2nd Battalion - 1st Infantry Regiment
"Cold Steel"
On order, Task Force 2-1 Infantry deploys worldwide, secures a lodgment, and conducts combat operations in support of U.S. national interests.
The 1st Infantry Regiment draws its lineage from a distinguished line of post Revolutionary War Infantry Regiments and is credited with thirty-nine campaign streamers.
The 1st Infantry Regiment was originally constituted in the Regular Army as the 2nd Infantry Regiment in March 1791. Re-designated in 1792 as the Infantry of the 2nd Sub-Legion, it then took part in the battle of Fallen Timbers in which was the first victory for the post-Revolutionary Army. After the Legion system was disbanded the regiment once again became the 2nd Infantry Regiment. In the War of 1812 the 2nd Infantry Regiment, as well as the 7th and 44th Infantry Regiments, fought in the southern theater to include the Battle of New Orleans with General Jackson.
In 1815 the Army underwent a draw-down and the 2nd, 7th, and 44th Regiments were consolidated into the 1st Infantry Regiment. In the ensuing years the Regiment was primarily concerned with Indian conflicts and the 1st was involved in the Black Hawk War of 1832 and the Second Seminole War from 1839 to 1842. During this time the Regiment was commanded by one of its most famous commanders - Colonel Zachary Taylor, who would later become the 12th President of the United States.
When War broke out with Mexico in 1846 the 1st Infantry Regiment was sent across the border with General Zachary Taylor's Army and participated in the storming of Monterrey where the Regiment fought house to house in savage hand to hand combat. From Monterrey the Regiment was transferred to General Winfield Scott's command and participated in the first modern amphibious landing in American history at Vera Cruz in 1847.
Following the Mexican War, the Regiment campaigned in the Texas area against the Comanches until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. After escaping from rebel forces in Texas the Regiment returned to the Mid-west and fought in the Mississippi area of operations. The Regiment fought in one of the first battles of the Civil War at Wilson's Creek, Missouri, in 1862. The 1st Infantry then campaigned with General Grant against Vicksburg in 1863. The end of the War found the Regiment garrisoning New Orleans.
After the Civil War the Regiment was sent West to fight the Indians once again. The 1st Infantry campaigned against the Sioux in the 1870's and 1890's and against the Apache, led by Geronimo, from 1882 to 1886. After the end of the Indian wars the Regiment was occupied with quelling labor disputes in California.
War was declared with Spain in 1898 following the sinking of the USS Maine. The First was quickly sent to Florida where it embarked on ships and was sent to Cuba. While in Cuba the Regiment took part in the storming of the San Juan Heights and the capture of Santiago. In 1900, following occupation duty in Cuba, the Regiment was preparing for shipment to China to save foreigners threatened by the Boxer Rebellion. Instead, the Regiment was detoured to deal with the rebellion on the Philippine Islands which had also been captured by the United States in the Spanish-American War. The Regiment would fight in this vicious guerrilla war in the jungles of the Philippines from 1900-1902 and again from 1906-1908.
The Regiment's next action came in World War II as part of the 6th Infantry Division. The First participated in the destruction of Japanese forces on New Guinea in 1943 winning a Presidential Unit Citation for its action at Maffin Bay. The Regiment than participated in MacArthur's celebrated return to the Philippines in January 1945. After the war the Regiment was sent to Korea for occupation duty until 1946 when it was de-activated.
In 1950 the Regiment was reactivated as a training regiment for units being sent to the fight in Korea. In 1956 the Regiment was assigned to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. In 1958 the Regiment was reorganized under the Combat Arms Regimental System. The 2nd Battalion was then assigned to Fort Benning, Georgia.
In 1966 the Regiment was shipped to Vietnam where it would fight for the next six years. During this time the Regiment fought in 14 campaigns to include the bloody Tet Offensive.
Following its tour of duty in Vietnam the Battalion was sent to Ft. Lewis, Washington, where it became part of the 9th Infantry Division. In January 1991 the Battalion became part of the 199th Infantry Brigade at Ft. Polk, Louisiana, where it remained until inactivation in 1994. On 16 December 1995 the Battalion was reactivated at Fort Wainwright as part of the 6th Infantry Division (Light), which was redesignated as the 172nd Infantry Brigade (Separate) in April 1998.
