with colonial roots and campaign credit for the War of 1812. The Pennsylvania Militia often fought in conjunction with General Washington and the Continental Army along the Delaware River.
The 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT), 28th Infantry Division, also known as the Independence Brigade, is a brigade combat team of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard and has its headquarters located at Horsham Air Guard Station in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.
The 107th Cavalry Regiment, Ohio Army National Guard, is a parent regiment under the U.S. Army Regimental System, with headquarters at Hamilton, Ohio. It currently consists of the 2nd Squadron, 107th Cavalry Regiment, part of the 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (BUCKEYE), Ohio National Guard located throughout southwest Ohio.
The 110th Cavalry Regiment was a regiment in the United States Army National Guard and was part of the Massachusetts Army National Guard.
The 300th Field Artillery Regiment is a Field Artillery regiment of the United States Army.
The 102nd Cavalry Regiment is a cavalry regiment of the United States Army first established in 1921. It has seen service in the Second World War, including in Normandy and at the Battle of the Bulge, in Iraq 2008–2009, in Jordan and Somalia in 2019, plus many exercises and Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Maria relief. Its tradition of service is carried on today by the 1st Squadron 102nd Cavalry Regiment.
The 104th Cavalry Regiment is a Regiment of the United States Army first established in 1921. Troop A, 1st Squadron is one of several National Guard units with colonial roots and campaign credit for the War of 1812.
The 148th Field Artillery Regiment is a Field Artillery Branch regiment of the Army National Guard.
Company B 1st Battalion 181st Infantry Regiment is a rifle company in the 1st Battalion 181st Infantry Regiment. In the National Guard, companies sometimes have two histories. They share the history of the regiment to which they are assigned, but also may have a unique company history and lineage. Therefore, Company B 1-181 IN shares the long history of the 181st Infantry Regiment. This site concentrates on the unique history of Company B as a militia / National Guard company in Gardner and Greenfield, Massachusetts. Company B served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, with Union forces in the American Civil War, and as a federalized Massachusetts National Guard regiment with the U.S. Army during the Spanish–American War, Mexican Border Campaign, World War I and World War II. Most recently the Company B has served in Guantanamo Bay Cuba, in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, and in Afghanistan. (See below for the separate history of Detachment I in Greenfield.
The 105th Cavalry Regiment is a regiment in the United States Army National Guard.
Twenty-four current units of the Army National Guard perpetuate the lineages of militia units mustered into federal service during the War of 1812. Militia units from nine states that were part of the Union by the end of the War of 1812, plus the District of Columbia, are the predecessors of eighteen units that currently exist in the Army National Guard. Two of the four units derived from Virginia militias are in the West Virginia National Guard; at the time of the War of 1812, West Virginia was still part of Virginia. Only two current units, the 155th Infantry, a component of the Mississippi National Guard derived from militia units organized in the Mississippi Territory and the 130th Infantry, a component of the Illinois National Guard derived from militia units formed in the Illinois Territory, are from states or territories west of the Appalachians. Unfortunately, no militia units from the states of Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio or Tennessee, or from the Indiana, Michigan, Missouri or Louisiana Territories, where militia units played a major role in the fighting, have survived as units in the modern Army National Guard.